Craft Paints BETTER than MINI Paints??? (Monstrous Minis!)

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[@sillyeskimo8686]

I've been painting miniatures for over 35 years and I learned long ago that craft paints can do anything the "miniature" paints can do for a fraction of the cost. Americana is my brand of choice and they do 95% of my heavy lifting. I even push it through an airbrush without issues. I will never understand how people lock themselves into the specialty paint ecosystem. Thank you for giving craft paints a fair shake.

[@seleneyue]

Because I'm lazy and want something that works out if the box. I heard good things about Testors but most of the craft paints I've worked with wouldn't work. It's too much work to test out different brands and willing to pay more for the convenience.

[@sirrathersplendid4825]

@@seleneyue - Agreed, it is mostly about convenience. Which is why I have a box of cheap acrylics in all the colours of the rainbow to use as mixers with my 25 more expensive core paints. Don’t recall what they cost, perhaps $5 for 24 tubes.

[@belmarduk]

@@seleneyue counterpoint: if you're new to painting and on a budget, mixing new colors is a lot harder than getting cheap paint to perform on the palette, and you can get virtually anything in the pantone index for a dollar a bottle at any craft store. You can also get some shades in craft paint that aren't commonly made by any of the hobbyist brands and aren't easily mixed to. Learning to work with different materials is a big part of the art side of the hobby, I'd like to see a lot more craft paint content online tbh

[@seleneyue]

@@belmarduk my main issues are that I don't know how the craft paints would work on my miniatures, or how they would hold up over time. If there were experienced people to give pointers, then sure. But I'd probably only stick to the brands they listed

[@robertgallentine1095]

...a fair...---shake---. 😅😅😅😅

[@charleswatson2605]

Aaaaand just like that, all the mini paint companies put a hit out on Jon.

[@DamnZodiak]

Wouldn't surprise me, considering that most of them are just grifters.

[@TheHamno]

I pictured Jon's kids walking in on him as he was at their craft desk wearing the wig..."Mom, dad's doing the thing again!"

[@notnubilous3804]

We all know they're gonna catch him running from one spot to the other putting the wig and glasses on each time, doing both voices

[@YeeWhoEnterHere]

Wait, they were both Jon?

[@jamesiliffe5124]

I thought he’d got Eugene from TWD to help out on the episodes 😅

[@mattc2735]

turns out if you're an award winning painter it doesn't really matter what paints you use as long as you know what you're doing, awesome work my dude

[@JG-wi2dp]

It makes me nervous how much confidence he's giving me as a new painter and I'm worried I'm gonna fuck up my next army trying something wild like craft paints haha

[@SimonClark]

That skin tone is absolutely gorgeous

[@jasons.2807]

Hi simon

[@daanrutten6130]

pesonally i worked with craft paints for YEARS before i bought my first set of citadel paint, so pesonally i always feel like they get a bad rap, so it's nice to see someone put a good word for once. XD

[@peterpetruzzi8587]

Me too. Back in the old days when we had to walk up hill both ways in the snow to school and couldn't afford to pay attention you had to buy what you could afford and that was craft paint.

[@daanrutten6130]

@@peterpetruzzi8587 For me it was that i Just didn't have easy access to them. Only when about a year ago i found a game store near me did i start to build up my collection of model paints.

[@paintingbyminions8360]

Yeah the do get a bad rap. The real benefit for mini paints is the shear variety of colors and ease of use right out of the bottle.

[@badmr.frosty4848]

same

[@W.edgewargames]

I just started this hobby about 7 months ago and use Apple Barrel craft paint to some good results, though I can always use the critique from those doing this longer than I. @benoit5302012

[@zoltanbereczki7162]

I always come here for the sketches and get dumbfounded by the amount of skill you have as a miniature painter.

[@TheProfessorKel]

In this disertation, I am defending my hypothesis that Jon should make a Skaven army not just because it would be awesome as hell, but also that he can use that cool warpstone drip base technique on everything.

[@RLBndR]

This might be the best mini painting video I've seen on youtube. Easy NNM, Easy Rust, Using entry level craft paint. Legendary. I learned so much.

[@ndewingful]

Honestly this seems like a great way to get people into the hobby at a low cost barrier. That way they're not spending tons of money when they go to GW, and they can just play with the paint. Plus a lot of people aren't going to be doing those advanced techniques until later, so once they've sussed out how to do them they can always go to better paints.

[@jacobbalensiefer3846]

I really enjoy the fact that your videos always feel educational even when you are using a “challenge” material.

[@ianbyers1250]

I have used craft paints for all my minis over the years and have never had an issue with them. Yet every review I have seen when someone tries to use craft paints are the same. They dump the paint out and use it straight from the pot. This is the first video review I have seen where someone actually thinned out the paints and used them properly. Thank you for that.

[@RobbinsNestStudios]

That paint range would probably be perfect for terrain. Especially those pieces you want to give a little bit of TLC to but still don't want to use your expensive hobby paints on. great vid.

[@zephiel70]

Can I just talk about how much I love how they posed the run on these guys. It's the perfect combo of "oh lawd he comin'" and "HUYAARRRGH" dork run.

[@racketyneptune5559]

I usually just watch tarped undr plarstic but from time to time a just john video is good for the soul.

[@kyIethefish]

i never thought about using the zenithal highlight as a reference and making the two base tones and coloring in the dark and the light. I like it!

[@garylee4315]

Look into sketch type painting if you haven’t already

[@justarandomname420]

Testors has been there for model builders for decades. The citrus smell of their glue still haunts me to this day.

[@ElectricalInsanity]

That's a childhood memory I didn't realize I had until you mentioned it. I can still smell it when I think about it.

[@panzershock441]

"Lets encourage glue huffing!"

[@WhiskyGravy]

😊💕

[@4hedgesfamily]

Fantastic video! I get a kick out of the "If it ain't paint specifically for miniatures, it'll never work" mindset. I also get a kick out of proving them dead wrong. I got into modeling by making terrain, and I've used Delta Ceramcoat, Apple Barrel, and Folk Art craft paints for years. At 50 cents for 2 oz. at Wal Mart, Apple Barrel is darn affordable. Some things I have learned over the years: 1. If it's a color you're going to use a ton of (like the Territorial Beige I use for basecoating my terrain, I take my bottle right over to the paint department and have them color match a pint of acrylic house paint. 2. Yes, Apple Barrel makes larger bottles of the same colors. Avoid these. Costwise, you can buy 5 2 oz bottles for the cost of a large 4 oz bottle. Numbers are hard for me, but even I can tell where the best value is there. 3. Arcrylic metallics aren't that great, from my experience. 4. Craft paint colors seem to dry chalky (it might just be the brands I use), but once you coat them with varnish or your sealer of choice, it tends to come back. 5. For a cloth texture, paint a slightly thicker layer on, with unthinned paint. When it's partially dry, draw your brush straight through it. You want to leave lines in it. When it's dry, repeat the process, perpendicular to the original lines. Keep at it until you get a crosshatched sort of texture. Thanks for the great video. One of these days I'll get brave enough to try oils. Or even win the lottery and afford some Citadel.

[@IdahoZombieHunter]

6:40 I want you to feel uneasy about this monster because of his skin color. This made me chuckle because I kinda felt like the fact that a three armed two headed creature coming at me with bladed weapons was already having that effect on me. Great job as always. Love your videos.

[@tylerbryan7823]

Appreciate the midwest representation. Been with Menards for 8 and a half years!

[@lordnoar]

Hah! I have that exact set that I bought specifically to be the "and my kids also want to paint things" set! I'll have to give it a legit chance.

[@ethanbarrettdebattista5124]

Proof of patience you guys discussed in the podcast. A dope video topic as well. Next is full ball sack using ONLY craft paints!

[@Thaxsar]

Acrylic craft paints are what I use. This is appreciated.

[@W.edgewargames]

Apple Barrel is my paint brand currently, though i have only been painting minis for about 7 months.

