What are the best Pigments out there?

[Erikjust]

I have seen several miniature painters use pigments to add a little extra to their miniature.
Now there are several different brands out there Vallejo, MIG i think even Forge World have made some.
But are there any noticeable difference between the different brands and which (in your opinion) is the best and why?

Also i wanted to hear (since i´m considering using pigments when i finally start working on my dwarfs base) how easy/hard are pigments to work with? Is it just as easy as drybrushing or are Pigments something that can be VERY easy to screw up if not extremely careful?

[freakinacage]

I know the guy who sells these:
http://www.modeldisplayproducts.co.u...tegory&path=63

He orders in pure pigment, no crap so it's cheap as chips too. Problem for me is that I am colour blind so the names are bloody useless!!

[Einion]

My advice: avoid pigments packaged for the hobby, buy pastels instead and make your own powder from them.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/...-with-Pigments
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/...ering-Pigments
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/...ering-pigments

how easy/hard are pigments to work with? Is it just as easy as drybrushing or are Pigments something that can be VERY easy to screw up if not extremely careful?

They're pretty easy to work with. Probably easier/more forgiving than drybrushing, but it depends on how you drybrush!

They rub off very easily but fixing them in place with an overspray of varnish changes how they look, sometimes utterly; so if used as powder applied to the surface* they're really best suited to display-only work, where you aim to follow the rule of thumb that you don't handle the model after you've applied them.

*You can make up a thick paste with pigments/pastel dust as the colouring agent, a bit of glue and maybe something to bulk it out a bit. But once you get to this sort of thing it's hard to see why you wouldn't be better off just starting with paint instead.

Einion

[Zab]

Hey Einion,
I was wondering if you could clear something up for me. There are 2 kinds of pastels right? Oils and chalk or something like that (I've yet to play with them so I'm not too familiar)? Which is best to use? I have heard one kind is good for making powders, but the other isn't as good. Can you clarify which is which?

[RuneBrush]

Hey Einion,
I was wondering if you could clear something up for me. There are 2 kinds of pastels right? Oils and chalk or something like that (I've yet to play with them so I'm not too familiar)? Which is best to use? I have heard one kind is good for making powders, but the other isn't as good. Can you clarify which is which?

You can only grind up/crush the chalk variant. I've never heard of oil pastels being used in our hobby

I have used both ground up chalk and purchased powders and it depends entirely on what you're looking for. Sanding a chalk pastel down is inherently messy and time consuming but really cheap providing you can find the right colour. I bought a set of 12 earth coloured sticks for less than a fiver. The purchased pots are a lot more convenient but come with a much higher price tag (three quid and up for one pot), plus they are completely uniform in colour so you really need a couple of colours to get a little variation and realism. I actually use both, my bought pastel colours are more muted so I tend to use them to add the variation to the intense colours I've bought.

If you are going to buy, look at ForgeWorld weathering pigments, they're £2.95 and you get quite a lot in a pot.

[Dreamworker]

I have used pigments from MIG and Vallejo. IMHO both are same. Working with pigments is great both you must practice a lot. I have tested the stuff on some old pieces i had - different approaches and different techniques : first pigments, then a binder, the other way around and mixing the pigments with a binder. For me, the mixing the pigments with a binder really worked but thats me.

[Einion]

Dang I thought I posted this earlier, never mind.

Hey Einion,
I was wondering if you could clear something up for me. There are 2 kinds of pastels right? Oils and chalk or something like that (I've yet to play with them so I'm not too familiar)?

Well there are really more than two but the main thing is there are oil pastels - the kind you don't use to generate weathering powders - and then everything else.

Regular pastels have some variety but they're all 'dry' or chalky (hence they're sometimes called chalk pastels) not waxy/oily.

Previous thread on oil pastels:
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/...01-Oil-pastels

Einion

[Zab]

Thanks! I always heard something about oil pastels, but I wasn't sure what. Now I know what to get next time I am wandering the aisles at Curry's