Re-starting painting after 3 years off - some questions I have

H

heliodorus

New member
I'm returning to the hobby after 3 years of not painting anything.
In 2008 I started grad school, and I never had the time & space to do my usual Games Workshop armies. I stopped with 60 High Elves a little more than halfway done. I'm looking for some help transitioning back into painting, and painting this particular batch of High Elves, now that grad school will be over on Tuesday. I had only been painting since 2003 or so, anyway, and while I'm knowledgeable, I never had a lot of experience.

Question 1:
I've looked at some my paints (a collection of Vallejos, Reapers, and GW paints) and most of them look like they're dried and dead. Is there any way to rehabilitate my paints if I think they're on the cusp of being usable? A lot of them have sat in their container and the pigments have separated quite a lot (like, I don't think I can shake this many little vials that long to make them work, good time for a paint shaker if anyone has any suggestions).

Question 2:
My high elves have sat in a closet and are dusty. I plan to rinse and/or soak them in the sink for a while and let them dry. Then I can re-start. I only need to do detail work and weapons on them (and I'm going to work my skills back up on some test miniatures first before I jump back into my big project without the experience I used to have).

Question 3:
Would like to know what great beginner articles there are for me to read. I'm re-reading my Reaper and GW "how to paint miniatures" books, which are reminding me of important stuff, but if there are any here you'd recommend, I'd love to know. I haven't looked in the articles section (the website has changed a ton since last I was here).

Question 4:
I'm thinking of buying the full kit of GW foundation series paints because I like to prime with black a lot. These had just came out before I started school. I know opinions very, but are there any reasons NOT to use foundation series for basecoating?

anything else I should be thinking about?
I appreciate any help you can provide. Thanks.
Helio in Denver
 
freakinacage

freakinacage

Well-known member
1 - add some water and shake like crazy. keep fingers crossed!
2 - not a question!
3 - have a look at the articles here. lots to be had and it's all free. ask questions if you aren't sure but search the forums first
4 - i like foundations. have you tried priming with grey though?

welcome back to the hobby
 
H

heliodorus

New member
Sorry, #2 got lost in my own paranthetical.
Is there anything I should be aware of when I pull these beauties out of the closet, rinse them, and prepare to start painting them again.

Regarding your answer to #1:
Is it possible to add too much water? I mean I can dilute the pigment, but since I am always adding water to paint anyway before applying paint, I should have some reasonable margin for error, yes?

Regarding primer:
I tend to go either for white if I go bright colors, otherwise black (which was new to me before I stopped). I use(d) Krylon acrylics that I bought at Walmart for dirt cheap (a tip I remember picking up from somewhere).

I also have an airbrush but I don't recall if it's working or not (I think it's not). I generally only used an airbrush for applying sealant coats.
 
M

Mr.S.Marbo

New member
heliodorus said:
Question 1:
I've looked at some my paints (a collection of Vallejos, Reapers, and GW paints) and most of them look like they're dried and dead. Is there any way to rehabilitate my paints if I think they're on the cusp of being usable? A lot of them have sat in their container and the pigments have separated quite a lot (like, I don't think I can shake this many little vials that long to make them work, good time for a paint shaker if anyone has any suggestions).
Click to expand...

If they haven't been exposed to cold temperatures (close to zero, zero or below in Celsius) and the lids seal well they will probably be fine. I started painting again after about six years and the paints seem fine. They took a LOT of shaking as they had separated. But once mixed were great. Some paints didn't survive and these were mostly Games Workshop ones with the stupid black lids that have to be unscrewed only. They never made a good seal in the first place but paint always used to get in the threads. A lot of those were beyond help and were just solid paint inside and were useless. My Vallejo's were great and work perfect (as they had a good seal) and the newer Games Workshop ones with the lid that pops open seemed OK.


heliodorus said:
Question 4:
I'm thinking of buying the full kit of GW foundation series paints because I like to prime with black a lot. These had just came out before I started school. I know opinions very, but are there any reasons NOT to use foundation series for basecoating?
Click to expand...

I don't see why not, I've always used white and black ordinary Vallejo model colour for basecoating and I haven't had any problems but maybe someone knows otherwise?
 
freakinacage

freakinacage

Well-known member
heliodorus said:
Is there anything I should be aware of when I pull these beauties out of the closet, rinse them, and prepare to start painting them again.

Is it possible to add too much water? I mean I can dilute the pigment, but since I am always adding water to paint anyway before applying paint, I should have some reasonable margin for error, yes?

Regarding primer:
I tend to go either for white if I go bright colors, otherwise black (which was new to me before I stopped). I use(d) Krylon acrylics that I bought at Walmart for dirt cheap (a tip I remember picking up from somewhere).
Click to expand...
a simple dust off with a makeup brush should be enough rather than a full wash

you should be ok with the water. just don;t add loads, use your common sense. maybe add some flow improver into the mix

i'd recommend at least trying grey automotive primer. bright colours come out well and dark colours easily too. plus it's cheap and adheres to the models pretty well
 
H

heliodorus

New member
Where will I find gray automotive primer to buy? Thanks for the tip; I'll give it a try.

Should I use distilled water when re-liquefying my paints, or is tap water okay?
 
Shawn R. L.

Shawn R. L.

New member
heliodorus said:
Where will I find gray automotive primer to buy? Thanks for the tip; I'll give it a try.

Should I use distilled water when re-liquefying my paints, or is tap water okay?
Click to expand...


I use Rust-Oleum and Krylon primers. Both work fine and are available in a wide variety of stores. Hardware store is probably the best bet.
 
freakinacage

freakinacage

Well-known member
heliodorus said:
Where will I find gray automotive primer to buy? Thanks for the tip; I'll give it a try.

Should I use distilled water when re-liquefying my paints, or is tap water okay?
Click to expand...
just go to an auto shop and get primer in a can. it's usually pretty smooth too. i use halfords own brand but i'm based in the uk so that will probably mean nothing to you! like i say, give it a try, i've never turned back.

i'd use tap but i will advise using distilled just to be safe
 
H

heliodorus

New member
So what music should I go with to prime and paint my High Elf heavy crossbow team? I'm thinking something Moby, myself. Maybe Massive Attack. Hmm, Teardrop... Yeah that might work.

Thanks for all the tips, folks. Looks like at least 90 percent of my 100 bottles are salvageable. And for some reason, I have no black amongst them.

Do you think the metallics might fare worse than other acrylics? Oh, most of my GW paints were doomed, but I learned that over last Christmas when I did some initial inspection. Only the inks and the foundation series survived. And who knows how condensed the inks are now.

I think I'm going to restock with all vallejo (unless someone else makes a good dropper bottle). My game color, in their case that now looks like a genius investment, are all surviving except 3 (of 72). That might deserve a letter...

I have yet to find an adequately stocked hobby store in the southwest Denver area, and that sucks.
 
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