Yet Another Acrylic Paint Color Source

[Spinner]

I have a custom bib on the bench right now that the client asked the color being applied match the color of his bike. Described by him as "Hot Rod Yellow", I was trying multiple brands and such to either buy or custom mix it myself without 100% success. So, being the persistent guy I am, I started thinking of where I could find an array of colors not normally found at the standard art store. As luck would have it, I remembered being in game stores in the past and all of the younger folks playing RPG board games like Warhammer 40k and how brilliantly some of them had painted their army models. So I stopped by my local Games Workshop and lo and behold, there were two racks one for Citadel paints and one for Games Workshop paints. The GW stand had 145 colors and the Citadel had another 50 or so. You have to smile at paint color names like, "Rotting Flesh", "Blood Red", "Fiery Orange" and "Lich Purple". There are a couple of other brands as well available elsewhere. Oh, something else to note, each company has a range of 3-6 flesh tones that are very nice and can be blended to create even more variations.

here's a link to the Games Workshop website, I'm sure they are available elsewhere like Amazon and such:

http://www.games-workshop.com

Another good brand from what I was told at the game store is Reaper Master Series. Here is a link to a store with the complete color list with swatches:

http://www.ccgarmory.com/remasepa.html

And for those curious few, here is a progress pic of the piece that initiated the search...

Cheers,

Chris

[Sylvia]

Are these colors acrylic? and what color did you use to get the "hot rod yellow?"

[Spinner]

Are these colors acrylic? and what color did you use to get the "hot rod yellow?"

They are acrylics and work pretty nicely. They are actually thinner by about 10-15% in consistency than fine art acrylics which makes them very usable for leather. Thinning with water or an airbrush medium worked just fine too.

As for the Hot Rod Yellow, I'll have to check that out when I get home. I bought 3 possibles to test out as they were all very close looking at the picture. The lacquer based automotive paint color Hot Rod Yellow, as it turns out has a hint of orange to it so direct on it's yellow, direct light on it makes it almost white-out and shadows appear a ember orangy color. I was shooting for the mid range yellow.

[Sylvia]

That sounds nice. I've been tempted to try nail polish on a couple things that don't flex much, since it's acrylic enamel. Have you ever done that?

Also have you ever put acrylic paints over vinegaroon? I've searched the forum but found no answer...

[Spinner]

That sounds nice. I've been tempted to try nail polish on a couple things that don't flex much, since it's acrylic enamel. Have you ever done that?

Also have you ever put acrylic paints over vinegaroon? I've searched the forum but found no answer...

Haven't tried nail polish, as a rule I don't keep any handy. nail polish tends to to on rather thick though and becomes fairly brittle rather quickly (based on the way it chips off fingernails) so I suspect that the pigment binder is rather weak making it easier to clean off the surfaces. That's just a guess though. If you try it, try it thinned to various consistencies as well to ensure good adhesion.

I have seen acrylics over vinegroon work just fine as long as the 'groon is completely done drying. One gent I talked to about it at a craft show said he seals his piece in between 'groon and acrylics to help keep them from interacting. Acrylics being a top coat and not a penetrating medium, don't care if the piece is sealed or not. It simply needs enough tooth on the surface to adhere to. Yuo will need more light coats than normal of pretty much any color to get them to show close to true as the black/dark grey background will cause them to be muted until enough coats are applied. Either that or you'll want to lay down a thin base coat of white to the area being painted.

Cheers,

Chris

[Sylvia]

Thanks Chris. that's exactly what I was wondering about. I think I might do the seal as the one fellow suggested. I did do a test piece over some well dried 'groon and it seems to be just fine. The colors are shades of blue and some shear pearl Angelus calls silver. I know I'll need to go thin because the tooling is being painted over on this and I want to put black antique over the top of the color to bring out the figures. So I guess I better continue to practice. Thanks again for the insight.

S

[Spinner]

no problem! I looked up the color notes for the project and I used Citadel Flash Gitz Yellow (http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat800003a&prodId=prod1500072a) over a Golden Fluid Acrylics Primary Yellow base coat. The base coat is about 5 layers and the top is another 5-6.

Both were thinned 60/40 with Golden Airbrush Medium.

[Spinner]

Here's a slightly better picture of the bib showing the yellow a bit better. It's still looking brighter than it really is due to the shop lights.

The gas tank in the photo is actually painted with a wash of the same color from when I did my color tests and as you can see, it matches pretty well.

[jayjay]

Spinner,

I purchased some of the Citadel paints you were talking about, they are great, expensive but great. I was tooling some straight razors for my barber and i got a metal color base and a highlight of steel. It turned out real nice. Thanks for the info.

