Simple paint question.

[Shawn R. L.]

How do Vallajo and such paints compare to - Delta Ceramcoat, Americana and Folk Art \'craft\' paints.

I\'ve always used \'artist\' paints - the ones in the tubes and wanted to try some of the paints with more flow to them to see if that would help my problem with smooth blending.

 

[lizcam]

Originally posted by Shawn R. L.
How do Vallajo and such paints compare to - Delta Ceramcoat, Americana and Folk Art \'craft\' paints.

I\'ve always used \'artist\' paints - the ones in the tubes and wanted to try some of the paints with more flow to them to see if that would help my problem with smooth blending.

No Shawn don\'t do it!!!!!

I used to use all of those brands and still have a faily large collection of them. They really do not hold a candle to Reaper, Vallejo, P3 and GW. The paint is very grainy and hard to blend.

I would start with either Vallejo or Reaper Master Series (what I ended up buying a full set of). Both have good pigment and handle thinning really well.

But please don\'t buy craft paint. You\'ll hate it!

 

[Hinton]

I started out with Folk Art craft paints and even with thinning they\'re still pretty grainy. Paints made specifically for miniature painting (RMS, P3, etc) can be thinned without becoming grainy.

 

[Jericho]

I\'m all about the P3 paint range at the moment. GW seems to drop all my favorite colors, and rumors of them switching to the Foundation style white pots is terrible news. P3s are much cheaper and get better coverage, hopefully they make another ~6 colors sooner or later since their range doesn\'t quite cover all the basics (a dark green would be nice ). They also come in 18mL bottles, which is even more than Vallejo.

My biggest beef with Vallejo paints is the fact that you need to shake them so damn much and that the Model Color range is terribly easy to rub off. Might not have this problem with the Game Color though... I also tend to react negatively whenever something seems to be hyped up so much for little/no reason.

So yeah, when all is said and done I recommend trying the P3\'s if you are gonna try anything new. I\'ve never seen a model painted well with Ceramcoat or another hobby paint. Whether that\'s because of the paint or the painter I don\'t know.

(Thanks for not calling it CREAMcoat, that bugs me!)

 

[Undave]

What\'s not to like about the move back to soft plastic lids on the GW paints? The soft plastic seals far better than the plastic \"bolter round\" pots. I\'ve got paints that are 20+ years old that I can still use like they were bought yesterday when the paints I got last year have all but dried up because of the poor seal.

 

[Jericho]

The hinges suck they seem really weak compared to the bolter style flip tops, and the shape of the lid allows TONS of paint to dry up in the lid. I\'ve had Foundations that I\'ve used once or twice and then plucked a giant gob of dried paint out of the lid already. I\'m talking like 4-5mm thick, that takes months/years to build up in the old lids.

Oh BTW, my friend had the lid accidentally screw off of one of the new soft jars, and then it wouldn\'t go back on without a ton of adhesive holding it down. Potential problem there!

 

[Hinton]

Out of curiosity, Shawn: what are you thinning your paints with? Water? Some kind of \"magic wash\"?

 

[dougaderly]

I also started using apple barrel paints, and, althoguh some colors work fine, you will notice a grittiness to them. they work wonders, however, on large pieces of scenery where you can\'t beat painting an entire 4x4 table for 5-6 bucks in various browns, so they have their uses. just not for your miniatures.

 

[Hinton]

Originally posted by dougaderly
I also started using apple barrel paints, and, althoguh some colors work fine, you will notice a grittiness to them. they work wonders, however, on large pieces of scenery where you can\'t beat painting an entire 4x4 table for 5-6 bucks in various browns, so they have their uses. just not for your miniatures.

The craft paints are definitely good for scenery and terrain pieces. They cover pretty well and the paint doesn\'t need to be overly smooth for things like that.

 

[Jericho]

Anything that makes scenery faster or cheaper without sacrificing (too much) quality is good in my books!

 

[flashlight warrior]

Where in Edmonton can I get some P3 paints? I have always wanted to try them, but I dont know where to get them.

Also, I agree that Vallejo Model Color is pretty easy to rub off.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Shawn R. L.
How do Vallajo and such paints compare to - Delta Ceramcoat, Americana and Folk Art \'craft\' paints.

Smoother. More consistent. Better pigmentation (sometimes MUCH better).

But that said I have a small selection of Ceramcoat, Americana and one or two other brands and they\'re not terrible. Since these only cost a buck or two buy a couple on sale in Michael\'s or somewhere, see what you think yourself. At the very least you can use them up for groundwork if you don\'t like \'em.

Originally posted by Shawn R. L.
I\'ve always used \'artist\' paints - the ones in the tubes and wanted to try some of the paints with more flow to them to see if that would help my problem with smooth blending.

In this class, if you haven\'t tried them I\'d recommend giving Jo Sonja paints a try.

Einion

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Wow..........Thanks all. So far I only have blown about $5. Glad to get all the info.

@ Hinton - I just use water.

@Enion - Are Jo Sonja paints in tubes or bottles (more liquid paint?)

 

[JesterzUSMC]

Originally posted by Jericho
The hinges suck they seem really weak compared to the bolter style flip tops, and the shape of the lid allows TONS of paint to dry up in the lid. I\'ve had Foundations that I\'ve used once or twice and then plucked a giant gob of dried paint out of the lid already. I\'m talking like 4-5mm thick, that takes months/years to build up in the old lids.

Oh BTW, my friend had the lid accidentally screw off of one of the new soft jars, and then it wouldn\'t go back on without a ton of adhesive holding it down. Potential problem there!

I store my GW paints (bolter round) upside down...seems to help.
I still have some of the old white ones too...you know..with the demon on the tub? Still works too.
As for the Foundation set...I love em...but yeah, dip a bit then close...they dry FAST, whether in the pot, on the pallette, on the brush...while painting onto the mini.
Yes they dry F.A.S.T!!!

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Shawn R. L.
@Enion - Are Jo Sonja paints in tubes or bottles (more liquid paint?)

Toobes. As you can see these are not expensive by the standards of artists\' acrylics, even compared to Blick\'s house brand.

They aren\'t very thick, roughly the same consistency as the Soft Body range from Liquitex if that helps.

But whether they\'re more liquid than what you\'re used to depends on brand (and sometimes on specific colour since some makes vary so much). Even with Golden, Liquitex and Finity I\'ve never had a new tube that I would consider truly thick.

Colour chart if you\'d like a gander, here.

Einion

 

[mickc22]

anyone used theDerivan MiNiS range from Australia,
I\'d love to be able to stock them, especially as they\'re 36ml droppers. But I can\'t stretch to both DM\'s and Vallejo MC\'s, maybe at a future time

 

[eastman]

Originally posted by mickc22
anyone used theDerivan MiNiS range from Australia,
I\'d love to be able to stock them, especially as they\'re 36ml droppers. But I can\'t stretch to both DM\'s and Vallejo MC\'s, maybe at a future time

I got 3 of the DM reds as a prize from the last Chick Challenge. I like them. If they were easier to find here, I\'d probably buy more (can\'t have too much paint). Reaper Master Series is my preferred paint, but these are in second place. (VMC is in 3rd).