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Finally got the paints I need to start painting up my grey knights and I'm having abit of a problem.

I'm putting one small drop of vallejo paint on my palette and one drop of wter and giving them a mix. The problem is that the paints eem to split after a few seconds of being on my palette.

Any idea what I can do? trying to get a really smooth coat since I'm painting white so it needs lots of thin coats :(

Get a foundation paint on it first like deneb stone.

I tend to dip into the white first then dip into my water and brush it into more white to get a mixture I like.

the white has turned out really nice on my test model but it just starts to thicken up and dry up quite quickly.

Plus I'm using a white basecoat so is a foundation paint really needed?

Don't put water on your palette; instead dip your brush in the water then mix with the drop of paint on the palette.

You want less water, and wetting your brush gives you more control over the amount.

Vallejo has a finer pigment than GW, so it needs less water.

Use a wet pallet, seriously. With a wet pellet you're not directly putting water onto the paint, but rather you can drag water with your brush onto the paints.

gilljoy wrote:Plus I'm using a white basecoat so is a foundation paint really needed?

I'd still recommend it. A bit of colour in the basecoat can give you a better idea of your coverage with the white, and you can also leave some of the colour in the recesses to give the model depth. Just decide if you want a warm white or a cool white.

DODcrazy wrote:Use a wet pallet, seriously.

Time to go and build a wet palette I think.

Just need some wax paper

To thin it down you could try using proper thinners - this is obviously made up of the same medium as the paint so works better than plain ol' water. Vallejo do a 200ml bottle for about £8, but that should last you forever unless you do loads of airbrushing too. To stop it drying too quick you can also get additives to slow the drying (again I believe Vallejo do this) but I've never used it so I can't vouch for it - and the thinners may suffice.

Specific additives are great for changing paint behavior (opacity, flow, drying time, etc.), but they aren't remotely necessary for regular thinning. Wet palettes are great, too, but their purpose is to keep your paints from drying out, not to automatically thin them.

If the paint is separating after adding water, I'd guess you aren't mixing it properly. Separation will always occur, but not after a few seconds. Another issue may be simply adding too much water. Some painters recommend a 1:1 ratio for thinning, but this results in very runny, translucent paint - great for some things, not for others.

I would suggest "painting" a line of water on your palette, near your blob o'color. Pull a bit of paint out onto the middle ground, pull a bit of water out, then begin mixing, adding a bit more from either side until the mix is satisfactory. This gives you a far greater degree of control over your mix, as you are free to add less than the amount of water your brush can hold, were you merely to dip it in water. This method made my thinning much more flexible and consistent, since I was no longer relying on multiples of a constant measure of water to thin varying amounts of paint.

I usually go at a 2:1 ratio paint to water and it's what I recommend unless you're doing a glaze.

Cheers for the advice guys,

Building a Wet Palette tonight so hopefully that will help. Paint looks abit thick on my first mini.. think its because its been trying up on my normal palette