Gouache

[vexillia]

Anyone use/used these?  Are they any good?  Best brands?

I am attracted by the claim of a very flat/matt finish with high coverage and a high pigment content.  I am thinking of trying these for yellow and red so comments on the best undercoat most welcome. 

Thanks.

[jeffreythancock]

I picked up a bottle each of Vallejo's version called liquid acrylic pigment in titanium white and unbleached white (100mL bottles for US$5 on sale).  Should last me a long time.

Covers well, but dries quickly on the palette, becoming powdery and can become chalky.  Over darker colors it took 2 coats for complete coverage.  Better coverage than Vallejo Model Color acrylics in similar shades.

I recommend using quickly from palette or adding flow extender or thinning for additional working time.  I have the same issue with Vallejo acrylic metallic paints drying too quickly on the palette.

[Fitz]

Be aware that traditional gouache is not water-fast, and underlying layers will be reactivated by the moisture in any over-painting.

Maimeri make a very good range of acrylic gouache (called Polycolor, if I recall correctly) which is very pigment-dense and finely ground, dries to a dead flat finish, and is water-resistant. I used to use it all the time until I could get pre-mixed Vallejo colours locally, and my laziness took over.

[Hammers]

Be aware that traditional gouache is not water-fast, and underlying layers will be reactivated by the moisture in any over-painting.

...which can be useful if you're into very smooth blending.  But ass Fitz says, for wargaming you need to seal the paint with lacquer.

[Svennn]

I used to use artists tube guache a lot, some of the reds such as alizarin crimson are wonderfully full bodied and I am yet to find an acrylic that even gets close.  I mix in an a matt acrylic medium to negate some of the solubility problems. I must admit that I mainly use tube watercolours these days as they are easier to handle and cheaper.
Svennn

[Captain Harlock]

Ok real gouache or tempera as its often called, is an opaque watercolor. It used to be very popular among illustrators and designers in the 50's and 60's. In fact most of Angus McBrides work is painted with gouache. As others said its not water resistant, even if its completely try you can activate it with water.
What you want is acrylic gouache which is standard acrylic paint mimicking the matte finish of real gouache. I know some people that use the Jo Sonja brand with great success. Its a finer quality craft acrylic in tubes.

[Hammers]

Ok real gouache or tempera as its often called, is an opaque watercolor. It used to be very popular among illustrators and designers in the 50's and 60's. In fact most of Angus McBrides work is painted with gouache. As others said its not water resistant, even if its completely try you can activate it with water.
What you want is acrylic gouache which is standard acrylic paint mimicking the matte finish of real gouache. I know some people that use the Jo Sonja brand with great success. Its a finer quality craft acrylic in tubes.

This is interesting. And here was me thinking gouache is the choice of the poorer beginners.

[FramFramson]

Harlock has the right of it. Conventional gouache, whether true traditional egg-based or something more modern, is spectacularly unsuited to miniatures painting.

Which is a bit of a shame because it's excellent for blending and for producing vivid colours (which is why it still gets used by some artists), but it only works with a properly prepared substrate and, as mentioned, it's never waterproof.

[Andrew_McGuire]

There are a couple of brands of Japanese acrylic gouache, Holbein and Turner, available in the UK from Jackson's Art Supplies:

https://www.jacksonsart.com

I bought a few tubes of both brands last year - mostly Turner, which are quite a bit cheaper - but have not used them sufficiently to assess them.

[Captain Harlock]

There is a brand of acrylics called atelier interactive. Its from the same company that makes JoSonja. These are artist quality colors with a special formulation. They dry differently like from inside to outside. Once the paint is touch dry, you can activate it even after several hours with a sprinkle of water. Even after days you can still reactivate it with a special formula that i think is some kind of solution containing mostly isopropyl alcohol. Its exactly the same smell. This allows you to blend them almost like oils.
If you want to set the colors you spray or paint over another liquid that i think its just matte varnish.
But... These colors are meant for fine art painting. They are expensive although the quantity in the tube is fair. Also they are charged as all the better fine art paints, according to the pigment they contain. So a cheap pigment goes about 7 euros per tube, while an expensive cadmium for example can reach 17.

[Bloggard]

going to give the jo sonja's a go.
see how they compare to scale75.