Ye Olde Inn

Hey, hope you guys are fine.
Given we want to dust off some hq playing and all, I and my brother have purchased a handful of extra minis, brushes 'n stuff. Boy had we forgotten the time it takes.
So, I was quickly reminded how badly some colors will (rather won't) adhere, namely the brightest ones like white and yellow. Not sure it is also related to the base coat but it's happening on both darker and lighter primings.
We've been scanning here and there for tutorials and how-to's, including the forum, but I guessed some on-spot advice from the inn would do.
What would be you guys' general advice on how to apply these yellow, white and so on? Any quick tip we should apply? Thanks for any input.

I don't have issues with white but yellow... that was a nightmare. I only had army painters version of it, wasn't impressed.

If you spraypaint the base color, it is nice to have white as spray. Yellow, red or bright green are no problem on white, but nearly impossible on black base color.

Don't forget to offset the bright color with a dark or desaturated other color to make it a beauty.
My red orcs have nearly black green skin, my yellow orcs somehow all have big patches of dark brown rust everywhere....

First, dip models into soapy water and use a toothbrush to remove dirt and oil residue from injection moulding. This will make white spray undercoat adhere better. White makes the colours brighter. Don’t spray when it’s too hot as the spray dries before it hits the mini and comes out all powdery. If you haven’t painted for years, I suspect modern paints cover better than the ones you’ve used in the past. The best paints in my opinion are The Army Painter. You’ll have no problem with coverage, they have a lovely mousy consistency and are super easy to use with great results. Use a thin coat to let the brightness of the white show through. If needed apply a second thin coat for better coverage. Highlight edges with an off white. Good luck!

Edit - and of course shake the pot/bottle really well!

mitchiemasha wrote:I don't have issues with white but yellow... that was a nightmare. I only had army painters version of it, wasn't impressed.

Have you tried watering it down and thinning it? The thinner the paint the faster it dries as more water evaporates from the surface. Using less in one go too, if the paint is too thick it’ll take ages to dry as more paint is trapped underneath. Several thin layers are better than one thick one. It covers better as it builds up opacity. in my opinion all yellows struggle for coverage and need repeat layers.

There is also a problem if you try to paint color directly on plastic, or on ages-old base colors.
The base color solves that problem by being a little bit sticky for some weeks.

If you spray paint your minis with base colors, but then you wait months and years before you actually paint (like I do), the acrylic surface closes down and you have the non-adherence problem. As long as the base colors are fresh, best case from today or yesterday, it sticks like a charm.

As has already been mentioned, use white to prime your models.
I find that the pure white from both GW and Vallejo covers quite nice.
As for yellow colors, if you are painting on white and it's still not sufficient, there's not really much else to do than to add several thin layers.
If using black primer, it's a good idea to build the color up by adding a layer of brown first, then gradually adding more yellow.

If it's particularly bright prime yellow that is causing you trouble, try using a slightly off sandy yellow. I find that those cover much better. Then you can add a top layer of prime yellow.

But basically, you can't avoid having to add several thin layers

I experienced the same problem with Valleyo Game Color, Yellow, Orange and some Dark Green, but no problem at all with white.
I thought it was caused by the black primer, but changing to a white primer do not chage the effect at all. So I usually mix some other color with the "wrong ones" and do lots of layers until it finally cover the primer properly.

some colours take better over other colours. thats science!
just always make sure you dont blob any paint on and try and cover with 1 thick coat. make sure you always use nice smooth thin coats allow to dry then paint again until it hits the colour you want.
you could try some of GW newer paints the newer base paints cover pretty well

Stig wrote:The best paints in my opinion are The Army Painter. You’ll have no problem with coverage, they have a lovely mousy consistency and are super easy to use with great results.

Got the same problem even with Amarillo Yellow by Army Paints