Kera foehunter:
damn you hard core two heads!! I bet you don’t allowed pirates eather
Tarrakk Blackhand:
Maybe, if they’re not too unruley.
Tarrakk Blackhand:
OK gang!
This is it! This is the big day! I’ll be heading off to Calgary soon for the first day of the painting session. I’ll be bringing my 10 painted Space Marines as an example and then learn about their methods. I changed my selection to normal Space Marines to enlarge my current army.
Wish me luck! 
two_heads_talking:
damn you hard core two heads!! I bet you don't allowed pirates eatherTwo rules with pirates. One, don't let them touch anything (they tend to 'aquire' those items and forget they borrowed them) and no drinking allowed. As long as rules one and two are followed, I don't have to pull 'Parlay' on them.. ?grin?
Kera foehunter
snowblizz:
Heeey! That's discriminating against pirates!damn you hard core two heads!! I bet you don't allowed pirates eatherTwo rules with pirates. One, don't let them touch anything (they tend to 'aquire' those items and forget they borrowed them) and no drinking allowed. As long as rules one and two are followed, I don't have to pull 'Parlay' on them.. ?grin?
Kera foehunter
two_heads_talking
If they can't loot and booze then what's the fun?
Spoilsport.
Tarrakk Blackhand:
So…first day at “The Academy” is over. I learned about scraping seam lines, building four guys, baseing them, and then spraying Black Primer on them. So far, nothing too new from what I’ve been doing with models since I was 8 years old some 27 years ago.
Ok, the kids can assemble their 4 guys faster than I can, but I still had the better looking models. I even brought my older set of “Soviet Space Marines” with me, the ones I painted with Tremclad Rustproof Paint, so I could match my existing army with the new figures.
It’s funny…the Tremclad is a high gloss paint and pretty much everyone I show these guys to say the same thing : “The models are too Glossy. You should spray them with a dull coat.”
I just wonder if there’s some kind of written law that states that an army can’t be shiney and new looking? I like the gloss.
In fact, I came back home and almost finished the five NEXUS XXX Century Warriors, which are also in the same colour scheme as my “Soviet Space Marines”. (See this thread here : https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/10352)
Tommorrow is going to be the “Painting and Basing” day. Should be fun.
Swissdictator:
I think it is partly that it is not in the norm Blackhand. Taste is a reflection of what they’re used to… in appearance, army list style, etc.
Gloss can look good in some cases. Space Marine armor I can see it… depending on the shades perhaps. Afterall… look at the Stormtrooper armor from Star Wars. That was glossy. I guess it works better if certain parts are not glossy or less glossy then others… if that makes sense.
Tarrakk Blackhand:
Well, I painted them so that the “Hard Parts” of the armour was glossy, but the soft rubber parts were flat, like where the legs and arms would bend.
It’s funny. After seeing my glossy Space Marine, one of the kids was saying that the Citadel Paints were the best because they were flat and all other hobby paints that weren’t Citadel were glossy. I then had to tell him that Testor’s makes an entire line of flat Military paints, and that my guys also had some flat paint on them.
I just wonder how much GW has people brain washed on their products being THE ONLY THING that can be used to assemble their models.
Heck! I even used my own glue, the 100% pure Cyonacrillic glue I got from a friend of mine in my model car club. That stuff glues styrene pieces solid in under 30 seconds! As soon as it evaporates, your piece is finished!
@ Swiss ~ I think Tyranids would look good in gloss…make them look more slippery!
Swissdictator:
Around here Valejo is very popular.
Another line I’ve been very happy with is Howard Hues… though I’m picky with theirs. The browns are great… as are the grays. I haven’t tried much outside those colors.
From my historical gaming background (and the many paint lines I’ve tried), I’d have to say I actually rate GW to actually make good paints. That’s me though.
Testor as a name doesn’t ring a bell, but I might recognize the bottles. As goofy as that may sound.
I wouldn’t worry about “What paint line is better” if I were you… it is a GW thing, it’s their field… I’d let them have their fun personally. If they’re happy with their look, then that’s what matters… same applies for you. 
I’ve had people say my Nurgle Demons didn’t look good because they were not green, but I love them.
Tarrakk Blackhand:
Side note…do you think the leader of the XXX Century Warriors looks like Duke Nukem? One of my customers said it did. I tend to agree.
Only thing with the paint is that I’ve used Testor’s primarily for 27 years. It’s an oil based enamel paint and dries slower. However, it flows out better than Acrylics, and I’ve tried a LOT of lines from Citadel to Valleo to Artist’s Acrylics. the only Acrylic that comes cllose to an Enamel is Tamyia of Japan.
I find Citadel is good EXCEPT that it dries too quickly. I usually get 2 draws out of the brush and then the paint is almost rock hard in the bristles. Also, Citadel tends to be “Too Thick”. IMO
Swissdictator:
I find Citadel is good EXCEPT that it dries too quickly. I usually get 2 draws out of the brush and then the paint is almost rock hard in the bristles. Also, Citadel tends to be "Too Thick". IMOOdd, this doesn't seem to be a problem for me at all... it seems like I can make full use of the paint I have on the bristles before I need to go back for more. I seem to recall this being an issue long before I played Warhammer, but used GW paints.
Tarrakk Blackhand
Citadel can be too thick... skull white seems to be a bit thick. What I do is I dip the brush in the water real fast... dip in paint... brush a little bit off back into the jar... then paint. Seems to do the trick, might want to try that.
two_heads_talking:
Heeey! That's discriminating against pirates!HAHA, my house, my rules.. !!:cheers
If they can't loot and booze then what's the fun?
