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Want to have a go at painting after a long break, but my Citadel paints need reviving, some of them are not too bad, but definately thicker.

What's the best thing to add, water? Or some X-20A thinner? I also have some acrylic flow improver.

If they have started to go "solid" in places with blobs of usable paints, just replace them, because it won't be long before their useless and you don't want to be caught halfway through an army replacing paints that aren't exactly the same colour.

If they are just a little bit thicker but still liquid, use Lahmian Medium (GW) or any equivilent. Few drops and a shake. The medium is just colourless paint so it should just spread the pigment across more liquid.

If the pigment is solid, and there's a coloured, thin liquid inside, bin it. It's dead. Or maybe try adding some beads to help mix it but I personally bin these ones.


Whatever you do, don't use water to revive them. Water has different properties to the "liquid" part of the paint, which is which thinning with water sometimes produces splodgy results. Medium or thinner is just like mixing two paints, except one has no pigment, so the properties don't change.

I use a couple Liquitex products for reviving old paint, Matte Medium and Flow Improver (Flow Aid.)

Matte Medium makes thick paint thinner. Flow Improver improves the appearance, makes the final coat a bit more intense.

The mix varies for each paint. Start with the Matte Medium and only add the Flow Aid if needed.

If you need any replacing, try checking out our Vintage Line, the colours there are pretty much 1:1 matches with old GW colours

Sometimes it's cheaper to replace something than to try and fix it. Plus we sell in larger sizes so you can get more for your money