How to... ( miniatures)?

[ledded]

Buy quality materials - it will make your painting much easier, Vallejo paint and Windsor & Newton series 7 brushes.

Vallejo is cheaper and nicer than GW paint and packaged most conveniently. They have over 200 colors to choose from and are available on a lot of places on the web and in stores.

Windsor & Newton brushes are outrageously expensive to buy, but many of mine are five years old or older. There is no finer brush.

I have to agree here with pogre. I've went through numerous brushes while the one Windsor I own is still ticking, though I take care of it like it's made of glass because it was so darn expensive.

And Vallejo paints are the best I've used so far. You can get away with the 0.50 cent craft paints, but they are really too thick and have too little pigment to do really nice work. I use 'em for terrain work, but for minis Vallejo I've found to be my favorite. It comes in a very convenient eye-dropper bottle that doesnt leak or spew if it's knocked over accidentally, it's not too thick, and it has a considerable amount of finer pigment than many others (so it will paint faster, thinner, and look better). GW/Citadel are decent paints, but the old bottle styles are very frustrating after using them for a while, and they are overpriced. Reaper paints are pretty good, and a much better buy (you get more paint for less money and it's of a comparable quality to the GW stuff).

The vallejo stuff is just very good for the price, the bottles are a joy to work with, and they have an insane amount of color selection (plus some different starter kits to help you figure out what you might need).

 

[pogre]

Pogre,

I'm just curious. All the responses that you recieved came from one side. Did you also email or recieve responses from common craft paint companies (Apple Barrel, Americana, etc.)?

Completely one-sided. I encourage you to try the test the Vallejo distributor challenged me to. If you find a brand of craft paint you like a lot - don't hold back - let us know. I have come off as a bit snobby on this thread at times, but I want you to know I am totally open to trying new products.

Well, maybe not totally open as I just bought the ENTIRE Vallejo line.

I started messing with some oils for painting faces. So far my acrylic stuff looks a lot better. Military model painters swear by oils, but I think they come from an era when decent acrylics were not available. The hassle and learning curve probably are not worth it for me.

For you Vallejo enthusiasts here is a web article by Mario Fuentes I found helpful.

Take care and enjoy your painting!