Anyone else have issues with thinning light Citadel colors?

[Kaldoth]

Hey all, just a quick question.  I've noticed that any time I buy a lighter citadel color (white, beiges, yellows, oranges, etc) I tend to have issues thinning them down.  This has been pretty consistent with any pot of a "light" color that I buy.  Either the paint in the pot itself is a lot thicker (sometimes clumpy) than their darker colors, or it'll look fine when placed on a pallet but thinning it still winds up being difficult.  Has anyone else encountered this before? Or do I just keep grabbing all of the bad paint off of the shelf? :rolleyes: It's just a bit frustrating.  Makes the normally simple task of thinning a bit of a nuisance.  It'll either end up still being too thick, or I easily wind up getting it down to the consistency of a wash, which is a nightmare with the heavily pigmented base colors.

Cheers,

 

-Kal

[Jacinda]

Well, just to check the obvious, what colors are you having problems with? Ceramite White is notoriously lumpy but it is one of the Dry colors.

 

There are several styles of GW paint. From washes on the thin side to dry on the thick end of the spectrum. I have noticed some differences in the thickness between pots of the same color but it is all across the spectrum. Not just the bright colors.

[Akylas]

I have problems with some light colors (Ulthuan Grey most frequently). Sometimes they clump a bit in the bottle but as far as thinning they seem to separate on me a lot in the pallet and take constant stirring.

[Bryan Blaire]

Are you using an acrylic medium to thin with, or something else? I was having that problem (sounds almost exactly like what I was encountering) while using tap water for thinning. When I switched to W&N Flow Improver, I noticed that it got quite a bit better.

[SW1]

It can happen if you live in a hard water area. Does your kettle scale up over time? If it does your in a hard water area.

[Ironwulf]

SW1 - I can't help but laugh a little because of your reference to his "kettle." This kinda assumes that one uses a tea kettle quite often, as I'm certain you Brits do. Not to say that Kaldoth doesn't use a tea kettle… but by his location, he's on the other side of the pond in the States, where we are usually more likely to drink coffee (and our tea is most often iced). It's just more of a cultural indicator of what is more commonly drank.

[SW1]

SW1 - I can't help but laugh a little because of your reference to his "kettle." This kinda assumes that one uses a tea kettle quite often, as I'm certain you Brits do. Not to say that Kaldoth doesn't use a tea kettle… but by his location, he's on the other side of the pond in the States, where we are usually more likely to drink coffee (and our tea is most often iced). It's just more of a cultural indicator of what is more commonly drank.

Lol ... We don't put the tea in a kettle. That's what a tea pot is for. ;)

Not sure what Americans would call it then? The electrical item you'd boil up water with if you were going to make a hot drink with water in it.

I think it's great that language with shared origins can be so very different.

[Jacinda]

We call that a microwave :)

[SW1]

So you don't have one of these?

 

http://m.johnlewis.com/mt/www.johnlewis.com/browse/electricals/kettles/_/N-aht#page_loaded

 

If your water comes from underground sources. Say a spring or aquifer then it's likely to be hard (with a lot of mineral content) water if you live in a limestone area or the water percolates through it. If your water comes from a surface water source it's likely to be soft (with little mineral content) water.

 

In the UK a lot of bottled water is mineral (hard) water and so shouldn't be used to mix paints with.

 

The calcium and other minerals react with the other suspended particulates and can cause them to come out of suspension so you get lumpy paint.

 

If this is the cause you could try distilled water.

[Kaldoth]

From thinning light paints to tea kettles... B&C, you never cease to amuse me :P (And btw, I pour my water in a pot, duct tape it to the barrel of my AR-15, fire rounds until it gets hot, and then I put the bag in.  And I leave the bag in ;))

Back on topic, thanks for the replies all. I was thinning with standard tap water, but I went out and picked up a bottle of Vallejo Thinner Medium.  It does work a little bit better, but I still have issues getting the paint to thin.  For example, I usually thin down 90% of the Citadel Range at a 1:1 or 2:1 water/paint ratio, depending.  With the thinner medium, skull White, any of the bone colors, grays, and one or two of the yellows I have to go at a 5:1 medium/paint to get it thin enough that it won't look like soup when I paint it on.  A 4:1 and its still too thick, a 6:1 it instantly transforms to the consistency of a glaze and pools up on the mini.  Even a 5:1 is a bit more on the glaze-y side, taking five or so coats to get it to get it even. It also takes constant re-thinning while I'm painting.  Give it five minutes of sitting and it thickens right back up.  I've bought a couple pots of each (needed the extra anyway), and pulled them off the rack from various places on the shelf and they're all that way.  I guess its just something I'll have to deal with.

Cheers,

-Kal

[JeffJedi]

Have you tried a wet pallet? Paint dries up as you use it so a pallet is a good idea instead of painting from the bottle and a wet pallet really helps.

[Gorthaur]

Try shaking them up first, putting them on a wet pallet or adding a small amount of water and stirring it in. I found lahmian medium works okay too, I haven't really messed around with many paint thinners.

[Razblood]

Had some issues with Ceramite White, just seems to thin out really weirdly, though Mephiston Red has had no issues.

[Aspecti]

I use Vallejo glaze medium for thinning instead of their thinner medium and it works well with ceramite white or white scar. Also gives you more time since the glaze medium acts almost as a paint retarder :)

[Stoic Raptor]

I use a blend that is one part retarder medium, one part Lahmian Medium, two parts flow aid to 10 parts water.  I am getting phenomenal results with it on Ushabti Bone, Screaming Skull, and P3 Morrow White for my Deathwing Command.

 

I imagine the Lahmian is similar to the glaze medium that Aspecti uses.

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

Can confirm, Ceramite white and Uthuan Grey both clump for me.  

[Stoic Raptor]

I haven't had any problems with Ulthuan Grey clumping for me, when thinning it with the solution I mentioned.