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Author Topic: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?  (Read 10327 times)

Offline Captain Blood

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Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« on: January 19, 2019, 09:28:27 PM »
So today, I have been trying to paint some figures using a (previously hardly touched) bottle of Army Painter Warpaints Vampire Red.
I have shaken it and stirred it to no effect. It is thinly pigmented, glutinous, translucent shite. And dries shiny. Probably the worst paint I've ever had the misfortune to put on a brush. It's like painting with jelly. It makes some cheapo craft acrylic paint (also usually thinly pigmented and glutinous) look like premium matt emulsion.
Is anyone out there actually painting figures with this useless cack? Or do I just have a completely duff bottle?

Offline tom q vaxy

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2019, 09:29:59 PM »
yeowza! not gonna put that on my "gotta-have" list.

Offline Charlie_

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2019, 11:07:20 AM »
Interesting.
I was about to say how I use a mix of vallejo and army painter, and was about to leap to their defence... But just now looking at the ones I regularly use, the only AP one is a wash...
I did just last week buy some new paints of both brands, and have tried one of the AP ones (chaotic red), and it didn't seem great.... I had put it down to not shaking it well enough, but maybe that's not it?

You may be right.
Vallejo > army painter.

The one AP product I love is their dark tone wash (the wash, NOT the dip of the same name). I use it in large quantities mostly for armour and horse flesh. But it also gets used on various clothing and other stuff. I just finished an old bottle and started a new one halfway through a batch of figures, and was horrified to find it completely different - very glossy when the last bottle was really matt, and doesn't flow nicely. I THINK it's because I'd forgotten to shake it........ But I'd be interested to hear if anyone else is having problems with AP products right now. As it is the dark tone wash is the only thing I really like from them, and if they've gone and changed the recipe......

Offline Belgian

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2019, 11:31:23 AM »
Have recently bought some paints but haven't used them yet although I have used their washes and the recipe has certainly changed in comparison with some time ago. The wash doesn't flow as well and has a strange consistency compared with their older strong tone of which I used quite a number of bottles. Currently using the new ones as I bought a couple in one go but less happy to use those.
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Offline Phil Robinson

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2019, 03:42:15 PM »
I use the soft tone and flesh wash without problem, but having the gleaned from the web that you have to shake the living daylights out of the paints to get a decent mix I have not tried them.

Offline Captain Blood

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2019, 03:53:48 PM »
I have a few of their inks (now rebranded to washes, but I think basically the same product) and they’re fine. As you say, Charlie, great on armour.

But the paint, dear God, the paint. Absolutely awful. I only have two bottles to be fair - a black, which has a reasonable level of pigmentation and opacity, but dries shiny. But the claret red - it’s just a horrible, thin, glutinous gel. Absolutely hopeless  >:(

Offline Charlie_

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2019, 04:55:09 PM »
a black, which has a reasonable level of pigmentation and opacity, but dries shiny.

Yes, I remember I did find their black to be too shiny, and made the note to stick with Vallejo for black.

I find buying paints to be pretty much pot luck in terms of brands and colours (which never seem to be as they are advertised). Most of the ones I use the most I have found by chance. But I've ended up with quite a few I've never used and likely never will.

Offline Schogun

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2019, 01:48:34 PM »
I bought their Desert Yellow bottle to match their Desert Yellow primer. I was thrilled at the match until I used it. Thin and translucent. Utterly unusable. Had to switch to a comparable Vallejo color.

The washes are excellent however.

Offline Hammers

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2019, 02:03:58 PM »
I've used AP Black without problem and I have a few others to for which I cannot vouch.

Offline meninobesta

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2019, 02:09:34 PM »
Although I don't have any experience with this brand of paints,
but the same thing sometimes happens to me with regular Vallejo paints - the paint dries shinny and it's more translucent than usual

I don't know if this happens because the paints are old or it they were badly conditioned (temperature, humidity, something else?????), but something leads them to their ruin...
additional experiences with this effect are welcome! :)
Cheers,
Pedro

Offline Captain Blood

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2019, 02:23:33 PM »
Thin and translucent. Utterly unusable. Had to switch to a comparable Vallejo color.


Okay, thanks. Not just me then...

I am just amazed that a range of paints supposedly designed expressly for wargames figure painters, seems to lack the essential qualities required for painting wargames figures - high opacity, high pigmentation, smooth consistency and fluid flow from the brush onto the miniature, and a flat matt finish. The Army Painter paints appear to tick none of these boxes. Which is a pretty dreadful indictment...

Offline Hammers

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2019, 02:28:12 PM »
Okay, thanks. Not just me then...

I am just amazed that a range of paints supposedly designed expressly for wargames figure painters, seems to lack the essential qualities required for painting wargames figures - high opacity, high pigmentation, smooth consistency and fluid flow from the brush onto the miniature, and a flat matt finish. The Army Painter paints appear to tick none of these boxes. Which is a pretty dreadful indictment...

I am going to test all my bottles tonight as I do not recognize these problems except perhaps 'high pigmentation'.

Offline Nord

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #12 on: January 21, 2019, 03:16:49 PM »
I have used a few of their paints with no real problems. I tend to transfer from the dropper bottles to the more familiar pots, add an agitator and away I go.  Charadon grey I think it's called is my go to colour to shade armour, with a little matte medium added, lovely stuff. Their black was fine for me. Reds I often find need two coats, whatever the brand, maybe it's just the red pigment in general? Same with a few yellows come to think of it. Still prefer coat d'arms as my default paint choice, but AP has been okay too. Could be a batch problem?

Offline Keith

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #13 on: January 21, 2019, 03:31:53 PM »
Interesting - I've literally just started trialing them because I can get them locally.
So far nothing untoward but if there's a weakness I would expect it to be in the warmer colours.

Results so far are nice and matt with pretty decent flow but I'm using a pallette that leans towards blues, yellows and purples (all 'cold').

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Offline Hammers

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Re: Army Painter Warpaints - are they all this bad?
« Reply #14 on: January 21, 2019, 03:43:23 PM »
Interesting - I've literally just started trialing them because I can get them locally.
So far nothing untoward but if there's a weakness I would expect it to be in the warmer colours.

Results so far are nice and matt with pretty decent flow but I'm using a pallette that leans towards blues, yellows and purples (all 'cold').



Rock'n skellie there, Keith. GW? I do not have much good to say about the Age of Sigmar ranges except the undead.