Need a sticky. I'm sure there was a thread on this but cant find it via search. I need tips on how to thin my Citadel paints. Half a pot of black left and its all thick. I usually just use water but I hear that this dries it out even faster.

I finally decided to open up Stirland Mud, don't even know why I got it for. One solid pot totally useless. As I'm painting epic (and also rarely) these pot seem to dry up before I even get half way. And others I don't even know what I got for have turned solid before I even start using it!

Any suggestion, recommendation, tips?

Stop using GW paints?

One thing to try would be to transfer them to dropper bottles (there are a couple of tutorials on youtube in how best to do it) dropper bottles tend to seal better and stop air getting in

You can buy paint medium (basically paint with no pigment) from most companies which you can use to dilute paints and stop then drying out, GW sell one but I'm sure its massively expensive....

Other than that, vallejo, coat d'arms, p3, reaper, foundry and army painter are all great ranges, I have mostly switched to P3 these days and haven't looked back

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I use Vallejo and army painter and have had no issues with these ranges. Got fed up with GW paints drying out before I even used them.

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lol, I ended up googling this and seems like the same advice... stop using GW paint. I've not found a local that supplies Vallejo or any others, hence stuck with GW.

I think I paint from bottle and my hobby table uses a light that pumps out quite some heat too is also an issue.

However back to the issue of thinning down paints, rather than just switching. Planning to pick up a bottle of paint thinner from Tesco. I think I saw before they had small bottles. Hopefully a drop or two will help.

I used to use water a fair bit, before I stopped using GW paints for the most part.

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another vote for just water here, most of my GW paints are now a 'firm putty' consistency, but have been fine for years like that with a bit of water here and there. I'm phasing them out for coat d'arms when I need new ones.

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I'm fairly certain that myth about water drying it out faster has its genesis in airbrush thinning techniques. Two very popular options were alcohol and Windex. Both break surface tension wonderfully but do accelerate drying requiring use of a flow enhancer to counter. Which leads me to the point that investing in a flow enhancer may be benefit with GW paints. I am like Apoc and Kyuss in that I steer far away from them for the most part.

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"Stop using GW paint" is all well and good but doesn't quite answer the question. =-P

For myself, I bought pretty much 80% of GW's entire old paint range /just/ before they chopped it and changed to the new one, which gave me a headache. Several of them were so bad I've had to chuck them or give them away, the ones that are a bit thick I've salvaged by using a mix of a little bit of water and also Vallejo Matt Medium:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004S8FSWU/r ... XYPEFNHKHR

Then you shake the hell out of them.

Some, like I say, are beyond saving, those are usually very thick pigment paints, lumps of which have formed in the sides under the lip of the pot or in the lid. Usually metallics are beyond help, I've found. =/

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The Vallejo paints aren't perfect and there's a couple I'm disappointed with but overall they are fab.

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Ben Sibbald

Personal & Wargaming Blog: http://www.theancienttrack.blogspot.co.uk

EPIC WIP: Grey Knights, Space Wolves, Eldar

if you're stuck with GW paint for whatever reason, your best bet is to thin them down right in the pot anyway, they are like toothpaste for the most part so need thinning to be remotely useful, especially if you paint from the pot, if you want to stop your GW paints drying out, then the best option is to transfer them to another container as the pots are really *really* badly designed (if I were super cynical, I'd almost think it was intentional) and the paint often dries solid within a couple of months, you can get a big bag of eye dropper bottles from ebay for a few quid, best investment you can make for any paints not in droppers, much more control over mix ratios, less waste transferring paint to the palette, less risk of cross contamination, and if you use an airbrush it's a total no-brainer, plus they seal SO much better than the naff GW pots, properly done they will last for years and years and years in dropper bottles, plus you can peel the transparent GW labels off their pots and transfer em to the dropper bottles

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Yeah dropper bottles are definitely an improvement. The amount of cludge I get on some of the new GW lids is insane.

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Ben Sibbald

Personal & Wargaming Blog: http://www.theancienttrack.blogspot.co.uk

EPIC WIP: Grey Knights, Space Wolves, Eldar

Yes dropper bottles are the way ahead, GW paint bottles on the new type paints you need to cut
the lid holder off as it tends to jam and not close the lid propery, However on sealed pots
my paint has dried out also on GW pots

Vallejo or however you spell it ! is the way ahead, I am slowly moving over.

=Coughs=

Why should I not lick the brush? I mean, not like I do that or anything.... >.>

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Ben Sibbald

Personal & Wargaming Blog: http://www.theancienttrack.blogspot.co.uk

EPIC WIP: Grey Knights, Space Wolves, Eldar

Because Vallejo use ingrediente which are potentially harmful like cadmium...

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What's "funny" is I still have a few GW paints from the early 90s going strong while ones from the last couple of years have gone solid!

I'm generally going Vallejo or army painter for new paint now.