P3 paints.

[Henk]

Nap mentioned that he used P3 paints (amongst other), so I had a look around for them.
They seem beter value than most other model paints, but come in a flip top bottle, and as a range aimed at gaming, have the usual odd names for their colours.

So, my questions are:

If you have used them, what do you think?
Do you thin the paint (much) from the bottle?
Do you thin with water or thinner?
Do they mix with other brands?
How do the narrow tallish bottles behave in practice?
Have you used them in an airbrush? If so, how are they to thin/mix/clean?

 

[socko47]

Here is part 1 of an ongoing competition. May be of interest.

 

[Nap]

Hi Henk

Paints like brushes are often a personal choice

In answer to your questions

I like using them , quite creamy , good coverage and colours

Yes I thin as with all Acrylics and use a touch of blending medium with distilled water

No issues mixing with other brands I have ( Reaper, Vallejo, Army Painter )

Not sure what you mean ref " behaving " .....they don't do naughty things on my bench ..lol , never knocked one over ..yet ! With use the top can come away at the flip join

Never airbrushed so can't comment

Hope this is of use ....good video from Joe as well

Nap

 

[kevininpdx]

They are excellent paints but they are intended for war game models so are designed to protect the finish and dry pretty satin. I don’t use them for display figures since I don’t varnish display pieces.

 

[Henk]

Here is part 1 of an ongoing competition. May be of interest.

Ah, squidmar. He can be quite entertaining. I'll have a look at that in a mo. Thanks.

 

[Henk]

Hi Henk

Paints like brushes are often a personal choice

In answer to your questions

I like using them , quite creamy , good coverage and colours

Yes I thin as with all Acrylics and use a touch of blending medium with distilled water

No issues mixing with other brands I have ( Reaper, Vallejo, Army Painter )

Not sure what you mean ref " behaving " .....they don't do naughty things on my bench ..lol , never knocked one over ..yet ! With use the top can come away at the flip join

Never airbrushed so can't comment

Hope this is of use ....good video from Joe as well

Nap

Cheers Kev. That's certainly of use. I think I may get some brighter prime colours to try with my (fantasy) figures, as most of my paints are darker, as I've always modeled military, WWII and later. The Vallejo prime colours that I have are not very vibrant.

 

[Henk]

They are excellent paints but they are intended for war game models so are designed to protect the finish and dry pretty satin. I don’t use them for display figures since I don’t varnish display pieces.

Thanks for your input. I'm actually seeing the satin hard finish as a bonus, because I intend to use this paint with subjects that need it. I tend to Matt varnish most of my figures, because the Vallejo paints tend to dry not completely Matt.

 

[Henk]

As for the bottle top, its 6 of one and half a dozen of the other... flip top and screw bottles need a brush or pipette to take the paint out, which makes precise mixing a bit tricky, but the dropper bottles have a tendency to dry in the nozzle.... on balance, I prefer the dropper bottles, because of the better control, and you can drop drops straight into the airbrush cup.
Then again, a screw top bottle/jar is much easier to mix with a stick..

If only Tamiya would expand their range a bit, or do beter prime colours. Pound for pound, Tamiya is the best paint out there, if only it wasn't such a palaver to brush paint it. Airbrush, no competition.

 

[socko47]

part 2

 

[theBaron]

...Pound for pound, Tamiya is the best paint out there, if only it wasn't such a palaver to brush paint it...

Tamiya's acrylics need to be thinned for hand-brushing, just as they do for airbrushing. In fact, it was when I read that they are formulated for airbrushing and meant to be thinned, that I realized that that applied to hand-brushing, too. From that moment, I've thinned them for brushing, using Tamiya's proprietary acrylic thinner, and have had no problems since. I can lay down coats by hand, as thin as if I had airbrushed them.

If you haven't tried thinning them, especially with the proprietary thinner, I recommend it.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Henk]

Tamiya's acrylics need to be thinned for hand-brushing, just as they do for airbrushing. In fact, it was when I read that they are formulated for airbrushing and meant to be thinned, that I realized that that applied to hand-brushing, too. From that moment, I've thinned them for brushing, using Tamiya's proprietary acrylic thinner, and have had no problems since. I can lay down coats by hand, as thin as if I had airbrushed them.

If you haven't tried thinning them, especially with the proprietary thinner, I recommend it.

Prost!
Brad

Oh absolutely Brad, I don't think I phrased that well. I have painted with Tamiya paint for nearly 40 years, both air and hand brush. Always thinned with Tamiya X22 thinner. What I meant with he palaver, was that it only works well with its own, smelly thinner, and that it doesn't like being worked on the surface. It is utterly
useless for wet blending. It is obviously developed for its scale models, as its colour matched to most of its model line, and dries absolutely rock hard, and can even be buffed to a shine.