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.

Why can't GW do this?

Because of the amazing amout of people that paint straight from the pot and can't be bothered with a palette.

I second what zip said.

Wish they did do this but im sure if they did they would make smaller portions and price hike

Paint wand (paintbrush with no bristles) work alright and you can get a some what accurate measure but this would be great.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Vallejo bottles.

I love the dropper.
I hate the fact that when the paint starts to thicken up a little, when you try to squeeze the paint out onto your palette, you're just as likely to pop the top off and empty half the bottle out instead.

A similar bottle with a screw top, or some sort of clip to hold the top on would be ace.

That is so true I have only had that problem once since I run through those bottles since when I sit down to paint its a long time till I get up and well still.

Draw up the blue prints for that bottle

Zip Napalm wrote:Because of the amazing amout of people that paint straight from the pot and can't be bothered with a palette.

More like a depressing amount of people. An even more depressing amount of people thin their paints by dipping their brush in the water they've been washing their brushes in that more closely resembles coffee with a splash of milk than water and then dipping it into the pot.

Armor why do you say such things I was told that was only a story that were told to children that misbehaved

I love the Vallejo dropper bottles, if you're going to paint properly you need to mix it. I think GW should keep the same prices and give as much paint as Vallejo does in a dropper bottle. As far as the bottle clogging up and the dropper popping off that only happens if you don't clean it once in a while and you leave the cap off too long. I almost had that happen but when I get to where I'm having to squeeze the hell out of the thing more than normal I poke it with a syringe needle and clean it up. But that honestly has only happened once and that was with the Dead White color.

If you store them face (dropper) down, don't you resolve the clogging issue?

I store mine face up and don't have a problem.

insaniak wrote:I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Vallejo bottles.

I love the dropper.
I hate the fact that when the paint starts to thicken up a little, when you try to squeeze the paint out onto your palette, you're just as likely to pop the top off and empty half the bottle out instead.

A similar bottle with a screw top, or some sort of clip to hold the top on would be ace.

lol that happend to me just once. from then on i keep a toothpick handy and just poke the hole when paint doesnt flow out smoothly.

Is there any way to transfer paint from citadel pots to a dropper bottle without wasting half the paint? I would love to have all my citadel paint in dropper bottles but when there is only 12ml to begin with, and half of it sticks to the inside of the pot, how much do you really end up with after pouring?

Add a couple of drops of ethanol to the paint (in the GW tubs). Not enough to noticeably thin it, and it will evaporate reasonably quickly in a warm room anyway.

Shake it up, and carefully transfer it.
It worked for me, but I have steady hands and a fair amount of patience.

I lack both of those things I have some what patience stead hands no chance and thats a good idea.

chromedog wrote:Add a couple of drops of ethanol to the paint (in the GW tubs). Not enough to noticeably thin it, and it will evaporate reasonably quickly in a warm room anyway.

Shake it up, and carefully transfer it.
It worked for me, but I have steady hands and a fair amount of patience.

Ahhh thanks Chromedog. I was actually thinking if there might be some way I could dilute it slightly, without the risk of leaving the paint too thin permanently. Ethanol sounds perfect, that's good advice. I have some tiny funnels and stuff so pouring shouldn't be a problem.

Incidentally how have you found the paint since you transferred it? I always find GW pots the worst for allowing paint to congeal inside them without regular mixing. Have you found that they keep any fresher in the squeeze bottles?

I just use a little funnel and straight transfer it. Yeah, you loose some but not enough for me to worry about.
I find that when it's in the dropped bottle it definately stays fresher/doesn't dry out and is easier to work with.

lionfire wrote: As far as the bottle clogging up and the dropper popping off that only happens if you don't clean it once in a while and you leave the cap off too long.

I clean mine out regularly and the cap is only ever off for as long as it takes to squeeze out some paint. The problem is simply that a few of Vallejo's colours thicken up really quickly. Seems particularly problematic with their greys and white, although I think it was their 'Can't Believe It's Not Vomit Brown' that did it to me the last time, and that was a brand new bottle that had never previously been opened.

insaniak wrote:

lionfire wrote: As far as the bottle clogging up and the dropper popping off that only happens if you don't clean it once in a while and you leave the cap off too long.

I clean mine out regularly and the cap is only ever off for as long as it takes to squeeze out some paint. The problem is simply that a few of Vallejo's colours thicken up really quickly. Seems particularly problematic with their greys and white, although I think it was their 'Can't Believe It's Not Vomit Brown' that did it to me the last time, and that was a brand new bottle that had never previously been opened.

