I have been painting miniatures for most of my life, at
least the last 30 years. In that time, I’ve had several different ‘paint
set-ups’, from my original red tool box, to a fancy desk-mounted drawer system.
Two years ago, we moved into a new house, and I got my little office. Although
it is a wonderful little space, and I’m grateful for it, it doesn’t have room
for a dedicated writing area and a dedicated painting area – my desk has to
serve for both. I soon realized that I would need a quick way to convert from
one to the other.
After much thought, I bought the above paint rack
(unfortunately, I can’t remember where from, though similar items are available
from many sources). It holds 40 Vallejo or Army Painter, dropper-bottle paints.
When I bought it, I set myself the goal to get my paints down to just 40. That
way, I could just move the computer off my desk, throw down a cloth, and move
my paint rack into position.
As you can see, I have never quite made it down to 40. I
have a couple of colours I use so frequently (black, grey, and the green I use for
bases) that I buy large acrylic paints. I also have a few washes and a gloss
varnish that I use so infrequently that I keep them underneath the other
paints. Still the system works.
I’ve been using this system for around two-years, and I’m
really happy with it. Yes, I work with a limited palette compared to most
figure painters, and much of it is brown and green (I love rangers!), but
rarely, if ever, do I feel like I need a colour that I don’t have. It is easy enough to mix up a new colour from
the ones I have available.
So, if you are just starting out on your own miniature
painting journey – don’t feel like you need to order a mega-paint set and have
every colour under the sun. You can achieve great results with a small, but
well-chosen selection, and this will make the care and upkeep of your painting
area, and your painting supplies, much, much easier!
Have used Vallejo and GW for quite a while but recently got back into using tube artist acrylics with which I started with 30 odd years ago - before that Humbrol enamels
ReplyDeleteOk, wait wait. I'm a novice painter at best; are you gentlemen saying ordinary acrylic paints are more than adequate? As in, large tube "craft store" or "dollar store" style paints that are usually marketed for kids' painting? Have I been wasting money all this time? May I ask for clarification please?
ReplyDeleteAs ever, the answer is "it depends" :D You'll need to modify your technique to adjust to craft paint having less pigment and different properties to miniature paint. However, they can be used to make bucketloads of wash on demand.
DeleteShort answer - yup, they work fine. Long answer - as Euan said, they don't have as much pigment, so it can be harder to get some bold colours - also they rub off a little easier so you'll want to finish with a strong varnish if you use them. These days, I only use them for terrain or for mixing, and for black because I use tons of black! (and yeah, good for making washes).
DeleteI do commission painting as a hobby and only use the craft paints. They are at their best with a good primer and varnish, the varnish is essential as Joe mentioned. There are differences in how the paints flow, color intensity, and pot-to-pot consistency between the craft stuff and the miniature name brands, but the ability to paint 5 to 10 times more minis per dollar off paint is worth it to me, and the occasional bad pot of paint just becomes a wash color.
DeleteOne other advantage with the craft stuff (anecdotal) is that in a couple hundred pots I've never had one seal poorly and dry out on me, whereas I've had several citadel and testors pots dry out due to bad seals.
There is a great youtube channel called Midwinter Minis, where they paint all of their models with a set of 14 paints. They've done all the Blackstone Fortress game, and finished effect looks pretty cool. For the change, the artist (Guy) doesn't display superhuman brush control or use advanced techniques.
ReplyDeleteAlways helpful to be tidy I just never am 🤭
ReplyDeleteI finally broke down and got one monster rack (120 capacity). For all that space I still have a couple boxes and paint set of related colours on hooks. Just any part of a hobby set up paint supply is an organic thing that grows with interests, and projects. I've always bought for projects but over many years the numbers still climb. Occasionally I'll pick up a set but it's usually focused on a technique or painting discipline I'm working at but for the most part I'm just trickling in a new colour or a replacement here or there; That still adds up though :D . I don't have a problem buying paints; Nice paint means nice models so it's not like rule sets or gaming accessories that I tend to balk at. I have a mountain of browns and creams. I think things really ramped up for painting requirements when I started into painting historicals.
ReplyDeleteThe way things used to be, before all the Citadel and Army Painter Paints, I used to manage with a dozen or so tubes of Windsor & Newton acrylics. Good to keep things simple for various reasons. Keep it up.
ReplyDelete