[@sharkwolfdarkwolf2625]

@@W.edgewargames apple barrel battalions assemble!

[@W.edgewargames]

@@sharkwolfdarkwolf2625 for the price and volume of paint, there's no better craft paint for miniatures, though I am expanding my paint varieties slowly with Vallejo, Citadel, and Arteza Fluorescent paints.

[@sharkwolfdarkwolf2625]

@@SkeleTonHammer oh, their matte paint is hard to layer without getting chalky. I always use satin or gloss finish and then flatten it back down afterwards with a good dull coat sealer

[@obitookenobi4604]

I live in the middle east, we don't have the miniature painting hobby here at all. Art supplies stores don't even know what miniatures paint is. So I use basic acrylic paint that comes in big bottles with basic colours and my miniatures always turn out great. I'm only 6 months into the hobby and I'm loving it. I tried to order a miniature paint set from Amazon but they were very expensive and it'll take 3 weeks to get here. So instead i decided to keep on using basic acrylic paint (Craft paint). If you know the basics of colour mixing and thinning you don't even need to use miniatures paint!! Actually basic acrylic can give you way more colours variety than mintiture paint if you know how to mix it.

[@newtpondskipper]

One of my friends paints his historic minis with craft paints and they look amazing. That being said he is a good painter.

[@dannym2359]

My first mini ever was painted using Apple Barrel craft paints, and to this day is one of my favorite minis.

[@W.edgewargames]

I just started a few months ago and use Apple Barrel to good effect.

[@bruceyoung9692]

The issue is that Testor's no longer exists. It's Rustoleum now. They just kept the logo to keep sales.

[@bopaintsminis]

I think these are some of the best videos for beginners out there. Just watching how you built up color on the skin to show light and shadow and define contour made my day. Thanks.

[@Cranacti]

And, to the surprise of no-one, Jon buys more paints 😉 Thanks for another video, keep up the good work!

[@themonsta6669]

With all that matt, apoxy would add a game changer to the base...water, waves and splashes and foam...🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@9000ethanator]

One or two of my favorite paint jobs I’ve done are with craft paints. Getting and using miniature paints still feels nice though.

[@metalempireinterviews729]

Man, your intros puts a big phat smile on my face, as do the rest of your videos. I actually really like super thick paints because I can blob it on my wet palette and drag some away from that blob and water it down to my preferred consistency. Because it's so thick it doesn't become too watery to use on the wet palette like a lot my paints do after a while.

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

How did you go about learning light behavior? Your use of light brings this mini to life!

[@KurtisJoseph]

"Dramatic use of light"... yah you are pretty good at that man.

[@kadiabarenbaum7252]

Cool approach..you end up with what I would describe as a Frazetta tone to your work..which is a compliment..in my book

[@almost_zab]

Golden hi flow are amazing, their transparent and fluro lines are really standout!

[@SigurdDecroos]

Agreed! I also use some of the fluids line, sometimes combined with their matt medium. Awesome results and the lightfastness is amazing!

[@cory7328]

Total Recall meets fantasy demons vibe from that model. Love the video and the fact you can take a product most people in the hobby would walk by and i not give a second thought about.

[@silverrwhiskers26]

I love the color palette for this model. It looks amazing. Especially since it was done with craft paints. So cool.

[@charleyedwards2121]

hell ya :) ( i like to add a tiny bit of ink to my crappy craft store paints to really up the pigment lol great stuff (great skit too) in Canada a great low cost brand is artists loft :)

[@PhazeKnight74]

The best kind of hobby heresy, and im here for it.

[@gnometroll1717]

You always have the best advice in terms or getting into the hobby for newcomers, money saving materials, experimentation, etc. Thanks Uncle Jon, I love you!

