Returning to the hobby and need some new supplies advice, please.

[chrismisterx]

Hi all, been painting off and on but the last break was an extended one. I moved house and had nowhere at all to paint, but now I have a new flat and have my own little man space to call my own, so time to jump back in and see if these old eyes of mine still work.

Long story short, after unpacking my supplies I have found a large part of them are in a state, I have the complete range of VMC and GW paints and well over 50% of each range look like they are done for, a few more look like with a lot of work might be saved, even my glues have gone off!

Brushes have seen better days too, to be fair before I packed them away they were looking old, it was the master paint brush set that was released around 2007 iirc from GW.

So I want to get back into painting, not for armies like I did in the past, but to push my skill levels and to helpful learn a few things from the amazing artist that are around these days, seems skill level is much much higher than the last time I did any painting, blows my mind the skill people have.

With that in mind and the fact my supplies are well past their sell by date, what would you guys recommend for paints and brushes? I live in the UK and don’t have an unlimited budget but I don’t mind paying for something that’s worth it, so i am open to advice on what to get, seems a lot more choice now than before, so any advice on what paints and brushes to replace my old set up would be fantastic, thanks for any help.

 

[MAXXxxx]

brushes: WnN7 (normal) in sizes 0 and 2 , maybe a WnN7 (mini) in size 0 or 00, some cheap DIY store brush set (something along 1GBP for 10+ brush set) for rough work.

paint: I'd say skip buying ranges, and buy 20 colors at most, that you might use in your first project, then expand from there as needed. Manufacturer is irrelevant as you should mix them. That said a few favorites of mine: VMC-Ivory, VMC-Buff, VAC-White, VAC-Black, VAC-DarkSeaBlue, P3- Ryn flesh, P3 Midlund flesh, VAC-BlackMetal, VAC-Gunmetal, Scale75 colors, Tamiya Clears especially the red(for blood effects and candycoats)) and the smoke(oil, dirt), AP-DarkToneInk, AP-StrongToneInk, AP-RedToneInk, VGC-VioletInk, VGC-BlackGreenInk, VGC-HeavyWarmGrey

 

[chrismisterx]

Thank you for your reply MAXXxxx, will google for the brushes today.

As for the paints I notice you said Scale 75 colours, I just so happened on to there website from a google search, the colour range looks interesting as do some of the models, I think I will have to look in too that range a bit more, would you say the paints are easy to use for someone returning to the hobby, I have heard that some of the newer paints can have a bit of a learning curve to use well.

thanks agin for your insight, really helps to get others views,

cheers.

 

[MAXXxxx]

can't tell really. They need some time to get used to. They work for me personally, but may be weird for someone used to GW or VGC for example.
get one or two colors (afaik they have an us office too now, so shipping should be more manageable). If you like them, then plan getting more, if not, then simply forget.

 

[Gandalf the Grey]

Scale75 are not a beginners paint, so it depends on your level. You need to know what you are doing with glazing. They have a transparent quality to them. Although I don't have the metals, I know they are regarded as arguably the best in the business.
I have eight of the sets and they are my favourites, I also have Vallejo and GW.
Another new brand are Warcolours, you will see them discussed in this section of the form. Again, and very quickly, good paints but require getting used to. I have a handful of them and am slowly getting used to them. They do have a fantastic colour range and above all, they are very cheap to most brands, about 50%.

 

[poison_]

for paints this guy poison makes some really good paints apparently. Warcolours is the name:
www.warcolours.com

 

[Bailey03]

There are plenty of paint options out there (Vallejo, GW, P3, Reaper, Andrea, Scale75, etc) and all will work for you. It depends a bit on how you like to paint. Do you use a palette (like a wet palette) to mix colors on? If so, I'd lean more towards dropper bottles like Vallejo, Reaper, Andrea, or Scale75. If you like to just dip the brush in the pot and go, then GW and P3's paint pots will be more convenient.

I personally use a lot of Reaper colors, but I like the shades and ordering from them isn't too bad. However, they're US based so may not be the ideal choice for you. I'm also using more and more of the Scale75 paints. A lot of their stuff comes in sets of colors, but if you're trying to build up a paint collection that's not so bad. I definitely recommend their Metal 'n Alchemy sets. In my opinion they're the best acrylic metallics on the market. Their other colors are nice, but Vallejo or one of the other brands will work just as well. One important tip on the Scale75 ones... the bottles come sealed. There's a little divot in the top of the bottle, but no hole. Plenty of people don't realize this and squeeze until the whole top pops off. If you get some Scale75 paints, remember to poke a hole with a pin before you use them! The metallics also need a good deal of shaking between uses.

 

[Zab]

The metallics also need a good deal of shaking between uses.

F**k. Tell me about it.

 

[ten ball]

I hand a few scale 75 paints out to the family to have a shake before I start painting

 

[shaun5603]

I use scale colors and still getting past the learning curve. So i'll offer up some insight I have learned after switching over to them. I went ahead and picked up the their collection line and both metal boxes and inks. Plan on adding there new fanstay line when I return to the back to the states, as well as there new copper metal set.

By no means am I skilled painter I would say maybe avg. at best so, some of advice regarding scale colors might not apply to you or be common knowledge for more skilled painters out there.

Color range is vast and all the colors blend really well together I have found a use for just about every color that I own, highlight. Shade, wet blending ect. The colors are super mat finish which I personaly like, not fan over shiny stuff. If you not a fan of the mat look than you will have to spray them with something. I use them both in brush and airbrush, I still struggling with getting the proper thinning down for AB work, still in learning my AB. So I cant offer up advice on the AB side of things. The pigments are very thick you need to shake them more than other paints, I have tried dropping copper BBs to help it does but it can clog the nozzle. If you go pour out the paint and see a clear liquid first, go back to shaking them. They hold up well on wet plates and easy blend on it and dry plates as well. They tend to dry kinda of fast and will show brush strokes in most of their lighter colors. The offer up great coverages but really look their best when built over few coats. State side there on pricey side of things but worth the cost to me.

The metal colors like above posters said are outstanding and probably top ones on the market. Their super fine metal flakes wont gum up your brush or clog your AB. If you remember the old GW metals were you could see the flakes, you wont have any problem with their metal range. The offer traditional metal colors as well as others with metal finish, when blend and layer together they look amazing. Also if you able to do NMM painting they offer sets for that as well, I haven't tried yet but seen few results on youtube, they offer up some great teaching voids of their range. You wont be disappointed if you picked up a set of there metals.

The inks, these are very strong and take a little trial and error to get use to, they can boost the color or completely take it over and ruin the layering work you had done. They dry with slight shine to them, and if overdone will give a wet look. Less is more with them I have been fining out.

Hope that helps, I personally like scale colors and will continue to use them, but they are different to get use to and offer up a learning curve. But it forces you to learn so it's a trade off.

 

[chrismisterx]

Thank you so much for the replies, its very helpful indeed.

Until this week I never really thought about paints, sort of thinking there isnt much difference between the paints, but as soon as you start to look into it there seems to be as many views and thoughts on paint as there is models!

So brushes first, once I have them i will start messing around with my old paints to get used to using a brush again while I save up for some new paints and to be honest to give me a little more time to think about what paint to get, at the moment the scale 75 looks interesting, but also the VGC has had some good reviews and the new warcolous look worth a try, my painting skills I would say are just above newbie level when compared to the artists on here, but I feel I really want to push myself in painting and also thinking about sculpting but with that I have never done anything before, but its fun to learn new skills!

thanks for the advice all, really helpful.