Has anyone on the list (or off the list) have experience painting minis with
Liquitext Acrylics (or any other artist quality acrylics).
I've been a miniature enthusiast for over 18 years (not long by some people's
standards). I've finally gotten fed up with Game$ Work$hop's Citadel brand
paints and inks and Ral Parthas stuff. Don't get me wrong, both lines have
there good (and bad) points. Unfortunately for my liking they dry to quickly,
giving me little time to work with them once I've transferred the paint to my
palette. Another problem I've found is the consistancy from lot to lot. I've
also used Testor's Model Masters, Floquil and Polly S. With the Polly S and
Floquil lines going through some major changes and the watery nature of
Testor's line I fine myself longing for something else.
I realize there will be a number of differences... and that I may need
to take some classes on art for once ;-) However, that aside - Is it
possible to use these mediums as a means of finishing minis off.
Also, what lines of inks do people like? I'm really tired of being oh so
careful in handling Citadels paint pots only to have ink leak around the
sides of the cap when I tighten it up.
Thanks in advance to those that might be able to help.
> At 01:21 AM 3/3/99 -0600, you wrote:
> with Liquitext Acrylics (or any other artist quality acrylics).
> consistancy from lot to lot. I've also used Testor's Model Masters,
> longing for something else.
[snip]
I've tried using the Liquitex Medium Viscosity paints - "jar" paints,
not
"tube" paints - and the one thing that sticks out is that they won't
stick to metal at all. If you don't use a good primer base, you can peal the
acrylic film off of the metal like an orange peel. Other than that, they work
just fine.:)
> From: "John C" <john1x@hotmail.com>
<snip>
> There are only two disadvantages to Cartoon Colors: No metallics (so I
> use Polly S, or one of a variety of Craft Paints), and it is rather
> directly with Cartoon Colors itself. Now, I'll probably have to go
Actually the name of the Company is Cel Vinyl - the paints are
designed for use in animation and they stick VERY well to plastics.
KR
> As for inks, I blush to confess that I still use Citadel inks, in the
> shipped by air), and I like 'em fine. However, Pelikan makes some
As do Windsor Newton!
KR
> John Crimmins
> Subject: Anyone use Liquitex Paints?
> Has anyone on the list (or off the list) have experience painting
> Citadel brand paints and inks and Ral Parthas stuff. Don't get me
> transferred the paint to my palette. Another problem I've found is
> some major changes and the watery nature of Testor's line I fine
Howard Hues paints (shameless plug here) are thick acrylics that I use by
putting them out on newspaper (!) and allowing them to thicken as I highlight
and dry brush my figures. They seem to hold up well
and not dry too fast (I use Cel Vinyl - see my previous post- when I
want something to dry up fast)
KR
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> On Wed, 3 Mar 1999, Kevin Walker wrote:
> I've been a miniature enthusiast for over 18 years (not long by some
hey, brian - here's another pair of fragments for your applet - "Game$"
and "$hop"!
Tom
My experience with painting in general is extremely limited, but I did use
some tubed Interference (not iridescence as I said earlier) Gold for small
insignia on my ESU ships. This is on top of Evil Empire (tm) Snot Green, but
even though I believe the interference line is supposed to be somewhat
transparent, it did a fine job and laid very flat.
I don't doubt that it won't work directly on metal, but I've primed every
thing I've painted so far anyway.
By the way, only one recognizable 'star and bars' out of seven attempts, but
when dealing with ten thumbs on two left hands, that's a major victory in
itself.
;->=
The_Beast
> Has anyone on the list (or off the list) have experience painting minis
> with Liquitext Acrylics (or any other artist quality acrylics).
My only experience with liquitex is the white--great primer, and
excellent for dryrushing. Let me recommend another brand, though, if I
may.
Cartoon Colors, produced by the company of the same name, are great paints.
