Thinning paint with water

[Valkyrion]

Can I thin contrast paint with water directly into the pot and it will keep indefinitely? 

My LI Ultramarines need just the tiniest thinning of asurmen blue to make all the difference with flow, and at the moment I just load up my brush with water, then dip that in the lip of the pot lid  and use until the pot lid runs dry. If I just trial and error the consistency directly into the pot with ordinary tap water, will the paint still be good in 6 weeks or 6 months, or does it separate or some other funky chemical reaction?

 

[Sky Potato]

I’ve done this with a couple of pots over the years, with zero problems

[Grotsmasha]

Just like regular paints, they will separate over time, so a solid shake before each use will be required. My current Deathwing mix is Skeleton Horde, Water, and medium in even parts.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Whilst paint normally has a biocide in it, you might want to consider distilled water, as it should have fewer contaminants in it. It may separate over time (most paints do), but a good shake will fix that.

 

You can indeed add water to a pot of paint if it's slightly too thick (either from "the factory", or having evaporated), although there is a threshold where the water alters the behaviour of the paint. If you have any of the appropriate medium (Contrast Medium for Contrast and the 18ml Shade paints; Lahmian Medium for the regular paints and 24ml Shade paints), that would be my first choice.

[sbarnby71]

 

Whilst paint normally has a biocide in it, you might want to consider distilled water, as it should have fewer contaminants in it. It may separate over time (most paints do), but a good shake will fix that.

 

You can indeed add water to a pot of paint if it's slightly too thick (either from "the factory", or having evaporated), although there is a threshold where the water alters the behaviour of the paint. If you have any of the appropriate medium (Contrast Medium for Contrast and the 18ml Shade paints; Lahmian Medium for the regular paints and 24ml Shade paints), that would be my first choice.

Just adding on my experience to this, I use Drakenhof Nightshade which is a Shade and I keep a mixed bottle with a 1:3 ratio of the Shade and Contrast Medium.

 

What I find interesting is the dried finish of the different paints on my palette when I clean them off, Normal paints dry to a hard flat disk, Shades dry to a substance that shatters like glass, Contrast dries to a rubbery substance. With this in mind I'm very careful with Contrast Medium because of the way it dries.

Edited August 16 by sbarnby71
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[Mendi Warrior]

Watch out if tap water is higly calcareous in your area. It can have some unforeseen effects as I experienced once: https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/350487-mendi-warriors-adeptus-titanicus-project-log/?do=findComment&comment=5276889

[sbarnby71]

I live in a hard water area in the UK, so I filter my water first and had no issue.  I keep my mixing water in a small dropper bottle and renew it every few weeks and never see any contamination or green.