Recent content by shponglefan

I've been very disappointed with Vallejo's gloss varnish. Previous bottle I bought started to yellow, so I replaced it about 4-5 months ago. Now that bottle is going yellow as well. Are there other gloss varnishes out there that don't yellow over time? edited to add: To maybe answer my own...

Does the brand of oil paint matter for oil washes? I've been using Windsor & Newton oil paints. One issue I've been dealing with is pigment separation if I thin out the wash too much. I'm wondering if different oil paint brands have finer pigments. Alternatively, I'm wondering if...

I love Malifaux minis, but my god they are delicate! I bought the December Acolytes set, which includes one mini with a teeny-tiny crossbow. Unfortunately, it's so delicate that the bow-string on it actually broke during shipment. Upon unboxing, this is what I found: The crossbow string...

P3 paints have a reputation for not separating very readily. However, when I was at a local store, they had quite a number of P3 paints that looked like they'd been on the shelf for quite awhile. They had a thin layer of dust on top and very visible separation; pigment on the bottom, clear...

On the Vallejo website, it says to keep water away from their liquid gold line of metallic paints because water could cause the metallic components to rust. So I was wondering, could one take advantage of that and create real rust effects by using water with this paint line?

I'm working on a model using oil washes for shading/lining. Before applying the wash, I applied a varnish using Vallejo's gloss varnish. However, I've noticed between the gloss coated piece and the non-coated pieces, that the gloss coated piece has a bit of a yellow tint to it. I guess this...

I decided to start trying to airbrush Vallejo inks. Everything I had read indicates they are easy to airbrush and should go on very smooth. Previously I had only used them with brush and only sparingly. In attempting to airbrush them, I noticed the result was a bit "splotchy". It looks like...

I don't really have any sci-fi minis yet, but I'd like to try painting some. Any good sci-fi mini brands? I was thinking of trying Battletech and Infinity minis, although the latter seems a bit expensive.

I'm in the process of building a cabinet to store various tools 'n things. One of the things I need to figure out is airbrush storage. I've been toying with various approaches to storing them, but was curious what everyone else does.

On another forum (model building forum), someone posted a pic of using an ultrasonic cleaner to clean their model parts. It seems like an interesting alternative to normal washing and scrubbing. Anyone here use an ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning minis prior to painting?

Just mulling over the options... I found a desktop photo booth locally. Price is a bit high @ $140, although it seems to go for ~$100 for other retailers so I can probably bargain it down (this shop tends to overprice but is willing to price match). The other option is to build one. I'm not...

I've been trying to use Vallejo's surface primer (specifically their light grey) over the last few weeks. However, it seems to me as a primer it is pretty poor. The two main issues I'm having with it are: 1) It seems to scratch/chip very easily; almost as easily as their model air paints. 2)...

Currently I lack a dedicated miniature assembling/painting area. I'm using a bench I originally built for working with electronics, but it's problematic since I don't really have space for all the odd's and ends I am accumulating (mainly paint). I'm thinking about dedicating another area and...

I've been trying to get info on these paint brands, but haven't found too much. From what I can gather, the Army Painter paints seem designed for turning out fast "tabletop" quality minis. From what I have seen, the results don't look half bad. The Andrea paints sound like they are good...

I've been looking at the Reaper Bones lineup. Given how inexpensive they are, it seems like a good way to pick up some inexpensive minis to practice painting on. But a couple of things have me hesitant: 1) The extreme bendiness of the minis seems like they might be a bit frustrating to paint...