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RazorEdge wrote:
What if those dropper bottles will look like Bolter rounds?

I thought they already did that once, no?

 Overread wrote:
What's so horrific about dropper bottles?

TBH normal paint you'd use with wet palette is OK with dropper bottles, but specialist paints, technicals, shades, contrast and such you use straight from the pot would be useless from droppers and/or hugely wasteful. The pots thing is kinda a meme now, I bet if GW was using the droppers instead some people would bash them and praising pots every second post

People are arguing about personal preference and taste. There is no right and wrong here. Pots, dropper bottles, what ever. It’s the paint that counts.

If I had to choose a container for all paints it would be the dropper bottles with a flip lid, like Kimera paints use. All the benefits of both. But they get bunked up a treat so still not perfect.

 Azreal13 wrote:
Plus it's not really a "set." A set is a curated collection towards a common theme, such as a collection of faction colours or aimed towards executing NMM or perhaps a range to help someone get started. What GW offer is a pretty weak bulk buy discount.

Faction colours, such as these?

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Aos-se-paint-set-eng-spa-port-latv-rm-2021
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Aos-Orruks-Paint-Set-Eng-spa-port-lat-2021
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Necrons-Paint-Set-EN-ES-2020
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Space-Marines-Paint-Set-EN-ES-2020

Help to get started, such as these?

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Aos-paintstools-eng-spa-port-latv-rom-2021
https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/40k-Paint-and-Tool-Set-EN-ES-2020

Because both exist unlike what people in thread said unless the complaint is they do too few of them...

 gorgon wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 gorgon wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 gorgon wrote:

 Galas wrote:
I never knew people had such strong opinions about their paint's containers until this thread.

Oh, I've seen this exact conversation get kinda heated on FB.

I prefer droppers because the best practice is avoid putting your brush directly in the source container so that you don't contaminate (with dust, liquid, other colors, etc.) the whole thing. This is true for miniature painting or house painting. Droppers make things easier in that context.

Note that I'm not saying anyone is doing it *wrong* by putting their brushes in the pot. If that's *right for you*, have at it. "Best practice" doesn't mean "law". It does mean "best practice" however, and that's why there is a very legit rationale behind using droppers.

Edit: Regarding GW pots, you can add me to the list of people who've had issues with the current version. They aren't awful. They're CLEARLY better than the old bolter round pots, which would dry out unopened on the shelf. But I've had fewer bad experiences with dropper bottles. The P3/Cote D'Arms/old GW pots are great too if pots are your thing.

I'd say it's a stretch to say there even is a "best practice" when it comes to miniature paints so long as the person is getting their models painted and is happy with the result (which seems to be a pretty high bar in this hobby).

I mean...I think we can come up with endless examples of alternate ways of achieving certain tasks that may give an acceptable result but are less than ideal for legitimate reasons. I'd also offer that the reason that 'best practices' exist are so that people maximize their chances of being happy with the end result.

If someone paints quicker straight out of the pot then for them perhaps that's the best practice, because the end goal is a painted model rather than a pot that is free from contamination.

I guess, if the 3(?) extra seconds it takes to move paint to a palette represents a substantial time savings. TO ME, that's not a terribly strong argument, but whatevs. And of course the pot-to-mini scenario implies one isn't thinning, mixing, or manipulating the paint in any way. Again, not that anyone is required to do any of those things. But they may lead painters to better results, which is why GW's own videos show their painters using palettes.

You can do whatever you want. My point here is just that there's some actual rationale behind not painting from the pot.

Yes, but to be completely fair, the "Droppers get less brush / airborne contaminant inside them" is also not exactly a compelling reason to give them the superlative title of "BEST practice" either. I've painted for many years, I'm a good painter, I take it seriously, and I can honestly say that I've never had an issue with contaminated paints. My brushes are about the cleanest thing in the immediate vicinity when I'm painting (I suppose apart from my hands, which also get a thorough washing before each session), so the best practice moniker in this case reminds me of marketing spiel tbh.

 gorgon wrote:
I guess, if the 3(?) extra seconds it takes to move paint to a palette represents a substantial time savings. TO ME, that's not a terribly strong argument, but whatevs. And of course the pot-to-mini scenario implies one isn't thinning, mixing, or manipulating the paint in any way. Again, not that anyone is required to do any of those things. But they may lead painters to better results, which is why GW's own videos show their painters using palettes.

