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I've been painting miniatures for about 10 months now and have only used Citadel paints.

Today I bought some Testors Model Master enamel paints that are great colors.

Now I need to know the,"do and do not," about this stuff. Basically how it behaves on metal and plastic.

Can you water it down? Will it destroy your brushes? What is different about it?

I am going for the best quality I can achieve. Any pics of examples would be great also.

thanks

My advice: Don't try it.

You cannot water it down. Enamel is not a water based paint, meaning it takes a paint thinner to thin the paint. Messy stuff, thinner is a petroleum base, IIRC. Your citadel paints are infinitely higher quality than enamel paints. Enamel paints only look good on walmart model cars.
It WILL destroy brushes. Thus why the brushes that come with the stuff are pure garbage. You cannot get the stuff off your hands without paint thinner, making working with it a nightmare.

I second the above advice, as for the best use is: Don't.

Whats their uses? Also their not cheap.

theyre mainly used for Airfix kits etc.

their only use is that they are oil based, so are pretty water-resistant.

So......it's a total fail?

I can't afford to screw up my models thats why I ask. The colors are just to good.

i'm pretty sure every colour you'll find in enamel, you'll find a acrylic equivalent somewhere!

You could also check out a paint colour chart and try mixing the acrylic paints to get some different colours that you want.

Yes,that is the solution.

Those enamels absolutely suck. Amazing colors,but terrible.

Does anyone know how I would get a metallic red,green or blue? Would it simply be a mix with silver or gold?

I'm sure the immediate response is,try it yourself,but I'd rather start by gleaning from the pros.

Check out the P3, Reaper, or Vallejo lines. They have colored metallics too.

Enamel gives the color density because it is thick. Thick = detail obscured (and you don't get a saving throw for it either!). Ifurita is right on with his suggestion. Also if you want the brightest colors possible, try primering in white.

If thinned your enamel paints make excellent washes and filters for vehicles

esinhorn wrote:If thinned your enamel paints make excellent washes and filters for vehicles

Not really, seeing as they are oil based and acrylic paints are waterbased....
Oil = repels water = repels acrylics

So you would never be able to use acrylics again after you painted on enamel.

Thanks a lot guys and gals,I do mean a lot. I did test them on some junk plastic that was primed and they were terrible.

I have heard a lot of good things about Vallejo products though.

Anymore thoughts on how I can end up with a professional/unique finished product would be appreciated.

@foxphoenix yes you can just not at the same time
check out this tutorial to see what I mean

http://ultrawerke.blogspot.com/2007/03/painting-and-weathering-tutorial-part-i.html

Don't use them - waste of time and money.

I would'nt recommend them for basic painting either.
But this guy already bought them so I am tring to show how they can still be useful to him.
But yes for painting minis stick to acrylic paint,Hell I know a guy that uses nothing but those craft paints they sell at wall-mart with a good effect too.
I myself use GW and Vallejo,but I will use craft paint if doing gameboards,large terrain

This thread is a great FAQ thread for enamel paints.

Should I use enamel paints/ Are enamel paints any good?
No.

Why not?
1.
2.
....

If you are already into other modeling kits you could get a Tester's Spray Gun and use everything on larger kits. Otherwise stick with the acrylic paints (or the "translucents," as I prefer) they have put enough years of research into them.