Hate Paint pots, but love the paint? Here's what I did!

[Bloodhowl]

Nothing new here, but I have been seeing a lot of posts lately about people hating the paint pots, and I thought I would post this here (Mods please move if I have guessed wrong!) to provide resources to those who are hesitant to purchase paints that come in a pot. I too am of the camp that paint pots are the devil. So here is what I did:

I transferred all my GW Foundation paints (the old Foundation, not the new base stuff), P3 and GW washes to dropper bottles. Here is a link to a supplier in the US of the bottles: http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin21a.html

For those across the pond, do a search on the web for LDPE Bottles with dropper plugs.

I just poured the paints straight from the pots into the dropper bottles, but you can also use one of these to assist:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=38091

Add one of these to the bottle as an agitator to help mix the paint (it's glass so it won't rust and possibly dork up the paint!):
http://www.abeadstore.com/s.nl/it.A...38302d48454d&gclid=CKfQz4CAorUCFdSmPAodo30AYA

and you have your favorite paint brands in a dropper bottle that should help preserve the shelf life of your paint.

My GW paints are going on about two years now, and still work as good as the day I bought them.

 

[RuneBrush]

Lol, I just said very similar on another post :s

For anyone in the UK, here is a supplier we can use: http://www.ampulla.co.uk/DROPPER-BOTTLES-5ML---15ML/c-1-132/

That said, I've not actually transferred any paints across, I tend to use them for custom mixes for the airbrush.

 

[cfwheeler58]

Further to Bloodbowl's excellent post.

I have done essentially the same thing as he has. I know others have too.

I have found stainless steel fishing weights work a little better than the glass beads.
The extra weight busts up stubborn paint a bit easier.
Make sure they are stainless steel and not lead.....lead WILL discolor / react with your paints.
In the US, Dick's Sporting Goods has what you need.

I also quickly scuff the tops with some fine sandpaper and paint the color onto the tops.
In the case of VGC and VMC, I put the color on the tip only and wrote the number on the lid.
This is helpful if you are storing them such that you can't see the barrel of the bottle.

I also found that for custom mixing of paints, it is useful to create a "ruler".
Take a wide, flat wooden stirrer ( that is taller than your bottles ) and calibrate it into 1/8
increments spanning the widest part of the bottle. Use water poured into a test bottle to
create your EXACT increments of volume ( since the bottom of the bottle is tapered ).
Once you have this, you can transfer the 1/8 "tics" to an empty bottle with a fine point
marker when you are making your formulaic mixes. This system will give you consistency
and continuity. The wooden standard is needed because even permanent markers don't
adhere well to the ldpe bottles.

Once I had this system, I found myself developing custom intermediate colors routinely,
knowing I could create straightforward transitions between two colors. For example,
all my flesh colors are PP fleshes with a touch of traitor green ( to kill the pink ). I also
created halfway mixes between each tinted version of the manufactured color.

Obviously this is also useful for those who want to dilute according to a formula for the
airbrush or whatever. Likewise, for retarder or any other additive.

 

[Phoulmouth]

Nothing new here, but I have been seeing a lot of posts lately about people hating the paint pots, and I thought I would post this here (Mods please move if I have guessed wrong!) to provide resources to those who are hesitant to purchase paints that come in a pot. I too am of the camp that paint pots are the devil. So here is what I did:

I transferred all my GW Foundation paints (the old Foundation, not the new base stuff), P3 and GW washes to dropper bottles. Here is a link to a supplier in the US of the bottles: http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin21a.html

For those across the pond, do a search on the web for LDPE Bottles with dropper plugs.

I just poured the paints straight from the pots into the dropper bottles, but you can also use one of these to assist:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=38091

Add one of these to the bottle as an agitator to help mix the paint (it's glass so it won't rust and possibly dork up the paint!):
http://www.abeadstore.com/s.nl/it.A...38302d48454d&gclid=CKfQz4CAorUCFdSmPAodo30AYA

and you have your favorite paint brands in a dropper bottle that should help preserve the shelf life of your paint.

My GW paints are going on about two years now, and still work as good as the day I bought them.

I would totally be interested in taking your empty paint pots off your hands.

