A Medium Change Of Pace

 Oh, it's a grim day as I look out of the window this morning, partaking as I do, of a crumpet with a smear of peanut butter and touch of honey - a heavenly combination which I heartily suggest you try.

Of late, I've been looking at the modern modes and fashions for painting, and I think on the whole they are messy and actually look awful.

The big no-no when I was a whippersnapper was patchy layers of paint. We strived to get smooth strong, opaque layers or clean transparent glazes. Now patchy layers seem to be accepted as the new generation, either too lazy or impatient are led by the nose by YouTube gurus into paintwork perdition.

We have various 'speed' paints, which, in an era when the average size of an army is equivalent to a small bag of jelly babies, (or indeed the number of women in the world not filing a claim against Russell Brand) seems ridiculous, that frankly are not cutting the mustard.

Look, I remember when (and it's not that long ago) acrylic paints for modellers were non-existent. We had the Humbrol Bobcat line and if you had a Games Workshop and a lot of money, you could get the unbeatable Polly-S range. The truly rich could go with Liquitex at £7 per tube, which needed serious skill and resulted in a brilliant finish in skilled hands. These were NOT the tatty Liquitex we get today, I might add.

It took years (and no, it wasn't Citadel Colour who broke the mould, they just got a captive audience,.But that said. they were a way better product that the modern stuff) to get 'one coat' acrylics. Now, we seem to actually be going backwards with paints which need several coats to get coverage, thus using more paint and wasting time, thus leading to patchy and frankly 'Emperor's New Clothes' paint work by self-promoting painters who think that owning the latest fashion in paints or brushes will make them a better painter.

In my opinion, there's a reason that companies like The Army Painter have to keep relaunching their paints - They are not up to the job, and are released before being properly tested by more than a few fanboys.

The styles they are now espousing were being used by 'ink drop' painters in the very early '70s, which as a child of 5, I tried, and got all over the carpet, resulting in a bit of a beating from my parents (yes, child beating back then, was a game for all the family). They say there's nothing new under the sun, and I am beginning to think that's right.

As I'm heading towards the point where all I will have to get painted are some characters and monsters for my fantasy project, I'm considering a return to enamels, those smelly, slow drying paints of many a Grognard's youth.

I was speaking to an associate who is ten years my junior, who remebers me using these to paint early Citadel figures, and my following guidelines for using them in different ways in the Citadel Compendium in '83. I spent many an evening sat in may parent's kitchen with thinners and matte enamel paints, producing some rudimentary, but still attractive Broo and adventurers. The drying time was a bit of a pain but you got some really nice results.

I also painted units for the original incarnation of Battle Honours, who insisted upon the use of enamel paints on their 15mm Napoleonic ready made units, and who, paid buttons per figure whilst expecting buttons were clearly defined on the models.

Like many, I turned away from the true path as acrylics became available and moreover reliable, reaching their state of the art in the mid '90s with Vallejo Model Color, and in my opinion, never being surpassed.

But now, although I will continue to use acrylics for my day job, I am of a mind that the challenge and experimental opportunities offered by enamels is what I need to get me enjoying the process of slower  painting for my own pleasure again.

I have memories of lovely washes and glazes, and it will be fun to try to recreate some of the wonderfully painted models I remember seeing in assorted magazines as a young teenager.

 

TTFN

 

PS:  Here's a simple tip for you to quickly gauge a new range - but a basic yellow and a basic red. If they cover in one go, then you can be pretty certain of a range being good.