Painting 40k...Using only Craft Paint 

Can I just point out that Jay has gone from being a really solid hobby painter about two years ago, to being a legitimately heroic pro painter with a very unique and dynamic style? Like. Dude has leveled up significantly.

13 minutes of Jay painting far better than me using dirt cheap paints, just what I needed

Thank you for dispelling the myth that only name brand paints can get results. I primarly use Apple Barrel with some Army Painter inks and speed paints and get results I'm happy with.

These craft paints are actually way better than the humbrol enamel paints that we had to use to paint our figures back in the 80's

As a painter on a budget, I primarily use these kinds of paints. Its just what I like

YES!!! Thank you for making this! It's been so frustrating seeing so many CraftTubers do "Craft Paint Challanges," only for them to just shlop on one thick coat and say how much worse it is. It's so nice seeing someone actually take the time to use it properly and try their best to paint a good mini. Craft paint is exactly as you describe it-it's not the best, and involves a bit more trickiness to get good results with, but if you take your time and are careful with your application, it can more than get the job done. And for exponentially less money than hobby paints-which, as someone thoroughly jades by GW's crummy paint pots, is a blessed relief.

Jay, we thoroughly enjoyed your video! You made this so entertaining - an open-minded approach to the challenge, an honest review, AND you made us laugh (reading the color names got me!). We saw some OLD logos on those bottles, definitely let us know if we can send you some fresher paint to experiment with! PS: we've seen cosplayers and miniature painters use Apple Barrel in an airbrush as well.

Craft store paint (like applebarrel) was actually the first paint i bought when i was getting into the hobby of painting miniatures. One of my favorite mini's that i've painted is still a Reaper mini with that "cheap paint" it took me 2x as long as my first space marine, but the blends i was able to get were honestly easier to achieve considering i wasn't using a wet palette. To this day i love using those paints for terrain and usually even my basing etc. It gets the job done.

The Folk Art line (from Plaid, same manufacturer) uses finer ground pigments, and are more pigment dense. They're at a different spot on the price/performance curve of acrylic paints. In this case, you get an awful lot at this entry point in the curve. There's a lot of performance per penny from Apple Barrel and Folk Art matte colors- both for $0.54 for a 2oz bottle from my local Walmart. A kid (or parent) who wants some basic decent paints to try the painting part of the hobby can get a WizKids mini for $5, and RGBWK colors for another $5. And the paints can do mixing, blending, layering, glazing... it's THE perfect way to start.

When I first got into the hobby this was all I could afford. Since I was 13 and didn't even know what a highlight or thinning was, you can imagine the results I had. However, my mom, who went to art school, did crazy stuff with apple barrel paints. She had some eldar done in a sunset color scheme, it was a lot of oranges and such down to purples at the tips, looked really cool

For years and years I have gotten grief for using craft paints on my minis. Seeing videos like this makes me so happy. Thank you Jay!

I have to say, thank you for the honest review. I feel that many artists don't give craft paints enough effort and frankly there are places where obtaining higher quality paints is way beyond budget

I've been extolling the virtues of inexpensive craft paint for decades. Expensive paint won't make a poor painter better, and even an average painter can achieve acceptable results with craft paint. Bonus for beginners: you get more practice for your buck at a time when you're more likely to end up with a lot of unused paint on your board from inexperience.

That is actually a shockingly good Marine. The Pigment/Medium mix in those paints may not be as dense as model paint but its good to know its still its still usable.

As a dungeon master and tabletop crafter of nearly 25 years, I can report that folkart is the best pigmented craft paint, and regularly use it on miniatures for a tabletop minor standard. I even cut a mix of burnt sienna and black paint 10:1 with Windex for a dip wash. Works like a charm.

"Im going to use bad paint." Still paints better than I can. Dang dude. That is a good paint job.

I love how you always seem like you're the guy in the room having THE MOST FUN! It's contagious in all the best ways.

The Apple Barrel and Folkart paints are pretty much the main paint I used for my Sisters of battle. People at my local game store always find it funny when I show up with these paints for paint day. Last time I went someone even asked if I’d do commission. Sterling Silver from Folkart has lasted me for years on my Argent Shroud army.

This is the Miniature painting to Adam Savages 5 dollar sword build. It really shows that technique and skill matter a lot when working on projects over having high quality and expensive equipment.

