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I didn't know where to stick this so I stuck it here. If a mod feels it needs to be moved or something could you please.

Lately I have been using some of GW's new paints and personally I think that they are highley inadequate. The lids don't stay open. Some of the paints are more like washes and generallly I much preferred the old paints. I felt that one person such as myself (especially since I live in New Zealand) would not do anything. So first I would like to know if other people feel the same way about the new paints and second I wanted to see if we could get enough support to change it back to the old way.

I may be just whining and if you like the new paints please state why.

I am finding the not stay open annoying too...not only does it make it hard for me to get the paint out, it also makes me sometimes forget that the pots open in the first place, resulting in some poor paints out to dry.

Hmm, I thought that mine were defective. I guess that they aren't. I got the starter paint set that GW has out right now(a group of base paints, a brush, sand, staticgrass(freaking useless if you ask me. I don't own a static applicator) and sprue clippers.) Anyway, some of the paints, like the black, have a little tab in the back that clicks when the pot is open, and keeps it open. I was saddened to discover though that the colored paints don't have this tab, so they don't stay open.

Also, my black suffered a catastrophic failure, and now looks really messy. (Somehow the paint leaked off of the lid spout onto the rim, rather than back into the hole, and when I closed it it leaked out.

Now, this being said, I like the new pots(minus the fact that they tend to be easier to open with my mouth than with my thumbs) especially because they seal nicely, and I haven't had any problem with dried paint.


Here is my experience with the Citadel paint pots
Old twist top paints: Sealed adequately. Some drying out, not much. Lid can get fused closed and is a pain to open.
Recently modern flip tops: Sealed horribly. Easy to open, but suffered from paint drying out after a while.
Modern flip tops: Hard to open. Some don't stay open, but some do. Seals the best out of all of them. Can dribble onto the rim.

I switched to Vallejo.

No more problems. Cheaper, too.

I don't normally shop at the GW anyway.

Fun Fact: Vallejo is almost 1/2 the price per ml.

The weird thing is the Citadel washes have a tab that keeps them open. I have no idea why said tab isn't there on regular Citadel paints considering they use the same pot.

GW has IMO gone from failure to failure since they first decided to change the paint pot design.

The height of their stupidity has been the decision to eliminate the "click feature" of the lids.

My solution has been to buy a big batch of 15 ml plastic eye dropper bottles on Ebay and not be bothered by GWs attempts at wilfully annoying us at all.

The foundations paints, I bought directly at a shop all have the small plastic part that keeps the lid open - the foundation paints in the mega paintset (got from my GF for christmas) doesn't - that alone is an epic fail.
Additionally there are several paints in the case(bleached bone e.g.) that are closed so tight, that if you try to open them, instead of opening the lid, the whole top pops off.
With the paints that do have the possibility for the open lid, you have to be careful to clean off all paint that might go into the lip of the lid immediately after opening, otherwise you will will have
a) a big mess
b)loss of paint due to drying out in the lip
c)the lid won't seal as good as it's supposed to since there is paint inside the seal.

I moved over to Vallejo a few years back (except for some foundations and the washes) - but the GF wanted to do me a favour and didn't know about the GW colours - oh well I kept the set since she was so happy about getting one.

1.) Some paints are like washes because they ARE washes (and good ones!)
2.) The lid of the new paints is NOT supposed to stay open, because then the paint runs down the outside of the pot (and the paint dries out).
3.) Because customers mistook the lid pin as a device to keep the lid open (instead of a stopper to keep it half shut!), it was omitted from the new pots.
4.) GW wants customers to take the paint to a palette and work from there. This is taught in GW's painting workshops and test paintings.
5.) Personally I also prefer the previous Citadel pots.

A friend of mine has a small art shop that stocks citadels range of paints and some figures, and she mentioned to me that the citadel paints are sent from the same address as one of her other ranges of artists paints.
Apparently they all come from this company http://www.winsornewton.com/main.aspx?PageID=100 with the colour range here http://www.winsornewton.com/products.aspx?PageID=154
I would guess the paints are available in different pots (and probably for less) if you go direct?
And yeah, the new pots can be annoying.

I complained in my local gw store about the new pots not staying open and was told it was done on purpose because of a lot of complaints about the paint running down the back of the paint pot when open so i've started pouring it on to a pallet while painting. I think the new pot's are ok as i can find the colour i want a lot quicker in my box.

I always transfer my paint to my pallete, as i want to water it down. So i have no problem with the lids not staying open.

The only downside is that i dont think the new pots will be as good at taking a lump of blue tack on top to aid in holding a model as they are that little bit smaller.

So if they want painters to seriously use a palette then they should just ditch the whole pop top design and create there own dropper bottles. I use Reaper, vallejo and GW paints and the new bottles are insanely annoying. I also don't always need to put my paint onto a palette which is why I do like the old bottles. How about doing what reaper does and have two types of caps? a simple screw on one for bottles with the droppers removed and the one for the dropper caps so you can choose how you want to dispense? Just a thought

I was also annoyed when the new bottles came out. I asked my GW manager (who I have to admit is a nice guy and I do actually like), and he gave me the stock "use a palette" answer. I was not happy.

Daedricbob wrote:A friend of mine has a small art shop that stocks citadels range of paints and some figures, and she mentioned to me that the citadel paints are sent from the same address as one of her other ranges of artists paints.
Apparently they all come from this company http://www.winsornewton.com/main.aspx?PageID=100 with the colour range here http://www.winsornewton.com/products.aspx?PageID=154
I would guess the paints are available in different pots (and probably for less) if you go direct?
And yeah, the new pots can be annoying.

