Beginner questions on paints

[Einherjar101]

So in preparation for the arrival of the ks bones I recently ordered some craft acrylics, specifically these .

Now I have read on some other sites about people complaining that craft acrylics have a smaller "pigment/medium ratio" than model paints because you have to dilute the craft paints more.

So first question, in your own experience how true is this statement?

And second question, if the above is held to be true, could this not be remedied by just using more brush strokes when painting?

 

Also since im on the topic of using different types of paints I may as well ask this:

Is it possible to use both craft and model paints of the same mini or does this combination go horribly wrong?

Actually this question should be asked in two parts.

First when talking about using the two on different layers, ie: craft for base/shading/highlights and model for details or any combination of base/shading/highlights and detail between the two types.

Second when talking about mixing the two types of paints for creating custom colours?

Edited March 20, 2013 by Einherjar101

[Pingo]

Winsor and Newton is a good company, but the "Galeria" line is its line of "student-grade" economy acrylics.

 

I'm afraid such acrylics are okay, but not really better than the cheapy little hobby paints. As an artist, I wish companies would not make "student-grade" paints, as they mislead students. Or as one of my teachers put it, why learn to paint using paints you have to unlearn when you get the good stuff later?

 

"Student-grade" acrylics have less pigment than professional artists acrylics, and more filler. Some of them have cheap substitutes for better, more expensive pigments. They don't cover as well and they don't handle as well.

 

Liquitex "Basics" is their student-grade line. I do not recommend them.

 

However, any acrylic paint may be used with any other with no ill effects. You can mix these with any acrylic-based minis paint.

Edited March 20, 2013 by Pingo

[Pingo]

If you build up with more brushstrokes you start to develop thicknesses of paint which can obliterate detail. This is especially noticeable on the tiny scale of gaming miniatures.

 

Unfortunately, low-pigment paints are more prone to this, since you need more physical paint to get the color effect.

 

I paint minis with Golden brand acrylics (they only make professional grade paints and do not have a student economy line). Their matte fluid acrylics are excellent. They are a little thicker than minis paint but great if you like mixing your own colors.

[vutpakdi]

I've not used tube acrylics, but I imagine that they'll need to be diluted a fair amount for use on miniatures, even more so than normal craft acrylics (which come in bottles).

 

Also, at 18 pounds, I'm not sure that you're saving that much over an equivalent set of GW or Vallejo paints. You might try pricing out a set of those paints to check.

 

Ron

[Einherjar101]

The reason I went with these was actually because I heard Winsor and Newton where a good brand and with 60ml per tube and 10 tubes in the pack I would actually be saving a good bit of money over buying reaper or citadel paints.

 

However I didn't know that this specific paint pack was a lower quality as I just figured that all of W&N's paints would be relatively good quality.

Oh well I guess i'll just experiment around with them and see what happens. Maybe I can use them for undercoating or for some small details.

[smokingwreckage]

There's no reason you won't find some of those useful, and if they are a bit tedious or messy on minis there's always bases and terrain!

 

I really like Reaper's paints and recommend them, by the way. DOn't be too worried about the volumes, you usually won't use a bottle up in years of painting.

[TaleSpinner]

I used artist acrylics for years (the high-end ones) having first started as a canvas painter. I switched to Reaper Master Series about 10 years ago and noted the following:

 

- Artist acrylics do not stick to minis as well as RMS. The artist acrylics tend to peel or chip off with age and use. RMS may rub off here and there, but seem to hold up better to use than paints made for canvas painting.

- The two mix OK, but with a bit of difficulty. They are of different viscosities and other properties, and I had noticed more pigment seperation on the palette when mixing them. I stopped doing that about 9 years ago, relegating my artist paints to a bin on the top shelf.

- Layering works fine. Once dry the RMS sticks to the artist paint and vice versa.

- One other difference that I have noticed is pigment granularity. RMS pigments are ground extremely fine. This is necessary when you want to thin the paints down to a milk consistency for highlights, washes, and glazes. Some of the artist paints are not ground as fine not being intended for the same uses and can cause difficulties when glazing or even highlighting (especially metallic paint).

 

YMMV

 

Andy

Edited March 20, 2013 by TaleSpinner

[nytflyr]

I started with the tube paint, and recently switched (first pro paint, now MSP) the difference is night and day. paint formulated to work on minis covers better/smoother & is easier to work with. I also thought I would save money by not buying the "model" specific paints, but what I found was I was spending an awful lot of time just trying to remix the color I had used the time before, and wasting a lot of paint in the process.

[JackMann]

If you don't have much luck with these paints, you can always strip a mini by soaking it in a household cleaner like Pine Sol or Simple Green overnight. Don't be afraid to experiment.

[SamuraiJack]

I've used a mix of both craft paints and model paints (MSP, Vallejo, GW and Army Painter) mainly because I'm still learning techniques and when I have to strip a mini the price is cheaper/oz. I use craft paints mainly for Primary and secondary colors, but all my washes and shading are with model paint. Sometimes you can't find a model paint in a shade you want or it seems like it will be the shade you want until you actually use it.. the neon green i used on my slime worm is a good example of this.. I'm trying to transition from Craft acrylics to artist acrylics now...

[ShadowRaven]

I began mini painting using nothing but craft acrylics. I still have a very large assortment, which I use all the time. With tube paints especially, you have to thin them down a fair bit to get good coverage, and they simply do not work as well as mini paints for various effects, such as layering and wet blending of colours. That said, they can be used to very good effect on base coats, excelent effect on terrain, and if you are new to the hobby, as it sounds like you are, they really are not bad for learning the very basics.

[Einherjar101]

Thank you to everyone for your advice so far, and yeah im completely new to this, haven't even painted my first proper mini yet. Hence currently looking for paints to use.

 

So one last question, since mixing isn't ideal. Other than using them for base coats and terrain are there any other things craft acrylics can be useful for for model painting?

[Pingo]

Experiments. You can try things with cheap paint that might be a waste with the good stuff. You can see what happens when you put a thin wash of white over brown (purple, generally, which was a bit of a surprise the first time, let me tell you) or see how wild color combinations look next to each other.

 

You can work on actual minis and strip any uninteresting results, or work in a bigger scale on a pad of paper to get an idea of effects.

 

It may not be the very best paint for minis, but it is still a useful tool to play around with color and layering.

[ShadowRaven]

Of course, they are great for practice on everything. Like I said, it's what I started with, and I still use a lot of. I'm not a showy painter by any means, but I like to think I produce reasonable quality pieces for the game table.

[nytflyr]

one more thing, I have found that mini specific paints are easier on paint brushes, with craft paint/tube acrylics paint can gather quickly near the ferrule of the brush causeing them to flare out, and it is difficult, if not impossible to salvage them at that point. on the other hand, Ive been using the same brush for about a year while using MSP paints