Dear duncan , Thank you for doing this. I'm 40 but only started painting last year bc i've always been bad at art. Even after watching alot of your tutorials, i always feel im not doing it right. But now i have a guide to go back to everytime i need it. You are the best.
we're in very similar situations - I haven't painted a mini in 20 years and didn't know anything at all back then, so it doesn't count. Videos like this are a lifesaver.
Welcome to the hobby! I really have appreciated Duncan’s channel, as he does a great job teaching why he does what he does, and how he does it, which I have found really great. I could also recommend a few other channels, if you are interested.
And also, different techniques require different levels of thinning. For stippling, the paints have to be REALLY thin, but for 'Eavy Metal style layering, they have to be more milky in consistency.
@@FreshCoatKustoms This. And then there's also the pigment and its grain size, etc etc. Some pigments are more naturally translucent, and either easier or harder to use for any given technique.
I totaly agree, yet i have to admit that when you use airbrush colors (Model Air etc.) they come out of the bottle/pot in a real nice consistancy for painting ;)
Parts 1 and 2 were a terrifying glimpse into the methods of Duncan's alternate universe, evil counterpart - Duncan't Streets. Thank goodness we live in the Twothincoatsverse.
Thanks for watching. We hope you all enjoyed this one. It's always good to revisit the fundamentals. If you enjoyed this tutorial feel free to Subscribe to the Channel, leave a Like, and above all else, leave a Comment below to appease the true God of Chaos, the RU-vid Algorithm and of course, always remember to Thin Your Paints and Apply Two Thin Coats!
Loved this. Would you do a part 2 using some other paint types as examples. I struggle thinning metallics and would be interested to see layer paints as well.
Great vid! The other stumbling block I experienced when starting is that some paints were quite thin out the pot. I tried to compensate for this by putting loads on at once, which just clogged up the recesses but left the raised surfaces too transparent. So the lesson is not only to use suitably thin paints, but to apply them in suitably thin layers.
This is such a good video, people always just say "thin your paints until they are like milk" but what are we talking? full fat? semi skimmed? skimmed? cornish double cream? its correct but a difficult thing to quantify. This video can now stand as a resource for people to compare the actual results they are getting using their paints to know which way they need to know, you really are the king of thinning paints Duncan.
One tip I've heard for thinness of base paints is that if you thin it down and paint a big line of it along your palette, the paint should kind of retract inward on itself, like it goes from a solid line to a few broken up blobs. Supposedly that means that when you put it on the model it will shrink as the water evaporates which ensures a smoother and less clogged paintjob. I don't know if that's true or not but it seems to work for me.
I've heard this too, but for wet palettes, you need parchment paper that has a slight wax coating. I have an Army Painter wet palette, and the parchment sheets that come with it absorb enough of the paint that you don't see that kind of beading. Was very confused the first few times I tried it.
Great video, thanks! Some timestamps: 0:00 Intro 1:08 Thin your paints, what does it mean? 2:02 Part 1 - One thick coat 4:55 Part 2 - Tons of thin coats 8:38 Part 3 - The sweet spot 13:08 The result
It's hard to overstate just how helpful this is to see. Thinning paints is a step that is mentioned often but offhandedly, and I really struggled to understand exactly why my results were so all over the place and different from videos I was watching. It's extraordinarily helpful to have all three identical minis with the same paint color one after the other to really highlight exactly what the differences are, and how they affect the final result. The reality was that as a new painter I wasn't thinning consistently and was mixing in coats that were too thick with coats that were too thin. Having an experienced painter simply admit that the best results come from knowing the "feel" of the paint, which comes from practice, explains a lot. When other tutorials make it sound so easy, it only makes it that more frustrating that my results were so disappointing. This video has been a huge relief, and very educational.
Watched SO many videos. Started painting my first today. Applied three coats and it’s decent. But damn. I out one click of paint, whirled around, took water, whirled around in the same spot. Was a damn pain to paint and led to a lot of frustration. This video really helped me. Can’t wait to try this and paint more tomorrow! ❤
This is awesome - would you consider doing something like this focusing on metallics? I've struggled thinning Leadbelcher/runelord brass to the right consistency especially since they don't behave quite the same!