Spoilsport.
snowblizz
I just wonder how much GW has people brain washed on their products being THE ONLY THING that can be used to assemble their models.It has nothing to do with GW. It has to do with preference. the majority of people see flat painted models and just assume that's the norm. In the 70's and 80's most of the models were glossy and so that was the norm. As one who used to teach those classes, of course you are teaching it with the GW paint line and thus themodels will of course be flat painted, but one can easily at 'ard coat' of they want to gloss up certain parts.
Tarrakk Blackhand
On your own you can use a mixture of future floorwax, water and inks.. I use this alot on my bolters. I paint them black, boltgun with chainmail highlights then wash the ink/floorwax mixture over the guns and then use a simple chainmail/mithril mix as a final highlight. This will give the guns a metalic look, a bit of a shiny/glossy look and a nice highlight.
I can give you exact mixes if you'd like.
GRNDL:
I would imagine that newbies will accept and use whatever they are handed first and because they become familiar with it continue to use it. Either that, or the convenience of buying supplies where you buy the models is a big factor. I’m kinda lucky in the sense that my model shop is a few doors down from my gaming shop. Also, don’t believe the hype - GW sells absolute crap for most of its hobby tools. I have a great respect for their paints (incl the foundation and new washes), but their brushes, sprays, airbrushes, knives, pin vices, etc, are horrendous. Go to a model shop or for your brushes, an art store and stock up on some serious tools. It might be serious $$, but you will save cash in the long run. A citadel brush might last a few months before it loses its tip, or has straggling hairs, but a $10-20 Kolinsky Sable brush will last YEARS, if treated right.
Tarrack, you say you prefer Testor’s/Enamels because you’ve been using it for so long. Same thing probably - you used enamel back in the day and you prefer to use it. Personally, I think enamels are a waste of time - the sheer hell of its smell, clean up and toxicity was enough for me to move on.
Having problems with the flow of acrylics? Either dilute liberally or use a flow improver such as the one you can get from Windsor and Newton. There’s really not much acrylics can’t do, IMO. Most peeps seem to think that the consistency you get the paint from Citadel in, is what is needed to actually paint with. You really should always dilute with some water before applying.
re: gloss
Personally, I’m against an all gloss varnish, mainly because it looks unrealistic, especially if its covers the base as well. If you’ve taken the time to do matte and gloss areas, it will look much better, but if its a one shot all over gloss on something which has natural materials, like tree trunks, dirt, skin, etc, its just going to look cheap IMO. Personally, I use matte or dullcote on eveything and then touch up shinies and wet areas with paint on gloss varnish afterward.
two_heads_talking:
I find Citadel is good EXCEPT that it dries too quickly. I usually get 2 draws out of the brush and then the paint is almost rock hard in the bristles. Also, Citadel tends to be "Too Thick". IMOIs your painting 'guru' showing you how to thin your paints before use? If not, ask him. If he still doesn't know, please pm me and I can help you out. If you were local to VA, I'd meet you somewhere and show you myself.
Tarrakk Blackhand
AS for drying too quickly on the bristles, you might need to load more paint onto the bristles (this will be helped along by the thinning of paints) and if you'd like you can use a wet palatte, something I've learned to used since joining this site.. (It's a shame in my 10+years of painting that I never knew about it before)..
GRNDL:
Yep, a wet pallette can help too. Grab a plastic tub, line the bottom with kitchen towel, add water till its nice and wet, but not flooded then place a sheet of baking parchment over top of it. Anything wet on the top layer will be kept wet by the capillary action of the water in the towel beneath. Washes will stay wet for a long time…
Tarrakk Blackhand:
To quote myself ~
Tarrakk Blackhand Wrote:
I find Citadel is good EXCEPT that it dries too quickly. I usually get 2 draws out of the brush and then the paint is almost rock hard in the bristles. Also, Citadel tends to be “Too Thick”. IMO
Thought about it. Alberta is 2000 Miles above sea level. might be the higher elevation and overall dryness of atmosphere.
two_heads_talking:
Thought about it. Alberta is 2000 Miles above sea level. might be the higher elevation and overall dryness of atmosphere.2000 miles huh? yeah, it's probably the lack of air that's affecting your brain.. erm... uh..
Tarrakk Blackhand
I lived in the Mountains of Utah and never had much of a problem and that state is terribly dry..
snowblizz:
I would also consider what your indoor conditions are.
At my studio at uni paints dry frightfully quick IMO compared to back home. It think it is because I have a desklamp fairly close. Because at home the air itself is much drier.
Khan!:
Two thousand miles??? We must have been moved into space! 
Pretty sure it’s about 1 km…
On topic, I’ve never had much trouble with citadel paints, so long as they are in the snap-bottles. The screw top ones dried out reeally easily, but I still have the old snap bottles from over a decade ago and they’re just fine!
But yeah, closing the paint pot, getting it on a palette, I don’t use a wet one but I expect that could certainly help, etc all contribute to the usefulness of GW paint.
Man, I can’t even imagine using testor’s oil-based enamels! What kind of techniques would one use for blending and highlighting in that medium? Same ones? Hmm maybe more wet blending like an oil painting on canvas? I’m probably cautious only cuz I was raised on GW acrylics, of course.
Tarrakk Blackhand:
Should I do a video on Enamels?