Weird man. I have only ever had issues with White like you said. I've had more problems with the standard pots drying out. But I mix paint accurately and all that, so doing it with a pot is nearly impossible and a PITA.

I just buy reaper paints...never tried Vallejo paints, but after using the GW paints for a long, long time, I tried a reaper paint and fell in love immediately.

GW have 12ml in their pots, Vallejo have 17ml in theirs. The pigment is noticeably better and you get more for the same price, plus the dripper bottles are excellent!

To my mind, there is no contest.

miasma wrote:The pigment is noticeably better...

On most of the range, I would agree.

I've found a few colours in the Vallejo range that aren't as good, though. I greatly dislike their golds (chunky pigment and watery) ... but then, I dislike GW's as well, so use Coat D'Arms instead. Vallejo's 'Not-Dark Angels Green' is also practically a transparent tint instead of a paint... or at least the bottle I have is.

I find the Vallejo range also tends towards either being a fraction too watery (black, reds and greens particularly) or way too thick (greys, white and browns particularly).

As a result, my paint collection at the moment is a mixture of Citadel Colour, Vallejo Model- and Game Colour, and Coat D'Arms, with a few other assorted acrylic paints thrown in where I was after something specific that I couldn't find in other ranges.

I greatly dislike their golds (chunky pigment and watery)

Really? i find Vallejo gold to be smooth as quicksilver , i'll post a pic of the paint result when im done necrosphinx
Sounds like it needs to be mixed properly

Vallejo's 'Not-Dark Angels Green' is also practically a transparent tint instead of a paint... or at least the bottle I have is.

Probably the pigments are set at the bottom, shake more! or use stir stick! or some sort of agitator.

I find the Vallejo range also tends towards either being a fraction too watery (black, reds and greens particularly) or way too thick (greys, white and browns particularly).

Clear sign of not fully mixed.

Not trying to be rude, Luna, but I've been painting miniatures and models for more than 20 years now... I know about paints settling.

The problem isn't with them not being fully mixed, it's with them being too thick or thin to begin with.

I must be really lucky with my paints then.
But then i always throw 2 craft beads into my vallejo bottle and shake till i can hear them rattle.

Who knows. It's not an issue with the whole range... some of them are great, which is why I still have them. So maybe it's just down to the specific colours I've bought. Maybe it's a climate thing.

But I'm not the only painter I've come across who has commented on the inconsistency of Vallejo's range. A lot of painters who were initially impressed with Vallejo as an alternative to GW have since moved on to Derivan or P3 paints instead.

imark789 wrote:I just buy reaper paints...never tried Vallejo paints, but after using the GW paints for a long, long time, I tried a reaper paint and fell in love immediately.

I don't like Reaper, but only because in my opinion the colors don't match close enough to Citadel for me. I think Vallejo matches much better and I think the paint is of a higher quality. This coming from a guy that lives down the way from Reaper themselves in Texas. haha Just my opinion, use what works for you personally I always say!

imark789 wrote:I just buy reaper paints...never tried Vallejo paints, but after using the GW paints for a long, long time, I tried a reaper paint and fell in love immediately.

Need to try this new stuff, but I also use the reaper stuff, I learned quick GWS paints suck.

I much prefer GW paints to Vallejo, i don't like the dropper (even if it is handy for mixing) and i paint straight from the pot giving the pot a shake before opening it and using the paint on the underside of the lid. I don't get why people like these so much??

To be honest i have only tried metallic paints from Vellejo but they were enough to put me off from trying any more

Tomlad wrote:I much prefer GW paints to Vallejo, i don't like the dropper (even if it is handy for mixing) and i paint straight from the pot giving the pot a shake before opening it and using the paint on the underside of the lid. I don't get why people like these so much??

To be honest i have only tried metallic paints from Vellejo but they were enough to put me off from trying any more

I used to be the same way. Then I learned to mix my paints 1:1 with distilled water/flow aid. It makes a world of difference. But if you can paint well using that method then that's awesome, but my stuff never looked right doing it that way. I like Citadel and Vallejo equally as far as paint quality goes, but Vallejo's dropper bottle and amount they give you for the price beat Citadel in that department. Not to mention Citadel has discontinued a lot of colors I used to use, so I get them from Vallejo.

I had a dropper bottle of gold paint explode when nothing came out and I decided to squeeze it really hard. To this day there are still gold splatters on my wall, desk, monitor. Stupid mistake, but I still don't use the dropper bottles.