I first got into mini painting with the Reaper Bones: Learn to Paint set. Early on in my painting journey, I supplemented my paint collection with Apple Barrel paints. Weirdly, it made me a way better painter because the poor coverage made me accidentally learn glazing. I've mostly moved away from them these days, but stand by them as an okay starting point for new hobbyists who don't want to jump in with a huge investment on hobby supplies.

I honestly kinda like the chalky look of the Apple Barrel more than the normal 'smooth' look of hobby paints. If you were used to it for a while I am sure it would look even better! Very impressed. Leeeets go cheep art supplies!

Finally a RU-vidr is covering the paints I've been using for over a decade!

There's an interesting reason Apple Barrel paints are so close to the citadel paints. They're both made of the same ingredients (acrylic, water, binding agents, etc...). The only differences are that citadel paint pigments are finer and have more water to achieve that difference in consistency

Using Apple Barrel for bases is actually a great idea. People already use texture paint for bases and scenery, so a bit more grit to the paint actually wouldn't be so bad.

"Its non-toxic" *inhales the 20 year old air trapped in those sealed bottles to the dome* what a savage

I definitely use craft paint for terrain. Back about 20 years ago when I was first getting into wargaming I used craft paints and I learned that if I cut them with Acrylic inks, they worked about as good as fancier purpose-created wargames paint. Now I generally use fancy paint for minis because they are that little bit nicer. But craft paints are nothing to sneeze at.

There have been *several other youtubers* who have said the same thing about apple barrel paints...they actually work well. As someone whos used them for years with crafts only (not models) when i joked about and painted a spare model i had, i was surprised as well. Again the offset is the finished product has a "chalky" feel. But if you dont mind that, or are just getting started and want to test paint without spending to much, these are actually a good recommendation.

I KNEW I WASNT CRAZY I've just started painting minis, just painted two Salamanders Infernus marines, using Apple Barrel paints. Neither are good, i personally think theyre terrible, but the black paint I used was amazing! It covered the shoulders and backpack really well!

The break down you give on cost per ml, versus performance, is bang on. For 15 years we used mainly craft paints. Takes a bit of work to get the hang of it, but well worth it for a painting studio.

Am I losing my mind or is this latest space marine the best you've ever done? The painting skills have surely leveled up.

I've used dollar store acrylic paint on my models, as long as you spray a primer and a protective coat when done they work fine.

I use Apple Barrel paint a lot for military miniatures, but some of their colors are occasionally too thick or lumpy. I also like Deco-Art, and sometimes Craft Smart, but you just have to try the colors. A lot of what Jay says is very true. Trying a particular color of cheap paint is after all... Cheaper! Also, Jay mentions the color mixing... He's totally correct - all the colors can be mixed, and a lot of times can be mixed across manufacturers. The discussion below concerning taking your time and not just schloping paint on your project is correct as well. Great Video!

My first Warhammer paints were Testors enamel paints meant for model airplanes, would be cool to see what you can do with them! Maybe just a starter set?

Now try artist paint :). Heavy body vs soft body vs fluid (or whatever the manufacturer calls the lowest viscosity) vs acrylic guache vs classical guache (reactivated by water). Maybe use the watercolour grounds that started coming out in the last couple of years and use watercolours? I tried it on some shields and it was an interesting experience.

I've been painting minis with craft paint for over 25 years with no issues whatsoever. Admittedly, I won't use Apple Barrel if I can avoid it - it's the worst of the worst. But for a similar price, CeramCoat colors tend to cover much better. I mean, I've used Citadel, P3, and Army Painter lines - they may have been "better" but not SO much better that it would justify quintupling my paint budget. Worthwhile tradeoff. No, sir, just make sure you coat your minis when you're done with some matte clear spraypaint or something to make sure the cheap paints don't scratch or flake off, and your armies will look good for decades.

I'd really like to see you paint a space marine with sort of a simple/traditional "artists" palette of paints, a black, white, raw umber, yellow ochre, red, yellow and blue, eg.

