Painting with oils

[axil110]

Hi

I\'ve recently discovered this site, which has got me interested in miniature painting again after many years away from the hobby. Looking at these forums there seems to be quite a few born again painters here.

One of the last miniatures I worked on was a GW Gandalf figure in oils.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/?id=31434

I was inspired by an article on oil painting in an old citadel journal I think.

Has anyone else tried painting in oils? I found it difficult to get a crisp finish but easy to get blended colours as those paints never seem to dry.

I guess as I gave up shortly after painting this it wasn\'t such a good idea.

Getting a photo of the figure was trickier than I expected, but there are some good articles on the site. With their help I think I\'ve manage a reasonable picture.

Regards...

 

[finn17]

Hi!

Welcome to the site. I don\'t know how much you have looked around, but I would suggest that as well as browsing the images, you take a look at the articles section as I am sure there will be a lot here to interest you as a returning painter.

The second thing I would do, if you have the inclination, is to arm yourself with a starter set of modern acrylics, a decent brush and mini of your choice and get stuck in. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how far things have come since the days when we had to use oils and enamels. I know I was

 

[frenchkid]

Hi and welcome to the crazy world of CMON, hope you\'ll enjoy yor self here. You picture is pretty good, better then any picture I can take of my minis anyway. I still haven\'t managed to take a descent picture. Has for the mini it looks ok, I rated it a 6. The paint on the hat looks a little bit grainy, but nice job on the dress.

 

[axil110]

I\'ve already checked out a few of the articles the NMM & SENMM stuff are amazing.

I have never seen anything like it.

I did usually use acrylics, the oils were just an experiment.

I\'m just trying to get the courage up to pick up my brushes once more.

 

[finn17]

I think it\'s important to take a run up...

I have had a somewhat enforced break from painting for a couple of years. During that period I have acquired hundreds of minis (I collect as well as paint), but I keep telling myself that I am going to have to resist the temptation to dive straight in on a Rackham and just start slowly to practice my skills.

To be honest, since I have discovered this site I have learned so much that all my previous notions are out of date. I really am going to have to start from scratch.

I have decided my first challenge will be the basic space marine, because although I have no love for these figures (apart from the Rogue Trader period) if you can get these little blighters to look good, you can probably make a good fist of painting almost anything.

I don\'t know how much stuff you currently possess, but if it is very little, you could do a lot worse than buy one of the starter kits from GW as they contain a few models, some paints and even a brush. Reasonably priced too. If you get into the swing, you will soon want to ditch GW but it is still a good start.

 

[tooshy]

Hello and welcome.....

I\'ve used oils and enamels, but usually on larger scale models - 54mm & 75mm. As you say, blending is a given because the paint stays wet for so long! You can also get some great textures from oil on enamel - I used to create a suede look which I used on boots etc.

I\'ve had a break from painting (5 yrs) like many other people on here and it\'s fun getting back into things again. I have GW paints and the new \'vogue\' paints from Vallejo.

I hope you enjoy yourself getting back into the hobby and look forward to seeing more figures of yours

 

[axil110]

I agree with you finn17.

Things have moved on light years since I last looked at minis. Starting from scratch is the only way.

I\'ve got boxes of old GW figures somewhere, I\'ll have to dig some out. I was a collector too. Although having just looked at Rackham minis I\'m very tempted. They didn\'t make them like that when I first started.

Not sure what state my old paints are going to be in I may need to restock.

 

[Daan]

Welcome, I myself have just started painting again after an 18 year break, and I am having a lot of fun I must say. Not in the least because of CMON.

Get yourself a starter kit, and then some extra paints, and some more brushes, and a few miniatures, and... and....

What helped me to get started a lot was some of the really excellent articles here. They got me up to date on techniques (in theory that is ) and gave a lot of inspiration.

 

[aon14]

I really like oils. Used to use enamels and oils. When I was a load, acrylics were new and very expensive ( or seemed so ).
I acquired an allergy to thinners.... So gave up painting for a while back in the early eighties.
I suggest if you want to carry on using oils you investigate the type of thinners art shops sell as no/low odour.
Alkyds are like oils but dry faster and you can get additives make oils dry faster or retarders make acrylics dry slower.
Many people work with oils have some way of heating the figure as well, a slow oven or such like will mean the things dry faster. People rig up light bulbs and cans...
Since I mainly paint for wargaming and want as fast a technique as possible I use acrylics 99% of the time.
Difficult to beat the oil-rubbing ( over acrylic ) technique for horses though.