some simple suggestions which most people would recommend: - hold your wrists together when painting, to prevent shakey hands. so hold the model in one hand, and push your painting hand up against it at the wrists. Ideally also rest your wrists on the front edge of your desk, or your elbows on top of it (this is why it helps to have a fairly tall desk and/or adjustable chair which can be moved down). this is the most important tip I can think of, and once you find that nice comfy position with your hands pushed together, everything just feels so much easier because the brush always goes where you want it to go! - Hold the model using a painting handle - dont hold the base of the model itself. Holding the base of the model means you are putting quite a lot of pressure on just a finger and your thumb and this usually means the model is gonna shake (not to mention your fingers will get in the way and make it harder to paint at every angle). a painting handle allows you to keep your hand in a much more ergonomic and relaxed position. it doesnt have to be an off-the-shelf handle (although to be honest I find the citadel one is very comfortable) - it can simply be a yogurt pot or something with a bit of blu tac to hold the model on top. hope that helps
I actually liked how the first super thin coat looked gives the impression of a dude who's been fighting for so long without support that the paint is going away and the ceramite is showing with some details it could look really good
Thank you so much for this video, you hear so so so many times to “thin your paints” but no one ever really wants to show you either how to nor what sort of consistency you should be looking for so this kinda video makes it become so much easier
perfect timing, im just settling into an evening painting my lizards and ive always struggled with paint consitency Mr Thincoats himself show us the way
You where the first person I tried to learn to paint my Death Korps of Krieg kill team. I'm so thankful for the 2 thin coats it's made all the difference for a beginner. Another thanks for the list of paints in order, save so much time.
This is a perfect example of a "show, don't tell" scenario. Very hard to describe what is intended. You hear "like milk" a lot but there are lots of different milks too.
These kinds of videos are great. It's way more important to learn how to recover from screwing something up than it is learning how not to screw up in the first place.
Thank you so much for the video. I am so glad you covered over-diluting it. I have had horrible results when I was starting as I was over diluting the paint ending with frustrating patches.
Nearly every video ive watched about painting has explained how to thin your paint, but never to quite the extent that I *fully* understood what exactly i was looking for. This video has definitely helped me fully grasp what im looking for when thinning my paint and a better way to find it as well So thank you :D
On holiday I got a Revell Build and Paint ork trukk kit. It was green plastic and included a paint set / brush. The red was sooooo soooooo thin. This video perfectly describes my experience of trying to layer up the red to get a decent coverage. I must have put down a dozen layers 🤣
To be noted: there is also different mediums (thinner, glaze, etc) you can use to thin the paints with, and I find I have better control over the consistency with those than with water, but it depends on the paint - as Duncan pointed out, there are a lot of factors that determine how the paint is when it comes out of the bottle/pot, and sometimes water is all that is needed, but mediums are a godsend.
This will now be my go-to video to send to people asking me about beginning to paint. It’s so hard to explain how and why thinning is so important and how to do it right and this does such a good job of explaining it. I just sent it to my cousin who started painting a few weeks ago. Great work!
You just proposed a great way to do rust on a mini. Take orange, diluite it TOO MUCH and it will stop in all the nooks and crannies but also sometimes on some flat surfaces. I think it's perfect
Thanks for the video. As a tangential piece of advice to this I'd like to remind everyone starting out to clean your brush more than you think it needs. As discussed, since acrylics dry so fast, it's important to control moisture content on the palette, but it is easy for the paint to dry in your brush and make your experience difficult. To build this muscle memory, I would recommend setting an interval timer to chime every 60-90 seconds to remind you to flush your brush out and start fresh.
Thank you Duncan for slowing down your pace of narrative. Your videos are valuable tutorials and understanding what you are saying is essential to the student.
I will be watching this on repeat! While thinking about getting the paint silky smooth. Already looking forward to painting and trying to improve. Thank you
Another interesting thing, is a pretty "wet" pallete can end up diluting the paint naturally as you let it sit. I've had perfect consistency to start and as I go back for more as I base coat the model further, I notice it's thinning more and more as time goes on for a bit.
Duncan out here slinging wisdom. There's a quick check that I learned that's great for finding the sweet spot if you don't mind getting your hands dirty. Take the paint after you've mixed it and brush just a little over the skin of your hand, usually the base of your thumb works best for this. If you can't see the lines of your skin under the paint you need more water. If you can see the colour of your skin under the paint you need more paint. I've found that I've been able to really get granular with the right thinness with this technique
I was checking out my old Vampire Counts and Storm of Magic books,, and who's in the credits. Mr. Rhodes! and Peachy! I bet those were truly legendary times,, wish I were there to paint along with the dudes! Thanks for all the years of awesome paint jobs,,, except the first red marine on this video : )
There's a "you know it when you see it" quality to paint thinning, I've found. At this point I've fairly well nailed how thin I want my paints when working, and it came down to another video I saw by another creator who got into the mechanical aspects of how the paint flows and coats when "properly" thinned. I think it's something that gets lost in the "like milk" axiom that gets constantly repeated. I was always told "like milk" and it always had me asking "but why?" Once I had that understanding, the thinning process became second nature.
