I have been learning and practicing painting miniatures for about a year now and almost every time I am buying new paints someone will enquire about what I am painting. In the conversation the person always bring up thinning paints. My question is not if I should or should not but, how do you thin your paints; all examples are welcome?
Well it depends on the type of paint really.If you re using acrylic paints you should use water and for enamel which are oil based you will need paint thinner.It's also a matter of preference,i use enamel paints mostly and i tend to thin always,but some acrylic ones i tried were fine out of the box so to speak.I like my paint thin cause its easier to control and flows better on the minis.Just try different ones and find what works best for you.I hope i helped!!!
Its designed to be used without any thinner at all. If I am base coating an entire army I tend to mix a small drop of drying retarder and one drop of flow aid into the mixer cup. This helps prevent the tip from drying up too quickly.
That medium can be water based, oil based, alcohol based etc.
For acrylic paint (what is usually used for painting miniatures) it is water based, so you can thin it a bit with water.
You want the consistency of full fat milk.
You should always prime your miniatures - spray paint is good but don't use gloss spray or filling primer to prime.
Prime in grey or black - black is better if you have a lot of metal or the model is naturally dark, grey I'd better if you're doing lighter colours.
If you want to get fancy prime black and then spray from above with grey so that the model is artificially highlighted.
For paints I REALLY reccommre Games workshop- they aren't the cheapest but are good quality, last a long time and more importantly are easy to get since GW is everywhere.
If you're a total painting newbie get yourself a couple of their BASE paints and some agrax earthshade wash.
The base paint requires less coats to get opaque coverage. The wash is like a thinned brown/black ink that flows into the recesses and gives the impression of Shadows and depth. Agrax earthshade is fondly called 'liquid talent' by miniature painters!
Games workshop have excellent videos, there's tonnes of videos and tutorials online.
If you want miniatures to practice on mantic or warlord are cheapish. GW are quite expensive. People may suggest reaper bones but they are flexible so I'm not sure if the paint would flake off so I'd stick with plastic miniatures.
If you have a friendly local gaming store (GW or independent) they are usually happy to show newbies how to Paint.
I've been doing minis for 23+ years if you have any questions feel free to message me or ask here
As the above post. I've painted minis for 10-15 years on and off.
Acryllics are best for your plastic/resin/metal miniatures. You can use water which is just fine. For best results you can buy the medium from the same paint company seperately, but this gets expensive and is usually only worth it for competitions.
There are a few steps that you should always follow militantly as it helps you avoid mistakes in the long run.
1. Always prime your models. Use a light acryllic based spray paint. Spray in bursts and allow a couple of light coats. Don't be tempted to completely cover everything so as to avoid clogging up details. More coats will come later.
2. Finish priming with a hand coat of the same colour paint as the spray. I call this a 'smoosh coat'. If for example your spray primer is black, then take a pot of the same black paint and heavily water it down. 4:1 water to paint is usually good. And use this to 'smoosh" into the crevasses that you missed. I recommend black undercoat for beginners as this takes care of most shadows for you. Advanced painters do cascading shades of grey, following an imaginary light source, but thats more important for competitions.
3. Paint the model in sub assemblies if you are willing. Have the model in 2 or 3 sub assemblies to help you avoid unreachable areas (like behind shields etc). Tac them to a cork or old paint pot and hold the model by the pot. This avoids fingerprints and accidental smudging.
4. When painting, its always best to paint in multiple small coats. Most acryllics can be thinned down 1 or 1 and a half paint to 1 water. Slightly thicker than milk is good for a beginner. As the paint dries, the medium is evaporating, allowing the pigments to settle and stick. They still obey gravity. Thick coats will gather in details and hide them. Thick paint is also hard to paint over if you make a mistake. Thick coats feel faster in the short run, but the overall time spent painting will catch up and ruin your fun.
5. Be patient, have fun with it. If you do multiple small coats you can gently wipe off mistakes with a cotton tip while its wet, or wait for it to dry and just paint over it. Do it while listening to an audiobook, watching a Crit Role or Acq Inc stream, or a TV show you've watched before so that you don't feel the need to destract yourself with another visual stimulus.
6. A nice warm light is best to paint under. In long painting stints it's gentler on the eyes. Some painters militantly say you should only paint in sunlight or under white light indoors so that your colours remain true. This is actually a myth. Your eyes will naturally adjust anyway.
7. Work in steps. Inside-Out. Skin/Cloth/Armour/held items/details last (rings, jewelery, etc)
8. Finally: have multiple washing pots for paint. I use 4. 1 for non metallic washing + 1 for rinsing and the same again for Metallic paints. Keep these seperate. There's nothing worse than having metallic paint fleks ruining a wizards robe you just spent the last hour carefully painting.
Agree, Citadel are good, you can also try Vallejo. Citadel has a confusing colour range for outside of their painting guides
A have also heard that the tiniest drop of Windex (window cleaner in australia) can really help with making your paints spread evenly and not 'pool' and dry in splotches.
Another tip: if you want to make your color darker, do not add black. This will just make the color muddy. Add a darker shade of the color you are using.
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I have been learning and practicing painting miniatures for about a year now and almost every time I am buying new paints someone will enquire about what I am painting. In the conversation the person always bring up thinning paints. My question is not if I should or should not but, how do you thin your paints; all examples are welcome?