[@natelewis784]

"'Ey man, there's a leggo village over there..... Fix Bayonettes." that line killed me

[@Strat0Patrick]

Oh, I was tried to deliver same thoughts about craft paints for years in our hobby-group club: - Those paints are not actually that bad: you can start use them as alternative for blacks, dark browns first, try out them on terrain or bases. - I've even purchased set similar to that one from video, and started to evangelize to use it by everyone on one of our local "terrain painting parties" in wargaming club. I was literally running across area like a mad man and convincing everyone: "LOOK HERE BOY, this is cheap and inexpensive acrylic paint that aint that bad - it is mixing well with other cokors, coverage is niiice, and adgesion with plastic and primer is good too!!!1"

[@IzzysIssues]

My two best works have been painted with craft paints. Primarily because that's all I own 😅 it was definitely fun to see how you could pull this off dude 💜

[@W.edgewargames]

Me too., glass to see others that get good results from craft paints.

[@taylord6043]

Loved the alter ego, of the non painting trucker/bazooka hunter. Entertaining and educational Jon. Thanks so much keep em coming!.

[@acerebralstringmorn]

Testors Craft Paint: Stonks! Fun video, always love a good experiment!

[@ivo2740]

Again, this is quality. Love it. Beautiful paintjob.

[@KabinMiniatures]

Surprising results! I especially like that glazed rust on the sword.

[@perjohanaxell9862]

I love your no nonsense aprotch to painting. Great stuff!

[@kyussinchains]

Impressive results as usual Jon!Loved the skin tones you achieved and the cool shadowed trophy heads were a neat touch too, I love how the ultra matte finish works too, you don't get false highlights from the ambient light reflecting I'll be signing up to the Kickstarter too, you've sold me on it....

[@OriginPainting]

Intersting find, glad to see they actually held up.

[@victoryspath4116]

As always, perfect mix of educational, funny and entertaining. I watch a lot of mini and terrain videos, but you're one of the few that I actually listen to the notifications and watch as soon as I see it. Furthermore, some of the other channels have been doing the hobby paint versus craft paint thing. And I was wondering if a painter that I think is REALLY good would agree with their assessment. Turns out, the "craft paint isn't as bad as we thought" is pretty much the consensus.

[@Darkhorizonr1]

This model came out sick!

[@pointlezz9422]

Love these videos, they help out so much and I really appreciate the uploads.

[@patrickkirchner1562]

NInjon easily become my favorite hobbystuff youtubechannel. TY for this nice weekly content !

[@GreenDestruction]

can you do a video on how you started or your progression throughout the years. I am amazed how good you are in the amount of time youve been actually doing this. I'd love to know at what rate you were pushing yourself to learn key skills throughout the years. otherwise i love the podcast and the video!

[@tombombadil9338]

Jon: "There is no magic bullet" Me: "Nah, nah, nah, not listening" Great video Jon!

[@studiofoureightnine]

I love experiments like this. Nice work Jon!

[@spenserrohr1201]

I don't know if it's the paint, the model, your skill as an artist or a combination of all three, but this turned out amazing. Looks like a Frank Frazetta painting.

[@trotzdem111]

Love the Rust effect! Great Video!

[@Shauddi]

Great video, Jon! I fondly remember humble beginnings with my first Testor set

[@sleestack2723]

That is an insane paint job there. Like always thanks Jon for inspiring me to go back to the table and crack on

[@tando6266]

You and Marco need to do a paint collection paint off

[@tomloveland2245]

Great video Jon, and amazing paint job on that mini. It has a Frazetta-esque vibe that I really dig.

[@foerender1624]

Once I saw testors I figured they would fair well ! I been a minature painter for years and your videos actually pushed my level up a notch recently your breakdown of certain techniques clicked with me .

[@silverhoney6969]

Yeah, Testors craft paint is probably way better quality then most craft paints

[@Dadosdeoro]

DUDE JOHN...WTF! this mini looks great. probably most beginers wont be able to get that result, but its good to know that if you try hard enough and dedicate enough time to painting its possible to get a fantastic result. good work, good content!

[@beeezlebub]

My new favorite youtuber. Keeping it REAL! Im gonna go buy some merch now lol

[@MarinStipkovic]

Love the conclusion.

