Acrylic paints

[Stuntylover]

When I use acrylics it is always on 28mm pieces from Games Workshop and I use Citadel paints, the in-house brand. Has anyone any experience of using artists\' acrylics which come in larger tubes; do they perform differently than Citadel and what difference in technique may I have to get used to? Anyone have any references to using artists\' acrylics?

 

[Ogrebane]

Ive used them and didnt like them much. They dont \"stick\" to the mini as well imho. I know alot of people on this site use them alot tho. I use them exclusively on scenery tho.

 

[green stuff]

What Ogrebane said, word for word.

 

[Modderrhu]

I haven\'t used them myself, but from what others have said; they have less pigment in them, and the pigment is coarser. People use them for terrain, since for that purpose, they\'re much more economical and the poorer coverage and coarser grain do not affect the work.

Having said that, there was someone on these forums who painted a mini with model acrylics, and then an identical mini with craft acrylics, matching colours as best he could. The results were almost indistinguishable.

 

[DrEvilmonki]

Ditto to ogrebane. I have tried three different brands and prices brackets in the artist acrylic paints. Found nine which I could use. Tried thinners; tried ffw and tried extenders. Nothing seemed to make them any where near as managable as miniature specific paints.

 

[Einion]

Almost all of the paint on the figures in my gallery is various types of artists\' acrylics :flip:

If you buy good brands the pigment particles will not be noticeably coarser than in hobby paints (sometimes the reverse!) but some of the above is right on the money. As a rule hobby \'acrylics\' are actually vinyl paints and vinyl tends to have noticeably better adhesion than true acrylic, although over a good primer this is much less of an issue if you intend to handle your figures to any degree then bear it in mind.

In general you\'ll find that coverage is not as good as you\'re used to because paints will be manufactured to show off the natural character of the individual pigments - some of which are very transparent - unlike paint like Vallejo Model Colour which may have added opacifiers to help even up the coverage across the range.

You\'ll also find that artists\' acrylics in tubes are usually a fairly heavy consistency - nearly that of toothpaste in some cases - so you\'d have to get used to reducing the viscosity of your paints somehow and using an old brush for this and for mixing just wouldn\'t be practical, as it can be with a fluid paint.

Coupled with all this there tends to be a small variation in surface finish, even for a range made to dry fairly uniformly, and the normal finish for tube acrylics is satin or semi-gloss anyway. So you will have to use a matt overcoat of some kind at some stage. On the other hand these sorts of natural variations can be useful if you\'re seeking to replicate a range of sheens - matt for cloth, a slight sheen on skin and a semi-gloss on leather and so on - although you can do all of this manually after you\'ve sprayed a mini with Dullcoat if you wanted to. Since many minis are intended to have a uniform matt finish it\'s probably a better idea to stick to a paint that naturally dries that way.

Despite all this if you did want to try something different to Vallejo, Andrea, Citadel or one of the other mini paints consider Jo Sonja\'s Artists\' Colours, they\'ll sure work out cheaper I can guarantee that! The Wolfen in my gallery is mostly painted in these and almost all of the fantasy minis I\'ll be submitting in future will be too.

Einion

 

[Stuntylover]

Thanks everyone. I have decided to stay with Citadel as the adjustment to artists\' acrylics seems too great. I see Einion is the only poster who uses \"alternatives\" but he could paint with alcopops and it would still look good. Thanks for the detailed advice, Einion.

 

[cookster]

I\'ve tried and wondered the same thing to. The hobby paints seem to stick so much better?!?!?

 

[Shawn R. L.]

\'Artist\'s\' paints is almost all that I use and have had good luck with them. As to the \'sticking on\' issue, I have no problem. Just prime them in a FLAT primer.

I have been doing a mini lately with a quick drying artist\'s oil called alykid by Windsor Newton. Good all the way around. Has a working time of around 30 minuets and dries completely overnite since on a mini the paint is so thin. On canvas, used much thicker the workable time would be, probably, hours. I think oil paint tends to dry harder and thus not rub off as easily.

 

[Stuntylover]

Originally posted by Shawn R. L.

I have been doing a mini lately with a quick drying artist\'s oil called alykid by Windsor Newton. Good all the way around. Has a working time of around 30 minuets and dries completely overnite since on a mini the paint is so thin. On canvas, used much thicker the workable time would be, probably, hours. I think oil paint tends to dry harder and thus not rub off as easily.

Now there\'s a thought. I paint a lot of minis with straightforward oil paints but have never tried Alkyds. Are they as easy to blend as full-blown oils? If they give 30 minutes working time I guess they must be much more blendable than acrylics. I\'ll go to my art shop and look them up. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Stuntylover
...but he could paint with alcopops and it would still look good. Thanks for the detailed advice, Einion.

lol Thanks.

Originally posted by cookster
I\'ve tried and wondered the same thing to. The hobby paints seem to stick so much better?!?!?

Generally that\'s true, yes.


About alkyds, there is a problem with them in that their pigmentation is lower than equivalent oil paints, because the binder can\'t hold as much pigment, so they can be quite transparent. On the other hand if you want them for this exact characteristic (which is how I use them most of the time) this is great, and the faster drying time compared with true oil paint is a great bonus.

Einion

 

[cookster]

Maybe, just maybe, if i gesso\'d the mini...