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Saw this listing at amazon and thought it's a pretty good deal.

http://www.amazon.de/El-Greco-28251-Acrylfarben-18er/dp/B002Q6ZYB6/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1413033099&sr=8-15&keywords=holzlack

All tubes, though. In any case, would it work on miniatures?

I have done some experiments with artist acrylics myself.
In order not to obscure any details you'll have to thin the paints down so much that you will have to use many coats of paint to get proper coverage.

My two cents. Only worth it for terrain use..

I use cheap craft store acrylics on my models and they come out ok for me. $1.50 a bottle for a pretty good sized bottle. The quality is a bit iffy some times, but I am able to work with it just fine. There are some pictures in my gallery here if you want to see what I have done with them. I am not sure about the "artist" level acrylics like in your link. I have never tried those.

Most of the hobby paint brands (Citadel, Vallejo, etc.) you would encounter are acrylic paints. So it would be very weird if they don't work on miniatures.

The difference between artist acrylics and hobby paint acrylics is that there's usually more pigments on hobby paints and they are more suited for flat layers. Depending on the brand, artist paints would have different levels of the amount of pigments on them but usually it's less so yu're going to need more coverage. They are also more prone to produce texture (because hey, some artist wants texture on the canvases).

They're not optimal, but they're usable.

Heavy body artist acrylics like those are designed to be used like artist's oil points. They are very thick and can be used straight out of the tube for dense, textural painting, or mixed with medium for painting thinner layers and glazes, etc.

For use on models you will need to thin them a lot with acrylic medium, which is bought separately.

Used straight they give a somewhat gritty, thin layer that does not cover well.

Sure, they will work, but even the good brands (like Golden) are generally a bit thick to work well on miniatures. Remember, the goal is to have each layer add as little thickness as possible, and to never have any brushstrokes or body to the paint.

The other issue is that miniatures are so damn expensive now, that I don't think it makes sense to scrimp on the paints when they are relatively cheap (and last a pretty long time) as compared to the models that you're painting.

The good brands (like Golden) are meant to be thick, that's why they're good for canvas painting.

 heartserenade wrote:
The good brands (like Golden) are meant to be thick, that's why they're good for canva painting.

Golden makes a liquid and a tube. The liquid is more like the craft paints, and not really ideal for canvas in my opinion, whereas the tube is much thicker and ideal for canvas. Either way, you can thin it down with medium, right down to the point where it's comparable to thinner miniature paints. I have a few of them because I wanted to see how colors like white would work (not that well by the way). Even when I thin it down a lot, it seems to dry thicker than I want.

I guess if you wanted to paint a hundred ultramarines, it would be a way of saving money on paint. But seriously, even if you blew through 4 pots of McCragge Blue, that's only $16 -- and even 100 of the cheapest models will cost you $400.

Actually the Golden High Flow Acrylics work very well for miniature painting. Seeing as they are an airbrush ready paint.
The only downside is the price of the bottles initially. But ounce for ounce they come out cheaper than VMA, P3 and Citadel paints. Since the paints come in 118 ml bottles.
I have their Neutral Grey N5 and their Titan Buff paints.
The Neutral grey is as far as I can see almost a perfect 18% grey.
The Titan Buff is quite similar to Vallejos Desert Tan.

Just remember to shake them like you would a rattlecan, otherwise the pigments will not be mixed properly. They settle very quickly compared to P3 Vallejo and Citadel paints.

I painted most of my recent stuff using cheapo acrylic paints. It's a little bit more work, and is far from perfect, but I'm not paying GW's ridiculous prices for 0.4 ml of paint when I can get 8x as much paint for the same price. I actually don't find it useful to thin/dilute them since they already have less pigment than more expensive modeling paints. But you need to spread them on your palette and apply thin coats. I use Liquitex Basics and Martha Stewart Crafts. The Liquitex cover pretty well, the Martha Stewart stuff doesn't cover very well except for the gunmetal metallic. I use the sterling silver metallic for highlighting and dry-brushing (seen on their back backs and jump packs below). These guys were primed black when I got them, I primed them white then painted over with a base coat of green, so that extra layer might have blurred some of the details.

heartserenade wrote:They are also more prone to produce texture (because hey, some artist wants texture on the canvases).

I'm getting a bit off-topic with that, but wouldn't some texture be welcome for weathering? Have any of you tried using artists' acrylics straight from the tube to create mud, dird, or rust?

If you want to make textures there is modelling pastes for sale in most artist supply stores..
I had a good look at them on the test strips they had.
Pretty much lower priced miniature water and snow effects.
So I guess they moddelling suppliers just buy the artist grade stuff repackage and rebrand it.