Game Colors - Help

[sounguru]

I know this has been asked somewhere and I probably just missed it, but here I go for my first post.

I just got a case of Vallejo Game Color and some of their inks, for my birthday and man are they a far cry from what I\'m used too. I use a mix of Dreamcaot, Speedball, FM inks and a few reaper master series mixed in.

My ? are what are the tricks to using these I either get them too thin or not thin enough I can\'t seem to find the happy medium.

I also have some decent quality sable not series 7\'s which are next on my list so I have the brushes down.

Here are the ? as follows:

-What is the best mix level for the base coat to get it real smooth?

-What is the mix for a wash?

-What other things do I need to mix these with?
(I have glaze medium large bottle of that, Thinner 2 Bottles of that, Distilled water seems to seperate the paint, Future floor polish, and Matte medium)

Also any other tips would be helpful over the next year I plan on uping my painting level to Golden Demon I hope. I will have a 12 x 24 dedicated painting shop by the first part of the year so space and time should not be an issue.

 

[matty1001]

I have the model colours and iv found that anymore than 1:1 with water is to watery. For basecoats i use about 2 drop of paint, 1 drop of water, and maybe a drop of the vallejo thinner if its a bit to \"washy\".

From what iv heard Game Colour are thinner than the model colour from the bottle so maybe 3:1 would work, but iv never used them personally.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

trial and error mate, it\'s the best way to get a feel for what you want out of the paints.

start with a 1-1 dilution and go from there.

if when making washes/glazes you find it isn\'t going on smoothly then add a drop of glaze medium.

shouldn\'t take you long before you have the paint consistancy working for you instead of you struggling with it.

 

[Avelorn]

Try testing the consistency on your thumb. Basecoats should be as thin as possible but still almost solid (usually 2-3 layers to cover) while highlights should be transparent in varying degrees. When you use colour with bad coverage you have to use more layers for base coating.. but the same colours can work wonders as highlights or washes because they are transparent without separating pigments and slightly thicker paint that gives better control (examples, GW kommando khaki and graveyard earth). When I use Graveyard Earth last time for example I mixed my own graveyard earth from other colours for a basecoat and then use GW\'s for highlights.. but that\'s pretty nuts! lol It is impossible to give the final advice on this matter and that\'s pretty much why the question is always asked. Your own preferences and the technique you use are key factors. It depends so much on the colour as well.. as you get to know the different colours and test the different consistencies you\'ll figure it out. Often the learning curve is one colour at the time.

Very rough guide to the ratios I use (for GW and Vallejo game colour.. use more water for model colour):
Basecoat 1/1 water/paint
Highlights 4/1 w/p
Glazes/washes 10/1 w/p

But I haven\'t measured.. just an approximation. Note that I use glazes in my highlight process as intermediary steps. Typically one highlight and then use a glaze mixture of the highlight + base (or previous highlight layer if that is the case) to smooth the transition out.

Hm. Think I might try measuring later just so I know the approximate dilutions I use.