I use craft paints all the time, usually to thicken a paint that is too thin. But also Apple Barrel Khaki 21390 is an excellent base under yellow to help make it opaque. A tiny bit of the same in plain white from Vallejo or Reaper makes a good bone color. For anyone brand new to the hobby, it's a great spot to save a little cash just to start: get your models, get several Apple Barrel paints, get cheap brushes online, and a cup for water and you can start (maybe splurge for 1 or 2 better paints like Vallejo to help you out some). It's still not a cheap hobby, but across 10 paints that could save someone $30-40.

i used to use applebarrel for my DnD fantasy miniatures when i was just starting off. I still use the black on miniatures because its fantastic for washing and bases like you do, and the colours for terrain painting.

I have been painting off and on for years, and I went through a long stretch of only using craftsmart/apple barrel paints. Its only been in the past couple of years that I even got modern hobby acrylics. Getting an army painted in craft acrylics is very doable, especially if the models are primed. When I got a set of starter paints from Reaper, my mind was blown at just how much easier it was to get things to look good. There are plenty of things that still work just fine in craft paints, namely white and black. Folk art color shifting paints are freaking amazing too! In most colors though, I do definitely see the value for the high pigment hobby paints. They make it so you don have to fight with the paints as you make your toy soldier look cool.

As someone who has painted models with craft paint, can confirm that they're _fine._ They get the job done. It's not as efficient, due to lower pigmentation, but it's consistent. You're trading a cheaper price and volume of paint for the extra labor of painting on more layers. And it _does work._ It's important here to stress that, as demonstrated in this video, there are levels of craft paint. You don't use the absolute cheapest paints, because they barely do anything. But paints that cost around a dollar or $1.50 give a sharp increase in workability. Would I recommend this to someone who does painting a lot, or indeed does commissions? No. If you're churning out models, you need to be as efficient as possible. Time is money, as is labor. But if you're just getting into miniature painting, and you don't even know if you like it as a hobby, a basic set of craft paints is a cheaper investment than a set of miniature paints. Just to help you develop your skills, and get some projects under your belt. I still use craft paints, even though I now have proper mini paints. Often for bases, or applying burnt sienna to create simple rust effects. When doing a Slap Chop, I can drybrush with craft paint to get the highlights before the Contrasts go on. Grey is grey, and white is white. Craft paint is a good workhorse paint. Probably the best place to use craft paint, though, is doing terrain. Terrain doesn't need to be as detailed. You just need the suggestion of the environment. No one is going to look up close at a ruined building or tree. Moreover, the larger size of terrain means you'll need way more paint, so craft paint is more efficient.

I literally used the craft paints in the thumbnail for a ton of my models and it still works pretty good. Plenty of people liked the work, I even used a toothbrush to paint my first model.

it would've been super cool to see a comparison between the apple barrel and another mini painted in the same color scheme but with like vallejo or citadel

Been using apple barrel for years. Probably literally saved me thousands of dollars. Never once had a single player complain about the paint jobs and like you said they're like 90% as good.

As someone starting out, this video is absolutely inspiring! Thanks for actually taking the time, your advice and sharing an objective view 🙇🏼‍♂️

A number of years ago I compared applebarrel, craftsmart, americana and folk art. I liked Americana the best and used it to paint a bunch of Imperial Assault and Mantic minis. I use mostly Army Painter now but I still use the Americana for large terrain. It works pretty well.

I actually used cheap craft paints to paint my very first models because I literally had no money to buy Vallejo or Citadel, and it goes in pretty well.

Years ago when I started mini painting, I bought the GW mega paint set (back when they had screw top lids). After about a year's hiatus I came back to find almost all the paints dried up. When next I tried mini painting, I decided I couldn't justify the expense of mini paints that would be unusable after a year, so I opted for craft paints just like you use in this video. I'm not a skilled painter, barebones tabletop speedpainting standard being my thing. But thinned down and with some flow improver added, those craft paints worked absolutely fine for me, as good as the GW paints had previously. More importantly, fifteen years later those craft paints are still absolutely fine and usable ,though I have progressed to Army Painter & Vallejo for mini painting, saving the craft paint for terrain and bases.

Started painting with the small glass bottle Testor's oil based back in the real early 90s. Given we were painting in a small basement room and were all half-stoned from the fumes, it wasn't terrible and was certainly durable as hell. When we switched to craft paint it was like a ray of sunlight into that dark basement. They need a good clear coat. That was the only bad side to using them that we ever saw. Admittedly we were handling the miniatures pretty rough, but we gamed several times a week. Given that painting background, the only "Miniature" paint I buy are things like washes, quick paints, and effects style paints. For basecoats, these craft paints work just fine. Twenty bottles of craft paint beats the hell out of two bottles of Games Workshop any day.

