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I've noticed whenever I try to water down paints, it ends up being really runny and bubbles. I've tried using less water but any less would just end up being the plain paint. I am currently painting Praetors of Orpheus and am actually just base coating my first Praetor (I have a fair sized Ultramarine army who I painted a couple years ago before ever hearing about watering down paints.) Please help!

Might consider using some flow additive to help stop that. Like this.
Also, you should try distilled water or bottled water. I know the crap in my tap water screws with my paints so I use water from my Pur water filter instead.

What I've been doing to water down my paints is I've been dipping my brush in water and paint some off onto some paper towel, then dip the wet brush into the paint.

I have similar problem as you ><

-bubble as you say near crevices
-need multiple coats to cover the uneven patches

Thus , i dont thin my paint anymore.

I use an empty paint bottle with water in it and put some paint on the palette then put a drop of water/flow aid then mix with the handle of the brush. It's ingrained from my old high school art teacher to never ever mix with the brush itself so I just don't. Probably a dumb habit but there you go.
The flow aid really helps with those problems.
I can't recommend it enough.
In addition to the Liquitex flow aid. Vallejo and Reaper both make their own. Same price as the normal paints.

Sinister Brain wrote:The flow aid really helps with those problems.
I can't recommend it enough.
In addition to the Liquitex flow aid. Vallejo and Reaper both make their own. Same price as the normal paints.

I paint mine with black undercoat , flow aid kills me ><

LunaHound wrote:
I paint mine with black undercoat , flow aid kills me ><

Dead like...

Hehehe ^-^

Praetor_of_Ultramar wrote:What I've been doing to water down my paints is I've been dipping my brush in water and paint some off onto some paper towel, then dip the wet brush into the paint.

You should get a pallete (sp?). You can find cheapo plastic ones at michael's/ACMoore/arts supply stores, or just use an old plate, or a spare bathroom tile, whatever.

Mix your paints and water on the pallete, that way you can see the consistency, bubbles, etc. Then if you need to add more paint, put a little more in there. I don't think it works well to put water on the brush, then paint (because they don't mix well that way).

Hope that helps.

Cruentus wrote:

Praetor_of_Ultramar wrote:What I've been doing to water down my paints is I've been dipping my brush in water and paint some off onto some paper towel, then dip the wet brush into the paint.

You should get a pallete (sp?). You can find cheapo plastic ones at michael's/ACMoore/arts supply stores, or just use an old plate, or a spare bathroom tile, whatever.

Mix your paints and water on the pallete, that way you can see the consistency, bubbles, etc. Then if you need to add more paint, put a little more in there. I don't think it works well to put water on the brush, then paint (because they don't mix well that way).

Hope that helps.

I'd also really recommend using a pallet. Sure it's an additional step, but once you get the hang of it, you will see how much easier it's made your painting routine. Mixing colors is a piece of cake too.

As for thinning; all of the suggestions so far are excellent. I add Matte Medium to my water / paint mix most of the time (except base coats). It will knock the shine down and really helps with blending colors/highlights. Another thing to consider is when you add water always go 'stirred not shaken' to get less bubbles... so basically the opposite of James Bond. And most importantly remember that no matter how thin/watery/bubbly your paint mix is you're mix is still ok - just be sure to control how much of it is on the brush. If its really watery you will likely need to wipe the brush off on a paper towel before applying and then you will need to apply more strokes - but of course you'll get a nicer blend. Using a pallet makes this all much easier.

I water my paint down and then after I load my brush I spin it on a damp towel to reset the point and remove some of the excess paint.

Though I don't use it exclusively I have gotten good results using a wet palette. Once you find a good consistency the paint stays that way considerably longer on a wet palette.