Watering down paints

[00branchow]

I keep hearing people say that I should water my paint down to the consistency of milk, but how exactly would I go about that? Is there a good ratio? Or is it just guesswork? I'm currently using Citadel paints, if that matters at all.

 

Thanks for the help,

 

Branchow

[Grotsmasha]

It's a little guess work at first, then it comes naturally with a little practice. I personally use 2/5th water to 3/5 paint. On a palette, I put a drop of water from a clean water pot with my brush, then add the paint also with my brush, about 1/2 as much paint as I want, then mix the two. I then add the rest of the paint and mix again.

 

I suggest checking out Duncan Rhodes' painting guides on Warhammer TV on Youtube, he covers everything. I also recommend searching how to make a wet palette on Youtube as well, as it will stop any mixed paint drying up, reducing waste.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Bryan Blaire]

Personally, I don't use actual water, I use Winsor & Newton's flow improver to thin my paints. I don't use any specific ratios, I just load up a #2 size brush with some flow improver and mix it into the paint until it is thin enough. A lot of the colors tend to take between a brush and a half to two brush loads to get to the proper consistency.

 

I realize people say "thin as milk", and while that might be the best, get it thinned down thin enough so that you get the results you want while still being able to control it. I have a hard time with the "thin as milk" concept, because I'm not sure exactly what that means (I'm not sure if different types of milk have different thicknesses, I've had skim milk my entire life and it would be pretty hard for me to paint with skim milk), but my paint ends up needing a few layers to get pretty opaque but isn't so thin that it looks like a glaze would.

[Grotsmasha]

Personally, I don't use actual water, I use Winsor & Newton's flow improver to thin my paints. I don't use any specific ratios, I just load up a #2 size brush with some flow improver and mix it into the paint until it is thin enough. A lot of the colors tend to take between a brush and a half to two brush loads to get to the proper consistency.

 

I realize people say "thin as milk", and while that might be the best, get it thinned down thin enough so that you get the results you want while still being able to control it. I have a hard time with the "thin as milk" concept, because I'm not sure exactly what that means (I'm not sure if different types of milk have different thicknesses, I've had skim milk my entire life and it would be pretty hard for me to paint with skim milk), but my paint ends up needing a few layers to get pretty opaque but isn't so thin that it looks like a glaze would.

 

Skim Milk is thinner than Full Cream,not a lot, but noticeable. I've considered Flow Improver but never got around to buying any.

 

ALSO, do not use water for Washes/Shades, it doesn't work, Lahmian Medium is recommended for thinning Wash/Shades.

[Firepower]

I use Liquitex Flow Aid, same as the W&N Flow Improver. I used to just use straight water. The difference is remarkable. Thanks to flow aid, the 5 year old jar of all important chaos black/codex gray paint I've used on my Templars from day one is still usable. It's damn near tar, and water can't fix it. A dab of 9:1 water to Flow Aid, and it's just like new. Using straight water can mean messed up surface tension, depending on the paint and your mixture.

The stuff comes in big bottles for like $10 or so. Considering the tiny amount you need in your water, and then the tiny amount of that mix you need with paint (like 5:1 paint to flow mix), it'd be amazing if you ever had to buy a second bottle of the stuff.

"Thin as skim milk" is the common yardstick, yeah. You can also use another method. If you're using a palette of some sort, push a little bit of the paint up the side of the bowl. If it flows back down and leaves only a thin residue on the side, you've pretty much got it. That's the same yardstick I use for paint in my airbrush, actually