Cheapest place to buy mini paints?

[Kalidane]

That sucks given the parent company is just next door!

Haven't done any comparison pricing in a while but Dick Blick may be the place to get them if ordering from the US, although I'd imagine they'd be cheaper from Oz. Once it's back up, the suppliers' page on the Chroma website is here.

Einion

Well by jingos!

If I assume shipping from Dick Blick is of equal cost to 20 paints, and free shipping from Oz, then I am ambivalent.

However neither condition will be met and it is cheaper for me to buy Aussie product from remote US :head explodes:

I see now why my stores are filled with Atelier paints too.

Top info thanks dude

 

[Jbickley00]

I love th logic of pricing and shipping. The flgs here sells gw at a 20 percent markup over retail, and justifie this because noody buys gw. Why would I buy local under these conditions when 1 ther is a gw store across town, and 2 gw offers free shipping on order over 50 bucks? The logic of business is not always logical.

 

[Flow]

I just (re)started this hobby about four weeks ago after a thirty year hiatus - I just went with the cheapest set on Amazon, and bought the Liquitex "Basic" acrylic set. Has anyone had any experience with this brand?

http://www.amazon.com/Liquitex-Assorted-22-milliliter-Acrylic-48-Pack/dp/B00251I66C/

Massively less expensive than the hobby brands, and it does need a lot of thinning. However, for my "I'm just struggling to learn" purposes, it seems to really do the job. It actually feels like reasonably good paint - but admittedly my experience is very limited and I have no good basis for comparison. The fact that it is also 48 colors is a bonus - there's a lot to play around with, for cheap.

It feels like, if you are in the learning phase (as I am), then it's probably best to practice with the less expensive stuff.

 

[Bloodhowl]

Has anyone had any experience with this brand?

I've used their inks, matte medium, flow aid/improver and glaze medium. They are good. I have a few of their acrylic paints as well and have had no issues with them.

 

[laurence]

It's a tough one buying mini paints on the internet. Unfortunately you'll unavoidably get slugged extortionately steep shipping costs! I bought 9 bottles of "Foundry" paints (great paints!) from "TheWarStore.com" a few years back and the shipping (to Taiwan) exceeded the actual price of the paints purchased! Crazy!!! I'm not sure where you live, however I'd recommend you make a trip to a shop that sells mini paints and stock up while there. This site may be worth checking out - although I've never bought anything from CMoN - it may be worth it? Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[Bloodhowl]

It's a tough one buying mini paints on the internet. Unfortunately you'll unavoidably get slugged extortionately steep shipping costs! I bought 9 bottles of "Foundry" paints (great paints!) from "TheWarStore.com" a few years back and the shipping (to Taiwan) exceeded the actual price of the paints purchased! Crazy!!! I'm not sure where you live, however I'd recommend you make a trip to a shop that sells mini paints and stock up while there. This site may be worth checking out - although I've never bought anything from CMoN - it may be worth it? Sorry I can't be of more help.

International shipping will kill you most every time.

 

[me_in_japan]

I used to use Maelstrom Games, but not any more (for obvious reasons of them being a) run by a very dodgy chap and b) them being bankrupt) but a site called firestorm games (http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/) was recommended to me by Freakinacage. They do free international shipping if you spend over 30quid, which in this hobby ain't hard. I haven't used them myself yet, but next time I'm buying, it'll likely be from them (living in Japan means that wherever I buy from, I'm always "rest of world" so free shipping is the magic line that always makes me perk up my ears and listen. Or read, as the case may be )

 

[laurence]

... a site called firestorm games (http://www.firestormgames.co.uk/) was recommended to me by Freakinacage. They do free international shipping if you spend over 30quid, which in this hobby ain't hard.

Thanks for sharing this link! This looks like the key to avoiding exorbitant international shipping costs. Also, I went and checked out their website and they seem to be WELL stocked! Thx

 

[me_in_japan]

My pleasure, but thank Freakinacage, not me - it was him that told me about the site a coupla days ago. As I say, I haven't used them myself, yet, so I'm interested to see how they perform best of luck

 

[Einion]

I just (re)started this hobby about four weeks ago after a thirty year hiatus - I just went with the cheapest set on Amazon, and bought the Liquitex "Basic" acrylic set. Has anyone had any experience with this brand?

Liquitex are hugely famous, and rightly so for they were one of the pioneers of acrylics for artists.

That said even their artists' acrylics aren't the best quality by today's standards (not an opinion). The Basics line specifically are what you should expect from the name - a lower-cost student paint range - and the quality is consistent with that.

This doesn't mean they're not usable, cheap craft paints that any Michael's stocks can be used to paint to quite a high standard. But there are some specific reasons you might want to steer more towards other paints for miniatures, simply for their superior performance; once you've compared better paints to one or two of the Basics colours you'll immediately see just how much more you're getting for the money.

Einion

 

[Flow]

But there are some specific reasons you might want to steer more towards other paints for miniatures, simply for their superior performance; once you've compared better paints to one or two of the Basics colours you'll immediately see just how much more you're getting for the money.

This is what I was suspecting. They do seem to be "working", but I do not have a good basis for comparison. I'm looking forward to trying one of the more higher performance paints. I'll probably 'snap' some time in the coming months (do hobby paints ever have a 'Christmas' sale?) and get an upgrade.

