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I need to do a bit of prop making soon. I was wondering if anybody knows any good paint suppliers a touch cheaper than, say, Vallejo or Army Painter? I'm probably going to use Army Painter spray but I wan't to do some drybrushs/inks over the top too. I'm not looking for car paint or canvas acrylic but something just to take the edge off the price.

All feedback is greatly appreciated and used.

vallejo and the army painter have pretty good prices... so i think you will have a really hard time finding a brand with cheaper paint that is not crap quality...

vallejo/the army painter have 17ml paint for €2.25... so i think thats about 1.90 GBP??

think thats the best bang for your buck


Automatically Appended Next Post:
or you have to buy whole sets, that gives you a small discout

What sort of volume are you looking for, here? It's hard to get much more for your money than Vallejo, unless you do start looking at artist's acrylics, or drop down in quality and use craft paints. If you can find a good price on them, Golden or Liquitex soft body acrylics are good options. From what I've seen, having only used a few colors, the pigment density is high enough that they can be diluted to a pretty high degree while maintaining decent coverage. I expect my little 30mL bottle of Golden carbon black to last me longer than even a Vallejo bottle would, given the same amount of surface to cover. Craft paints may actually be a decent option, though, as larger scales are more forgiving to thicker applications, which are in turn more forgiving to the use of inferior paints.

Privateer press range is better then GW, and from memory slightly cheaper then Vallejo / army painter. A minor suggestion is if your planning the army painter spray / dip in quick shade method, you may want to stick with their paint range. Their paints are made to go with the dip which leaves a shiny flimy residue, so if you have thinner paints they will run on the dip. GW / privateer paints have a higher pigmentation, so they tend to stay, at least that's my experience.

If you plan on doing a very high volume of painting, I actually suggest getting normal household paint (Latex based).

Can be thinned down for use in an airbrush, has decent coverage, when thinned does NOT kill details (crazy, I know). Takes acrylics above and below without any issue. Can be washed just the same. Comes in matte, flat, satin, semigloss, gloss, high-gloss

Eg:
I had Walmart color match Reaper Mini "Twilight Blue" for my SW basecoat. I've got a quart of it now, and I'll NEVER run out.

So... besides the suggestions for liquitex and golden acrylics (which I also advise, they actually do work quite well when you learn what kind of character the paint has), this is my only other idea for cost cutting on large quantities.

As for the goo problem:
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?242433-Slime-and-webbing
http://hephsforge.blogspot.com/2010/01/making-tyranid-ichor-ooze-and-slime.html

Good luck

fenrir1997 wrote:If you plan on doing a very high volume of painting, I actually suggest getting normal household paint (Latex based).

Can be thinned down for use in an airbrush, has decent coverage, when thinned does NOT kill details (crazy, I know). Takes acrylics above and below without any issue. Can be washed just the same. Comes in matte, flat, satin, semigloss, gloss, high-gloss

Eg:
I had Walmart color match Reaper Mini "Twilight Blue" for my SW basecoat. I've got a quart of it now, and I'll NEVER run out.

In GW's old "How to Make Wargames Terrain" book, they actually suggest taking a bottle of GW paint to the paint/DIY store and having them color match it with house paint.

Thanks, this is quite appreciated. Does anybody know if latex housepaint drybrushes?

A lot of that will depend on a lot of factors.

You can do similar techniques to dry brushing with house paints (various faux finish techniques for painting walls are very similar). However, you have to remember that the paint itself is formulated to have different properties and each brand will be different as well.

Some of them get really rubbery and if you tried to drybrush with them it would end up being a bit like trying to wipe snot off a kids face. Others take to it quite well. Normally - I use craft or art paints for doing things like drybrushing if I have a building or three to paint. They behave more like hobby paints in that regard, and they just tend to be a bit more convenient for the task.

Motortree wrote:In GW's old "How to Make Wargames Terrain" book, they actually suggest taking a bottle of GW paint to the paint/DIY store and having them color match it with house paint.

Wait, they didn't say "just buy 30 of our pots of paint"? That doesn't sound like GW at all!

