Vallejo is good, it's what I use as a go-to paint as well.

So I've been watching videos and taking in info from other sources. It tutns out most if not all companies supply an iredescent medium, or something akin to that, which is effectively equivalent to the Golden Iridescent Pearl I mentiomed in the other thread. The means to which custom metallic colors can be mixed. Which probably isn't news to anyone but me. I attained the knowledge by experimentimg. Carry on.

Very cheap (Golden Soflat set):

https://www.amazon.com/Golden-SoFlat-Acrylics … 7664703193&th=1

33.99$

So I can confirm that cleaning vinegar is effective for softening paint. I took a wad of paper towel that was moistened with it, laid it on top of a brass plate I primed twice then painted over, and after 20 minutes the paint can be scratched off with your nail. Haven't tried soaking minis in a container of it yet.

Interested in any opinions of Vallejo Game Colors, specifically the Leather and Metal set, and also the Fantasy Color set (both have 16 bottles). I read somewhere that the game colors could be inferior or qc isn't up to snuff. I actually ordered tje fantasy set, then canceled the other day, because I'm a screwball. No interest in fantasy minis, the colors just looked so vibrant.

Also interested in joining a bona fide wargaming mini forum.

Game Color line has more vibrant paints and is more durable than model color but that durability comes at a cost of a more satin finish. I find that they do not work for my style, I tend to go for less saturated colors and more earthy tones, but they will easily replace your P3, Reaper or Games Workshop paints easily.

At this point, like a total lunatic, I've spent 1101$ US on various acrylic paints. Comparitively little is meant for.or even useful for minis. I do that a lot, take on a hobby, and it spawns other little nefarious hobbies. I plan to sell a bunch of it. I opened my AP Mega set but have used none so far. I really need to be realistic, I won't be painting thousands of minis, likely not even in my lifetime (I have purchased nearly a thou' of minis already is my guess). Yes pure lunacy.

So that's the long way of saying I'll stick with the paint I have. The Vallejo medieval set is nice enough. That friggin Mega set seems to have a draw ... I was planning on selling it. But who knows. Each of the Vallejo sets has it's appeal. The Fantasy Game set looks really nice. I wouldn't want a paint too satiny. Nor Satany 🤣 🤣. I was surprised, a few days after I bought it, that the green my medieval set came with is anemic and putrid ("Light Green"). That doesn't mean it's bad. The kind of man I am needs a strong dark green. I can always puke, piss, or even just sneeze on it if I need a lighter one.

It ain't easy at all to mix up a nice medium to strong green. I have't found the right formula at least.

Craft paints, for the most part, bite the big one. Americana (premium paint as according to DecoArt. Their Crafter's Acrylic line ain't so premium. I've been in contact) and Folk Art can be much nicer. Not quite the quality of V*, AP, and certainly not Golden. I'm done largely. Still have to try Delta Ceramcoat. If it's worth the bother.

Someone told me that about the Game colors already. Maybe it was you. Eventually I'll buy another ser. I already bought a model making wood chopper this week (that's it's name, the Chopper) and a 933mhz Pentium III.

My statement about the usedulness.of acrylics in general (read tube paints) being not so useful for minis needs to be.modified. You can paint minis with Gray Poupon, Duke's Mayo, or even poop itself. Indeed there are blokes using heavy body paints like Liquitex, or Golden, to paint minis. They'll need significant thinning and that likely will require experience to thin them properly. Perhaps not a horrribly steep learning curve. Golden is well known for thinning with water. I have dabbled in this just slightly so far. The results were decent enough, even surprisingly good. Now this was squeezing some paint in a jar and adding water. It really needs to be done more scientifically. Not an exacting process necessarily, but it's nice to have a specific formula.

Not all tube paints are the same. But afaik ALL high quality, heavy body paints are glossy as all get out. I mean patent leather glossy. Like psycho killer glossy. And they're beautiful to behold ... on canvas' and such. The only tube paints I bought that were flat were the Daler Simply line. But if you add any water they immediately become washes. You can mix paint with mediums that are specifically labeled matte, in some cases which will thin them. And take down the gloss. But adding significant liquids (or matteing solids, like pumice) will alter the color obviously. All fun things I want to try.

