Faster, smoother basecoating method - optional

Hi Guys!

EDIT - you can thin the pro acryl 1:1 with airbrush thinner for the exact same effect, probably even more, the pigmentation is SO strong. this might actually not just be faster than craft paint, it might even POTENTIALLY be much the same price 😁

Lots of priming done today, and I also managed to run this little comparison for you all based on the faster basecoating method I mentioned yesterday.

As mentioned, this method is fast, smoother, but more expensive. Totally optional, but might be useful for some among you for whom the cost difference isnt a big deal :)

EDIT: Misunderstanding disclaimer - this is AFTER mod podge and black! you still need mod podge by brush :)
TL;DR - airbrushing the basecoat grey with miniature paint (pro acryl warm grey) is faster and smoother than craft paint, and not really that much more expensive (in theory, at least!)

So, the images above are all of the standard grey/tan basecoat over black.

Image 1 is the usual craft paint mix in a single coat. Image 2 is the same with two coats.

Image 3 took a fraction of the time to do by airbrush, using pro acryl warm grey.

For context, the usual craft paints cost about 2-3p per ml (it varies), where pro acryl costs about 17p per ml. This makes it about 5-8x more expensive -HOWEVER, paint is one of the cheapest parts of the process, so overall doesnt increase the cost as much as you might think.

On top of this, it gains coverage with much less paint actually used - roughly 8 drops per coat of craft paint to 3 drops for the airbrushed piece.

So depending on how good your craft paint is (mine is pretty solid, yours may need two coats to be reasonable), you're using anywhere from 2.33x as much paint to 5.66x as much.

Breaking that down, it means the costs per piece painted here are:

Craft paint, 1 coat (8 drops, 2.33x as much paint needed vs pro acryl), assuming cheapest (2p/ml) paint cost: 2.33x2p=4p relative cost

Craft paint, 2 coats (16 drops, 5.66x as much paint needed vs pro acryl), assuming more expensive (3p/ml) paint cost: 5.66x3p=16p relative cost

Pro acryl, 1 coat (3 drops, 1x as much paint as pro acryl....obviously), 17p/ml paint cost: 1x17p=17p relative cost

Final comparison (TL;DR)
Craft paint, 1 coat, cheapest paint cost (min) =4p
Craft paint, 2 coats, more expensive craft paint cost (max)=16p

VS

Pro acryl, 1 coat = 17p EDIT: can be thinner 1:1, so 8p!

So feel free to tear apart my maths here, but basically it seems like craft paint is 4x cheaper at best, or at worst - the same cost!

And there's more. Because as I mentioned, paint is one of the cheaper parts of a project - so overall, this probably only increases your project price marginally, ESPECIALLY if you still use craft paint for the mod podge priming and drybrushing stages (which, so far, it seems theres no real negative to doing so)

Then there's the time saved in paint mixing and use. Pro acryl can be dropped in the airbrush pretty much from the pot, though I'll be experimenting with thinning it more to make it cheaper while retaining effectiveness. This REMOVES all time spent mixing paint (provided you don't keep a pre-mixed bottle!)

This gets even more interesting if you have a fancy, accurate airbrush. I'm thinking of trying to use one to paint bricks individually with mini paint, which will save NO END of time, if it works! I've tried it with my original airbrush, but the 0.3 nozzle just wasn't accurate enough, so I'm gonna try a tighter 0.15 one.

So...yeah. This is definitely something I'll be exploring further, and I think is well worth looking into, if you're willing to spend a little more to save time :)

More soon, I'm just mostly on the boring painting stage 😅