"Comparing craft paints to hobby paints" Topic

After listening to the excellent Meeples & Miniatures podcast number 65, I thought I'd try it…

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Cheers,
Colin
thewulfweb.blogspot.com

Either the squads were photographed under different lighting, or the hobby paint squad also needed a second coat, but didn't get it.

Craft paints will always take more coats, thus the price. Still I use them for terrain etc.

Can of worms here cause many guys use the craft stuff and get by with a nice look. I don't really. I use them for basing and terrain and buildings-that sort of thing. I have used them on figs and nobody has said anything about it. I personally don't use them on the models though. I find the ranges a bit unpredictable and not all military colors are easily available. That doesn't mean that hobby paint manufacturers are all good either. I always find a rotten apple or two in the bunch no matter which brand I try.

I generally use hobby paints in the reds,oranges and yellows.Otherwise,I ue craft paints.

You tend to pick and choose and gradually find out which craft paints work well. But then I could say the same thing about the expensive "pro paints" out there as well.

Hold no brand illusions and use what really works for you, and you'll find, eventually, that your paint collection is rather eclectic. My commonly used colors come from four manufacturers under six labels, not including the new (and unnamed, that I'm aware of) company providing GW with paints.

The paint collection includes two or three more manufacturers once I start looking at the really specialized stuff.

I have used craft paints for years and never had one single problem.
Russ Dunaway

Ihave always used craft paints on my figures and have never had any problems. TIG

Style adapts to available tools.

I have experimented and about 70% to 80% of my minis are painted with craft paint and the rest is hobby paints.

I use a mix of craft and hobby depending on the color I'm going for. Your painting style (technique) will determine how well each performs but you can achieve very favorable results using either.

I use a lot of craft paints….Decoart Americana in particular. Am experimenting with FolkArt and they seem to have good coverage.

hussarbob1746.webs.com

Delta Ceramcoat for me. I've had just as good luck as the more expensive hobby paint, but I save lots of money.

If you are painting a thousand 15, 10, or 6mm figures, and just trying to get them on the board, craft paints are the way to go. I've never had a problem with coverage, and they really come through with almost all colors.
If you are painting a museum quality 54mm dragon, or are obsessed with having detailed buttons, and eyes with pupils, then I would definately go with pro paints.

For me, I've had trouble with the consistency of craft paints. Sometimes thick, sometimes thin, sometimes chalky. In the end, the variability means I use them for terrain and basing. When I'm painting the figures, I want the paints to perform the same every time, I don't want to have to mess with "How is the paint behaving today?" sorts of questions.

Only recently did Ceramcoat get a good red, orange, and yellow. For years they were very poor. The reasons why were actually explained by a local eccentric who was painting or brokering the painting of Robin Williams' collection some 20+ years ago. His frustration with both hobby and craft paints at the time led him to start up his own paint line. His eccentricities killed the line about five years later, but they were the best to come along up to that point and for years after, until the cel paints and, a bit later, Vallejo finally put some oomph into the expensive colors.

The weakness of the fiery colors across the board was the reason GWs inks became so popular and remained so for decades, and only recently fell in popularity to the point that GW felt justified in dropping them.

For 15mm figures I use craft paints..normally Cermacoat or decoart americana.

For 28mm I been using model paints(GW, Vallejo)…

Vehicles toss up between the two..painted some space craft with craft paint and they turned out ok.