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So a couple of problems have come up when using a couple of GW paints. Now, before anyone says it, I don't have access to any real supply of other brands. A selection of Vallejo and a brand called "MP" paints" I believe (the latter I am not particularly fond of), is all I've got and that is very limited, but I have the entire GW range accessible.

At the moment I am trying to do a couple of projects using 2 old paints, Bleached bone and Chainmail. I have used these exact pots before ad they haven't given metrouble,and from what I can tellnothing has changed.

Firstly, I am having trouble getting a smooth layer of Bone. I try to use both a Calthan brown, building through a 50:50 mix Bone:Brown, as well as a Dheneb Stone base, but always, thinning with any sort of medium, including some from a friend that came in a droper bottle (I think it was Tamiya or Vallejo), always produces a consistency too thin to use. I mean, like, half a droplet of medium or water. Unthinned leaves brush strokes and roughness. So my first request is a method of thinning or painting that can produce a smooth layer, including basecoat and technique, the full works.


The second is similar in that my Chainmail is getting to the end of the pot and is now leaving small amounts of brushstrokes in the paint, and ANY thinning whatsoever completely washes it out. Additionally, even when I don't thin, the are patches I clearly painted that are not, in the middle of say, a gun's housing, like little scratch marks. I don't have any pictures but to me it looks like the paint is like, shrinking or something.
Again, help identifying my problem and solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Weird man, just weird.

I still have some bleach bone and chainmail and they still work the same, I moved them over to droppers about 2 years ago though.

I use a matte medium with them both and haven't had any issues. I use about 4:1 pain to medium and its smooth without getting washed out.

Had you previously thinned or added water to restore in the pot?


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oh BTW your mini's are fantastic

When paints start acting weird it's typically just time to get a new pot. You can try to use a toothpick to stir it up very thoroughly, with quite a bit of shaking after, but if it's acting weird it may be drying out and chunking a little bit, especially with the "scratches" you are describing(though without a picture I can't be sure it's the same thing I see happen as paints chunk).

Have you tried adding flow aid and distilled water with a dropped until you reach a consistence that is fluid and not too watery.

 Deadshot wrote:
... always produces a consistency too thin to use.

Can you clarify what you mean by this? Are you expecting the paint to cover in one pass? Have you tried to build up the color through several layers or if the paint literally just running off of the model?

Its not running off, but I'll explain what tue consistency is like.

Imagine you bought a brand of white acrylic paint, already thinned, second hand from someone who further thinned it. You then try to apply it straight over a black undercoat. It becomes patchy an pools and the colour becomes uneven.

That is what it is like. I probably could get a decent coat if I did maybe 7+ layers but I don't have time nor patience for that. I'm not asking for GD standard but just something to help me thin it enough so I don't get the scenario above, but not chalky either. I use bleached bone for the Shoulder pauldrons of my space marines so its important to get it smooth for applying transfers.

As for the chainmail, it is nearing the end of its capacity so I'll probably just deal with it while I use the last few millilitres.


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darefsky wrote: oh BTW your mini's are fantastic 

Thanks a lot, things like this are really encouraging!


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An example picture for the chainmail issue. You can see where the paperclip is, what appears to be scratches or scuffs in the paint.

To me that looks like it is overly watered down paint or paint that is no longer mixing correctly(and thus losing much of the actual paint). Unfortunately I don't know how to fix that. My best advice would be use a toothpick to scrape the sides and stir, but I don't know that will fix a silver.

Going off of troa's comment, I would suggest getting some form of paint agitator to go into the bottle... I suggest 6mm lava beads from beadholique. You can learn more here. That Dakka article has Legoburner's experiences with the 8mm lava beads as well as where you can buy them. The site he suggests doesn't have that size anymore, but I bought some of the 6mm beads and it works just as well, also I have a coupon code that takes like 15% off your order.

Thnaks for the advice guys. Like I said earlier the pot is near empty but once I buy a new pot I'll definately look into it.

I used to get this problem with citadel paints. I think its because they dry out and what may have happened is the pigment has settled, try stiring the bottom of the pot and then shake the hell out of it to remix it. Otherwise a new pot of paint is in order.