Beginner Customizer paints?

First, you should know that the consistency/viscosity of paint differs between colors, even within the same brand. They'll perform differently when doing different things like basecoating, drybrushing, wetblending, etc. White or yellow tends to be "chalky" and hard to handpaint, for example, needing to be thinned and applied in multiple coats. I've found that Black is pretty good across all the popular brands.

So, because of that, it's best to buy a small batch of colors so you can see which brand you like. Since you're just starting, all you'll probably be doing is basecoating (painting solid colors), which is a good way to get used to the paints and establish your workflow.

Also, retail price is for suckers, look around online to get the best prices. If you buy a lot at once, try asking the seller if they'll cut you a deal for $2.00 - $2.50 per bottle or something.

I've been sticking to Privateer Press Paints (Formula P3), they're more forgiving for handpainting than Citadel. Testors is more durable than either, Tamiya is durable too but I haven't had much experience with their stuff, outside of a few trans colors. Those cheap hobby paints that are like $1 for 2oz. can be good too, but you'll have to experiment. Usually they need to be thinned a lot to get smooth coats and they aren't as durable for everyday handling.

Speaking of thinning, you can thin acrylic paint with water, but try to use actual acrylic thinner. When you thin paint with water it weakens the bond the paint has to the plastic. Acrylic thinner is basically paint without the pigment (color), so it keeps all its bonding strength. It'll sometimes be called things like "acrylic medium".

*HOW* you paint will also affect your results. Painting with a dry brush is different from painting with a damp brush. I think someone should make a tutorial on that because it can be a frustrating experience for newbies.

So anyway, just buy a few pots from different brands and try them all out so you can get a feel for all their different properties.

And check out our tutorials, lots of neat info there. http://www.figurerealm.com/customtutorial

Hey man, thanks for that information, I think I'm going to get paints from a few different brands like you said. What colours should I buy? I'm thinking maybe a skin tone color from Citadel, and the primary colours from testors so I can mix the paints and get any colour I want? (Aswell as that Acrylic paint thinner you mentioned). Again Thanks

Buying primaries is a good idea if you know how to mix any color, in that case you might want to get some little empty bottles too.

Another noob piggy-backing here. In the reading I've done, it seems like P3 is the easiest because it doesn't require any sort of priming to get the paint to stick unlike Citadel or Tamiya? I really hate having to mess with basecoats and don't want to deal with that added thickness when it comes to joints.

@CustomKAT

I didn't notice a "sticking" difference between those 3 brands, aside from Tamiya's acrylics being a lot thinner and slightly more durable (like Testors). I like using primer anyway though, it makes handpainting things easier.

As far as joints, paint rubs off because parts are rubbing against each other. Any of the usual paints we use will rub off if there's enough friction. You're better off grinding down the necessary areas because that eliminates the friction entirely. Check this tutorial for an example http://www.figurerealm.com/customtutori ... view&id=90