You can do whatever you want. My point here is just that there's some actual rationale behind not painting from the pot.

A few seconds repeated many times is many seconds, and it requires you to have a clean palette on hand.

You can do whatever you want. My point here is just that there's some actual rationale behind not painting from the pot.

Personally I use a palette and I don't really care one way or the other.

But I've met folk who just dip their brush in their water pot, use the tongue of the pot to pick up some paint, then straight to the model when basecoating and if doing detail work they may wipe some paint off on the back of their hand first. For those people, having decent pot options is a good thing versus everything just going to droppers, and I've been told straight to my face that the reason a person didn't like Vallejo was the pots.

P3 are the other ones that are available around this area that use pop tops, but I've not been too impressed with the handful of P3 paints I've bought over the years. Humbrol had a range of pop top acrylics and those pots were worse than GW's for drying out, which was a shame because they were actually good paints, at least the ones I tried. There was only one hobby store nearby (the variety that sells airfix and RC models, not wargames) that sold them and he was getting rid of them because they weren't popular among scale modellers who tended to prefer the old school enamels and alcohol paints, also they were often dried out even from brand new.

I have quite a few P3 paints, some probably bought at least 8 years ago that have never dried out in the slightest. My GW paints all seem to die at random.

BigOscar wrote:
Aye, but GW is already 20% more expensive than getting them elsewhere,

except not every store offers a discount over the GW prices.

 Dendarien wrote:
I have quite a few P3 paints, some probably bought at least 8 years ago that have never dried out in the slightest. My GW paints all seem to die at random.

I like the P3 pots, they're great, and I have some P3 paints that I imagine are over a decade old and they still work fine.

I just don't particularly like the paints themselves. The ones I've tried seem to be light on pigment and quite thin. Good for doing many thin coats, but sucky for doing speed painting techniques which is 95% of what I do.

Personally in the GW range I head straight for the "base" range, or in the Vallejo range I try and get the military colours which tend to be very good coverage, and P3 didn't seem to compete with those (unless I just bought bad colours, maybe I'm forming an opinion on not having tried enough of them).

Eh, they'll probably have those weird nipple tips like Duncan's paint and never seal or drool all over the place.

Putting aside whether or not they're a good thing in any objective sense or whether the rumour is true, personally I prefer droppers and would like it to be, the main issue is just what TalonZahn mentions: the quality of the bottles.

There are some nice, robust droppers out there and so long as they use those I'd consider it a positive change. Even if they only did it with the Air paints, I'll still be happy because I can badger everyone I know to save me their empties to reuse, since getting hold of the good bottles as a punter is a huge pain in the bum.

> If I had to choose a container for all paints it would be the dropper bottles with a flip lid, like Kimera paints use.

Same design as craft paints!

Shake the bottle, remove the cap, paint from the cap. Even if you add a little paint that's a different color, the small amount won't matter, at least for advanced tabletop.

First time I've heard of Kimera, but will look out for them if they're ever on sale!

 ced1106 wrote:
> If I had to choose a container for all paints it would be the dropper bottles with a flip lid, like Kimera paints use.

Same design as craft paints!

Shake the bottle, remove the cap, paint from the cap. Even if you add a little paint that's a different color, the small amount won't matter, at least for advanced tabletop.

First time I've heard of Kimera, but will look out for them if they're ever on sale!

Spoiler:

I've not used them, but from what I've seen of other people using them there's a little tab that plugs the hole so you're not really going to get much paint in the cap to use. Though also from what I've seen the caps get messy pretty quick.

I'd be slightly worried that style of pot would spray paint at me when I open and close them, simply because Vallejo's metal colours sometimes do that... if a bit of paint gets in the cap when you snap it closed or snap it open it sprays a few little dots of paint. I've learned to cover the cap when opening and closing them so I only end up with paint on my hands rather than over my clothes or desk. I don't know if this can be a problem with the Kimera bottles, just saying it is with the Vallejo metal colours which use a similar looking bottle.