Well it depends on the type of paint really.If you re using acrylic paints you should use water and for enamel which are oil based you will need paint thinner.It's also a matter of preference,i use enamel paints mostly and i tend to thin always,but some acrylic ones i tried were fine out of the box so to speak.I like my paint thin cause its easier to control and flows better on the minis.Just try different ones and find what works best for you.I hope i helped!!!
I use Citadel paints, water seems to work just fine to thin them.
What about primer paint, Is that something you should thin? I use Vallejo surface primer, it states that its acrylic-polyurethane.
Are you airbrushing the primer?
Its designed to be used without any thinner at all. If I am base coating an entire army I tend to mix a small drop of drying retarder and one drop of flow aid into the mixer cup. This helps prevent the tip from drying up too quickly.
www.adampaints.net
Always thin your paints!
Paints are pigment + a medium.
That medium can be water based, oil based, alcohol based etc.
For acrylic paint (what is usually used for painting miniatures) it is water based, so you can thin it a bit with water.
You want the consistency of full fat milk.
You should always prime your miniatures - spray paint is good but don't use gloss spray or filling primer to prime.
Prime in grey or black - black is better if you have a lot of metal or the model is naturally dark, grey I'd better if you're doing lighter colours.
If you want to get fancy prime black and then spray from above with grey so that the model is artificially highlighted.
For paints I REALLY reccommre Games workshop- they aren't the cheapest but are good quality, last a long time and more importantly are easy to get since GW is everywhere.
If you're a total painting newbie get yourself a couple of their BASE paints and some agrax earthshade wash.
The base paint requires less coats to get opaque coverage. The wash is like a thinned brown/black ink that flows into the recesses and gives the impression of Shadows and depth. Agrax earthshade is fondly called 'liquid talent' by miniature painters!
Games workshop have excellent videos, there's tonnes of videos and tutorials online.
If you want miniatures to practice on mantic or warlord are cheapish. GW are quite expensive. People may suggest reaper bones but they are flexible so I'm not sure if the paint would flake off so I'd stick with plastic miniatures.
If you have a friendly local gaming store (GW or independent) they are usually happy to show newbies how to Paint.
I've been doing minis for 23+ years if you have any questions feel free to message me or ask here
Southampton Guild of Roleplayers
My YouTube (C&C Welcome!)
As the above post. I've painted minis for 10-15 years on and off.
Acryllics are best for your plastic/resin/metal miniatures. You can use water which is just fine. For best results you can buy the medium from the same paint company seperately, but this gets expensive and is usually only worth it for competitions.
There are a few steps that you should always follow militantly as it helps you avoid mistakes in the long run.
1. Always prime your models. Use a light acryllic based spray paint. Spray in bursts and allow a couple of light coats. Don't be tempted to completely cover everything so as to avoid clogging up details. More coats will come later.
2. Finish priming with a hand coat of the same colour paint as the spray. I call this a 'smoosh coat'. If for example your spray primer is black, then take a pot of the same black paint and heavily water it down. 4:1 water to paint is usually good. And use this to 'smoosh" into the crevasses that you missed. I recommend black undercoat for beginners as this takes care of most shadows for you. Advanced painters do cascading shades of grey, following an imaginary light source, but thats more important for competitions.
3. Paint the model in sub assemblies if you are willing. Have the model in 2 or 3 sub assemblies to help you avoid unreachable areas (like behind shields etc). Tac them to a cork or old paint pot and hold the model by the pot. This avoids fingerprints and accidental smudging.
4. When painting, its always best to paint in multiple small coats. Most acryllics can be thinned down 1 or 1 and a half paint to 1 water. Slightly thicker than milk is good for a beginner. As the paint dries, the medium is evaporating, allowing the pigments to settle and stick. They still obey gravity. Thick coats will gather in details and hide them. Thick paint is also hard to paint over if you make a mistake. Thick coats feel faster in the short run, but the overall time spent painting will catch up and ruin your fun.
5. Be patient, have fun with it. If you do multiple small coats you can gently wipe off mistakes with a cotton tip while its wet, or wait for it to dry and just paint over it. Do it while listening to an audiobook, watching a Crit Role or Acq Inc stream, or a TV show you've watched before so that you don't feel the need to destract yourself with another visual stimulus.
6. A nice warm light is best to paint under. In long painting stints it's gentler on the eyes. Some painters militantly say you should only paint in sunlight or under white light indoors so that your colours remain true. This is actually a myth. Your eyes will naturally adjust anyway.
7. Work in steps. Inside-Out. Skin/Cloth/Armour/held items/details last (rings, jewelery, etc)
8. Finally: have multiple washing pots for paint. I use 4. 1 for non metallic washing + 1 for rinsing and the same again for Metallic paints. Keep these seperate. There's nothing worse than having metallic paint fleks ruining a wizards robe you just spent the last hour carefully painting.
Agree, Citadel are good, you can also try Vallejo. Citadel has a confusing colour range for outside of their painting guides
A have also heard that the tiniest drop of Windex (window cleaner in australia) can really help with making your paints spread evenly and not 'pool' and dry in splotches.
Another tip: if you want to make your color darker, do not add black. This will just make the color muddy. Add a darker shade of the color you are using.