"Normal Water colour Acrylics?" Topic

So my local stores are getting short of some acrylic hobby paints. I was thinking of using water colours Acrylic for an under coat. Does anyone think this will work? Or will they peel later and ruin the figure?

Watercolors use gum arabic as the binder. After they dry they are still water soluble so they will be disturbed by acrylics if you paint over them. Unless you mean artist acrylics which should work fine but use a primer first for good adhesion.

I have had poor results from artist acrylics, they tend to be thick, leaving brush strokes and if you add water, too thin for coverage

You should be able to find games workshop paints locally. Expensive but functional. Otherwise mail order

John

There are different types of artist acrylics, thick body like oil paint and soft body which is much less thick. I've never used the soft body so no idea how it would work. link

Thank you all so much for your help! I tried them out on a house, OK, but that's a completely different fish to metal figures. Off to Game Workshop for me. :)

I use student quality artists acrylics for terrain, bases etc. regularly but have used them in the past for figures and they had no adhesion problems at all.

Like all paints, you get variation in quality and the cheap brands often have poor coverage but some are surprisingly good. Try a little flow improver mixed into thinned matt acrylic medium to dilute the paint where it is too thick, that works better than just water.

I've used the soft body artist acrylics for painting figures for 30 years. They work well

Yes, I use artist tube acrylics, they are NOT water soluble after drying. I use heavy body Liquitex. Don't go with store bargain brands. Liquitex is creamy, flows nicely, and covers well.

However, I undercoat with Gesso, not paint. I also spray seal with acrylic floor finish using a Testor's air gun. Slightly glossy but hard as a rock. Best protection I get. If you don't like gloss then finish with a light brush of Matt medium. I personally don't bother.

Paint both metal and cheap plastic. Never a problem.

I even use craft paints from time to time. Work just fine as well.

You can use oil paint too. I started this Panther with it but finished with acrylic because the oil takes forever to dry.

I always use a coat or two of black or white matt spray paint.
This seals the figures and keeps the paint from wearing off.
Usually if I prime black then I dry brush white to give some shadow to the figure for washes.
I use craft paints (like Ceramcoat and other brand acrylics) as well as more miniature focused Army Builder and Vallejo and Citadel paints and tints and contrasts. I used to make my own tints and contrasts with extenders and matt/gloss varnishes but now I'm lazy and the store bought products are great and long lasting.
Tube acrylics like Liquitex are not as effective for miniatures since some of the colors can be translucent, but with practice they can be used. Also water based oils or even oil paint can be used over acrylics for certain effects. I have enjoyed painting horses with oils over a tan prime base coat, it makes for a fast effective shading system. However oils don't dry fast.

Here is my basic ancients miniature painting step process:
link

Yup, I avoid oil paints. Good old water is easier to work with.

Oil's advantage is its longer drying time. You can rework the blending on something like a horse. But, as noted above, the long drying time is also a put off. The negative significantly outweighs the advantage.