I quite like the containers for the Revell Aqua range.

Square on the outside with a cylinder shape inside for the paint. The lid removes completely and clips onto the base to form a palette rather than taking from a flip top lid.

Over engineered, uses more plastic but as stable as you like. I can only recall actually knocking over a paint pot once in 28 years but the Aqùa ones are potentially a solution for an uncommon problem.

Tamiya acrylics are pretty unique. Little round glass jars.

> I've not used them, but from what I've seen of other people using them there's a little tab that plugs the hole so you're not really going to get much paint in the cap to use. Though also from what I've seen the caps get messy pretty quick.

Thanks!

> I quite like the containers for the Revell Aqua range.

Will keep a lookout! Found this blog post about the paint. : https://bleaseworld.blogspot.com/2013/01/potty-time.html



> Tamiya acrylics are pretty unique. Little round glass jars.

EDIT: Hate these, too. Mine also get stuck, and somehow dry out. How am I supposed to thin the paint in the jars -- especially when the thinner needs thinning?

Clear Red is good for blood effects. You can use the clears for quick-and-dirty gem gloss, but I suppose gloss varnish would do the same? Not entirely satisfied, but I've tried clears on transluscents.

JWBS wrote:
Tamiya acrylics are pretty unique. Little round glass jars.

They're probably not as bad as GW's screw tops from years gone by, but I don't particularly like them. I've had a few jam up on me. A couple I've torn off the label because to get the cap off I had to dunk them in boiling water. I haven't had one fully dry out, but I have had a couple go thick.

They also outgas, if you put a bunch of them in a sealed plastic container and leave them to sit for a while, when you open said container you'll get a face full of alcohol fumes.

I do like the paint though, particularly for airbrushing. If you need to lay down a vibrant red or yellow they are better than most acrylics I've used.

No one solution is perfect but look at that beauty.

That is NOT getting knocked over

 Dendarien wrote:
I have quite a few P3 paints, some probably bought at least 8 years ago that have never dried out in the slightest. My GW paints all seem to die at random.

I have just a few of P3s, not very easy to get them here but I can only say good things about them. Colours are amazing and pots are airtight so they keep paints spot on.
I wish I had more.

 Irbis wrote:

TBH normal paint you'd use with wet palette is OK with dropper bottles, but specialist paints, technicals, shades, contrast and such you use straight from the pot would be useless from droppers and/or hugely wasteful. The pots thing is kinda a meme now, I bet if GW was using the droppers instead some people would bash them and praising pots every second post

Again, kind of depends how you use them. Washes in GW pots are great as I normally just use them straight from the pot. Contrast can be similar, but the problem is that if you want to mix two contrast/wash colours, or dilute them with medium for a thinner wash/colour, then you have to get them on to a (dry) palate. Which means either taking brushloads over and over, or trying to tip some in or (best I could come up with) using small pipettes.

The reality is there are many times I think "it's handy I don't have to faff about with putting this wash on a palette" and other times I think "I wish this was in a dropper bottle".

You're right about the meme thing though, the pots are always used to bash GW paints but I do wonder how many people are out there thinking "man, I love GW paint, it's the best, I'd buy it if only it was in dropper bottles". Versus how many would go "well I'm glad they've seen sense but I prefer Vallejo anyhow". Or "yeah but they're still overpriced". I'm not sure GW would actually gain much.

I use army painter washes which come in the dropper bottles and I’ve grown to like it since I prefer thinning my washes down anyways. Washes are super easy to move to a different pot too.

BrianDavion wrote:

BigOscar wrote:
Aye, but GW is already 20% more expensive than getting them elsewhere,

except not every store offers a discount over the GW prices.

You don't have access to ebay, amazon, or the many other discounted online retailers? You don't have any FLGS in a 20-30 minute drive that offers discounts? Man, what part of Canada do you live in?

Toofast wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:

BigOscar wrote:
Aye, but GW is already 20% more expensive than getting them elsewhere,

except not every store offers a discount over the GW prices.

