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Like the title says, I’ve been painting figures with cheap dollar store craft paints (and a few other cheap materials) rather than “proper” hobby paints. Gauging if there is interest among people who might want to try mini painting but are intimidated by price or the idea of complexity.
These minis were printed on a lower quality printer, then primed with some kind of mystery spray paint during bad weather, then given to me. So this would be a guide in making tabletop standard baseline minis, and people following it would probably have better results than me but I’d do a starter guide if there is enough interest for me to take pictures and notes.
I for one believe splurging for, say, a Vallejo basic paints set is making your life considerably easier as the consistency of any given cheap craft paint pot is a lottery, but yeah, we do need much more minipainting over here!
I do primarily paint with Vallejo, but wanted to show a beginner budget friendly option.
As you probably know about craft paints they tend to be very thick, however if you thin them with water the large pigments separate in the thinned paint making it opaque in some areas and goopy in others.
The secret ingredient is Flow Aid. A single drop or two into a dry palette’s worth of craft paint will make it flow without separating. Over a white prime, this makes usable paint that is easy to work with.
There’s more optional stuff like making your own washes which I do for both budget and quality reasons, some colors of which can be used to stain white minis in a similar result to contrast paint.