They are acrylics, originally designed to be used in painting animation cels,
and I've been doing most of my painting with them for the past few years. The
paint is flexible, covers well (within
reason--painting yellow over black never works), and comes in a large
variety of colors. The colors are, in fact, the best part: there are about 30
or 40 basic and distinct colors, and about 20 different versions of each of
these colors. With Red, for example, you can get
Red 20--a nice, deep color--or Red 19, which is a little lighter. Or
Red 18, or 17, or 16...each getting progressively lighter, until you reach Red
1, a very light pink. This makes shading, highlighting, and drybrushing VERY
easy. Most colors have 20 gradiations; some have less,
Grey has 32. Drying time is a little slower than Partha paints, but not
by much. The paint comes in squeeze bottles, and is easy to dispense.
There are only two disadvantages to Cartoon Colors: No metallics (so I use
Polly S, or one of a variety of Craft Paints), and it is rather difficult to
obtain. I used to get it through Jenkintown, which dealt directly with Cartoon
Colors itself. Now, I'll probably have to go direct myself. If anyone is
interested, let me know and I'll try to find the address.
As for inks, I blush to confess that I still use Citadel inks, in the original
plastic squeeze bottles (the ones that tended to explode when shipped by air),
and I like 'em fine. However, Pelikan makes some nice inks as well, and I've
been employing them more and more often.
Hi all,
I have been using Liquitex paints for the past couple of years, and I really
like them. The trick to making them work is to remember that they're very
concentrated, and you have to add water to the paint in order to get started.
The paint has been designed so that it needs to be thinned down before use, so
when the paint comes out of the tube (or jar) it's pretty sticky (I have heard
that the tube paint is stickier than the jar paint, but I haven't used the jar
paint yet). I would recommend using some kind of "acrylic extender," which is
basically soapy water that you can add to the paint to reduce its surface
tension and make it mix easier. I have used Ivory dishwashing soap as well as
the commercial extender that's sold in art stores, and I haven't noticed any
appreciable difference between the two.
You will need some sort of palette to work on -- I have used white
plastic
bags (supermarket bags), waxed paper, blister-pack bubbles, and those
little plastic ketchup cups from fast food joints for mixing, but I prefer the
"paper palette" sheets that you buy in art supply stores. As you blend the
paint together, you will find yourself watching the paint become easier to
work with as more liquid gets mixed in, and you will eventually come up with a
blend that feels good to you. For example, a good way to make a dark wash is
to mix in enough water to give it the consistency of milk (regular, not skim).
Liquitex makes a couple of different lines of paint; the "regular" Liquitex
that comes in white tubes is the "artists' quality" paint -- it's more
expensive, because it has a higher concentration of pigment in the mix. The
"Liquitex Basics", on the other hand, are cheaper because they have a lower
concentration of pigment. I have painted miniatures with both of these, and in
my experience it makes more sense to get the expensive kind because you're
going to be stretching the paint to its limits when you mix up a dark wash.
The tubes I own have lasted for a couple of years, and aren't even halfway
empty, so you'll definitely get your money's worth out of them in the long
run.
Also, as somebody else pointed out, you MUST have a coat of primer on the
miniature if you're going to be using Liquitex paints. I always prime my
figures, so I've never had a problem with this.
I use a combination of Ral Partha's acryclics, Testor's various oil
based paints, and the superior (IMHO for military modelling - due to
vast colour range) Tamiya acrylic paints. I also have used Humbrol oil based.
The problem is no one range of paints gives you the full range of colours,
shades, or texturing (thickness, etc) that you want so you end up buying into
multiple ranges. I also use acrylic artist's inks for shading. And I've used
high percision Staedler drafting pens for detailing.
I find Tamiya makes a fair sized acrylic paint in a good colour range. If it
has any issue, it is that one must make sure they are
well shaken and maybe stirred if they've been sitting - colour
components tend to settle in levels and this means if you paint from the cap
of the paint jar, then the bottom, you get a slight variance in colour unless
mixing was thorough. But, when covered with testor's dullcote, they seem to
hold up to dropping and other abuse reasonably well.
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