 

[Bloodhowl]

This is what I was suspecting. They do seem to be "working", but I do not have a good basis for comparison. I'm looking forward to trying one of the more higher performance paints. I'll probably 'snap' some time in the coming months (do hobby paints ever have a 'Christmas' sale?) and get an upgrade.

Yes. Usually a few online stores in the US run specials for Black Friday and around Christmas. This may or may not be an option for you if you live outside the US, depending on shipping rates.

 

[Flow]

Yes. Usually a few online stores in the US run specials for Black Friday and around Christmas. This may or may not be an option for you if you live outside the US, depending on shipping rates.

Then I'm going to be doing some shopping, I believe! I'm near Los Angeles, so shipping thankfully isn't much of a problem.

 

[Einion]

Are you going to be looking for paints more like these or just plump for miniature paints? If it's the former then the thing to look for are matt acrylics; there are a few available but one of the easiest to find are the aforementioned Jo Sonjas.

BTW in case you're not already doing this I suggest you adopt a double-bath rinsing system, helps keep your brushes cleaner for longer; I also highly recommend making up a stay-wet palette (or more than one, they're very cheap to cobble together), you won't waste nearly as much paint using one of those and it makes on-the-spot mixes a far more practical proposition.

Einion

 

[Flow]

Are you going to be looking for paints more like these or just plump for miniature paints? If it's the former then the thing to look for are matt acrylics; there are a few available but one of the easiest to find are the aforementioned Jo Sonjas.

Probably more the former. A bit of both? I'll put it this way - in time, I would like to learn how to do this well enough that I can paint/adapt miniatures suitable for display. This will take a lot of practice, but it seems reasonable that I should obtain paints with higher performance than my Liquitex Basics.

I'll look out for those Jo Sonjas. I admit that I'm partial to the idea of being able to buy an entire paintset full of colors rather than assembling single purchases (maybe this is lazy of me), so I can't help but be drawn to the VGC paint set.

BTW in case you're not already doing this I suggest you adopt a double-bath rinsing system, helps keep your brushes cleaner for longer; I also highly recommend making up a stay-wet palette (or more than one, they're very cheap to cobble together), you won't waste nearly as much paint using one of those and it makes on-the-spot mixes a far more practical proposition.

Is a double bath system simply rinsing your brush out, drying it, then rinsing and drying again? If so, typically I am doing that (I will up that to "always"). I learned a lesson recently in that I didn't properly clean one brush and it is now permanently a little green. :doh!:

I have read a little about wet palettes and I think this is a suggestion I should follow. I found a nice little tutorial here (about half way into the page):

http://www.how-to-paint-miniatures.com/miniature_painting_blending.html

Since this current paint set only cost $35 or so, I haven't really worried about wasting paint. I can see how a wet palette would become very useful when using more expensive paint sets!

Thank you for the good advice! I'll be frank in that this seems like one of the most helpful forums on any subject matter that I've ever bumped into throughout my experience with the internet.

 

[Bloodhowl]

Speaking of Black Friday:

http://www.thewarstore.com/?utm_sou...,+Infinity,+Games+Workshop,+Dystopian+Legions

The WarStore.com just announced their Black Friday sale is approaching!

 

[Einion]

Is a double bath system simply rinsing your brush out, drying it, then rinsing and drying again?

Not just that - two water jars. The first jar, which can be the larger of the two, is for cleaning the bulk of the paint from the brush. The second jar is for cleaning the dirty water out; it's quite surprising how much difference this can make. Since the second jar will stay clean for a long time it also gives you permanent access to clean water for diluting.

It's also a good idea to have some dishwashing liquid in one or both jars (the first mainly).

I learned a lesson recently in that I didn't properly clean one brush and it is now permanently a little green. :doh!:

That is actually sometimes inevitable - the particle size for some pigments is incredibly small, tiny enough that it can go into pores or imperfections on the surface of brush hairs and permanently stain them. It's most common to see brushes tinged blue or green since the commonest pigments that can do this are phthalo blues and greens.

I'll be frank in that this seems like one of the most helpful forums on any subject matter that I've ever bumped into throughout my experience with the internet.

Go us

Einion

 

[Flow]

This likely isn't part of the War Store's black Friday, but it still looks pretty good:

http://www.thewarstore.com/product67588.html

I've spent sometime reading through the various argument threads about paint and P3 seems to be pretty consistently popular. Not a bad price either. I'm thinking I'll wait a few days and see what they do with the black Friday sale before settling on an upgrade.

 

[Bloodhowl]

This likely isn't part of the War Store's black Friday, but it still looks pretty good:

http://www.thewarstore.com/product67588.html

I've spent sometime reading through the various argument threads about paint and P3 seems to be pretty consistently popular. Not a bad price either. I'm thinking I'll wait a few days and see what they do with the black Friday sale before settling on an upgrade.

It may not specifically go on sale, but often times there is a discount code that can be applied to any purchase at checkout. If they send me a discount code, I'll post it.

 

[amrogers3]

It may not specifically go on sale, but often times there is a discount code that can be applied to any purchase at checkout. If they send me a discount code, I'll post it.

Thank you!