I would love to see you paint a whole mini using artist oil soluble paints like Windsor Newton or something like that. They are super expensive but i bet the blends you would get would be next level!! Love this series, Jay!

These kinds of paints are primarily what I use on my 40k minis and, hell even other figures that I customize, and I've found that they get the job done pretty well. Especially craft "flash" paints which are really good for painting "energy" if that makes sense and act as a shortcut when painting something like a Space Marine plasma gun.

Thank you Jay for showing us that craft paint CAN work for minis. I used mostly craft paint for my 2k Necron army, the exceptions being vallejo chrome and some army painter washes. I've been embarrassed to tell people that I used craft paint, but now, thanks to you, I will proudly introduce my crafty Necrons!

Just a few months ago, I found an AMAZING line of paints in my local furniture store chain "Poco" . They sell “tinting paint” for your regular white wall paint for around 3$ for 500ml. just for comparisons sake those 500ml are the equivalent of around 10 200ml bottles of vallejo premium Paint for a mere 3$. The paint is thick like pudding but HOO BOY it can be thinned almost to the consistence of water and still covers better than even high-end model paints at the same thickness. Even more stunning to me was how flawless it goes through an airbrush and how well it works as a base coat for my resin printed minis that are notoriously fickle in that regard. Never underestimate craft paints or tinting paints for that matter! Oh and another thing is this paint is so thick out of the bottle it refuses to dry out it simply forms an air tight skin on top that can be removed and the paint is fresh again.

This was really interesting! I have only been painting for about a year, and I started with some folk art and liquitex paints. I thought the paints were not very good, and a bit frustrating to work with, but now I realize that there is a lot to be said for understanding HOW those paints work, and using it to your advantage.

I use cheap craft paint for bases and terrain you can also thin it down enough to work in airbrush, dont use alcohol based thinner the colors will seperate in the pot

My first Tau army 10+ years ago was painted with apple barrel. Super thinned down, layer after layer. I did an urban camo paint scheme too, so it worked well with cheap paints. Camo patterns are very forgiving in that arena.

I felt like a loser for buying apple barrel paints, but i always thought they worked fine. U proved the artist never blames his tools. Great job.

You really need to try the Golden Girls paint-by-number paints from Target. May be hard to find now as they were a $3 set in the seasonal section by the front door about two months ago. 18 small pots of paint and a new detail brush!

I’m glad you made this video, I’ve been using apple barrel paint for years on my Woodcarving’s. Some of my favorite colors from them are 21186e golden sunset , sunbeam 21965e ,21887e Tuscan teal ,21891e marsh green and 36244 extreme green invisible glow. I would love to see you try Liquitex acrylic gouache or so flat golden acrylic .

My daughter just painted her first mini with these craft acrylic paints - it worked out pretty well after we thinned it! I did give her some of my metallics - but I was happy with how well it worked! My wife has something like 200 of them collected over 20+ years, so lots of different options for stuff!

Ill never forget the people that introduced me to dnd. I stayed at their house once littered with minis. One of them knew someone who worked at a craft paint plant, the same nozzles were used to fill different paint bottles so thered be some not quite right when it would transition between colors. So they would get cheap or free bottles of those slightly off paints and all the minis in the house were painted with those and looked great. You'd never know the difference especially in those days with rhe middle and old hammer Era minis. I can still picture the three tier lazy Susan of paints on the dining room table where we'd play Dark Heresy

I started miniature painting about a year ago, and I've been using Folk Art since I started. Its been pretty good almost done my first army.

My father is a professional painter. He uses paints like deco mart and folk art , while good paints are really nice it’s your skill that will really make it look good or bad. And he’s made a painting for the Queen of England.

I know I'm a bit late to the party on this but my suggestion is that you try some Golden or Liquitex heavy bodied artist acrylics. You need to thin them quite a bit but that's what makes them great - they are heavily pigmented and you can get so much use out of small tubes of them that you end up with superior quality paint with a cost more in line with craft paint. Thin them to cream consistency for brushing, thin them even further for airbrushing, washes and glazes. There is so much pigment you don't lose coverage or saturation even at the extreme end.

