If you are someone that paints miniatures or models for a living or even just for fun, then you’re sure to have come across Army Painter paints at one point in time. This popular paint company has dedicated its time and resources to providing high-quality paints for hobbyists all over the world.
If you haven’t heard of Army Painter, and you’re a beginner miniature painter, then I’m sure you have a lot of questions about the company and how to go about painting your miniatures and models.
One of the most popular questions asked is if army painter paints need to be thinned. The answer is yes. More often than not, if you’re painting miniatures, the acrylic paint needs to be thinned to get the best look. You don’t want your miniature to look blotchy, cracked, boring, or (God forbid) ugly, so thinning your acrylic paint is a must! Hopefully, this article will address and answer any other questions you have about Army Painter paints.
Do You Thin Army Painter Washes?
You don’t need to thin out your army painter washes, but if you struggling with the wash and you want more control of the movement of the liquid then you can thin it with an acrylic medium. This helps to evenly distribute the pigment in the wash better and allows you to use a thinner brush for more control over your shading.
Thinning it out with a medium also helps you to blend better and relatively easily. Even though washes are already pretty thin, sometimes they are too dark for the part of the miniature you are painting.
For instance, skin tone is something that typically has a lot of variances in color and most washes will not account for that in their mix. If you thin out the wash and use a thinner brush, you can add more wash in places you want a darker color and less in places where you want the color to be more muted or lighter.
Thinning your wash is also helpful when you’re painting a large surface area. You want to avoid the end product looking splotchy so thinning the product helps the flow of the wash which in turn allows you to paint an even coat with a good consistency.
How Do You Mix Army Painter Paint?
Sometimes you notice that a color you need to paint on your miniature is not a color that has been included in the set of paints you have. Or, maybe you want to add a highlight in a few areas and realize that the highlight color has not already been included in the set.
This is when you’d need to mix one or more paints to get that perfect color and intensity. Some highlights can be achieved by simply mixing the color with white paint or a mixing medium while others need to be mixed with several different colors.
Thankfully, Army Painter has a mixing guide pdf on their website that you can download and save and it will show you how to mix different colors to get lighter or completely different hues.
When mixing colors you want to add a little at a time until you’ve achieved your desired look. Test out the color on some paper or a miniature/model you don’t mind messing up or re-doing to see how the colors behave.
Many websites will tell you to mix 1 drop of the mixing medium with 2 drops of the paint or any variation of that and while these are great rules of thumb, ALWAYS test out the color to make sure it’s what YOU want.
If you’re planning on using your newly created custom color a lot then you can purchase some empty Army Painter mixing bottles to store them so you don’t have to create the same mix every time you need it.
If you’re an avid tabletop player, then we highly recommend this 50 piece non-toxic Army Painter kit. It comes with almost every color imaginable to make your armies come to life!
How Good are Army Painter Paints?
From all of the reviews (video, forum ; review pages) posted online, Army Painter is a top contender. Customers love the number of different colors that are included in their sets and how easy the paints are to use. Each set also comes with a guide to using each type of paint and a free brush so what’s not to love?
Compared to other popular paint lines such as Citadel, GW, and Vallejo, Army Painter paints are doing very well. They are cheaper than Citadel, have a thinner consistency than Vallejo, and come in a good variety of colors.
Unlike Citadel, Army Painter paints can be used in an airbrush because of the extremely fine pigments. This is a plus because if you have 50 miniatures to paint, you want to do so in the least amount of time possible.
Some users have noted that some colors have stronger pigments than others and some take a little more patience to mix or thin down. However, no paint line is without flaws so it’s expected that there would be some difficulties in this line as well.
Overall, consumers love Army Painter paints and rave about the selection of colors and effects as well as the price! What’s not to love?
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re new at painting miniatures/models or you’ve been doing it for 10 years, Army Painter paints will be a great purchase for you. With approximately 50 different colors and effects, you’ll have everything you need and more to further your hobby or job.
As with any new paint company, you have to know the ins and outs of the way their paint works and how they will behave on your figures. That’s why we answered some commonly asked questions above, to give you the basics that you need to get started using Army Painter paints right away.
Don’t forget that whatever you do, you should THIN YOUR ACRYLIC PAINT! This will help your miniatures look polished and professional without bothersome splotches, brush marks, clumped up paint, or cracks in the finish.