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Hey, for a while now I've been using GW paints, and overall I am only partially impressed with them.  After having taken some oil painting classes in college recently, I would really like to get my hands on some paints that will not dry nearly as fast- so I can have fun mixing them and getting a better blending effect going. 

What paints are the best for that?  Keep in mind I'm looking for something in a reasonable price range (like GW's, but most will say those are expensive too)

Thanks in advance!

A simple answer would be to buy either acrylic flow improver or acrylic retarder. Most artists' supply shops will sell it; and it can be combined with water-based acrylics to increases the flow of colour without altering the strength (in the case of the flow improver) or extend the drying time (in the case of retarder).

If you need some further encouragement  – how can you not love something called 'retarder'?

Vallejo brand acrilyic paints have thinners and flow extenders that you can purchase to do more of your blending tasks.  They work pretty well, are priced comparably with GW paints, and since they come in dropper bottles, you don't tend to waste as many of them, particularly if you use a small ceramic pallete for mixing or even a inexpensive commercial Wet Pallete.

Both the Game Color, Model Color, and Military Color sets can be bought here (bottom of the page)

http://thewarstore.net/

Game color will be the closest analogous to GW colors.  They even rip off the names.  I have mostly game color, with a smattering of Model Color mixed in as well. 

Vallejo is actually cheaper than GW's paints, as you get more per bottle (17ml compared to GW 12ml). In addition to their flow extenders, I suggest using "Magic Wash", which is a 50/50 mix of water and Future Floor Finish (or Kleer if you're in the UK), a liquid acrylic floor finish found in the mop/cleaning supplies aisle of your grocery store. Just add a little "Magic Wash" and it will (slightly) extend the dry time. Vallejo's paints also offer much better coverage (higher pigment densities), as well as the excellent eye-dropper bottle previously mentioned.

However, even with the extenders, you aren't going to find the same extended dry times and blending characteristics they allow that oils offer. The difference between oils and acryllics is just too great and any and all attempts I've seen at bridging the two have failed miserably. That said, you can (and people do) achieve some awesome blended results with acrylics. But you can also paint your figures using oils, something that some of the older folks had to do years ago before the proliferation of hobby acrylics (and hobby enamels before that).

See- I purchased a few different retarders and never once found a noticeable effect. I also had some trouble with my wet pallet absorbing the paint through the paper, but I suspect this is more the fault of the actual product I bought, and not all wet pallets.

What are peoples' thoughts on the difference between the three different vellejo paint lines? I'd like to buy an entire set of new paints to replace my old gw ones but I'm kinda stuck as to which one to buy. I'll have to pick them up online so I don't really have the luxury of trying a bunch of different ones and chosing that way. Well I could but it would just make the whole process of getting new paints o much longer.

Posted By Drake_Marcus on 09/04/2006 2:46 PM
See- I purchased a few different retarders and never once found a noticeable effect. I also had some trouble with my wet pallet absorbing the paint through the paper, but I suspect this is more the fault of the actual product I bought, and not all wet pallets.

What are peoples' thoughts on the difference between the three different vellejo paint lines? I'd like to buy an entire set of new paints to replace my old gw ones but I'm kinda stuck as to which one to buy. I'll have to pick them up online so I don't really have the luxury of trying a bunch of different ones and chosing that way. Well I could but it would just make the whole process of getting new paints o much longer.

I use a mix of GW and VGC. The GW metals IMHO are far superior to VGC. Also, GW reds have a tendency to be better - especially the Blood Red. The GW paints I use I tend to use as single colors as a mid level highlight(esp Blood Red).

If using droppers, retardants etc are not needed as it is easy to mix another batch.

Just a few thoughts. PM if you want a further discussion. 

Heh, I have found all of Vallejo's Game Color paints to be better than GW's, especially the reds. VGC metallics seem no better, or worse, than GW's, I've certainly achieved excellent results with them. I've also heard Vallejo Model Color metalics, particularly the alcohol based ones, are bar none, the best on the market. You do need to seal your figure before applying them (the alcohol medium can strip paint), something easily done. But to each their own!

Drake- I found picking up the complete set of VGC paints, and then slowly adding any missing colors from the VMC line has worked best. I know own as many, perhaps even more, VMC bottles than I do of VGC. Mind you, I paint a lot of historicals (WW2 mostly), but if you are sticking to mostly GW/fantasy themed color palettes, just the complete Game Color set should suffice. For inks, I've been using a mix of ancient GW pots (that age back to RT era days! Try that with the new paint pots!), VMC glazes, Tamiya clear colors and hand mixing washes using the "Magic Wash" I mentioned before. Enjoy!

I'm with FHOH. If you're buyine ONE whole set, go with Vallejo Game Color.
If possible, DON'T get the metallics, but buy GW metallics, instead.

My FAVORITE brand for metallics is Ceramcoat. It's an acrylic paint that was originally marketed to ceramics painting. I can.lpersonally, attest that they work PERFECTLY for mini painting.

Oh... and GW inks, all the way!

Eric

I'm with the majority here. I now use Vallejo for 90% of my painting. I like the dropper bottle as they don't dry out, and its easier portion control when mixing.

I still use GW for metallics, and nobody can touch GW's inks, they rock.