This video is super super timely for me as my mother brought over a ton of Apple Barrel paint a couple days ago from when retired from teaching over the summer. Just all these Apple Barrel paints she has collected over the years doing crafts in her classroom.

I honestly love the chalky finish.

I use Apple Barrel/Folk Art for most of the stuff I print off on my resin printers, including figure accessories and props for dioramas for GI Joe and Transformers. It simply works well. And the dry time between layers is easily sped up with a blow dryer.

I've used craft paints for decades. >.> I even used it on a mini that won a painting competition nearly 2 decades ago. Now days I use a combination of craft and mini hobby paints.

I have been painting all my 40K miniatures with nothing but craft paints for years. I have even sold some because of the paint job. If you are an artist you can make it work just as well as miniature paints. As far as washes, I have mixed Pledge revive it floor gloss and a little water with the craft paints.

I want to add that almost any craft paint works really good via airbrush. I mean that airbrush's air pressure combined with thinner resolves poor coverage problem which you might suffer by appying those paints by brush. And as mentioned in vid: craftpaint black are good. As well as major amount of burnt umber browns, and whites (just keep in mind that zinc based white are transparent, and created to be mixed with other colors, while titanium based white are for good coverage)

I love using these paints for scenery. It not covering the best is honestly okay, giving more variation to walls and stones - And it feels a hell of a lot better dumping half a bottle of this stuff out to paint up a bunch of ruins rather than your Vallejo or Citadel paints lmao

I bought a set of these for my 8 year old and gave him some old minis. The paint is nice and cheap so I didn't mind when he dumps a ton on his pallet. I was quite impressed with what he was able to do.

Ngl this is a huge relief, I feel better going into this hobby knowing I won't have to buy expensive paints left and right, when I can just be patient and also get good results with the cheaper kind!

These are exactly the paints I use for my wargame minis. They cover well. Can be thinned nicely. That hour dry time is a good rule of thumb if you are going to be holding it and playing, but you can start doing highlights or a second coat in a short time. It is also good if you need to blend a bit by wetting brush and running over the paint lines. GW paint is much better, but for cheap these are not bad. I belong to several painting groups and when I display my minis they ask which I use Reaper, GW, etc and they are surprised when I say Folk Art/Apple Barrel.

For the acrylic I use cheap craft store (Apple Barrel usually) paints. But for technicals and washes, speedpaints/one-coats I use a variety… Citadel, Turbo Dork and Army Painter. I just did an Iron Painter competition and it was “bring your own paints”. A lot of us had the craft store stuff.

Boy those craft paints are a blast from the past. I started off with those to and actually used a shiny blue thats like 20+ years old to paint my daughters SoB figure in the color of her birth stone. Very surprising how well they worked

This is a great video for someone looking to get their kids into painting minis. I don't want to spend an absolute fortune on expensive model paints, so these are a great way to start and learn the basics without a huge buy-in. Thanks!!!!

I recommend thinning these craft paints with Pledge instead of water. You should see significantly better results. Finally, a nice spray with a varnish followed by dullcote to get rid of the chalky feel.

I have the entire Apple Barrel line and have used it to paint a number of armies. I find it really easy to blend with since it isn't as thick as Cit. or Val. The pigment saturation is good enough that I use a wet pallet to thin and blend. You only have to wait when your painting a singular model instead of units.

Ok Jay. New thing to blow your mind. Use the craft paints through an airbrush. I’ve seen videos of terrain getting painted with them and the color is solid. Bet the space marines would do as well.

I've used a lot of Applebarrel and Folk Art paints with minis. They're craft paints and very similar to the paints you're normally used to. They're more for a larger scale than minis and work very well for it. They're intended to work for things like the ceramics and similar from craft stores and similar, for painting them well compared to the cheap ones that tend to come with things. On top of that, there are things like the color shift and "dragonfly" ones that do some interesting things along with ones like glow in the dark ones. There also tends to be a massive variety in colors. With shades like crazy for different ones. Honestly, one of the best things is their white for anything you want to be stonework that's starting as plastic or primed. Use it unthinned and then use some ink washes followed by a drybrush of an offwhite and you get really good grey stone (or others with different mixes of thinned inks). Only real thing to really pay attention to with the craft paints is what their intended surfaces are. Avoid the outdoor, glass, and a few of the other special ones as they're both more expensive and tend to have other issues (The outdoor ones do not layer well and, essentially, seal themselves...the glass ones are just odd in how they work.

As a person who lives in turkey, your video helped alot. Since even just 2 sets of warhammer costed me 2000 liras here, thank you alot man

I have decades worth of terrain and minis, all painted with deco art, plaid, and apple barrel paints. Most even used their brush on primers. Will they win any competitions, absolutely not, but you can experiment with them and play around without going broke and still have table ready pieces without going broke.

"This is just bad, which is great!" made me smile ty.

Apple barrels black paint is my go-to black for model painting. I use it for the body suit of my marines and for the black base trim. Not to mention all the black used in goff or vehicles. All my goff orks have black shirts using this paint and it's never failed me

I got my start in the hobby using folk art and apple barrel paints. I have some citadel paints now but I still use these paints all the time and get good results

When I first started painting dnd minis I only used the 50 cent craft paint. It worked just fine. Today I do all my blocking in the cheap craft paint and just go in for details and metallics with higher cost miniature paint. Works great for table ready models.

I can remember my first dive into miniature painting being these AppleBarrel paints from Hobby Lobby. They were cheap and easy to use and honestly the best to use as a beginner. Made my transition into Vallejo and Army Painter seem less. I remember feeling a rush of excitement when I finally got to use the “good paints”. But I still say beginners should definitely use AppleBarrel or other types of craft paints to get started.

I’m glad you stuff like this. Really valuable to hobbyists on a budget.

Clover Green Salamanders when? Candy Apple, Outrageous Orange, and Lemon flames for the Emperor!

I actually use Folk Art color shift for my Alpha Legion Human Operatives (specifically their vehicles) and it comes out pretty dang good! As you said, thinning it down and getting 3-4 layers on top of your primer is KEY to a good paint job. I get away with using a black primer and lead belcher rattle can layer before I put any color shift on, gets surprisingly good results!

Lol ready to see the apple barrel painted army @jay. Maybe do custodes with all apple barrel paints for the ultimate cheapest 40k 1000pt army video.

I'm painting my first minis now, and I've been using these kinds of paints mixed with a little bit of citadel to get a color I really like

"This is just bad... which is Great!" Epic, love the content!

Okay, you can paint minis with these. There's a method. Thin it with water, apply light coats. Be patient and you'll get some deep saturation. I use them from time to time.

I have an art degree, and work as an artist, and I can tell you what's up with paint. The main difference between the high end paints, and the craft paint comes down to the pigments. And more specifically the size of the particles used for the pigments. All matte acrylic paint is basically matte medium, pigment and water. You can't really cut corners on water or medium, but pigment has a lot of wiggle room. Pigment particles have to be ground very fine to produce the quality you see in Vallejo or Citadel. So craft paint brands just cheaper pigments that either aren't as finely ground as the high end paint, or the use less pigment to medium in recipe. This results in those paints having less coverage, and less consistency in their texture (the lumpy goop). However, the upsides to all that is that they are a lot easier to re-hydrate, and their low cost makes them ideal for experimentation. I use them quite a bit, especially for crafting terrain, but I have painted minis with just craft paint too. The trick is to thin it down and work in layers.

I filled up a nail polish rack with FolkArt colors across the spectrum and I don't regret it for a second, I def agree with your assessment: miniature painter focused paint brands are really only a handful of steps better for a significant increase in price. This makes them perfect for doing fiddly techniques and final touches to bring models over the tipping point, but the craft paints are ROCK SOLID for basecoating and bases, areas where I don't want to waste expensive paint fooling about with!

I love the Apple Barrel Paint, the paint looks amazing on the figure!

I used Apple Barrel paints for over 20 years to paint my miniatures. I like the quality and cost effectiveness of them, considering the grey piles of shame are so expensive. Have to save money somewhere....😊

I've used Apple Barrel for years. I lost all of my AP/WH paints in a move and needed something cheap to start over with at the time. Learned how to thin them and wow, fell in love. They're $0.54 cents a bottle at my local Walmart these days. They're perfect for painting terrain too. Apple Barrel broke the meta and I'm okay with that.

Had the intro music stuck in my head all day at work, come home and there's another episode! :D