I remember reading a very, very, very old GW book and they actually were recommending products made by other people Hard to believe.

I own the old Making Wargames Terrain book. They did that sort of thing a lot.

you said you are making "props" ....a bit more info would help...

For terrain, I use basic craft paints, from the arts and craft store (some walmarts have a selection). They are amazingly cheap.

I would not want to paint a highly detailed mini with them (not as smooth etc.) but they are just fine.

They drybrush very well.

Now I'm no pro, and most people look at me like I have 2 heads when I use household paints, but here's what I'm pretty certain of on this specific topic:

I purchased the store brand Walmart color match latex based interior paint, flat finish, and....
-drybrushed fine (thin properly)
-airbrushed fine (thin properly)
-coverage is pretty decent
-cleanup is easy (same as acrylics)
-strips easy (just in case!)
-adhesion is good (on primer, not sure otherwise)
-detail is preserved (thin properly, or else....)

also keep in mind that some properties will also change depending on the gloss of the paint. Again, I use flat personally, so the surface is a tad rougher (I want it that way). If you want a real smooth finish grab gloss or high gloss, and just flat-coat it after you're finished (most people do this step anyway )

Unsure of any other details relevant to the topic that I can rattle off for ya, ask and I can do my best to answer.

Just keep in mind, thin your paints properly and you're golden.

Also, another tip....

In the paint department of said walmart (or any hardware store) will be bottles of paint thinners. I puchased a liter of this stuff (1L? I don't remember now, but it's a lot) for something like $10. Made specifically for thinning paints to be used in a spray gun (*cough cough*). For our work, we need one that is water based. I used it for my latex paint AND my acrylics. Works wonders if you prefer an actual thinner to windex or water (and want to avoid heart-attack causing prices found for airbrush specific thinners)

This bottle:


If I'm missing anything, please tell. If I'm wrong about something, please correct me. I don't want to give somebody false info that could possibly waste time, money, models, etc.

just go to poundland/poundstrecher or your local hardware store you can pick up 250ml tubs of acrylic paint for £1-2 each . thats what i use .

fenrir1997 wrote:If you plan on doing a very high volume of painting, I actually suggest getting normal household paint (Latex based).

Spoiler:

Can be thinned down for use in an airbrush, has decent coverage, when thinned does NOT kill details (crazy, I know). Takes acrylics above and below without any issue. Can be washed just the same. Comes in matte, flat, satin, semigloss, gloss, high-gloss

Eg:
I had Walmart color match Reaper Mini "Twilight Blue" for my SW basecoat. I've got a quart of it now, and I'll NEVER run out.

So... besides the suggestions for liquitex and golden acrylics (which I also advise, they actually do work quite well when you learn what kind of character the paint has), this is my only other idea for cost cutting on large quantities.

As for the goo problem:
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?242433-Slime-and-webbing
http://hephsforge.blogspot.com/2010/01/making-tyranid-ichor-ooze-and-slime.html

Good luck

This is my suggesion also. I do my terrain painting with latex house paint, hardware store spray paint (Krylong Camo Sprays are great and extremely flat) and craft paint.

zilegil wrote:Thanks, this is quite appreciated. Does anybody know if latex housepaint drybrushes?

Latex housepaint drybrushes just fine, both in terms of being used to drybrush and accepting a drybrush. Latex Housepaint is a "latex Acrylic" and Gaming paints are also a latex acrylic, though the formulation is different. Just MAKE SURE you choose a "Flat" base paint that they will add color too. Gloss or Eggshell will not give ideal results for terrain.

Also, consider Craft store paints. "Delta Ceramcoat" is my favorite brand. I use it for all my miniatures and while it isn't quite as smooth as a miniature-specific brand, it's good enough for me, 1/5 the cost, and nearly all the minis in my gallery are painted with it. It is more than suitable for terrain or prop use.

Lastly, buy some matte varnish spray (also available at your local hardware store) to seal in your paintjob and keep it from chipping. Matte spray will (ironically) leave a slight satin sheen to your props, but a protectant is absolutely necessary.