Help on paints

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lee sherman
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Help on paints

Post by lee sherman » Mon Nov 09, 2015 5:48 pm

Hello a few questions on paint colours

1 The best Grey for French coats for 17th century infantry
2 The best Red for English coats for 17th century

And a few problems with the Red, White, Yellow and Blue paints I have.... They just need far to many coats to cover the figures As in I paint them 2 or even 3 times to get a good coverage.

I have tried Vallejo and army painter but they just don't cover properly

Thanks
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quindia
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Re: Help on paints

Post by quindia » Fri Nov 13, 2015 3:16 am

Hi, Lee.

I'm not sure if these are the 'best' paints for greys and reds, but I use mostly Wargames Foundry paints. The actual colors of the coats could vary wildly depending on many factors so most shades would be fine.

I normally paint in triads (three layers - not sure how familiar you are with painting minis) For Greys I've used...
Slate Grey (32A-C)
Slate Grey (32C) and Arctic White (33A and B)
Stone (57A-C)
British Gun Grey (108A-C)

For Reds...
Bright Red (15A-C)
Terracotta (37A-C)
British Redcoat (68A-C)

I find Foundry gives pretty good coverage with a single coat of the 'A' color with maybe a quick touch up here and there. I think there are some Games Workshop paints mixed in as well, but I don't recall the actual colors. The GW Base paints are amazing for smooth colors in one coat, even painting yellow over black for instance.

You can find all of my units in the 1690 page of my blog. If you hunt around older posts with the BLB tag on the blog, some of them have the specific paints I used. I think there are some Games Workshop paints mixed in as well, but I don't recall the actual colors...

This post from the LoA blog is also worth a quick read.

Hope that helps!
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Re: Help on paints

Post by j1mwallace » Fri Nov 13, 2015 10:23 am

hi Lee.
What colour for many do you undercoat ?
Are you giving the paints a good mix. I've used Vallejo and army painter for many years over a black undercoat usually and have never had any problems. I often add a small ball bearing to act as an agitator with Vallejo.
I'd second the foundry paints . I've used them for more than 30 years with good results. Their triads are a great idea.
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Re: Help on paints

Post by lee sherman » Fri Nov 13, 2015 1:46 pm

Thank you guys

I will try more paints to add to my collection maybe I've just got to used to using only 1 set. I find that the colours I have problems with both Vallejo and army painter are just White, Blue, Yellow and Red all others are fine, the army painter Metalics are fantastic!.

I will try the base GW paints never used them before
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Re: Help on paints

Post by lee sherman » Fri Nov 13, 2015 1:55 pm

Forgot to say here is my example

I'm painting 1672 miniatures Swiss guard

Problem 1... paint there breaches blue
I then add the ribbons in red... The red vertualy slides of the blue and takes many coats to cover the blue.

Problem 2... After painting the hat black the blue doesn't cover the black and the yellow is horrendous! It just doesn't stick and looks almost clear glass like again takes many coats

Problem 3... The white looks almost grey and imho abit to thick? So water down and looks clear almost grey many coats looks good again

ALL other paints painting over other colours are fine just 1 coat done

I'm not a fancy painter I'm just a solid colours guy and use inks for shading
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Re: Help on paints

Post by quindia » Fri Nov 13, 2015 2:34 pm

1 and 2 sound like the paints are not mixed well... What you are getting is more medium and not enough pigment. Dropping a ball bearing or bb in the pot as Jim suggested may solve everything! Vallejo do tend to require a lot of shaking - I've even resorted to removing the top and stirring with a stick. If you squeeze some paint onto your palette and see a lot of clear runny liquid first, the paint is not mixed well enough.

You might have a bad pot - it's not unknown - but the fact that it is several different colors suggests that the paint may not be mixed well enough. I have full sets of colors from Foundry, Games Workshop, Vallejo, and a smattering of pots from other companies and though I prefer some color combos over others, I don't have the sort of trouble you are struggling with.
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Re: Help on paints

Post by lee sherman » Fri Nov 13, 2015 7:53 pm

Nice painting mine won't look like that :-)

I just use 1 base colour then ink

For my method would you use Foundry Paint "B" then ink or would I need to be even lighter and use Foundry Paint "C" then ink?

Thanks
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Re: Help on paints

Post by quindia » Fri Nov 13, 2015 10:49 pm

Thanks for the kind words! It's just practice - after you've painted 2,000+ models (Wow, I feel old), yours will look just as good or better.

As to your question, it depends on the color! I would just get a couple of triads and experiment on a spare model, but yes when I paint with the Foundry triads the 'B' shade is my primary color that you see on the model. I coat an area with the 'A' shade, paint over most of this with the 'B' shade, and only highlight the sharpest edges and highest points with the 'C' shade. Some of the Foundry paints have only subtle variations between A-C and inks might increase the contrast too much (for my taste). Depending on what your desired finished color is, A-C might all be appropriate as 'base coats' with an ink wash over them.
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Re: Help on paints

Post by lee sherman » Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:51 pm

How do you load pictures onto the site?.. It says I need to make them 214 or something like that

Thanks

Lee
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Re: Help on paints

Post by lee sherman » Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:55 pm

256 KiB it says
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Friedrich August I.
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Re: Help on paints

Post by Friedrich August I. » Wed Nov 18, 2015 2:30 pm

Best Way to upload pictures here is you create an account with, i.e., Photobucket-> http://s949.photobucket.com/

Upload your pics there. As soon as you have your pictures uploaded there you left-click on the IMG code to the right of the picture and copy and paste it into your next message.

It is how i do it and there are quite a lot other ways.

Hope that helps,
Cheers,
Günter
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"Sort your filth out by yourself!" The King of Saxony Friedrich August III., at his abdication 1918, referred to the quarrels in the parliament and the squabbling within the provisional government.
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Re: Help on paints

Post by lee sherman » Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:19 pm

http://s1037.photobucket.com/user/lee_s ... sort=3&o=0

I think this is how you post pictures?

It's a Northstar 1672 French Officer

I've painted the figure from a description of French officers allowed a Coat of Blue with Red cuffs so I've painted as I think it's described, also was the blue coat only allowed for HIGH ranking officers like brigadiers I'm using mine as a colonel I know later ALL French officers wore the coats as the troops but with lace.. As you can see I haven't inked yet I just block paint the figure
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Friedrich August I.
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Re: Help on paints

Post by Friedrich August I. » Wed Nov 18, 2015 6:26 pm


To the right of the picture you have an IMG code. If you left click on it you copy it and you can paste it into this message like that ctrl-v

Image
„Macht Euch Euren Dregg alleene“

"Sort your filth out by yourself!" The King of Saxony Friedrich August III., at his abdication 1918, referred to the quarrels in the parliament and the squabbling within the provisional government.
lee sherman
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Re: Help on paints

Post by lee sherman » Wed Nov 18, 2015 7:29 pm

Can you see it from the link only then or can you see nothing at all?
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Friedrich August I.
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Re: Help on paints

Post by Friedrich August I. » Wed Nov 18, 2015 7:36 pm

No, the link alone works well anyway
„Macht Euch Euren Dregg alleene“

"Sort your filth out by yourself!" The King of Saxony Friedrich August III., at his abdication 1918, referred to the quarrels in the parliament and the squabbling within the provisional government.
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