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**Random Dude**

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**gohkm**

I switched over to P3 paint. They don't run and have excellent coverage.

I also used Vallejo Model Air for reds. They come straight out of the bottle, and work like a very strong glaze.

**heartserenade**

Reds and yellows should be painted in multiple thin layers. Having a good, appropriate basecoat also helps. White/yellow ochre/yellowish brown for yellow, reddish brown/marroon for red.

**Kerrathyr**

heartserenade wrote:
Reds and yellows should be painted in multiple thin layers. Having a good, appropriate basecoat also helps. White/yellow ochre/yellowish brown for yellow, reddish brown/marroon for red.

Qft. I tried myself especially for red, and managed to obtain a nice, deep crimson effect just with a basecoat of vmc hull red (roughly as gw rhinox hide) and glaze-layering only with blood red thinned to watercolour consistency.

**winterdyne**

I like the following progressions:

Yellow:
VGC Heavy Ochre -> VMC Flat Yellow -> VMC Light Yellow -> VMC Ice Yellow

Red:
VMC Burnt Cadmium Red -> VMC Flat Red -> VMC Bermellon ('Red') -> VMC Bermellon + VMC Light Yellow (7:1 ish)
Glaze thin red ink.

Now for colour theory if you're going for stronger contrast surfaces - blue works well to shade red and keep it saturated (strong colour). Purple works on yellow.
For reds, you need to start lighter if you're shading down - work a few layers up if you're going over a black undercoat, then shade down before highlighting back up through the mid tone.

**Tigurius**

Thin layers, certainly.

Mephiston red and Averland Sun(something) for yellow are pretty good, in my experience.

Also, whatever you do, don't paint Imperial Fists

**HairySticks**

Random Dude wrote:
How do I keep the paint from being too runny? Should I use a higher paint to water ratio?

Not unless your coverage is too poor / taking too many layers.

A solution to running paint, (which is using too much paint) is to use less paint. Take a paper towel, and remove most of the paint from the brush so that you can paint a clean line with it. You dont want the paint to rush out of the brush really fast when touched to the model, but in a nice controlled flow.
You want the paint to be milky consistency ; which I always found a poor description untill someone stated its about how the paint runs down the side of a container leaving a slight transparent film on the sides of the mixing cup - like a glass of milk

**oadie**

From previous threads on paint thinning, brush loading, and layers to achieve opacity:

oadie wrote:
Thinning seems to be the big sticking point for new painters, but brush load is a closely related and (comparatively) rarely mentioned topic. Think of them as being inversely proportional - the thinner the paint, the more it flows, the less you need on your brush to cover a given area. If you find your paint pooling, try loading your brush more lightly (gently touch the tip to a paper towel to draw away the excess, if you still seem to be soaking up too much paint).

If you manage to get even coats but barely seem to be applying any color, you've loaded your brush properly and your paint is simply too thin. Three or four coats for full coverage isn't uncommon. Depending on the color being applied, the color it's being applied over, the exact level of dilution, etc. a solid coat can take anywhere from one or two layers (e.g. lightly thinned "foundation" or "heavy" paints, especially over light colors) to a dozen (e.g. heavily thinned weak colors, like white or yellow, over black).

oadie wrote:
I feel like proper brush loading is, like thinning, more art than science. The latter also affects the former, as does the task at hand. My only real suggestion (aside from practice, ad nauseum) is to treat the two as an inextricably linked pair.

As you've seen, dilute paint soaks up readily into the bristles and is released just as easily - it's not difficult to flood an area and cause runs. If your lines are becoming thick and blotchy, lay a few down as practice, paying close attention to what exactly is happening at the point of contact. Is paint only going where bristles touch? You may be applying too much pressure, effectively widening your stroke by splaying the tip on the model's surface. If you're only gently dragging the tip but a slightly irregular "linear puddle" is forming instead of a fine line, you have too much paint loaded for your current level of dilution.

In the latter case, you either need to wick away excess paint and lay the line down in multiple strokes and layers (being that your paint will be largely transparent, with less of it on the brush) or thin less. If solid lines are the goal, heavy thinning can actually be counter-productive - as long as the paint leaves the bristles easily and lays flat on the model, thicker paint may serve you better.

You mentioned having trouble determining just how much is "a lot" and what is "excess" - again, there's no substitute for observation and experience. Load a brush with as much paint as it will hold (while trying to avoid soaking it right up into the ferrule, of course - brush care 101 ) and lay down a relatively short line. Keep laying down strokes, taking note of how the behavior changes as the paint load lessens (keeping the strokes short gives you more points of reference, as you lose little paint each time). You should, at some point, get a line of the proper thickness and smoothness. Take note of the load at this point - that's what you should be aiming for. Repeat the exercise at different dilutions and you should start to get a better feel for things (remember how they're linked? Thinner paint = more flow = lighter brush load to maintain control). After that, you can start practicing your brush loading technique, trying to dip and wipe, as necessary, to get your brush to the same load level that gave you the results you wanted.

You can, of course, do all of this directly on models, instead of test scraps, if you prefer. It tends to seem less tedious that way, but prepare for lots of blotting of paint runs, sharpening up of lines, etc. It will likely take some time, but your painting will run much faster and smoother for it.