 

[RuneBrush]

I have found stainless steel fishing weights work a little better than the glass beads.
The extra weight busts up stubborn paint a bit easier.
Make sure they are stainless steel and not lead.....lead WILL discolor / react with your paints.

Make sure they're a high/food grade stainless steel too. Lower qualities have more things in that may react with liquid

I also found that for custom mixing of paints, it is useful to create a "ruler".
Take a wide, flat wooden stirrer ( that is taller than your bottles ) and calibrate it into 1/8
increments spanning the widest part of the bottle. Use water poured into a test bottle to
create your EXACT increments of volume ( since the bottom of the bottle is tapered ).
Once you have this, you can transfer the 1/8 "tics" to an empty bottle with a fine point
marker when you are making your formulaic mixes. This system will give you consistency
and continuity. The wooden standard is needed because even permanent markers don't
adhere well to the ldpe bottles.

Now that's just clever...

 

[Bloodhowl]

I would totally be interested in taking your empty paint pots off your hands.

Unfortunately, I do not have them anymore. It was two years ago I transferred the paint and we have moved three times since then. I think they got tossed in the trash sometime between move 2 & 3 (along with a few other items the wife thought were non-essential. grrrrrrrr!). If I get any of the New GW paints, I will be more than happy to send you the empties!

 

[Tringur]

love it, gonna place my order today when im home..

Will be nice to have all paints in droppers. I think they look nicer standing there on the desk and easier to use.

 

[Bloodhowl]

F
I have found stainless steel fishing weights work a little better than the glass beads.
The extra weight busts up stubborn paint a bit easier.

I will have to try some of these when my beads run out! Thanks Wheeler!

 

[Banemorth]

Found a seller on Ebay that will sell 100 30ml Dropper Bottles for $39.99 shipped. Best price I've found anywhere so far.

 

[ChemicalFencer]

Add one of these to the bottle as an agitator to help mix the paint (it's glass so it won't rust and possibly dork up the paint!):
http://www.abeadstore.com/s.nl/it.A...38302d48454d&gclid=CKfQz4CAorUCFdSmPAodo30AYA

The link takes me to 8mm Hematite Round Beads . . . . .

Haematite is basically rust; however, it is a 'hard' rust and shouldn't really react with the paint.

Just found it amusing that you said it wouldn't rust when in fact it is rust.

Anyway, I had thought about doing this a while ago - thanks for the links.

 

[Bloodhowl]

The link takes me to 8mm Hematite Round Beads . . . . .

Haematite is basically rust; however, it is a 'hard' rust and shouldn't really react with the paint.

Just found it amusing that you said it wouldn't rust when in fact it is rust.

Anyway, I had thought about doing this a while ago - thanks for the links.

That's what I love about CMoN, you learn something new everyday! Most of the descriptions for the beads say crystal or glass, so I never thought Hematite was the mineral form of Iron Oxide! Thanks for that!

 

[Einion]

This has turned into a great reference thread, nice job everyone, especially Bloodhowl for the opening post. Would have given you rep dude but apparently I have to spread it around a bit before I can give you more

The link takes me to 8mm Hematite Round Beads . . . . .

Haematite is basically rust; however, it is a 'hard' rust and shouldn't really react with the paint.

I was going to highlight this too, but the page does specify man made so I assumed they're actually glass (as described) that just has the look of haematite. Easy way to know for sure: if they're disproportionately heavy they are probably haematite; if they're quite light they're glass.

One could be sacrificed for investigatory purposes if you're up for it Bloodhowl - bash it with something heavy, see what happens.

BTW I can confirm that haematite can rust, I've seen this on the occasional bead and polished stone in gift shops. It should generally be very stable and resistant to it - otherwise the jewellery made from it would be a problem to wear - but some might indeed start to rust.

Einion

 

[Bloodhowl]

One could be sacrificed for investigatory purposes if you're up for it Bloodhowl - bash it with something heavy, see what happens.