I have a custom bib on the bench right now that the client asked the color being applied match the color of his bike. Described by him as "Hot Rod Yellow", I was trying multiple brands and such to either buy or custom mix it myself without 100% success. So, being the persistent guy I am, I started thinking of where I could find an array of colors not normally found at the standard art store. As luck would have it, I remembered being in game stores in the past and all of the younger folks playing RPG board games like Warhammer 40k and how brilliantly some of them had painted their army models. So I stopped by my local Games Workshop and lo and behold, there were two racks one for Citadel paints and one for Games Workshop paints. The GW stand had 145 colors and the Citadel had another 50 or so. You have to smile at paint color names like, "Rotting Flesh", "Blood Red", "Fiery Orange" and "Lich Purple". There are a couple of other brands as well available elsewhere. Oh, something else to note, each company has a range of 3-6 flesh tones that are very nice and can be blended to create even more variations.

here's a link to the Games Workshop website, I'm sure they are available elsewhere like Amazon and such:

http://www.games-workshop.com

Another good brand from what I was told at the game store is Reaper Master Series. Here is a link to a store with the complete color list with swatches:

http://www.ccgarmory.com/remasepa.html

And for those curious few, here is a progress pic of the piece that initiated the search...

Cheers,

Chris

[Spinner]

Spinner,

I purchased some of the Citadel paints you were talking about, they are great, expensive but great. I was tooling some straight razors for my barber and i got a metal color base and a highlight of steel. It turned out real nice. Thanks for the info.

Glad they worked out for you, they have an amazing color selection and their metals and metallics are sweet. I experimented a bit this weekend and found that the base colors will also go over black easily, the layer colors do not. I also love how they work like automotive paints where they go on flat & dull and literally pop when a clear coat is put over them. I'll post a pic of my latest which is using two base reds in layers with satin sheen in between to get a rusted/worn effect using the GW stipple brush.

[jayjay]

Thats good to know since I was planning to dye a tool bag all black tonight them run the acrylic over it, you saved me a step. The Stipple brush was the short rigid brush? The gal in the GW store said they use it simulate rust. Can't wait until I get home tonight.

I'll post the wallet I made when I get home tonight, its still in the camera.

Glad they worked out for you, they have an amazing color selection and their metals and metallics are sweet. I experimented a bit this weekend and found that the base colors will also go over black easily, the layer colors do not. I also love how they work like automotive paints where they go on flat & dull and literally pop when a clear coat is put over them. I'll post a pic of my latest which is using two base reds in layers with satin sheen in between to get a rusted/worn effect using the GW stipple brush.

[jayjay]

Here is the wallet I used with the Cidital paints

I have a custom bib on the bench right now that the client asked the color being applied match the color of his bike. Described by him as "Hot Rod Yellow", I was trying multiple brands and such to either buy or custom mix it myself without 100% success. So, being the persistent guy I am, I started thinking of where I could find an array of colors not normally found at the standard art store. As luck would have it, I remembered being in game stores in the past and all of the younger folks playing RPG board games like Warhammer 40k and how brilliantly some of them had painted their army models. So I stopped by my local Games Workshop and lo and behold, there were two racks one for Citadel paints and one for Games Workshop paints. The GW stand had 145 colors and the Citadel had another 50 or so. You have to smile at paint color names like, "Rotting Flesh", "Blood Red", "Fiery Orange" and "Lich Purple". There are a couple of other brands as well available elsewhere. Oh, something else to note, each company has a range of 3-6 flesh tones that are very nice and can be blended to create even more variations.

here's a link to the Games Workshop website, I'm sure they are available elsewhere like Amazon and such:

http://www.games-workshop.com

Another good brand from what I was told at the game store is Reaper Master Series. Here is a link to a store with the complete color list with swatches:

http://www.ccgarmory.com/remasepa.html

And for those curious few, here is a progress pic of the piece that initiated the search...

Cheers,

Chris

[Spinner]

Here is the wallet I used with the Cidital paints

Cool deal, looks like the GW:Cs did the trick.

Here is the fender bib I am working on, the pic isn't great but this angle shows some of the color detail.

It shows up really nicely in person, in pics not so much.

[jayjay]

That looks great. how did you create the background is looks great.

Cool deal, looks like the GW:Cs did the trick.

Here is the fender bib I am working on, the pic isn't great but this angle shows some of the color detail.

It shows up really nicely in person, in pics not so much.

[Spinner]

That looks great. how did you create the background is looks great.

Thanks, the background is a technique I call "Pebble Chaos". It's a style I use for very large open areas where the client wants "something different" than just flat smooth leather. I picked up about 10 of the PA004 and 1 each of the PA003 and PA005 pebbler tools from Springfield Leather and ground 8 of the PA004s into various shapes. From there I start with the edges and stamp along the border in varying spacing and grouping. Once the outer border is done, I then tool around the lettering in the same way. Once I have the borders & edges done I switch back and forth between the 004 and 005 just knocking them in at random intervals making sure to rotate the tool 90-180 degrees from the last impression. Once I have a healthy field of random spots in the middle, I then go through and fill & connect the remaining areas using the various shapes to create the chaotic honeycomb look. The trick is to keep the raised 'walls' from looking like there is a pattern to their layout while making sure no one section is too filled in or too unfilled as the lines can get too thick or you can get large backgrounded patches, both of which will throw off the balance & look.

Folks really like the look and feel and more than once someone has asked a client if it was an exotic hide...pretty funny & cool at the same time. Here are a couple of others I did using it: