Which Paint Additives DO WHAT? 

A good clarification for folk new to mediums. Thanks Adam. One of my favorite mediums is actually contrast medium, and not for thinning contrast paints, just as a medium to thin paints for glazing and such. Something else I’ve found is that using air brush thinner to thin metallic paints works well, as opposed to using water.

As someone trying to get into wargame, I would love to see a how to play one page rules video. Maybe even a battle report, but with pauses to explain how the game is being played. Love your videos, man!

I love Glaze medium. Not only does it help with the flow of my paint. but it seems to keep the brush having paint dry on it( so it comes off it smoothly). But the big win is when I get a little paint somewhere I didn't want, I have a few more seconds to wipe or brush it off without it drying on me.

In the last 2 years, I have gotten completely away from water except for my rinse cup (which I put a little Dawn into, so even that isn't just water) and my wet palette. I use Liquitex Flow Aid as a brush wetting agent, Cuttlefish Colors Merlin's Magic Medium for thinning my paints and making glazes (this stuff is AMAZING) and Golden Airbrush Medium for thinning for the airbrush. And when I need to change the consistency/saturation of my speedpaints and washes, I use Army Painter Speedpaint Meduim or Wash Medium. Other additives I keep on hand are Liquitex Drying Retarder, Liquitex Matte Medium and Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver.

I use Winsor and Newton artists' Acrylic Flow Improver. A 75ml bottle doesn't cost much and last me years! Acrylic medium also comes in large quantities for artist use, which usually works out a lot cheaper than small pots of branded miniature paint.

Great timing as I'm about to step into this for the first time since um 2002. Get better soon

Thank you for the explanation. I've often wondered if there was a difference between them all.

I’m glad you made this video because is hard to find one place to do an amazing overview. As you said before sometimes youtubers assume that the viewer has some knowledge of what they are talking about. That said I’ve used alcohol as a thinner because I used Tamiya Paints and they are alcohol based acrylic paints.

This video brought me back to 1992 when I went to college for art school. Great review for those that want to learn or to someone getting back to old school. Thanks buddy. Enjoyed the video!

This video is really helpful as I'm two years into the hobby and I think it's time for me to move beyond thinning all my paints with water. The dry Minnesota air has really been keeping me from having success with wet blending too.

Some experimentation with these is also good. I find Army Painter Warpaints Mixing Medium tends to make my paints chalky. My favorite is Privateer Press's P3 Medium but it can be hard to get. In a side-by-side comparison you can see most paints turn chalky with the Army Painter one while P3's has a silky look I like and generally helps things build up with nice gradation. Vallejo's Glaze Medium, on the other hand, slows the drying down and can make for nicer wet blending. You'd think all three would be the same, but it definitely pays to play around with them. If you're a 3D printer as well as painter, finding a good basic mini to paint over and over with a variety of approaches and brands is a good way to compare to find what works for you. Or, that's a great reason to keep your misprints. I keep my misprints to try different things in different areas before using them on a successfully printed mini.

Couldnt have found this video at a better time, im working on a lot different painting projects and each needs me to learn new methods of working with and manipulating my paints. Im gona have a lot of fun experimenting with these

If you read the directions on the bottles of Liquitex FloAid and SloDri, you mix 1oz of FloAid with 20oz of (distilled) water. SloDri is mixed 1:1 with water (but I don't have a bottle to confirm. I just know that I mixed 1oz Floaid, 20oz water and 4 & 4 oz of SloDri in a bottle and use that to thin my paints. I then add 3 more oz of water to make 32oz of solution just to fill up the bottle. I get very smooth blends this way. I also find Liquitex glaze medium is pretty glossy, i usually mix 1:1 with matte medium to offset that a bit and take that 1:4 -1:8 with water to make it really thin. I glaze a lot so it seems to work...

Awesome video, answers to questions people want to ask but feel uncomfortable so they dont

A clear natural dish drop for breaking the surface tension with paint and inks. Another is using Pledge One Go (or Long Life self-shining floor polish at Bunnings in Australia) mixed in as a drop that also gives a great rock hard finish. Even though it is a gloss it can always be hit with a matt over the top. Never had a miniature chip after adding that.

As an actual scientist, I adore the stock footage at 5:13. Dude is very dubious about mixing the same color of food color

I have actually added a few drops of Army Painter speed paints to like colour standard paints and it works quite amazingly!

As a whole, I only use Vallejo Glaze Medium. However, for washes specifically, I use Army Painter Strong Tone (a wash) as an additive (along with Glaze Medium and water) to make my own washes better.

When I got into painting, Citadel paints were still just making their way to the US, and not in great quantities, so pre-mixed washes weren't readily available. An old historical gamer taught me to make a wash by mixing your paint with water and the tiniest bit of dishwashing soap. It breaks the water tension and allows it to flow without any trouble. I still use it to this day. I put a little soap in a bottle of water and keep it nearby to use whenever I'm thinning paints or making washes.

I’ve been barely sick with a weird “almost-cold” for over a week now too. Lots of people have had it. Who knows, get mostly better soon!

Hoping to get some feedback on this. I recently took the plunge into 3D printed minis. My plan has been to prime and/or base coat with an alcohol based acrylic. Reason being - we want to cure our resin and keep it stable in the long run. People + internet research has yielded something like 3 days for the model and 3 days for the 1st coat of paint to cure. DEFINITELY do your own research. My point is - slightly thinned alcohol based flat acrylic can be applied somewhat thickly and quickly, then as a unified coating, it has a tendency to shrink down nicely. I use whatever thinner is offered by the primer's maker specifically BECAUSE it has other ingredients besides just one kind of alcohol in them AND because some college and some professional chemical training has taught me that chemicals that have reacted tend to arrest, which would seem to be the goal. Examining my 3D printed model after that has revealed that, depending on the model's orientation during printing, certain surface angles will show more or less of the grain of the printing process, which may call for more primer or base coat. And I'm coming at this realizing that some people literally sand their printed minis, but I don't. I look for surface additives that I can layer selectively. I should also mention that I would not use this process for army painting unless I was willing to leave a lot of defects in the playable models, but I don't print or have printed large numbers of units, although I understand some do.

I bought a small space marine paint kit to practice the paints, washes and that fun painting stuff to see what I like doing. I am thinking about mixing brands with certain effects. All else fails I'll check out painting miniature videos on here and ask the art supply store for certain ways or how to do for certain look for my boys.

Nice video! I mostly make my own medium (water, matte medium, dish soap), but I do use a drying retarder on occasion.

Great video; it Neatly summed up what it took me many years to pick up.

Nice! been looking for a simple language no BS description of additives for a while, this is great. Thanks a bunch.

Great topic! Understanding how paints work, the science behind all of it, it really helps average joe make progress. It’s technique driven. I’m not an artist, but I can paint minis because I know these kinds of things. I started using mediums about a year ago, and think they make a huge difference in a thinner paint working well. I used glazing medium in opaque paints that I use to clean up speed paint mistakes. Got my first airbrush last year and flow aid is a must. Thanks for the tip on white paints in an airbrush and Thanks for another great video!

Earlier on in my hobby journey I just used water if I wanted to modify something on the fly. Now with The Army Painter providing a bottle of medium, I've enjoyed using that to modify my paints whether it be a small amount or a large amount. It works so much better and its so easy to use! I know it's been a while since your previous series on airbrushing basics. Would it be worthwhile to make an updated "Airbrushing 101" style video? That was always an intimidating aspect of painting for me until I finally dove in.

Great video, I'm so glad RU-vid put one of your videos in my feed. If you're going to be at NOVA again this year you should come check out the 40k narrative.

I use Army Painters Airbrush medium to thin paint for regular brush work. Its just better then water and makes it flow better in a controlled way.

I've found it does depend on what paints your using (which you reiterated multiple times :). the Scalecolor artist I use can be thinned really far w/ water at both glaze and wash level. However, the non-artist paints I have do better w/ different mediums. You also just explained why some of my attempts to stretch the paint with water hasn't worked well :) lol. Thank you for this information! Excellent video! thank you for making it.

Always a great topic. Was always confused on all these things, when I first started out. Still a relatively new painter, but the one I've had good success with is Daler Rowney Flow aid. I use An 80/20 mix; Distilled Water to flow aid, and it has worked quite well for me. Golden Satin Glaze with about the same proportions works great for me as well

Your partner in crime, Vincy V, made an HC video topic on mediums, and he showed how they work! Though tbh, r results for some of them looked pretty similar. HC 135 to be exact.

This is a great topic, and a very clear explanation of these materials. Thank you!

Really great video! One of my favorite products is the Daler-Rowney flow enhancer, especially used with metallic paints.

This is a FANTASTIC topic. Thanks for taking it on! The lab coat was a nice touch. 😊

Thanks so much for this video - it's answered a lot of questions I've had and been too lazy to research. Now I can use that bottle of Speedpaint Medium that's just been sitting in my rack!

Great topic! This is something I have found challenging so thanks for this video!!

This was great! I personally like to use one or two drops of the vallejo flow improver when preparing and mixing paint for brush painting. It helps the paint move and stay smooth. Doesn't slow down drying time very much.

I know it's way too expensive but I really love Citadel Lahmian Medium. It flows so incredibly well and is always consistent with results.

Contrast medium is the only additive I've used so far. The issues you described about washes on flat surfaces have been almost exactly my experience with that. This video should help me with that.

Thank you!!! This is great reference and clarification on what does what.

Ive heard multiple people recommend using varnish between stages to essentialy create a save point before a wash or something like that. But if you screw up a stage after the varnish how do you remove it? Alcohol? What if you use oil after? Will mineral spirits be safe with varnish? What varnishes/clear coats are recommended for what. No one seams to talk about that. Love to see a video on it.

Love the video, great info. I truly appreciate this kind of approach to material. Thanks!!😁

Retarder with a small brush for painting eyes gives much more control. Flow aid to Reaper Liners plus a drop of Matt varnish to kill the shine. Matt is also great with inks for zenithal because it gives a better adhesion for the next layer of paint. Lathium medium seems to be the best for thinning and keeping the paint smooth. Monument glaze medium for glazes, gloss medium for glossy bits, and whenever they restock it, Newish for weathering / staining effects.

i use Liquites Fluid Flat Mediium, Gloss medium and Master's Touch Flow Medium (it's cheaper and does the same as Liquitex). Also a 1:100 dish detergent:water mix to pre wet the surface for some really cool streaking effects or to just get some wild blends.

I build and paint Gundam, so major of my work is with air brush. And I’ve found that the additive should be added when you run into a problem and the additive should help. Flow improver if the paint won’t spray, thinner if the paint goes on the part too thick. Ect…

I don't use acrylics much these days, but I did like thinning with inks. Also goobertown tought me how to make my own contrast paint. I prefer other serfactants to dish soap for obvious reasons.

Great advice! premixed airbrush paints have been a game changer for me. As much as I like Vallejo primer, it needs a lot of thinner, in my opinion. I've switched to Army Painter, except for my white primer. Thanks for the video!

Very informative. Your local art stores are a good source of additives and advice too. An explanation of layer/wash/glaze/pin wash hasn't been done for a while and these terms could use an airing. Thanks

Monument’s Glaze and Wash medium has been invaluable for thinning Pro Acryl paints for me. I’ve even been able to use the goopy gel-like consistency to add body back if a paint has become too liquid. Army Painter Speedpaint Medium has also been great for thinning Speed/contrast paints, washes, and even making opaque paints behave more like a Speed Paint. Those are definitely the two most useful I’ve tried.

Great video sir. Always helpful, you have a way of explaining things that is easy to understand for a grunt. Some of the other content creators get to sciencey for me.

My basic recipes are: - For Arcyl painting surfaces, instead of water: {Liquitex: Matte Medium (F)} + {Liquitex: Flow-Aid (E)} in a ratio 80/20 . I keep this one pre-mixed in a dropper bottle next to the water pot. - For Airbrushing: {Vallejo Airbrush Thinner} + {Vallejo Airbrush Flow improver} as needed, since airbrush is more of an experimentation thingie for me. - If I dare to make a "Wash/Speedpaint/Contrast...": {Liquitex: Matte Medium (F)} + {Liquitex: Flow-Aid (E)} in a ratio 50/50 mixed with an ink. I rarely do this one due to its difficulty and "try and error" Thanks for the nice overview!

I've found that a 1:1:1 speedpaint + speedpaint medium + water works surprisingly well for dialing them back a little more into the "slop on one coat" situation they're generally advertised as, but without as much pooling to clean up afterward.

