I've not read any of the other replies, but here's my possibly quite strong opinions on it:outcasttex wrote:Hi all
I realise this isn't very easy to comment on without seeing but I'm wondering if I'm thinning my paint too much?
My team are primed in black and I'm using citadel paints. I am trying to find the balance point where the paint flows easily from the brush without obscuring detail but it seems to be taking a lot if coats to get an even coverage.
To give you an idea, a white, flesh or yellow over the black primer is taking about six coats and darker colours like blue or green are taking about four... I'm a slow enough painter as is but at this rate it's becoming a mammoth task!
Do you have any tips about judging the correct consistency at least until I become experienced enough to know or is this number of coats to be expected?
Many thanks, as always.
No it isn't possible that you are thinning the paint too much but it is possible you are using shit paint.
I'll expand on that.
GW paint is, sadly, very lacking in pigment. This makes it quite weak when thinned, so it doesn't cover.
Personally I find the same with Vallejo paint (whilst acknowledging that their inks and washes are the best available). Privateer Press' P3, CDA, and Foundry paints and Reaper Master Series are the best quality paints available; pigment rich and designed for thinning.
But I'm not going to suggest you bin your paint collection overnight and buy a new.
There are ways of ensuring that base colours cover better, and the best option is to change your primer method.
Firstly, GW black spray is a bit shit. It's a paint not a primer, so covers very smoothly rather than creating a primer layer, which should be slightly rough for the paint to key onto. Black primer from Halfords is ideal, or Army Painter black primer. Neither is much different in price from GW black spray, but of a much higher quality.
Second is to acknowledge that most colours won't cover black very well at all, it's simply too dark. So take it out of the equation by over-spraying with a better colour.
By this I mean that once the model is primered black, it should be lightly sprayed over with a more neutral colour. The benefits are twofold. You get a much lighter surface for the paint to cover better, and you get to see the raised detail and the shadow better from the get go.
Personally I use army Painter leather brown spray, which is a nice, midtone brown. A light spray of this over a black primer will give a very neutral and freindly base for your base colours to cover with more ease; all colours prefer a brown primer to black, but a solid brown primer is too light, so an overspary is ideal.
Also, avoid the brightest colour as a flat base. If you want white, paint it grey, or cream, then hilight it up to white.
A flat, bright colour looks wrong to the eye, but a dull base, even with the roughest of edge hilights, looks better as the brain see's the combination of colours. Look at any colour in the room around you and it won't be totally flat; the play of light and shadow will change it and we have to emulate that on mini's to a greater or lesser extent, to give the eye and the brain a leg up so the mini looks right. It also helps with the whole job; better to basecoat twice and hilight twice (2 llighter shades for example) than go daft painting a bright colour on flat in 4 or more coats.
These darker, shade colour will also cover better for you, and in turn allow a hilight colour to cover better.
Imagine how long it would take to paint a black wall bright yellow. Common sense would dictate a midtone colour first, maybe two.
Same principleon toy soldiers.
Hope that helps.
