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Browsing through a local craft store the other day, I noticed lots of cheap paint, and I figured I'd give it a shot on some miniatures. I sampled a bunch of the stuff, and the most expensive bottle I purchased was less than $2... so even if they all suck, I'm not out much money. The best part about these paints is that they come in bottles of two fluid ounces, which is significantly greater than the 0.4 fluid ounces in a Games Workshop paint pot. Not only do these paints cost less, but they have the potential to last much longer as well.
I can't offer my opinion as an expert painter (because let's face it, I'm an amateur). However, I can say that I like the results of the time I spent playing around with a few of these paints and the Thraka Green wash. Mint julep green (Americana brand), with some old parchment (Ceramcoat brand) mixed in for the highlights provided a great base to cover with GW's green wash.
More experimenting will follow soon, and I'm hoping to get a few models completely finished rather than just "close enough to not look crappy," which is my usual standard. I'll post progress as it goes...
I've used craft store paints for years, they work fine. To me the better brands seem to be Delta Ceramacoat and Folkart, but all can work.
ReplyDeleteThey're best for mass painting, as they're a great deal for the amount you get. Undercoats, terrain painting, doing bases and things like that. Grab some of the even larger bottles of things like black and brown and happily glop it over stuff.
They're also good for having a range of shades available that other ranges may not have, saving having to mix (usually more expensive) paints. Gee, which of these seven shades of light green do I want? :-) In addition they have some extra neat things that aren't normally available from some lines, like extra metallic colors. I did a whole army a while back in craft store metallic purple.
They do have some problems. They aren't as highly pigmented as things like GW, Reaper, or Valejo, so don't "pop" as well with bright colors. I'll happily use craft store colors for more muted colors or pastel type things, but if I want something bright I'll use GW's Scorpion Green for example. They also in my experience separate a lot quicker/more easily, so unless it's something that you use up quickly, you may end up having half the bottle wasted. From what I've seen this is especially prevalent with craft store metallics.
Even with those problems, IMO they're a good buy. For mass uses and basic things they're fine, but for some other things the more "regular" paints can be better.
I inherited my late mother-in-law's painting supplies (she did folk-art type woodcuts) which included about 75 bottles of craft paint (that was after I weeded out the ones that had dried up). They're great for terrain pieces, etc. Some people use them exclusively for their minis and get great results - I am not one of them. (I find them to be too finicky when it comes to thinning them properly, and often they have some issues with the size & uniformity of the pigment. Most of the "hobby company" paints behave fairly similarly to each other, so I'm willing to pay for the convenience & speed factor of using them). But craft paints are great to have around for larger projects...
ReplyDeleteI definitely appreciate the feedback and advice!
ReplyDeleteI'll be picking up big bottles of brown, black, white, and gray the next time I'm at the store... but I'll keep my GW paints around too. The metallic colors sound REALLY interesting, but I'm going to wait until I have a specific use for them before I purchase any of those.
If my finances don't improve soon, though, I might end up switching to the cheap paints exclusively when my current supply runs low.