Welcome back.

 

[axil110]

I think I\'ll be going with acrylics for now, but I may get some Liquitex Slow-Dri and Flow aid. I\'ve read somewhere on the site that they slow down the drying process of acrylics.

Acrylics dry way too quick for an old timer like me to be able to blend

 

[Micha]

Well, I´ve been using oils for quite a while as I was into military modelling, I primarily used them for washes and for painting faces. They were better than revell or humbrol enamels I had been using before, but i´ve abandoned them and stick to Acrylics now; why - well, oils are a dirty buisness, turpentine or othe thinners smell and you need good ventilation not to get harmed (same with enamel by the way) and they take much time to dry - ridiculously much compered to Acrylic; many use them for faces (in militery models again) but I `ve seen equal or better results with acrylic; If you´re still intersted, go to http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/articles_figures.htm and check out Mark Bannermann´s great articles on painting 1/35 figues; as for washes and weathering with oils, look at Adam Wilder´s \'Painting and weathering\' in the \'other\' section; hope this helps

 

[sippog]

Originally posted by Micha
If you´re still intersted, go to http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/articles_figures.htm and check out Mark Bannermann´s great articles on painting 1/35 figues; as for washes and weathering with oils, look at Adam Wilder´s \'Painting and weathering\' in the \'other\' section; hope this helps

Great link. Thanks

 

[hullukoira]

I used oils when I started painting minis some four years ago. Used them some three years! Theyre just fine for painting, and can be used to create very small detail just as well as with acrylics, if you just let the paint dry before adding more layers. Still, they really smell bad, and this was the reason I switched to acryls...
As an afterthought, I would recommend you forget oils and start with acryls. I would not go back to oils! Their smell makes me:|~ these days.

 

[Alex P.]

Oil Stink, thicken and shine..

This is an old \"oil\" mini and I explain in a comment why I stopped to use this medium.

http://www.coolminiornot.com/index.php?id=39703&c=All&m=All&nm=none

When I Saw what spanish historical painters did with acrylic I understand that I am on the wrong way. For exemple, the french historical painters stay sticked during a long time to oil and the spanish people get the majority of reward during the international compétition. check the website of one of the best historical acrylic painter >>http://www.latorremodels.com

 

[Cerridwyn1st]

Oils and health

I took art classes in college. The school only allowed students to use acrylics in class. One of the teachers told me why. She had many old friends who had painted in oils when they were younger, and had a lot of health problems as older people. Oils and a lot of the stuff you use with them are poisonous. Long term exposure can cause health problems. So I\'d suggest using acrylics, and spare your body.

I\'m not sure I\'d go with a GW Starter, though. You already have minis, so you don\'t need the ones in the starter. And you probably have brushes still. If you have tube acrylics, they can be thinned to a consistency that will work with minis. So you probably have what you need to start.

I started out using old tube paints, my artists brushes, and gray primer from WalMart. That stage didn\'t last long, but it got me going and didn\'t require any additional start-up beyond $1 for the primer.

Go back to the article that was talking about using retarders. It gives directions for making \"Magic Wash\", which works really well for thinning paints, even tube acrylics.

When you get ready to pop for your paints, get Vallejo. There are a couple of paint collections you can get, I think mine was WWI military or something like that. Anyway, I\'ve had a lot of fun with the colors. Throw in a few bottles of the skin colors, and have some fun.

Someone will probably shoot me for saying this, but you could try the Plaid paints. Nice consistency, really cheap, comes in a lot of colors, and easy to work with.

I also like to let my stuff sit overnight after I prime it. Say, for weekend painting, prime on Friday night and paint on Saturday.

 

[wiccanpony]

Cerridwyn1st is right about the health risks of using oils and turpentine, over the long run.
When I was in Collage back in the late 60’s, I was using oils everyday for years, then started to have health problems, mostly heavy bruising and bleeding from minor cuts. The doctors said I had to give up oils. Learned to use acrylics instead.

 

[Dr. Bob]

I started out with oils in the 80\'s. It worked, but you really needed a lot of patience!

The next type of paint I encountered were the paints that came with the Grenadier \"Action Art\" sets. What the heck were those paints? Latex? \"It\'s like no paint I\'ve ever seen, Gromit!\"

Discovering acrylics was a real blessing. (I still have fond memories of Polly-S.)