...how does one do it? I found, painting my little brother\'s dreadnought for his Space Marines, that the paint clumped like the dickens and made a mess of things. I just got a Broadside for my Tau army and I don\'t want to muck it up with clumpy paint. Therefore, I must thin, hence this thread. What do you find works, what doesn\'t? Does it work to add some water right to the paint pot for consistantly thinned-down paint? What paint:water proportions seem to work? I\'m using strictly Citadel colours, if that makes a difference. Thanks!
Thinning paint...
- Thread starter Levdir
- Start date
QuietiManes
New member
Alot of this has to do with preference. Most people thin with water or an acrylic medium or some concoction they mix up with water, medium, extender/retarder, flow improver. For basecoats and such where you want good coverage, the rule of thumb is thin to the consistancy of milk. Probably around 1:1 water
aint ratio, thin it more for layering.
What I do is mix up a dropper bottle at a time. I think they\'re 15 or 17ml bottles. Couple drops of retarder (slows drying time), 3 parts water, 1 part future floor finish (flow improver).
As for adding water to your paint pot, alot of people have to do that with their citadel pots, especially the old ones, as the lids are horrible and the paints dry out alot. I didnt use my Ice Blue for a couple months after buying it, I opened it up to use one day and found a solid block of Ice Blue paint inside. And I\'m a big guy, I mean I really crank the lids down when I\'m done. Anyway just try to keep the threads clean and the lid tight, add water when it gets thicker. But I wouldnt reccomend thinning the whole pot, just keep it at it\'s original consistency. It leaves you more options, some day you might want to use some thick from the bottle paint, ya never know.
aint ratio, thin it more for layering.What I do is mix up a dropper bottle at a time. I think they\'re 15 or 17ml bottles. Couple drops of retarder (slows drying time), 3 parts water, 1 part future floor finish (flow improver).
As for adding water to your paint pot, alot of people have to do that with their citadel pots, especially the old ones, as the lids are horrible and the paints dry out alot. I didnt use my Ice Blue for a couple months after buying it, I opened it up to use one day and found a solid block of Ice Blue paint inside. And I\'m a big guy, I mean I really crank the lids down when I\'m done. Anyway just try to keep the threads clean and the lid tight, add water when it gets thicker. But I wouldnt reccomend thinning the whole pot, just keep it at it\'s original consistency. It leaves you more options, some day you might want to use some thick from the bottle paint, ya never know.
FredrickvonCarstein
New member
I\'m probably a lot more basic in my technique than most, but really, thinning is simple.
First, you have to make sure you have a pallette (seems simple, but I\'ve met a lot of rookies to the hobby that don\'t bother/know). Put some of the paint onto the pallette and then dip your brush in the water (use a thicker brush for mixing paint, not only will it ruin any good brushes but it allows you to retain a fair amount of water). Then using the moist brush, mix it in with the paint. Add more water as desired until you reach a milky consistency. Ratios can be good if you\'re using droppers however I find they can be misleading depending on the paints you\'re using, and just plain frustrating visually. The best thing to do, is when you have reached what you feel is a good consistency is to paint a thick line along the pallette. It should go on smooth and easily and not begin to contract (this is a sign of too much water). Its a lot simpler than one can make it out to be, but it takes a bit of a while to get comfortable doing it.
First, you have to make sure you have a pallette (seems simple, but I\'ve met a lot of rookies to the hobby that don\'t bother/know). Put some of the paint onto the pallette and then dip your brush in the water (use a thicker brush for mixing paint, not only will it ruin any good brushes but it allows you to retain a fair amount of water). Then using the moist brush, mix it in with the paint. Add more water as desired until you reach a milky consistency. Ratios can be good if you\'re using droppers however I find they can be misleading depending on the paints you\'re using, and just plain frustrating visually. The best thing to do, is when you have reached what you feel is a good consistency is to paint a thick line along the pallette. It should go on smooth and easily and not begin to contract (this is a sign of too much water). Its a lot simpler than one can make it out to be, but it takes a bit of a while to get comfortable doing it.
B
Broke n English
Guest
Hi Levdir...
...I use GW paints,I use water Oh and a palette!
...I use GW paints,I use water
Oh and a palette!LightStarX
New member
Water works well for me
Thanks for the help, I\'ll try some of these. I don\'t, in fact, use a palette for painting models; I had reserved that for canvas painting and the occaisonal colour mix. My main difficulty is getting paint out of the pots in easily measurable amounts; can an eyedropper handle paint without getting all clogged after a while?
For Citadel paints, I usually either use an old brush to glob paint onto a palette or dip my brush into the pot, put a very small amount of the tip into whatever I\'m using to thin (right now water and Future), and then run the brush on a palette to make sure I have the consistenncy I want and to take off some of the excess paint. Repeat the process if the pain isn\'t right. I then use some of the paint off of the palette or repeat the above for the rest of the coverage. It\'s not as exact as pre-mixing and thinning, but it seems to work in a pinch.
I find transferring paint from pots into these dropper bottles lends far better paint control. Make sure to have some slag in there to help mix up the paints, and they dont clog. Then fill one with a dilution agent (water, thinner etc) and you can make good ratio mixes. Experiment a bit to find the right number of drops for each purpose, and write it down somewhere.
FredrickvonCarstein
New member
It sounds like you may be using old dried out paint. A lot of the old twist top bottles dry out even when closed and I\'m guessing you\'re using these, which have partially dried out. The easiest thing to do it this case is take a ball bearing and use a bit of spure/an old brush to push it down to the bottom of the pot. Then add a fair amount of water an put the cap back on (tightly). Then shake the bottle for about 5-10 minutes vigorously. I\'ve used this technique on many of my old paints and it works wonders.
Avelorn
Sven Jonsson
Good tricks! eyedroppers help alot when you want to obtain the same mixes of paint over and over. It\'s just to count drops really.. I recently got myself some vallejo game colours (thank you my local hobby store for finally stocking them!) and I really like the bottles. (even though they can clog)
GW colours dry out easily. With the old screw-cork, store the upside down to seal the lock shut. With the new flip-flop ones.. the same. And also try to have the pot open only a short while. Put a small ball of a sutable material in the pot, that will quicken up the shaking process. You can also mix drying retarter into the pots, but that should be done with care. Another thing is to open the flip flop just a bit after shaking.. to allow the excess paint to run down into the pot again. Or else it\'s more likely to drop onto the border.. slowly building a mess. (and loosing precious paint too)
I recently got myself some vallejo game colours (thank you my local hobby store for finally stocking them!) and I really like the bottles. (even though they can clog)GW colours dry out easily. With the old screw-cork, store the upside down to seal the lock shut. With the new flip-flop ones.. the same. And also try to have the pot open only a short while. Put a small ball of a sutable material in the pot, that will quicken up the shaking process. You can also mix drying retarter into the pots, but that should be done with care. Another thing is to open the flip flop just a bit after shaking.. to allow the excess paint to run down into the pot again. Or else it\'s more likely to drop onto the border.. slowly building a mess. (and loosing precious paint too)
