If you are having a problem with normal hobby paints drying out (such as
Tamiya, GW, the D&D paints, Vallejo), you might want to look into life
extenders for acrylics. I purchased such a product in about a 500
mL bottle from an art/drafting store in town.
I add a wee bit to the paints ever so often (sometimes I just open them up and
drop a wee bit in, stir, close them up). It helps replace evaporated liquidity
with something not as thin as water and that helps retain the existing
viscosity.
Some of these sorts of products:
http://www.dickblick.com/products/liquitex-acrylic-mediums/
http://www.twenga.co.uk/dir-Leisure-Hobbies,Fine-arts,Paint-retarder
Vallejo has one but they're selling it in wee bottles and it's rather
overpriced when packaged thusly.
Winsor, Newton, Ceramacoat, Folk Art. Most of these are 'craft paint'
extenders, but they'll work with your fancier gaming acrylics. Most of
the difference I can see between folk/craft paints and hobby/gaming
paint is pigment size (smaller particulates). You can often get away
with the craft/folk art paints for vehicles and such if you can find
the right colours.
Some other tips:
http://slappingpaint.net/Painting_Tips_and_Hints.html
Tom B
PS: GZGpedia Wiki with 'side areas' for home brew universes (Roger's, maybe
JA's if we can convince him, some others) would be pretty cool.
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Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@mail.csua.berkeley.edu
http://mail.csua.berkeley.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lOddly enough I
rarely have this problem and normally when I have failed to properly seal the
bottle. Probably 50% of my paints are over 15 years old, (Which amazes me as
I'm hardly going overboard to protect these bottles), including some of my
precious rare ones such as "canadian sun pale flesh" and "wargamer belly
pink"... Los
> On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 4:27 PM, Tom B <kaladorn@gmail.com> wrote:
> If you are having a problem with normal hobby paints drying out (such
To what Los said:
I have some paints from when I started painting, maybe 25 years ago, that are
still usable. I have some from the middle stage that dried up
in a very much shorter time - maybe 4-5 years.
The main culprits, as far as I ever figured:
1) Painting with open paint jar (a no no, but all of us have done it) 2)
Crappy jars (the plastic D&D paints with crappy plastic tops were the worst)
Good bottles and good lids make a lot of difference. The life
extenders just help allow you to paint open-pot if you want to and to
ensure your investment.
Also, all climates are not equal. For example, 14 stories up in Ottawa, in the
summer you could be sitting in my apartment and not bother with a shower
because the humidity is so high you've already had one. In the winter, if you
don't humidify fairly extensively, you'll wake up every morning with desert
dry sinuses and anything open with moisture doesn't last long.
I think the Tamiya paints had reasonable bottles. Humbrols were okay
if you got the lid on right, but no one uses oil-based enamels
anymore. The Ral Partha (I think) D&D paints were crappy bottles. The Armoury
paints I got were good bottles with crappy lids, but they sold a much better
optional lid and I bought a boatload of those. GW paints
are fairly well contained. Many craft/folk paints are in at best okay
containers, but some just aren't great for long term storage. The Vallejo
paints I have look like the containers will keep them good for a long time.
So, get a good paint container or buy brands that are well contained, don't
paint with the paint pot open for hours, and live in a moderately humid area
and your paints may well last a long, long time.
T.
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Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@mail.csua.berkeley.edu
http://mail.csua.berkeley.edu:8080/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lMost
definitely... Many of the paints I use have the drip tips (like vallejo etc)
and those are the best, but stuff like citadel type paint jars where you pop
open the top, I leave open while paint since I don't need enough to pour out
and have not experienced any problems with that. However if one is not
diligent in keeping the threads clean on the jars, paint builds up, dries out
because you get those seal issues.
I have to go home tonight and look at my paints since there are one or two
brands tyhat do dry out over time despite being perfectly sealed, which is BS.
> On Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 4:12 AM, Tom B <kaladorn@gmail.com> wrote:
> To what Los said: