Craft paint into hobby paint

[FifteensAway]

I recollect some years ago a discussion about craft paint and using it as hobby paint.  Many people complain that craft paint is too thick for figures.  While I haven't found that to be the case - even in 15 mm work since it thins with water, there is a method to turn craft paint into hobby paint.  I didn't come up with it, it was from an article in June of 2015 in Railroad Model Craftsman. 

THE "RECIPE": Basically, you choose the color of craft paint you want and mix it 50:50 with Liquitex Airbrush Medium and then add a few small drops of Liquitex Flow Aid and you end up with essentially a hobby paint. 

For those of you who want 'higher' quality paint at a lesser cost, though adding the cost of the Liquitex products, this should work well for you.  And you don't need to be using an airbrush, author states it works well with a brush paint job.  And for those using airbrushes, you are good to go. 

Given the variety of colors of craft paints, this may open up a larger pallette for your use.  I know I have what must be well over one hundred colors and maybe over two hundred on my hobby work bench, heck maybe three hundred - hard to know because I keep a pretty large stock on hand with certain colors with multiple bottles; I have literally thousands of figures in various stages of preparation, pre-primed, or being painted most of the time.

I did check and both Liquitex items are still available.  And, of course, craft paint is readily available (at least in my region of the world - sort of Northern California).  The author of the article, Gregory M. LaRocca, did state that he has had best results with Americana brand but he also stated that he's used many different brands with the same effective results.  The author came up with this after Testor's stopped creating its Polly Scale line of railroad colors.

I have yet to try this method myself but I just ran across the article while going through some old clippings I keep for reference so thought I'd post it up here for those interested.  I believe I stated I would do that in a thread somewhere but hadn't run across the article again until now.

I believe others have posted about this but I don't recall the actual formula being posted up.  If it has been posted previously, maybe this new post will reach others who find it of use.

Let us all know how it works for you if you give it a try.

[Burgundavia]

I often air brush with craft paints, as they thin nicely and have lots of colours. And dry brushing is great with them too.

Also, can use artist acrylic - often cheaper then model paints

[Luigi]

Thank you for the brilliant and most useful tip.

I've found that in the hobby people tend to set into their ways almost dogmatically when it comes to paint. But having access to what is essentially just another tool can only be beneficial.

[mikedemana]

Most of the paints I use are craft paints. There are a couple Howard Hues and Ral Partha/Iron Wind Metals colors that I prefer. By and large, though, 85% of what I put on figures is craft. I find that my local craft stores have a great range of tones, especially dull, faded versions of colors. People in history tended not to have the wardrobe we do and would wear a shirt, tunic, or pants till the colors were quite faded. Or at least that's my excuse for preferring those tones!

But to each his own. It's the end result that counts, and our enjoyment of the hobby!

Mike Demana

[Codsticker]

My buddy Jeff used craft paints exclusively, straight out of the bottle. He didn't paint details though so cuffs, belt buckles, etc. got the base colour. What impressed me was the incredibly matte finish and durability of the paint job.

[ced1106]

Shake the bottle, unscrew the lid, turn it over, and there's your paint! None of the annoyances of eye droppers, from clogged bottles to not enough drops. I also use the craft paint lids as "wet palettes" for my eye droppers -- a few drops of hobby paint right into the craft paint in the lid and start your work. Up to and including basecoat and underpaints are often craft, with hobby for fleshtones, fine details, metal, etc. Craft paint is typically used for terrain, so every hobby paint should at least try craft paint for their wood and other brown bits of their mini's!

EDIT: Even if you buy a set of cheap kid's flip-top paints, you can fiddle with and hopefully improve your painting. Even if the colors are similar to your hobby paints, the consistency will be thicker, allowing you to quickly apply an underpaint, that you can fine-tune with hobby paint. I've found that a different consistency of paint in the same or close shade can come in handy when applying paint!

[Orctrader]

I use paints from lots of manufacturers including craft paints.

I intermix paints from all manufacturers too.  And as I paint with very thinned paints - suits my style - I rarely use any paint that covers in one layer apart from VMC and Panzer Aces for military figures.

I'm a big fan of craft paint.  For more tips see - https://blog.vexillia.me.uk/2021/09/cheap-paint-nearly-one-year-on.html

I hadn't heard of this supplier of Decoart paints, and have never used the Crafter's Acrylics, only the Amercana. And as https://www.lasercraftshapes.co.uk/
has a sale on so these are less than half-price  I bought a load.  (UK shipping was £6.95 so I had to buy lots to keep the price per unit down.  Well, that's my reasoning.   )   

[Fred Mills]

Great post, super helpful. Great contribution from Vexillia also. Many thanks for the solid tips.

Though the range can be difficult to get (at least in Canada), I've found Delta Ceramcoat to be the best and most consistent craft paint, but Decoart, Folkart, Americana, and Martha Stewart are also on the shelves in some numbers. I make a paint swatch of each paint I use, on a 3"x3" piece of artist's matt board, and it is amazing how well craft paints stack up against hobby paints in that simple test, in terms of consistency, coverage, and matt tone. Blues, grays, and greens are especially strong.

Humbrol Enamels remain my all-time favourites, but Vallejo and Howard Hues are also great, and have gradually come to outnumber the venerable - and stinky! - Humbrols. Pretty much everything I paint, except for microarmour - which is mostly Model Master brand - uses an array of craft and hobby paints.

[Orctrader]

Thanks for the heads up.  I've bought a load too.

 My pleasure.  And thank you for revealing this great seller. 

I mentioned the P&P was £6.95...Well, I ordered yesterday and amazingly, they arrived today.   

[FifteensAway]

One thing to keep in mind in using craft paints, and others have noted this, is to record the number of the paint on the bottle.  The name of the paint might change but not the core formula for the paint.  One year you might have Purple Lilac and the next year it might be Spring Light Purple - or whatever.  But the number of the old and the new should match.  I haven't tested that but it sounds reasonable. 

[pikeman]

I exclusively use craft paint but quickly discovered there are quality paints and garbage paint. This led me to a preference for Ceramcoat. The savings is tremendous. The little bottles of paint at the game store cost more than high quality single malt Scotch!
Ceramcoat is not the only good paint. There are some others I use as well. My work is pretty good and this paint is easy to work with and there is a huge range of shades if mixing is beyond your abilities.
The exceptions tend to be shiny metallics. I’m still buying a few of these from the high-end labels. But they amount to about three in a rack of 24.