Decent paint set?

[starslayer]

Greetings! Happy New Year! (soon)

Anyone know of a decent, affordable paint set?? The basic colors, good quality,etc. I want to paint my Battlelore & Arcane Legion figs and dont want to pay GW's $4/paint color.
Whats a good primer for plastics?

Thanks!

[imp522]

I use Gesso to prime http://www.liquitex.com/Products/surfaceprep.cfm Advantages are you can use it inside and there's no fumes. It is a brush on . I use White, clear and black on everything from plastic to metals Gesso shrinks to fit the miniature so you really can't go to heavy with it and there's no need to dilute it either.

Paints I use Reaper Master Series and Pro paints.Neither really come in a starter set. But the pro paints run around $2.20 each from places like http://www.miniature-giant.com/paint-re ... c-560.html and the master series come either as a triad(shade,base,highlight) for around $6.65 or singles for around$2.20 as well. In my experience they don't dry out cover quite well(everything on my blog has been done with reaper paints http://imp522shouseofwargaming.blogspot.com/) Master series are drop bottles and pro paints are twist off caps.

Cheers,
Dave

[NGArtStudios]

I am a big fan and proponent of Vallejo Model Colors. Here is a basic set at a fairly cheap price.
http://www.thewarstore.com/product20782.html

As far as primer, the best on the market in my opinion right now is the Privateer Press, P3 primer. It works wonderfully well especially on plastic. Great coverage and your saving about $5 per can compared to GW primer.

[MagickalMemories]

I use NON GAP FILLING auto primer.
Dirt cheap by comparison.

For paints, I like Vallejo game color. Haven't tried P3 or Reaper.
If you're being REALLY bargain conscious, I recommend Ceramcoat.

It's an acrylic paint marketed for ceramics / craft painters.
It's not as pigment heavy as the gaming paints mentioned above, but it's a GOOD quality paint. You can dilute it (MUST DILUTE IT) with water (it's thicker than those above, too) or with acrylic thinner. I prefer thinner.

I only recommend Ceramcoat, though. The other brands are not as high quality.


Eric

P.S. About $1 to $1.50 at craft stores for, like, a 1oz tube (it's HUGE).

[connivingsumo]

I've used Reaper Master Series, Vallejo, P3 Series, and GW/Citadel and I like all of them! I think they're in the same class as far as quality goes; having said that, I am not a pro-painter so I can only detect minor differences in the paint brands mentioned.

I would like to add to Imp522/Dave's suggestion of Gesso. If you post on other hobby sites (privateer press is in my mind specifically) you'll get a wide range of opinions regarding Gesso. I asked this same question last year as Colorado cold days are no bueno for spray primer and my [at the time] pregnant wife didn't like the fumes. I had a ton of responses from artists (that are also gamers, apparently), pro-painters, crap-painters (that's probably the category I fall into), you name it. It seems you either love it or hate it.

I found it very easy to apply, no fumes as Imp522 mentioned, decent drying time, well priced, and they looked fabulous. In my experience, don't wait too long for the Gesso to dry - once it's dry get your paint on it and then clear coat it. I tend to play primed armies and that's where I noticed Gesso chip/flaking - only slightly more than spray primed, however.

Like any painter worth the quality of their brushes, I would clean off mold/vent marks, file them down, and hand wash w/a mild dish soap and an old toothbrush to get them ready for the Gesso. I have only applied Gesso to metal minis, never plastics, but I wouldn't fear using Gesso on plastics.

I only recommend Ceramcoat, though. The other brands are not as high quality.

As my son absorbs more and more of my recreation budget, my brokeazz might have to check those out! Thanks for the tip.

[MagickalMemories]

I lucked out a while back and got the whole Game Color set from Vallejo, and it's lasting FOREVER (5 years+, now and some are JUST NOW starting to congeal in the bottles).
Some of my "high usage" colors, like white & black, as well as most of my metallic colors are Ceramcoat. I'm not a big fan of Game Color metallics, as they clog in the brush VERY swiftly.

I have some Ceramcoat paints that date back to 1994 (dates on the price tags) that still have not started congealing in the bottles.

Eric

[EZ mac]

We (at my store) sell several primers like board to pieces ($8), army painter ($11 for B/W, $15 for every other color), and GW ($15). I can say that BtP is about the same as GW for 1/2 the price and I highly recomend it. Army painter is probly the thinnest highest quality black that I have ever had the chance to use.

We stopped carrying the p3 spray line (and glue) because it would re-liquify primer if u did a second coat on the same model, this happened to me and two other coustomers.

You should also check out krylon automotive primer....it's really nice and smells like cherries



I'd say reaper is a great paint line (the drop bottles) but I find they die in the bottle a lot more....and there's a little skull to mix the paint in each bottle.

Next best would be P3 becuase it mixes soooo easily and it comes in a big bottle but the top breaks off once in a while.

Gw is gw...costs alot but u get the same quality in each bottle. Great if ur just starting out. And the foundation/wash line is a great thing that they made.

I find the Valejo (sp?) line works best to mix into other lines because they have some of the best colors but are a bit more translucent then what I want in a paint.

I just got a rackham paint line set but that stuff is....odd. I haven't had a chance to paint too much with it yet but the colors look really nice.

[connivingsumo]

I have some Ceramcoat paints that date back to 1994 (dates on the price tags) that still have not started congealing in the bottles.

Wonder if the lower amount of pigment has anything to do w/that? Man, '94 - not bad! LOL.

I just got a rackham paint line set but that stuff is....odd.

Wonder if it's because they're French? They do stuff different over there... not that there's anything wrong w/that

[MagickalMemories]

Actually, I think it's keeping them out of extreme heat sources, like heat vents and car windows, and away from direct sunlight.

Eric