[@Rahnt]

Fantastic video as always! Using crafting paints not inherently designed for miniatures really shows how talented you are at painting! The "half-brothers" look amazing!

[@daeds.paints]

Joyful to know they are good to go! I just started on my way to assemble my M41 1/35 tank and you gave me the last knock to use the humungous craft paint collection I have from my other hobby. Greetings!

[@fredrikernstson7667]

Wonderful as always. Thanks!

[@Karlmakesstuff]

Whoa, so much to unpack here. I've been using artist's acrylics on minis for a few years, but after watching this I'll definitely be trying these if I can find them. The painting and color advice are very useful. Love the end result, the skin especially reminds me of Brom's work.

[@marcroberts1731]

Great vid Ninjon, good painting techniques that displayed well, and great intro to creature castor!

[@ThePropSlayer]

Man I gotta say I’m always remotivated by your videos

[@alexwalker4075]

Looks sick John, love your style.

[@FrancosteinSA]

I love the attention to detail where youre wearing the flannel shirt when unboxing the paint

[@mahrimen]

Nice work, the rusted swords look dope

[@DruryHall]

You’re videos are inspiring to me. Keep it up. Very entertaining, love the addition of Daryl

[@jeffleason327]

Beautiful work!

[@grumpydragon328]

I think it would be cool to see a video series going through several of the cheaper brands as a comparison. Some of them will obviously be junk, but some are actually quite good for the price. Delta Ceramcoat is a hill I will *always* die on.

[@Brickerbrack]

I mostly have Docraft Artiste and Pebeo, but I've also recently picked up a whole bunch from Arteza (which may be UK-only, I'm not sure); I paid about £75 for 60 colours, and I'm _loving_ them...

[@ComplexConcept]

Awesome video! I was walking through blick and saw some cheap acrylic paints I was very curious about. Now I'd love to see a craft paint comparison/shootout.

[@sentientbean1]

love these types of reviews

[@DavidHesselfeldt]

Nice review and nice paint job Jon! I like the way you use the senithal. Might have to try that out too.

[@TwospotzArtAndCraft]

I just stumbled on this and.. well, what can I say. Gosh golly dangnabbit wow. Love it. And yeah, craftpainter person here. Glad to see a pro get this done and dusted so well.

[@DeliciousCornbread]

Impressive work from you and the paint.

[@DarkBishop342]

Way to put in the work Jon. Painting bravely and all that. Somebody says that...

[@GeartoothLabs]

I love this video. It's always fun to test stuff out and see how far you can push it. :)

[@VidJunkie63]

Another wonderfully entertaining intro, @Ninjon. Thank you again for sharing this.

[@marcomarterer7232]

Beautiful paintjob

[@Halsfield]

great video, and the skit at the end was hilarious

[@larrymanns364]

Super informative, thanks Brodawg

[@timbrown4928]

Creature Caster is great! Bought their Death Elemental for my Necron army (Nightbringer). Great sculpts! Will be buying more from them. Great vid, Jon!

[@jamescrowder77]

Great video! It was nice to hear someone not crap all over craft paints because they are cheap. I started with craft paints and learned a lot from them and still use a couple occasionally especially for basing because they work well for me and for that purpose.

[@thelawrenceshow]

wonderful! as always!

[@dspartan007]

I've just bought this paints in my local hardware store, to test them, and they really surprised me. Never thought that one of the pro painters that I follow had already tested them.

[@jinchoung]

wow... that's an amazing frazetta kinda palette you ended up with.

[@GhoblinCrafts]

I like the pastel kind of tone here!

[@Carolyn1202]

This is so cool , I got that paint set for Christmas, from a friend! and I believe it was from Menard's, looking forward to watching the video and seeing what you say about it, and how best to use them. So I'm going to watch now!

[@westtlink]

You got my like and sub. After watching a few of your vids I can say you know what you are doing, and it's worth the updates. Good game bro

[@jaba5965]

Great video :D There is not many painters who are willing to paint with cheap collors like you and have a 10/10 result TY