Airbrush paints in europe?

[Grand Funk Rail Gun]

Hello.
I live in the little, long-vintered country Finland, squeezed between sweden and russia. This is not the optimal country for mini-wargaming due to our low population count, there are very few hobby stores all and all, let alone places that sell miniatures.
Now, I also happen to live in the part of Finland that really doesn't have these things. Around these parts people are only interested in skinning furry things, meaning all the "specialized" stores sell tools of that nature.

However, I have been into this miniature hobby for quite a few years now, and it's a good thing the internet allows you to get things that you can't buy locally. Anyhow, I bought myself an airbrush, a very cheep one that is. I mostly use it for spraying my miniatures white so I figured a cheep thing would do. the problem is that I am having a real hard time finding any good paints that can be shipped to Finland. most of the stuff I find on amazon can only be shipped within the UK.

So I would really appreciate some tips, where do you scandinavians or europeans buy your paints from? and what brand do you use? keep in mind I am really just hunting for a good white primer for the moment but I would of course not mind it if there were some good paints to choose from in the future.

 

[me_in_japan]

Howdy I'm not in Europe, but I suspect I have even more of problem getting paints than you, being in the middle of nowhere in rural Japan as I am. My number one suggestion would be Vallejo Model Air paints. You can buy these online from many sites that sell miniatures. I used to get mine from Maelstrom until they went under, but you should be able to find them pretty easily. Note that Vallejo do a number of ranges of paints. All are good, but the model air ones (often called VMA) are specifically for airbrushing.

Tamiya paints also work well in an airbrush, but I don't know how easy they are to get where you are (they're a Japanese brand.)

I had this site recommended to me by another forum user here. I haven't used em myself yet, but they seem good.
http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/

 

[Routaporsas]

Battlefield Berlin offers Vallejo Model Air series and they have some Lifecolor paints as well. They ship to Finland and you can pay with paypal or bank transfer. The bank transfer is like any normal bank transfer that you would make to a Finnish account and there is no extra costs (since it would be ordinary SEPA-payment). In Finland Combat Models and Hobby point have at least had Vallejo Air and Lifecolor paints. If you look for enamels, I have used thinned Humbrol enamels that can be bought from for example verkkokauppa.com

Basically you could use Vallejo model and game colors as well as citadel colors, but just thin them to be suitable for airbrushing.

 

[Grand Funk Rail Gun]

Thank's you guys! yes I have been looking at Vallejo paints for a while, have just not found "the place" to buy them from. I have several different sites I have been looking at, comparing prizes and such.
Battlefield Berlin and Firestorm games looks like a couple of promising sites, so thank you for the tips.
what do you suggest I use as a thinner? Vallejo has a acrylic thinner right? is it worth getting that along with the paints, or are there other brands that are better?
Well thank you again guys, I am still going to look around for a while till the end of the month ("money rolling in day") but your suggestions and tips are really helping me take comfortable decisions here.

 

[Einion]

what do you suggest I use as a thinner? Vallejo has a acrylic thinner right? is it worth getting that along with the paints, or are there other brands that are better?

Start with water, go from there; people often don't need to use anything other than water so it's always worth trying that to begin with. Moving beyond that just a little bit of one or two additives (e.g. dishwashing liquid and acrylic medium) may be all that's required to fix specific issues that arise using water alone.

Just to mention, dedicated airbrush paints like the VMAs are intended to be sprayed as-is and they are generally thin enough to spray well, but even so you will need to thin on occasion to achieve certain effects. Also, paints can tend to dry out over months and years so you'd need to dilute at least a little bit to return the paint to a consistency similar to when the paint was fresh.

Einion

 

[Grand Funk Rail Gun]

Oh really? Well water it is then. in that case I think I am going to try the acrylic, white I have got. I fear however, that it might be a bit low on pigment. Well, that is up for exploration, and I will be getting higher quality stuff anyways. Just nice to know I have something to fall back on if I have to.

 

[Einion]

I fear however, that it might be a bit low on pigment.

When it comes to dilution it works out the same in the end regardless of what you use, water or Jimbo's Super Airbrush Thinners, if the volume used is the same you end up at exactly the same pigment-to-liquid ratio.

You set on how to clean up your AB? If you'll be spraying with Vallejos (all types) or any equivalents, you'll need an appropriate solvent or cleaner on hand to help flush the airbrush and clean parts (safety note: beware of fumes in an enclosed space, they're a health concern as well as a potential fire/explosion hazard).

Einion