I've just recently gotten into 40k for the first time, and I've begun painting my Ork army. I got one squad done over several days at the nearby Battle Bunker, but it'd be a lot more convenient to paint at home. I read through several painting guides, including Guant's, but I'm still having some problems.

The biggest problem for me is that no matter what I do, the paint (Creamcoat) acts too watery. I can't get a solid layer of color down as I paint, it seems to pool into puddles on the model, instead of spreading out. Am I missing some important step or technique, or is this what's supposed to be happening? I primed all my models, and didn't seem to have this problem too much with the GW paints at the store (though some colors like red and orange were difficult).

Any advice would be very welcome!

You said that the GW paints didn't have this problem? If so, the problem is the paint you are using. The GW product is very good -- I strongly suggest you use them.




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Well, some of the GW paints didn't have this problem, but lighter colors certainly did. I may yet resign to just painting at the shop, but after reading the painting guide here at LO, I thought that the Delat Creamcoat was a quality brand of paint to use, so I just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions as to why I might be having problems with those paints.

I have not heard of this brand so not much help there.

however can you tell us how much water are you adding?

Is the model undercoated? Your know how some painting guides recommend you wash the figure first - well thats actually true i had some dwarfs and the paint just fell off them until I washed them in soapy water turned out there was still lubricant from the factory on them.

Yeah, I washed the sprue sheets pretty well before assembly, then primed them with a spray-on primer. I've tried various amounts of water... if I don't use any water, some colors go on very thick and cover up lots of detail, but when I try brushing them away to smoth it out, it re-exposes the base caot in a lot of areas. I usually put a little paint on the palette and then use the brush to transfer water in to mix it up, I've tried from about a 10:1 to 3:1 paint to water ratio, but I haven't found any good mixes yet and any more water seems like it's gonna be too much.

Maybe it's just the paint I'm using.. does any one have suggestions for paint that won't cost me $80?

Light colors will almost always be more difficult to paint than darker ones - they usually require several layers to get even coverage. I use GW paints and have, for the most part, been very happy with them (just make sure you water them down). A lot of people on this forum like using Vallejo paints, but I've never used them so I can't speak to their effectiveness.

If you find your paint is so thin that you're losing control, it sounds like it COULD be that your paint is TOO thin, but I hesitate to suggest that, as it's rarely a "beginner" problem.

The other thing that makes paint uncontrollable is using too much of it. If your paint is super-thin (especially when doing washes or glazes) it is critical to blot your brush, meaning you need to touch the brush to a paper towel or something and "bleed off" some of the paint before hitting the model. If the paint is thicker, just make sure to actually "paint" a little off the brush onto the palette. There's an old trick of "sharpening" the point of the brush by twisting it between your fingers as you pick up paint. It leaves little swirly tracks on your palette, and most "good" painters I've seen have these all over their palettes. It makes for a nice, fine point, and also removes excess paint. A win-win!

Ok, I am pretty new as well since I just started in January but I think I can post a sensible comment, although previous posters mentioned some of it already.

What primer are you using, black or white? And what colours are you painting? For brighter colours, white is more prefferable, although it'll show through them as well.

From my own experience I can say that, for example, yellow is a real pain and you will likely need like 5 or more thin layers to get good coverage, if not more. I have tried Ceramcoat paints but only one or two colours so I can't really judge how good they are, but I think GW and Vallejo feel like better paints. My original plan was to use Ceramcoat but I found a good deal on ebay for Vallejo so that's what I ordered and so far they're great and feel better than the few craft paints I tried (I tried CRAFT, AppleBarrel, Americana, CRAFT was the worst, I had a brown from them and it did exactly what you're describing).

ppl might be able to help you better nail down the problem if you say what colour is giving you grief and over what primer. It might either be the paint or the colour itself, for example I didn't have issues with painting GW red, green, blue over white or brown over black, etc. If you're having issues with these colours then it's probably the paint.

One of the above posters should have touched on every thing that might be causing this problem.

What color is your primer/base? If its black then you need to start with a basecoat of a darker color then you want, then paint upto the brightness you want. (IE use a dark red over the black, then a lighter red over the dark red)

If your using white then you might be having paint problems. I have never heard of this paint but i use GW and am very satisfied. If you have this problem with a white primer i would suggesting not using so much water, if you water then down. If you dont water them down then i would strongly suggest getting some GW paints.

Painting miniatures with craft paint is a special skill that takes time and practice to learn, that's pretty much all there is to it. It sounds like you're doing things right, it just takes a while to learn the right amount of water to add to each color, no magic formula sadly =(.

Were you using regular Citadel Colour with the black lids or the Citadel Foundation Paints with white lids at the GW Bunker? If you were using foundation paints, there really isn't any other product that will have similar properties. (Whether those properties are a good thing or not is open to debate, but no Craft Paint brand will give the same effect.)

I am using a black primer, which I figured would give me problems for the lighter colors, but I'm having these problems with all the colors. I think that what you guys are saying is right, it's a matter of layers, namely needing more of them and working up from a darker color. Thanks for all your help.

I also realized one other detail that might have been adding to the problem: I was using nylon brushes. I don't know how much of a difference that would make.

First of all nylon brushes are as good as pants in my opinion. It's worth spending a bit on some decent brushes that use natural hairs. Obviously you don't have to buy Games Workshop brushes, just visit a local arts shop if there's one around you and browse the brushes.

As for the colours, all of the paints will need thin multiple, layers to build up a solid colour. Of course, you could try the foundation range as they give a brilliant solid coat in less time.

Hope this helps! :P

:happy:

Thanks again, I'll go out and gte some regular brushes and keep practicing. I'm glad that this community is so helpful!

Thanks again, I'll go out and gte some regular brushes and keep practicing. I'm glad that this community is so helpful!
Yeah, it's really cool.

Good luck!

PS. Just make sure the brushes are good quality and are not too soft, i.e. the hair form a nice point and feel firm.

Basically what the others have said. You need quality brushes. Sable or something similar works well for me. As far as paints go, I really have only used GW colours, I find general craft paints tend to look too wan and watery and don't have the same finish.
Don't overload the brush - a little bit of paint goes a long way.
Don't try and paint the colour you want the top coat to be straight on the model - work up in layers, starting with a darker basecoat and using progressively lighter coats to get the desired colour. This also assists in shading the model.
Try to leave darker colours in the recesses of the model - it provides more natural shading.
Wash the brush regularly and take good care of it. Have different brushes for different things - i.e. 1 for drybrushing, 1 for basecoating etc. This reduces the wear on them and they will last longer
Have different water containers for metallics and non-metallic paints
Paint with a piece of paper towel next to you - use it to soak up excess water and paint.

I actually use the back of old transfer sheets to soak up excess water from my brushes! :D It does work and is pretty effective. Seeing as I never use transfer sheets from any GW kit I have built up a collection of them over the past few years. :happy: