"Do you use craft paints for your miniatures?" Topic

Usually only on bases/terrain, although I experimented recently with Folk Art French Vanilla on a 28mm artillery piece undercoated in black. It took a few coats to cover properly, but the final effect is good.

Most of my paints are craft paints. The only times I use non-craft paints is when I can't find the specific color that I need with craft paints and the inks that I use for shading purposes.

B Mostly craft paints but some Vallejo and surviving Reaper (in pots) and IWM.

D: I use house paint sample pots for painting bases

A

Folk Art and Apple Barrel mostly.

A
i use almost exclusivly…except dedicated colours for tanks or WW2 in general..artistic acrylics such as Plaka which i find being the best product for painting our pre 1916 minis

For years,except for reds and a few special paints.

B – mostly craft paints, but use the Foundry triads for flesh, and use my Ral Partha paints for special projects.

B) I only use them for scenery and basing.

Yep, I use them quite a bit on miniatures.

B.

More so now than previously, due to the disappearance of many of my preferred hobby paint ranges (Polly S, Ral Partha, Armoury, Reaper in pots). I started using craft paints for large pieces of terrain and buildings so's not to waste so much of my expensive paint, but have gradually slid into using more and more craft paints for figures, too.

I prefer the coverage and military colors of hobby paints but the expense can be an issue and I dislike dropper bottles. So, many factors have pushed me into the craft paint corner to a greater degree in the past ten years.

Let's do some math here.
The average craft paint bottle is 2oz and costs… $1.25 USD.
A GW pot is 0.4 oz and costs $4.00 USD+.
A Vallejo bottle is equivalent to a GE pot in this regard.

GW pots are fiendishly designed to waste half the contents, due to the lid and inaccessibility of the contents.
A Vallejo dropper often goes bad after not being used for a few months. I've had some that got all grainy and watery sitting on the store shelf.

I have some craft paints still going strong after 5 years.

To me the choice is an easy one.

B

B

B/ A mix of minis specific paints and stuff I find at art/craft shops.

Big problem I have with budget craft paints is that the brands tend to change. Used to use Folkart artist pigment a lot (and still have some) but they aren't around anymore locally and the replacement doesn't have a high pigment version. Once I get into mail order territory I may as well go with hobby paints.

But you can often get them a big discounts as stock IS cleared out. I have a bunch of large tubes of decent quality browns (burnt and raw sienna as well as ochre).

But for terrain work, sure.

B. I use craft paints for about 90% of my painting. I still have some old Armory paints that I use for horses and silks. Here is a link to my flickr page so you can see a range of scales and subjects.

link

Terrain only.

Life is too short for craft paints.

piper909--I miss the Armoury paints too. What a stupid story.

I really, really liked one of their flesh colors. Still haven't found a proper replacement.

A Vallejo dropper often goes bad after not being used for a few months. I've had some that got all grainy and watery sitting on the store shelf.

I have never had these problems. The separation you see in the store shelves is not a problem. A vigorous shake will correct that. Some colours are more susceptible than others and I may add a BB to help with the agitation. I had one colour thicken up on me and I added some flow enhancer, a BB and shook it well. All fixed. You seem to have more issues with spray paints and primers that I do also. Are you letting your stuff get frozen by chance? Do you store paints in your garage?

I prefer proper model paints as they have much more quality pigment and therefore give a better coverage. I use a lot of craft paints and some are quite good. But they are mostly relegated to bases and terrain.

IMO, comparing paint prices is not as important as you seem to think. The absolute biggest cost to anyone in this hobby is their time. Using high quality pigments saves a lot of time and makes for a better looking figure. That's why many pro painters use high chroma paints like Cel-Vinyl.

going to divert topic for a moment
any good sites detailing mixing these craft paints for military colors (stupid question what would i mix for aluminium finish for aircraft?)

B