Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

When I started this hobby I just used the hobby paints I already had, some "Testor" brand enamel paints, the ones that come in the little square glass jars. While this has given me a unique color scheme that I am quite proud of, it also means that I cannot use any sort of GW tutorials or advice upon the subject of painting. I am looking for some advice from more experienced painters.

First off, I have not been using a primer, as this paint is a little thicker and seems to stick onto the plastic/metal just fine. Should I be using a primer? Would it need to be an enamel primer, or any type?

Secondly, should I be using any sort of gloss or other such clear protective coating upon my models? The paint jobs seem to hold up quite nicely, but I am not sure, as this is an unscientific observation.

Any other ideas or comments upon the subject of Enamel paints would be appreciated.

Thank you,
-- Micahaphone,
(Snow Hawks chapter)

The best piece of advice is to simply not use them. Enamel paints are much harder to work with, and not meant for tiny miniatures like this.

Fafnir wrote:The best piece of advice is to simply not use them. Enamel paints are much harder to work with, and not meant for tiny miniatures like this.

Yeah I couldn't agree more.

lol... The first paints I used were enamel paints. (I didn't know at the time.) It took forever for such a terrible paintjob that chipped to pieces in only a few weeks. I don't using them.

Though if you use and like them, go ahead. Not sure if anyone else can give you any advice on it though.

If all you ahve is a few of the ole Testors square bottles, I wouldnt suggest getting any more of them. Find the colors that match the ones you're using, any of the quality brands- P3, Reaper, Vallejo, and GW are decent paints these days. If you poke around online you can find pretty good deals for starter sets of basic colors.

I mean, Testor's paints aren't BAD, I used their red for my first batch, and I got some pretty good results, their colours really are quite brilliant. But they're just not meant for miniatures.

Could someone please tell me WHY they're bad for miniatures? I have gotten some good results out of them, and I like the ease of use w/ no priming, ect.

Enamels are generally thicker than acrylics, they are a mess to clean up if you should happen to mess up (and unless you are perfect you will on occasion mess up the paint job and then have to redo it.

Nothing really WRONG with enamels, they are just less than ideal for the 40k hobby. For RC cars and plastic car/truck/tank models they are alright although even those are being replaced slowly with the likes of Urethanes and acrylics.

And their thickness can cover up the details of a miniature.

Thank you for your answers, Fafnir. I personally like their bold colors, but I agree that you have to be very delicate with them, or some details will be covered up (Purity seals were horrible when I first started).

Gunzhard wrote:

Fafnir wrote:The best piece of advice is to simply not use them. Enamel paints are much harder to work with, and not meant for tiny miniatures like this.

Yeah I couldn't agree more.

Word and word.....

Enamels are good but they tend to look glossy when dry, even with dullcoat. Also, they require a LOT of thinner and take longer to clean up when you're done.

Breotan wrote:Enamels are good but they tend to look glossy when dry, even with dullcoat. Also, they require a LOT of thinner and take longer to clean up when you're done.

There are flat enamels, and theyre just as dull/matte as the acrylic flat colors.

Never use enamels for miniatures, ever. They're slick and paints won't stick to them, and they almost always look terrible. They're also impossible to get off. Avoid at all costs.

Mistress of minis wrote:If all you have is a few of the ole Testors square bottles,

I only use one thing of enamle paint and its the testors gold, which i put a matt varnish over soon as its dry. when i started i used testers but i hated the glossy look and it takes to long to dry. now i use the armory paints, except their gold since imo it looks like a shinny yellow, were as the testors looks like gold. (and im too lazy to order some of the citidel gold =p)

Note: enamel paints generally have finer acrylic grains than acrylic so you should be able to get good results.
People even put them through airbrushes just for this reason.

Oil paint has an even finer grain and can also be used for both standard tyoe painting & airbrushing.

HOWEVER it is a lot easier to use pre-mixed acrylics like GW, P3, Vallejo & Tamyia.

Enamels are fine for miniatures and can be mixed for new colours, the only problem is you need to use turps or white spirit for thinning and washing.

I would always advise painting on a primed surface, however if you do a good varnish at the end it will help a lot.

The big advantages of acrylics are:
1. Water.
2. Fast drying.
3. Very wide range avaiable.
4. Can be mixed with media for effects.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
BTW you can't mix enamels with acrylics. You can paint one on top of the other.

I started painting models on enamels and didn't really no better, but I agree, they don't work so well on wargame minitures

Also BEWARE THINNER!! It's one of the few things that takes of enamel paints, but it MELTS MODELS, or at least plastic ones. When I first got in to warhammer, I tried to remove the paint and I watched in horror as the detail was stripped before my eyes!

Whilst this may seem like an obvious mistake, 12 year old boys aren't that bright...

But more seriously, using enamels could create issues with washing and paint stripping. I'd suggest sticking to regular acrylics, much better suited for the role.

Enamels can be OK - when I first started out, I did my first BloodBowl teams in enamel with a set of Humbrol enamels I was given by our neighbour. However, they are difficult to work with and a general pain all round, hence why acrylic is the way to go.