Back in the pre-internet days of this hobby (actually a great time!), I think everyone used paint straight from the pot. When I started, I didn't even fully grasp the difference between enamel air-fix paints and the acrylic Citadel paints. I can remember trying to water down the former and ending up with a mess of oily black water. I just assumed that the paint had "gone bad" in the pot. Enamel paint was daemonic :(
Duncan & team, thank you for this video. The examples for too thick and too thin were very helpful in showing me I'm pretty close to correct now (I've been taking tips from you for a few years). That will let me worry less and attack other techniques with confidence.
My local store manager recommended your videos, and this is great! I never really had a solid concept of what thinning my paints looked like before this, I just kinda dumped some lahmian medium in them and called it a day, which clearly isn't the way to go
Great video as always. Having the right paint consistancy is the most fundamental skill you need to build everything else upon, and this video is the perfect tutorial for that.
Knowing the consistency of the paints your working with out of the bottle helps as well when it comes to thinning your paints. I'm glad to see a video like this to help out new painters in the hobby.
I have just come back to the hobby after a dalliance in my teens. which were thirty odd years ago sadly and I've forgotten anything that might have been relevant. I only today finished my first minature I now see I was thinning really inconsistently! Love your guides to fundamentals. I wish there was a whole 'syllabus' to follow!
"Oh sh*t, you gonna make me thin my paints again!" 😅 Love your videos, my friend! My wife and i watched a lot of your videos when we were new to the hobby! ❤ Take care! PS: Press "F" for all the minis, which has been used as bad examples.
As a scale military modeler who's just getting into warhammer minis my simple solution to getting smooth even coverage on base coats is to just use an airbrush! Duncan's videos and tips really help with brush painting details though
Brilliant video, very necessary for anyone startin and continuing the hobby I think you already talked about it, but would be great to have something similar for Painting Built Mini vs Painting Separated parts, I always see y'all painting it whole and I'm sure I would make a clustercluck but I'm also very interested in knowing the pros and cons
Hi Duncan You May Remember Me From Salute (ps I'm The Kid With The Skelator) And I have been trying to get my paints to a consistent thinnes and this has helped me a lot thank you Duncan for helping me through my miniature painting journey.
At this moment I’m painting interrogator chaplain, and He has a cloak, a large flat surface. I was a little worried about ruining it, but now I'm ready to thin my paint in the right way)
Finally a video that explains exactly how to do this and what you’re looking for! Can’t wait to try it out. I was using Citadel paints but for the last year have been using Scale Color which has a different consistency. It will be interesting to see if this will translate the same way.
Something I struggled with was over-loading my brush after thinning. So the paint would behave like water and stick in dropplets. So I couldn't thin my paint too much because then it wouldnt come on neatly. I also struggled with getting a good primer coat that thin pain would actually stick to.
OK so in all seriousness my BIGGEST problem as a painter is the consistency of the paints. I have found it very difficult to figure out how to thin it. Something finally clicked for me watching Duncan thin his paint because he is just barely touching the brush to the water. (Side note, I have started thinning with matte medium instead of water, but I have no idea if it's helping, because of my low skill level.) Anyway: if you're having trouble like me, really watch what Duncan does. Barely touches the water, transfers to the palette, tests out consistency. Not thin enough? Repeat. Touch the water, transfer to palette, try again. Just that little bit of method - touching the brush a little at a time, rather than dropping water on the palette and inevitably having too much - has made a HUGE difference for me.
Really enjoyed this. Always been a bit challenging to thin them just right. Just one constructive criticism I'd add is that it would be great to see all three different versions side by side at the end.
Pro tip. Heavy metal use mephiston red, then glaze a mix of meph red and wild rider red first in 50/50 then 25/75 on the brightest panels. Hope this helps!
It's interesting to me because i tend to paint straight from the pot with Citadel paints, without using a palette and just thinning down the paint in the pot. Somehow i still manage to get good results out of it. But i'm certainly looking into using a palette more.
@@DuncanRhodesDRPA i am honored to have gotten a personal response ❤️, i and many others thank you for the channel and that you're sharing your skills.
Duncan, buddy, I was horrified when I first heard the news of your career change. I am glad to see that was for naught. As a primarily 40k painter (years of watching/learning - months of actually doing) you were the face of that aspect of the hobby to myself and many others. Glad to see that you still are, and now I can see you apply the skill to many other things besides 40k. Thank you for continuing to share your expertise! Hail Lord Duncan and hail DRPA!
