Grey Knights WIP

[Wolf Lord Barak Ironwolf]

Here are some images of the Dreads I am painting for my Grey Knights. As you can see they are not done yet, the basing especially, and I have not decided what color to paint the wings on the Crux Terminatus on the Ven Dread. All colors are craft paints believe it or not. I always stick to the three most important rules of painting:
#1 always thin your paint
#2 ALWAYS thin your paint
#3 ALWAYS THIN YOUR PAINT

and get excellent results from what many people consider lesser quality paint, for those who are interested I used a black undercoat drybrushed with Apple Barn Sterling Silver, smoothed out with several thin blue glazes. Trim is Antique Copper and Pure Gold on the Ven Dread and just Pure Gold on the other Dread.

Comments, critiques, suggestions, directions on where to go and how to get there.....

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I tried several different brands of craft paints once, because I found several nice shades that weren't available from GW or Vallejo, but even when I thinned them down, they were all grainy. Every single one of them.

 

Looks like you've had some better luck with them, but I refuse to use them on miniatures anymore.

[Wolf Lord Barak Ironwolf]

I tried several different brands of craft paints once, because I found several nice shades that weren't available from GW or Vallejo, but even when I thinned them down, they were all grainy. Every single one of them.

 

Looks like you've had some better luck with them, but I refuse to use them on miniatures anymore.

Yeah, that is a problem sometimes.  I solved the problem (so far) by putting 4-5 bb's in each bottle and

shaking really well before I thin them.  I get the best results from the metallics, since the medium is usually ground

finer than non-metallics.  I actually did this as a dare from a member of my gaming group, he spent somewhere around

200-300 dollars on Vallejo, Reaper, GW and P3 paints/washes/pigments etc etc and I commented that with the proper

approach and technique I could spend $30 dollars and paint an army better than his. So far, I am proving my point.

Would I enter this army into a competition? NO, but I don't compete anymore anyway, I paint strictly for the tabletop now,

and am keeping that in mind here.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Well, I've spent more than your friend has on paint, but over a 15 year period. I'd probably never drop that much on paint at one time. But if works for you, stick with it.

[Wolf Lord Barak Ironwolf]

Really didn't take him that long, 2 Vallejo game color sets at $49 apiece, the Ultramarines set from GW, some

Inks and washes, a dozen sable and camel hair brushes and there you are.  Oh, I have spent way more than

that over the years, like you, not at one time. I turn 50 next year and got my first minis from the Sears wishbook

D&D collection in 1978. My friends refer to me as the Venerable Dreadnought of gaming. I usually prefer a mix of

Vallejo and Reaper paints with the occasional GW color thrown in, but it is nice to show a smart A$$ that quality 

is sometimes a result of how the tools are used instead of the tools themselves. Like I have told hundreds of people

over the years, a bad painter using first class tools is just first class bad, a good painter can make bad paints produce

1st class results (sometimes),  like you said in your first post, sometimes bad paint is just bad paint.

[moric]

That is an excellent usage of craft paints. I have been using automotive paints (especially the mettalics) for my airbrush with excellent results although they do need a better preparation. Also in my opinion the quality of GW paints is very bad on the other hand i think that the quality of car paints is very good especially now that you can find water based acrylics (keep in mind that all the regular mini paints are water based acrylics), even nitrous based acrylics can be used with proper usage and always by airbrush.

I Always pass them through a filter paper thats used to filter paints and use the xtra fine filter paper. This way you get very fine grain and very smooth paint 

You propably know this but i figured I should mention it as others might benefit from it.

 

Forgive my bad english i am not a native speaker