Cheapest I've ever seen it (Vallejo Basic USA set):

https://www.amazon.com/Vallejo-Basic-Colors-P … =A1M27MGF5PA4PU

22.99$ US. Nearly the lowest price of any 16 color set I've seen. Don't hate me if it goes baxk up. There's a lot of that on Amazon.

And yet another line of (matte) fluid acrylics. Very reasonable. 7 x 2oz. bottles for 11.66$ US.

https://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-matt … BCABEgIk9_D_BwE

So I got some of the Delta Ceramcoat paints. In terms of coverage, amongst the 2oz. craft paints I've used, there is nothing that comes close. Here and there are certain colors in a paint line (not many at all) that cover as thoroughly. But these paints consistently do an outstanding job. Even the purple was amazing, and basically all the other purples I have are like washes right out of the bottle at full strength.

A (preliminary) issue I may have is the colors. While not bad, there seems to be a dullness. Earlier I compared the Golden SoFlats to poster paint. I'm not sure what to compare these paints to except house paint. The colors certainly are dense. I wouldn't call them vibrant. These are flat paints though, and maybe the pigments aren't what they could be. These were a buck apiece at Target. You can't expect the world. They certainly give you a lot for the money. They also mix and blend splendidly. 90% of my craft paints are going to be donated.

There are many more colors then the 10 I bought. I don't know what it is exactly with these. Maybe they used too much pigment (not possible)? Absolutely definitely worth checking out. I bought a 12 pack of FolkArt paints the prior weekend. The money I spent on these this weekend (please, I know you all buy paints every weekend lile I do!) was money far better spent.

I'm going to produce a huge swatch of all the paints I currently own. For comparison. Fairly soon.

Ron Saikowsky of From The Warp used to paint with Delta Creamcoat hobby acrylics a lot and he was one hell of a painter. They are not available where I live but if ı could buy them I'd stock up. They are mad value considering the price to volume..

Some recent stuff from me in case anyone still cares 😓

So, been a long while ...

Hobby Lobby sells Delta for $1.17 USD.per 2 oz. bottle. Sometime ago they had 101-102 colors (mayne 6 months ago). Now they have 94. Your local Target may also have them (not all Targets carry them). 99 cents a bottle. They're not as good as Vallejo, which isn't as good as Golden SoFlats. But Delta Ceramcoat destroys every other craft paint out there in terms of coverage at least. I can't understand why Walmart and Michaels don't sell them. They were bought up by Plaid, who also own Apple Barrel and Folkart. But Delta eats both for breakfast (and Americana also, no comparison). Amongst the lower quality craft paints certain individual colors cover well. And I AM NOT knocking the use of any of them. But if you can buy or order at least some Delta, I think you'll thank me.

Hate to repeat myself. Haven't done much painting lately. Still buying minis though, Wargames Atlantic Goths, Perry Mounted Men at Arms. And yet more Victrix, all 3 sets of late Romans. These are very versatile sets which can represent Goths (with stolen Roman armor 🤣 🤣), Romano-Brits, early Byzantines, etc.).

I still haven't tried Blick liquid (matte) acrylics. No plans in the near future. Or Nova Color which is another seemingly (very) worthwhile line of liquid acrylics.

Some Infinity figures I finished lately..

A few Reaper Bones Goblins.. These are quick "1 Night" paintjobs.

appiah4 wrote on 2023-05-17, 09:28:

Some Infinity figures I finished lately..

very cool. I love infinity! YuJing!

BloodyCactus wrote on 2023-05-17, 12:58:

appiah4 wrote on 2023-05-17, 09:28:

Some Infinity figures I finished lately..

very cool. I love infinity! YuJing!

Yu-Jing are my second favorite army! I would probably not paint them up though, I've had enough of yellow/sand/brown with Haqq to paint another orange army. I really like Tohaa, and wish CB would recommmit to their line..

My latest haul. Victrix late Romans (and/or others), paint, and finally resin for my printer:

So was haunting michaels a few weeks ago. Bought an 8oz. bottle of copper paimt, Craftsmart iirc. At least when painted on an uneven matte surface, it looks just like copper. I'm amazed. I'll have to post some photos. All for 3$ on clearance.