I can sacrifice one in the name of CMON! But they are heavy in the hand given their size. I could also weigh one on my digital scale I use for mixing rtv and resin if that would be acceptable? :wink:

 

[secretpaintgeek]

Great thread Bloodhowl! Been pondering this for a bit but had a real nightmare finding any droppers over here on my tiny island so sort of forgot about it and just used my vallejo more and the gw stuff has been sort forgotten. Will def have to order some of these in the near future though (Would get them now but having just ordered an airbrush, booth, compressor, 2 rhinos and 5 drop pods has forced me to limit hobby spending for the next couple o weeks) hehe.
Thanks to rune too for the eng link

 

[Flagg]

Found a seller on Ebay that will sell 100 30ml Dropper Bottles for $39.99 shipped. Best price I've found anywhere so far.

Hi All-

I think you will find 30ml bottles are a bit large for transplanting your typical paint pot. The "standard" dropper bottles by Vallejo etc are the 17ml size (or 1/2oz) IIRC.

I did the same thing years ago (transplanted GW paints to dropper bottles)... I even made up labels for each color and printed them on avery computer labels:

View attachment 18696

These droppers are "pretty good" although the actual dropper insert is a little different, and IMO inferior, to say the Vallejo ones. The part I'm talking about is the removable "tip" which acts as the orifice. The Vallejo inserts have a longer "sleeve" (that goes down into the bottle opening) than the third party ones I have here. I think that helps keep the paint viable longer (I had to "revive" these recently after a long storage). Still, they're serviceable.

Sadly, I don't remember the vendor of these, it was about 12 years ago. I recently bought a small batch from an ebay vendor, but the new ones have caps that are a bit too tight IMO, so I'm not going to recommend them.

I've also thought some "snap cap" types might work well... I have some Ceramcoat/Folkart acrylics in the 2oz snapcaps that have been sitting for 10-15 years without drying out at all.... I saw some of those here:
http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin21i.html

Thinking about grabbing a batch of 2dram bottles to make some smaller batches of washes and glazes.

That company also sells the dropper tops
http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin21a.html

But I haven't purchased from them so not sure about the quality etc.

Anyone have a recommendation for a specific vendor?

 

[Bloodhowl]

That company also sells the dropper tops
http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin21a.html

But I haven't purchased from them so not sure about the quality etc.

Anyone have a recommendation for a specific vendor?

Before I found SKS-Bottle, I was ordering the empties from thewarstore.com. The bottles and tops from SKS-Bottle are every bit as good as the ones from Vallejo, Reaper and the Warstore. I have never had an issue with them (the bottles or the company!) out of three orders I have made from them.

A while back, I followed Les Bursley's wash formula and made my own washes (especially useful if you are looking for an economical and comparable replacement to the old GW washes!), and I think that was where I found the link for SKS. For those adventurous souls wanting to make your own washes here's the Link: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/261541.page

 

[Oni No Ken]

I've never had the pleasure of owning valejo paints, so I'm not familiar with how the bottles are constructed. You mentioned a sleeve. Is it a sleeve like pictured bellow? This is off of an ebay vendor:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SET-15-Empt...152772484?pt=US_Skin_Care&hash=item3f21f6f584

 

[Bloodhowl]

The area I circled in red is what I think he is referring to.

View attachment 18700

 

[Flagg]

Yep, exactly.

View attachment 18702

Actually, "sleeve" is not the right term here, as that implies "over and around", but I meant the part that goes "under or inside". Mind blanking on the right term though. :sidefrown: "Shank" maybe?

Anyway, you can see the ones I got years ago have a shallow sleeve/shank/whatever. The newer ones I got are longer (good), but the caps are too tight, like the threads of the cap don't line up with the threads of the bottle (bad). Then the Vallejo for reference. (apologies for the poor photo!)

Of the three, the dropper part on the Vallejo has the tightest fit with the bottle.

 

[cfwheeler58]

I bought mine here:

http://www.containerandpackaging.com/item/B438#

17 ml bottles are 16 cents, caps are 10 cents, dropper tips ar 9 cents
That's 35 cents per bottle.

Steep discount if you buy a HUGE order.

You can also buy the caps in a variety of colors if you want to differentiate
paint brands or perhaps custom vs. storebought or paints vs. inks.

I bought a LOT of them and typically include a few free when I sell a figure.