"Studio Acrylic Paint?" Topic

As I get ready to paint up my 15mm Ion Age minis, I was surprised to see the manufacturer recommend art store acrylics (Pebeo, to be specific) as a paint choice:

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I've always used wargaming and modeling paints… Games Workshop, Vallejo, P3, Army Painter. However, I've never thought of using high-viscosity artist acrylics!

My initial suspicion is that these artist paints would be too thick. They are meant for using a large quantity and pushing across the surface of a canvas. I am sure you could "water down" the paints, but why bother? What are the advantages that studio acrylics have over good old model paint?

One thing I have noticed is art paints tend to be much brighter. Model paints has a lot of camouflage-style colours and subdued tones, whereas art paints are mostly primary colours and variations on primary colours. This is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you want your models to come out bright (like early Games Workshop models, or like the Ion Age models for that matter!).

So what are the advantages and disadvantages to artist acrylics? Should I toss out two decades of model paints and drop my cash on a set of high-viscosity studio paint? Can I mix and match the two paint types safely (they both are water-soluble acrylic-based paint, after all)? Am I better off just sticking with the wargaming paints I know so well?

I have used similar paints before and they proved very effective for the smaller scales and seemed to age well both on the figures and in the pot!

I tent to swap and change, taking advantage of offers or deals.

I would also recommend artists tube paints, particularly Liqutex.

Tony

What are the advantages of studio acrylics over wargaming paints, other than (perhaps) cheap cost? Also, how do you decide between studio-class paints, high-viscosity, hard body, soft body or the other myriad categories?

What I have read, is that the pigment density is much higher in artist's acrylics -- they cover better, particularly yellow's and red's. They can also be diluted to suit your needs, by using extenders (acrylic liquid, without any pigment). I just bought a Yellow, and an Orange, yesterday, to give them a try. They are certainly more economical than model paints, or even craft paints, if you dilute them, and assuming the lighter colors cover in one coat, as opposed to several. Cheers!

Reaper Triads are my favorite:

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Here's a suggestion:

Golden Fluid Acrylic (emphasis on the -Fluid- as they have different lines/viscosity)

Superb quality, very high level of pigment, and the most important part… brushable!

Is it more expensive than Hobby paints?
Yes, maybe 2 to 2 1/2 times as expensive (depending on the color/scarcity of the pigment), but the bottles are twice as big. Get them from Dick Blick when they're having a 25% off your total order sale; and now they're cheaper than Vallejo/Reaper/P3/etc.

Another plus for artist paints… Phthalocyanine Green is Phthalocyanine Green.
"Orc Flesh" is exactly what color???
How do you match it when they change the formula?
And what color is it from a different manufacturer?
Artist paints (like Military colors) are standard (mostly).

You can get true Cadmium Reds/Yellows and Cobalt Blue (not "Hues") which you'll never be able to get in a hobby paint. Do you have to be more careful with the paints made of the more toxic metals? Just don't lick the brushes to point them, that's all.

High Viscosity (Heavy Body): sort of like toothpaste. You'll have to thin it a lot.

Soft Body: more like a craft paint, you still have to thin them for minis.

I use Golden Fluid Acrylic (and Vallejo too).
Don't throw away your hobby paints, you can use them together. Golden Fluids are fantastic, but their metallics aren't so hot for mini painters; I'd stick with your favorite hobby metallics.

I recommend against art paints, although I have not tried the Golden Fluid Acrylics and am sure they would do great. I have just retired all mine

I found a couple of problems with artists' paints (even top quality)

1) They start out too thick to paint miniatures with, so you have to dilute them. This adds time trying to get that just right balance and I found that I was spending more time doing this than painting, and often getting it wrong, starting too thick or thin and continually re-adjusting

2) The colour range is set to mimic traditional oil paints, so it is hard to get exactly the colour you want. It is also hard to mix to get highlight and shade colours (unless you have a better colour sense than me)

I have only used a couple of Games Workshop paints and intensely dislike their pots

I have used Vallejo and Reaper and can recommend both. I find the Vallejo pigment density better, but the Reaper triad system I find really useful.

For me the Vallejo paints are just right. They can be used straight out of the pot for drybrushing, dilute a little for detailing and more for basecoating, shading, highlighting. Each individual paint responds differently to dilution, so there is no magic formula as to how much to dilute

If money is an issue – try craft paints. I find the Americana to work really well. I used them for some scenery recently and was impressed. They diluted well and great for drybrushing (important technique for scenery)

Blick also do a range they call matte acrylic. I think these are a small step above Americana. They have triads for some colours

I have not tried metallics other than Vallejo. I found very little difference between the water and alcohol versions and the water based are more flexible as you can add colours to get some highlighting and shading

John

Thanks all for the comments! Along with your helpful suggestions and some research around the Internet, I've decided that acrylics might not be for me. Instead I've invested in Coat d'Arms to get those bright, classic colours without the fuss of diluting. They're in the post now but I should be able to try them out soon. They ought to be a good match for Ion Age minis as well, as I intend to paint these guys up like classic Space Marines from the Rogue Trader era. Thanks for the assistance!