As always an excellent video "Tio Adam"! Hope you get better with the cough thingie. And I also use Army Painter products. Very good stuff. Anyway have a safe and nice weekend

Great video topic Adam, I use mostly medium in my painting now, before just drops of water, but that use to split the paint and weaken the pigment, but medium keeps the consistency. One of my hobby bugbears is greenstuff, trying just fill holes and gaps i find really awkward, but i see people sculpting with it to perfection. So a beginners guide to green stuff would be awesome. Love your videos 😉👏👌

What a great overview for anyone new to, or especially maybe using these things without actual understanding of what they're good for

I usually end up using speedpaint by army painter more than anything else. If I do use anything it's just speed paint medium, though I do use holy white speedpaint to try and lighten up certain paints. It doesn't always work but it's nice when it does. I also use runic gray in place of something like nuln oil to shade metallics and darken crevices sometimes since it has a "blue" tinge to it that I like. If I had to give any advice for new people in the hobby, it's to just have fun. I barely look at rules or lore when making stuff and just build and paint whatever I think looks neat or feel will fit narratively into one of my armies. Of course everyone is different, but just messing around and enjoying yourself is how I like to hobby. Thanks for the video and God bless you all, and your little army peeps.

Great video! I’m not a new painter but I’m also not a great one either, so a video explaining what these products are is very helpful.

I use the heck out of the Water+ from Instar Paint. It’s got surfactant and dry retardant properties and works across every paint I’ve tried it with.

This is really useful. Thank you for the video!

Thanks! This video was super helpful

I do have to give acrylics this. The names of additives for them do mostly make sense. Oils though... meglip, damar crystal? Yeah just adds to the magic.

Great Video! I have been looking for a good medium. Will pick up the Fanatics line of retarders and mediums.

I'd like to share a tip with any new painters using GW paints. I stick to these out of habit, really. I've been using them since around 1991. If you have a bottle where the paint inside has started to dry up, mixing in the GW medium can save the paint. Add it a little at a time and stir it in. As it loosens up, start shaking tbe closed bottle as normal. This can save you having to buy a brand new bottle of paint.

Might be a short one and slightly covered in this... but explaining different brands have different names for similar products (speed paint and contrast paints or how the one company called a thing a wash but it was more of a glaze) its getting easier to tell more ive been in the hobby but starting was confusing sometimes... maybe also inks vs washes vs glazes

You mentioned you liked the Secret Weapon washes. If you want to try to recreate them, i believe they were based on Les Bursley's wash recipe, posted here on RU-vid, Dakkadakka, and elsewhere.

Perhaps a video on game scale. Not figure scale, but game scale. I imagine most wargaming get into the hobby playing skirmish level games where the figures are 1:1 in what they represent. But some games can be for example battalion, brigade or even division and army level. That has an effect on the scale of the figures and how they are based. Also affects the rules, tactics and levels of abstraction.

Really great and informative. Thx for the upload! *top*

I’m totally here for a hobby lecture. You can never stop learning. Even as a veteran painter. I brain fart on a lot of this. One video topic I’d love to hear you opine on in more detail is how to help keep newer war game players/painters from suffering burnout

For airbrush I've been using the Vallejo airbrush thinner for ages and always had issues with paint drying on the tip. Then I saw a video explaining the difference between airbrush thinner and flow improver and got a bottle of their flow improver. Long story short: the flow improver contains paint retarder, so you don't get dry tips and is meant for thinning down thicker paints. Airbrush thinner is meant for stuff that is already quite fluid, like inks.

This was a great explanation 👍

love it. Thanks Uncle!

A video about chipping medium would be great.

Cool video, I've not really seen anything on this topic this before. My suggestion for a beginners video would be generalised tactics that can be applied across various games. There are loads of videos that talk about painting/glazing etc but I've not really seen any general advice that covers strategic thinking i.e. why you might want to specialise in one kind of troop in a wargame vs being an all-rounder, why movement is important vs big shooty guns etc. Not sure how easy that would be to write but it's something I've not seen

I have really started to enjoy adding inks to the pain on my wet palette. If I want to thin down the paint, but really pop up the color - a drop of that color ink seems to really do the trick. Just watch out for paints with multiple pigments - you might not get the color you want.

I prefer using larges instead of mediums. In fact I used wetting agent and flow improver on a project, I can't say why, but it took over 30 hours for it to dry. It was really weird.

For Vallejo paint I do find their Vallejo Thinner and Airbrush Flow Improver work great together, however for GW paints the Vallejo thinner doesnt work so well. The Tamiya X-20A works fantastic with GW paint. The Tamiya X-20A smells like a solvent to me. If I am airbrushing Vallejo Model or Game color = water, vallejo thinner, vallejo flow improver. If airbrushing GW paint = Tamiya X-20A, water, and a bit of flow improver.

I have been using Vallejos Glaze medium for a while and like it

Another reason why painting up models for skirmish games or board games, you can experiment without worrying about your army looking different. That’s how my love of thinned down Ratling Grime started. :)

What is a good topic for a video? How would you introduce a new player, whom like to play the game, but they have the tendency to thow with stuf when they lose.... Probably throw the figures and terrain... 😂 What are the best ideas you have? 😅🎉

Retarder is also good for when you’re painting in a dryer, hotter climate to stop your paint from drying in the bristles of your brush.

Tip for the airbrushers out there: Don't buy expensive needle lubricants. Go to your local pharmacy section and grab a bottle of mineral oil. Just lightly coat the needle everytime you clean the AB. It will help protect any seals, paint flow, and trigger smoothness. It's just a couple of bucks and will last several lifetimes. Its useful because it's non reactive to water or petrolium based paints and will never cause issues like fisheyes and other topcoat failures. It's also completely non-toxic... you can drink the stuff if you've recently eaten too much cheese and are a bit bound up.

So one thing I do for my Night Lords in 30k is mix kantor blue (gw) Deep Blue (army painter) and tellesar blue (contrast) along with water as needed. Gives me a slightly unique blue hue.

A great overview as always. I've been digging through the back catalogue of videos and want to know if the older "Pa-chow: Hobby Hero" shirt will ever make a comeback or if I'm looking in the wrong place for it?

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

Great vid, thanks "Doc"

This video was a great explanation and breakdown. Thank you so much. It is much appreciated. Also, quick question do your hands get tired throughout the video?

I only tend to use water but I have got some contrast medium which I want to use a bit more instead of

Super helpful.

There's a pearlescent medium that you can use to make your own metallic paint.

Golden brand wetting agent. Thanks good topic.

I use the army painter quick wash medium sometimes, but not to make washes lol

Hi Uncle A. This is a very good video for beginners, but I feel it misses one crucial point. There are different types of paint, and the appropriate additives need to be used with the appropriate paints. Using water based thinners with lacquer based paints, for example, is a recipe for trouble. I understand that this video is aimed at people who generally use water based acrylics but many beginners may just buy paints like Tamiya at the hobby store without realising their different properties. Hope to catch you on Twitch later 👍 🙂

You should definitely make a video of paint drying. 😸

Here to bump those numbers since I didn't have time before the Friday morning stream ;) Seriously though fantastic video, got my chemistry loving gf to tell me to go back and restart the video for her lol

Your voice sounds actually great here

Thanks for the video! I'm brand new to the hobby, and learning about these different additives and how paint works is really helpful! I have a bit of an odd question, if you can help. In looking for a nice gold paint, I accidently bought some AK Xtreme Metal Gold not realizing it was for airbrushes. I haven't actually tried using it yet because it's so thin, but do you know of any way to kind of *thicken* really thin paints?

In this video Adam tries to log off... I'm a terrible painter (in terms of the way I do things, I try to do things the cheapest, easiest, simplest, as quick as possible way). I don't generally use additives besides thinner for airbrushing and water for brush painting - I find it too much of a faff to find out what works. Where I've picked up Contrast Paint I do use GWs medium to thin it (would love to find a cheaper alternative). I love Vallejo's glaze medium, it gets rid of the tide mark problem, it's made glazing on highlights much better. Never found the need for anything else.

Great talk! This begs the question, should we be using additive in our wet pallet instead of water?! Thanks!

I use water to thin acrylic paints, I rarely use medium mainly for weathering. However, I've been using them with shade and contrast paints, they've been useful in recent years. I might use something other than water for thinning paints, will still use water to clean paint off my brush. 🖌