GW lahmian medium

[boubi]

I wanted to have some point of view from some people about the lahmian medium from GW.

They sell it as glaze maker, can it be use for any other applications? I have tried it with my pigments I got difficulties to dilute in water and it worked pretty well... Any other use?

 

[Dribble Joy]

I plan to get some this weekend and give it a go. I'll compare it with the various other mediums I have and get back to you.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Well... It works as advertised... It dilutes your color, Extends its drying time. Other manufacturers call it "slower" or "retarder".
You can also disolve pigments in it and create your own "paint". I am not sure, but I would not be surprised if this is the same medium GW uses for its colors. Would make sense.

But "Glazemaker" could be misleading. If you want to create blendings with multiple layers of diluted paint then Lahmian Medium is not the right choice - I wrote a small article which you can find right here.

 

[Dribble Joy]

OK, I finally got a pot of the stuff and had a bash with a model I'm using to practice on before I start my GD entry.

Scorched Brown basecoat. Normally I use Scab Red for the next layer when painting red, but for the purposes of this test I went straight for Blood Red. Opened the pot and found it had started to dry - nice and gloopy.
One drop of this and about 3 drops of the medium. As soon as it touched the paint it started dissolving it, this doesn't happen with any other thinner or medium I currently use so a good start.

Using a standard brush (which is knackered) and rushing it a bit (resulting in an over loaded brush and thus some graininess to the layers), I got this in about 10-15 mins.

Dries quite quickly (good for juicing/feathering/blending/glazing or whatever you want to call it), though not sure how much compared to just water.
Doesn't separate the paint either.

Definitely using this stuff over the Vallejo Thinner Medium. Easier to work with and dries matt - shininess being my biggest gripe with the other stuff.

 

[boubi]

Yes it seems to work ok for glaze, but water with a drop of tamiya thinner works even better. Many people use water only and achieve wonderful results. I used it for wet blending and it is working fine even if an advertised retarder seems to work even better. It can have other possible purposes even maybe mixed with other medium. For the pigments was a real discovery, i have tried with white spirit which work well but you need to use it very carefuly because it can ruin your paint completely, so with this one much less risk!
In a way it makes sense for GW to add some technical medium to its range to make it more polyvalent and interesting for painters...

 

[Einion]

Well... It works as advertised... It dilutes your color, Extends its drying time. Other manufacturers call it "slower" or "retarder". You can also disolve pigments in it and create your own "paint".

I presume from the last part that it dries on its own, if so this is the equivalent to a retarding medium (any medium that slows drying*), which is basically acrylic binder + retarder + water.

*Rather than an additive which does only that, which is usually what you get if you buy a bottle labelled retarder.

I presume it goes without saying that there will be competing products already in the marketplace that'll do a similar job, for less money? And that's without first checking the price of this stuff...

I am not sure, but I would not be surprised if this is the same medium GW uses for its colors. Would make sense.

If it dries on its own it is likely to contain some common ingredients, or they could buy the formulation in from a manufacturer and simply bottle it up (like GS).

Einion