Miniature Painting Supplies

[benhamtroll]

Well, I finally broke down and bought myself some 'decent' brushes for painting minis.

I got three Princeton synthetic miniature brushes:

a 20/0 spotter
a 3/0 spotter
a 2/0 shader

I've been playing with them a LITTLE, although my technique still need a bit of work.

I'm curious what kinds of brushes/paints people use. I'm currently using mainly the cheap acrylic craft paint you can get at any craft store. It comes in larger bottles, but it seems a bit thicker than, say, the GW paints. I find I need to thin it with Future floor polish and water, and then do multiple coats to get decent coverage. I've been interested in trying Vallejo colors, but I can't find anyplace local that sells them.

What's YOUR favorite paint?

 

[Telgian]

My mini painting isn't all that sophisticated.

A couple of brushes that are small enough (Loew-Cornell 0 liner, sable by the looks of it, gets the most use).

Metal primer from the local hardware store. (ie. self etching primer)

Testors paint, and paint thinner.
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I have never tried painting minis with acrylic. I assume that you are priming the minis first, yes?

Just remember not to dilute the acrylic paint too much, or you'll not have enough binder in it to hold the pigment. Or is that what the floor polish is for?

Are you spraying them afterwards to protect the paint?

Telgian.
(Now curious.)

 

[Drakmar]

I paint all of mine with GW acrlyic paints.. I prime them with GW undercoat.. and then I varnish them with GW matt varnish.

seems to work out well.

now.. the brushes I use are this nice trianglular shaped ones with really fine tips.. really easy to hold.. and because of the shape you can prevent the brush dying as quickly by rotating the brush every 10 strokes or so.

 

[benhamtroll]

Future Floor Polish

The Future was a trick I learned online. It's acrylic, so when you dilute it in some water, it helps thin paint while providing a good level of adhesion. It also provides a little weight, so that the paint can run into the cracks a little easier. It's great for washes.

The brushes I got have the shorter, bigger handles, so that they give you a more comfortable grip. Quite nice, although even at $5.00 a pop I want to be extra careful and make them last a long time. The brushes I REALLY want are about $15.00 a pop . . . (Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable miniatures . . . mmmm . . . sable . . .)

I'm working on another couple of minis tonight, and I'm trying a few new things. We'll see how they work.

 

[Tewligan]

I've been interested in trying Vallejo colors, but I can't find anyplace local that sells them

I've got a bunch of these coming for Christmas. They were ordered from www.hobbyworkshop.com . 20% off the price, and they got processed and shipped out pretty quickly. I think the shipping came out to be like $5, but I believe that it's free shipping if sent to a place of business - I could be wrong, though. Anyway, I'll be trying those paints out on Christmas day, I'm sure, so I'll post here with my 2 cents worth on how they compare to other paints.

 

[Gizzard]

I have a motley assortment of brushes; my favorite always was an ancient W&N Series 7 that I inherited somehow. I use it for 90% of the things that I do. Before I ever heard anyone recommend that type of brush, I just knew that I liked "my long black with the paint streaks on the handle" best of all. It held a perfect tip without me having to fool with it all the time and it held just the right amount of paint to work with.

For paints, I use GW Elf Flesh and Dwarf Flesh to mix up skin colors. The GW line has a lot of great colors, but their little jars are annoying. I also use Tamiya acrylics that I have leftover from model planes etc. All of my Orks are done with blended mixes of NATO Green and a bright GW yellow; I have had pretty good luck mixing the two types of paint together. My favorite black is actually a big tub of concentrated acrylic pigment I got a long long time ago at a craft store! It mixes down well and it coats nicely. I have some old Badger airbrush paints that I use like inks. I've bought 5 Vallejo's recently and hope to give them a spin soon.

Anyway, my point there is that there are a lot of acceptable paints on the market. Feel free to experiment. Some of the things I love the most (like that tub of black) are the results of experiments. OTOH, I've tossed all sorts of paints I experimented with and didnt like; be ruthless here. Its false economy to wreck a figure with junky paint because you cant admit that the paint sucks.

 

[pogre]

Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable miniatures

These are worth the money! If well cared for they should last you for a long time.

I love Vallejo paints, but I agree with the poster who stated there are lots of good choices.

Thin down those paints on a palette - it is the key to decent painting.

 

[benhamtroll]

Thinning

When you guys are thinning your paints, what kind of consistency are you going for? When they are thinned, how amny coats do you end up with for good coverage?

 

[Gizzard]

When they are thinned, how amny coats do you end up with for good coverage?

It depends on the color. Yellow, for instance, has horrible coverage, while Black is generally great. I thin down quite a bit; maybe 4 water: 1 paint for a wash (very thin) or 2:1 to 1:1 for regular coverage. (These are very rough figures, but the paint has to be smooth enough to flow off the brush like water would without spreading too wildly. I've heard it described as "the consistency of milk", which isnt far off.)

Anyway, I can get Black to cover in one coat over almost anything; I've built up 10 coats of Yellow over a white primer and still been dissatisfied.

But, to get really nice looking stuff you have to blend smoothly anyway, and that means multiple thin coats. Because of this, its kind of hard to talk about thinning and coverage as its constantly varying.

 

[Jshock_75]

Re: Thinning

When you guys are thinning your paints, what kind of consistency are you going for? When they are thinned, how amny coats do you end up with for good coverage?

I fear I must use dairy product analogies...

If the paint is to be used for normal painting, the consistancy should be arond the same as heavy cream (maybe even thicker; depends on how smooth a paint you can tolerate).

For washes, I thin down to the same consistancy as whole milk.