You don't have access to ebay, amazon, or the many other discounted online retailers? You don't have any FLGS in a 20-30 minute drive that offers discounts? Man, what part of Canada do you live in?

The prices for GW paint on Amazon is almost always more than what you would pay in a store that does not offer discounts.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 ced1106 wrote:
> If I had to choose a container for all paints it would be the dropper bottles with a flip lid, like Kimera paints use.

Same design as craft paints!

Shake the bottle, remove the cap, paint from the cap. Even if you add a little paint that's a different color, the small amount won't matter, at least for advanced tabletop.

First time I've heard of Kimera, but will look out for them if they're ever on sale!

Spoiler:

I've not used them, but from what I've seen of other people using them there's a little tab that plugs the hole so you're not really going to get much paint in the cap to use. Though also from what I've seen the caps get messy pretty quick.

I'd be slightly worried that style of pot would spray paint at me when I open and close them, simply because Vallejo's metal colours sometimes do that... if a bit of paint gets in the cap when you snap it closed or snap it open it sprays a few little dots of paint. I've learned to cover the cap when opening and closing them so I only end up with paint on my hands rather than over my clothes or desk. I don't know if this can be a problem with the Kimera bottles, just saying it is with the Vallejo metal colours which use a similar looking bottle.

To be fair, I have had that happen to me with the current GW pots as well.

As a heaven that often paints straight from the pot I hope they don’t.
I can understand the air range swapping but for their target audience pots make more sense. Little Timmy painting his first model isn’t using a wet pallet!

I like a pot I can open one handed, dislike the Vallejo style droppers for that and I lose the lids, and the holes get bunged up. Those revel ones look interesting but in. Bonkers and unnecessary but cool. Are the paints any good!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Tamereth wrote:
As a heaven that often paints straight from the pot I hope they don’t.
I can understand the air range swapping but for their target audience pots make more sense. Little Timmy painting his first model isn’t using a wet pallet!

But he could use a pallet, like a plate or old tile or bit of plastic card or even a piece of baking parchment. Could and should.

 Tamereth wrote:
As a heaven that often paints straight from the pot I hope they don’t.
I can understand the air range swapping but for their target audience pots make more sense. Little Timmy painting his first model isn’t using a wet pallet!

If Little Timmy follows any of the hundreds of painting tutorials GW has posted on YouTube then he will be using a palette pad or something similar.

Honestly the vast weight of painting guides online now show pallets and wet pallets as being pretty much as standard as getting a brush and water pot for painting. Heck even my early GW paint sets had a plastic insert that gave you a cheap pallet.

All Duncan's GW videos he uses one.

Using a pallet instead of the pot has been such a mainstay feature that its likely good enough to assume the majority paint that way; or at least are encouraged to paint that way.

 Ghaz wrote:

 Tamereth wrote:
As a heaven that often paints straight from the pot I hope they don’t.
I can understand the air range swapping but for their target audience pots make more sense. Little Timmy painting his first model isn’t using a wet pallet!

If Little Timmy follows any of the hundreds of painting tutorials GW has posted on YouTube then he will be using a palette pad or something similar.

My observation has been that not everyone attempts to follow tutorials. They find their own way with the assistance of tutorials, rather than rigidly adhering to them. GW's tutorial painting method is pretty mediocre for getting armies painted quickly and it also sucks for painting to a high standard.

The value of them for me was primarily seeing what colours work well together for a scheme rather than following their methodology.

Yiu don’t have to follow the step by step, but if everyone in every tutorial is using a pallet then you should as well, like said above, paint, water pot, brush, pallet…..all basics.

The way GW used their brushes in their tutorials would also lead to them having a short lifespan.

Andykp wrote:
Yiu don’t have to follow the step by step, but if everyone in every tutorial is using a pallet then you should as well, like said above, paint, water pot, brush, pallet…..all basics.

You "should" do whatever the hell works for you. If that's painting straight from the pot, more power to you.

The challenge for the vast majority of wargamers is not painting an army to a high standard, it's actually getting an army painted at all, so I'm all for whatever makes it easier for people to get their armies done and on the table, and for some people they prefer painting directly from the pot.

This isn't an art school.