Interesting, I wonder if they make the GW brushes too? I think Michael's sells Galeria brushes for ~3.50 each.

Galleria paints look to run 3.50 to 20$ for a 60ml tube. Decent price, especially if you don't need the expensive colors. They don;t seem to sell galeria paints in pots outside of GW though, it all comes in tubes. Of course, I bought my own pots for pre mixing/thinning colors in already (these would be the kind that won't stay shut after a while, but also the kind that cost a $1 for a 12 pack), easy enough to just squeeze a bit off, and if you buy the pots separate from the paint, your pot will always be the kind you like.

I'd also point out that you can get acrylic paints dirt cheap in general. I've got three different kinds of red I'm going to try out next to a Mechrite red next time I get a chance to paint. All three cost less than a dollar an ounce.

I am sort of torn on the topic of the new pots. On the one hand I like how they stay down so the paint pores down into the pot, but I don't like how this makes them look closed. My first pot of this kind damn near dried out because of that. I also think these look more attractive then last time, more colourful

Got me some new paints the other day and think there the new version with clear plastic and not the normal black tops.

Only thing i don't like so far is the lid and when trying to open it i have to make sure i don't rip the whole top off with it :(

Out of interest, why do some not use a palette, do you guys just paint direct from the pot, not watering down at all? I always just take paint out with the brush, onto the palette, then close the pot.

Whoopty wrote:Out of interest, why do some not use a palette, do you guys just paint direct from the pot, not watering down at all? I always just take paint out with the brush, onto the palette, then close the pot.

I paint in either an airconditioned room, or a hot but dry day. When I put paint on a tablet, it lasts about two minutes before it dries completely.

Is there any way to prevent this? I've tried watering down.

At last someone who shares my issues

okay, so, No.1 why are your paint pots open? Don't do that, it dries your paints out waaaaaaaaayyyyyyy faster and makes them useless. Use a palette.

I do agree though, im not entirely keen on the new pots. I hate the wash pots thoroughly because all the washes are dark and you cant make out whats inside. Then there is the whole thing about the fact that the old pots were re-usable after they were emptied. It took effort, but I'd done some nifty things with the left-over pots.

They also don't seem to hold as much as the old ones did! The only convenience they provide is seeing the color from the top, but i'd also like to see it from the side! >=/ Lets not forget that GW paints are still overpriced as compared to a few other manufacturers i've seen, and those mft's have three times the number of colors!

Foxtale wrote:

Whoopty wrote:Out of interest, why do some not use a palette, do you guys just paint direct from the pot, not watering down at all? I always just take paint out with the brush, onto the palette, then close the pot.

I paint in either an airconditioned room, or a hot but dry day. When I put paint on a tablet, it lasts about two minutes before it dries completely.

Is there any way to prevent this? I've tried watering down.

Use a wet palette.

A wet palette? Like mixing paints on damp cloth or something?

I don't understand the reference.

ChrisWWII wrote:I am finding the not stay open annoying too...not only does it make it hard for me to get the paint out, it also makes me sometimes forget that the pots open in the first place, resulting in some poor paints out to dry.

This is something i've noticed too and even though i spent a bunch of money on GW paints i'm actually looking at going vallejo. I bought a bottle of vallejo copper and i love the dropper bottle. My problem is the store is having big problems getting more vallejo.

Formula P3 Wet Palette

Last time I checked, you can get it here: https://store.privateerpress.com/index.asp

Thier paints , tools, and glue arn't bad either.

Foxtale wrote:A wet palette? Like mixing paints on damp cloth or something?

I don't understand the reference.

Quick home made wet palette.

- The lid of some tupperware.
- A few pieces of tissue paper.
- Soak the tissue paper.
- Pour out any excess water.
- Put a piece of parchment paper (like used in an oven or between sandwiches) over the wet tissue paper.
- Mix paint on parchement paper.

I HATE THE NEW paint POTS
they dont stay open, they are hard to open, and hard to close

For keeping the paint from drying out i give the pots 8/10 for staying open i give them 1/10!
the foundation and wash pots have tabs to keep them open, excellent! no drying paint either.
tbh the black flip tops and the screw top bolt shell types were a BIG mistake from GW they dry way to easy.
bring back the old 100ml round soft flips or even the hex ones! they keep my paints from the 90's lovely and there's no sign of drying out!

Steelmage99 wrote:

Foxtale wrote:A wet palette? Like mixing paints on damp cloth or something?

I don't understand the reference.

Quick home made wet palette.

- The lid of some tupperware.
- A few pieces of tissue paper.
- Soak the tissue paper.
- Pour out any excess water.
- Put a piece of parchment paper (like used in an oven or between sandwiches) over the wet tissue paper.
- Mix paint on parchement paper.

Exactly. The only problem is finding the correct parchment paper to use. Other wise it doesnt stay moist, so some trial and error might happen but I paint with super cheap Americana paint(its annoying sometimes as far as how the paint looks, but it does look pretty decent and is cheap) and that stuff will stay for awhile in a wet palette. Without one, shoot, a blob will dry up in a few minutes.

Really dislike the lid on the new pots. I understand why they made the change so they don't stay open but I hate them for it. If I want to paint out of the pot lid or use one hand to take paint out of my pot then let me. If the pot looks closed it should be closed.