Thinner for acrylic paints: Here is what this stuff does, and why it is so special and important.
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First, most high quality paints ofr miniatures are kind of thick, and have a very high pigment load. I use mostly Vallejo, Reaper Pro, and Citadel paints. These three have very simialr characteristics, although some paints in these lines are referred to as Glazes or Washes, so they will behave differently. In the Citadel line there are Foundation paints wich have an incredibly high pigment load.
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Straight from the bottle, these paints are good for initial base coats of color, but for building up color they will not product good results. After the initial base coat is applied, the paints must be thinned to perform properly.
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Delta Ceramcoat thinner was my favorite. Some professional painters have made theor own formulas for "paint juice", I prefer to find something commercially available.
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The Vallejo thinner works very well for me.
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I use a Masterson Wet Pallette for miniature painting. It keeps the paints workable for a reasonably long time. I squeeze a few drops of paint onto the pallette.
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Then I add one drop of the thinner. The thinner looks white, but from what I can see, it causes no colour shift in the paints.
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The thinner must be mixed thoroughly into the paint.
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For this to work properly, you need very good quality brushes. I prefer the Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes with natural fiber (Russian weasel tail) bristles. There are online videos showing how these brushes are made, and why they command the price.
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If the tip of the brush is touched to the thinned paint, the paint will draw itself into the bristles. Then, when the bristles are touched to the model, the paint just flows off. The first time I did this, and saw what paint control really could be, my mind was blown.
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If you use the appropriate size brush, it will hold enough paint to paint a line about 1/2" long before being refilled. Try to keep pain on the lower half of the bristles and away from the ferrule this makes cleaning easier.
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Using paints with a high pigment load, that are properly thinned, can open up all kinds of detailing.
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I painted the etched brass wooden walkways with Vallejo "New Wood" that was thinned as described above. This gave me the control to get a clean edge with no masking.
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Then I used Citadel "Agrax Earthshade" to bring the walkways to a suitable well used and worn coloration.
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I painted the highlighted portions of the black car with "German Black Camo Highlight" from Vallejo. The effect is very subtle, but it makes small details pop out. The handrail stanchion tops wre also highlighted.
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Advanced miniature painting using the correct products is a great tool to add to your hobby skill box.
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The placard was painted Vallejo "Intermediate Green" just for contrast.
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-Kevin
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