What do you use Lahmian Medium for?

[Vaux]

Vallejo Glaze Medium and Liquitex mediums are just two examples.

[Chillpill]

On 6/15/2017 at 6:14 PM, Elmir said:

Glazing over a painted area with the original basecoat mixed with lahmian medium, makes the colour transitions a lot smoother. It also has the added bonus of collecting in the recesses like a shade does, making the shading more visible again (something that can get washed out a bit when airbrushing on highlights. 

For instance: 

I used my airbrush to highlight most of these crypt horrors, but some of the shading applied  with blue grey got lost on the shoulders. I was able to re-apply them with a mix of the blue grey basecoat with some lahmian medium. And as you can see in the picture, the paintjob still remains smooth AF without any weird pooling.

Wow these look amazing!!!

[Trout]

9 hours ago, Chris Tomlin said:

Pro tip; decant it into a dropper bottle to avoid spillages and contaminations.

 

Where do you get an empty dropper bottle?

[Chillpill]

I just followed this guide and used Lahmian Medium like he did at 1:19 into the video

 

 

 

[Routasydän]

14 hours ago, Trout said:

Where do you get an empty dropper bottle?

 

If its not in ebay, it doesnt exist.

[TheOtherJosh]

 
If its not in ebay, it doesnt exist.

Can't validate for quality but you can get 50x 5ml bottles on Amazon for under $8.

Search for Dropper bottle.

[Kugane]

On 16/06/2017 at 9:21 AM, Chris Tomlin said:

Lahmian over the top of Ardcoat will provide a protective layer that is more matte than gloss.

I use Lahmian for everything, I go through pots and pots of the stuff. It's an absolute hobby essential for me. I use it instead of water when thinning down my paints out of the pot as I find it gives greater flow and control. I use it to create glazes and dilute washes. I love the smooth finish it gives.

Pro tip; decant it into a dropper bottle to avoid spillages and contaminations.

 

Thanks! I was wondering to use 'ardcoat, but hated the glossy finish. I'm now happy to know there is an alternative. I got so many miniatures on the shelve I didn't dare to use in fear of chipping the paint. How many coats of  'arcoat would you suggest to be 'safe'?

[Chris Tomlin]

On ‎16‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 6:31 PM, Trout said:

Where do you get an empty dropper bottle?

I went with eBay, but like @TheOtherJosh said, I'm sure Amazon would have you covered as well. Pick up some pipettes as well to decant it.

On ‎17‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 8:48 PM, Kugane said:

Thanks! I was wondering to use 'ardcoat, but hated the glossy finish. I'm now happy to know there is an alternative. I got so many miniatures on the shelve I didn't dare to use in fear of chipping the paint. How many coats of  'arcoat would you suggest to be 'safe'?

You would still need to use 'Ardcoat first, as Lahmian offers no protection. If you are thinking of doing this en masse, then I would suggest just picking up a brush on matte varnish instead.

[Kugane]

23 minutes ago, Chris Tomlin said:

I went with eBay, but like @TheOtherJosh said, I'm sure Amazon would have you covered as well. Pick up some pipettes as well to decant it.

You would still need to use 'Ardcoat first, as Lahmian offers no protection. If you are thinking of doing this en masse, then I would suggest just picking up a brush on matte varnish instead.

I see :). I'm always a bit edgy when it comes to using alternate brands. I wish GW came out with some paint on Matte Varnish. I read army painter is quite good though.

[Vaux]

Army Painter Anti-Shine is a fine varnish for those outside of the US that cant get their hands on Testors dullcote and still want a really matt finish for their miniatures.

[Chris Tomlin]

@Kugane - I've used a Vallejo brush on matte varnish and it was fine. No issues.

@Vaux - Testor's Dullcote is a great product (not as good as it used to be, but that's another topic!). I'm a big fan of the finish. However it does not provide much by way of protection. That said with most models being plastic now, that's not as much of a concern.

[Kugane]

7 minutes ago, Chris Tomlin said:

@Kugane - I've used a Vallejo brush on matte varnish and it was fine. No issues.

@Vaux - Testor's Dullcote is a great product (not as good as it used to be, but that's another topic!). I'm a big fan of the finish. However it does not provide much by way of protection. That said with most models being plastic now, that's not as much of a concern.

I'll go pick that up soon then. Thanks a lot!

[Vaux]

Testors is for those painters that really need the matt finish... I will have to put Anti-Shine on my Ironjawz because the Vallejo matt varnish still has a shine in it.... I hate it hehe.

[bottle]

It is a little pot of magic. Things I use it for:

1. Thinning paints,

2. Thinning Washes,

3. Controlling washes,

4. Creating glazes,

5. Creating washes,

6. Fixing superglue frosting,

7. Sealing transfers,

8. Matting pools of wash that have dried glossy for whatever reason,

9. Ressurecting dead paints,

Like I said. It's a little pot of magic.  

[Chris Tomlin]

22 minutes ago, Kugane said:

I'll go pick that up soon then. Thanks a lot!

You're welcome

14 minutes ago, Vaux said:

Testors is for those painters that really need the matt finish... I will have to put Anti-Shine on my Ironjawz because the Vallejo matt varnish still has a shine in it.... I hate it hehe.

Yeh definitely. On plastic models I just do a straight spray of dullcote nowadays. When working with metal models though I used a 3 step process;

1 - Brush on gloss
2 - Brush on matte
3 - Spray dullcote

5 minutes ago, bottle said:

6. Fixing superglue frosting,

7. Sealing transfers,

Back on topic, these two are great shouts that perhaps haven't been mentioned yet.

[Kugane]

1 hour ago, bottle said:

It is a little pot of magic. Things I use it for:

1. Thinning paints,

2. Thinning Washes,

3. Controlling washes,

4. Creating glazes,

5. Creating washes,

6. Fixing superglue frosting,

7. Sealing transfers,

8. Matting pools of wash that have dried glossy for whatever reason,

9. Ressurecting dead paints,

Like I said. It's a little pot of magic.  

The fixing frosting is an awesome tip! I have some frosting stains on my desk I can't get off, time to Lahmian Medium the desk!

[Renfield286]

10, you can use it to seal down crackle effect if it starts flaking off bases. 

[Chris Tomlin]

7 minutes ago, Renfield286 said:

10, you can use it to seal down crackle effect if it starts flaking off bases. 

Another good tip I forgot! I actually do this on all my Agrellan Earth bases. Once the texture paint has dried and cracked, I cover in Lahmian Medium before drybrushing.

[Trout]

I just want to thank everyone who replied. This is by far the most useful thread I have ever participated in. I put some of these recommendations into practice the very same day I started the thread and have used the medium in various ways every day since then.

 

There is one more thing I'd like to understand better. I've watched countless youtube videos which extol the value of thinning your paint. They all encourage you to thin with water. I've been doing this ever since watching those videos, and have created a wet palate. My question: is "thinning your paint" with the medium of equal or greater value to thinning with water? If so, why wouldn't you do this all the time? Why use water or a wet palete at all? If not, what's the difference between thinning with water and with medium?

[Vaux]

It really depends on what paint you use and what you want to achieve by thinning it down.

Some examples:

• You want to create a glaze of a color, there you will thin it down with a medium and sometimes a bit of water to get a better flow, this way you keep the characteristics of the paint, because the medium is just a paint without pigments.
• You just want to thin down your paint a bit to let it flow smoother and get a more consistent coat of paint in the end. Here it is normal to thin down with water, because you want a really thin paint and you dont have to think about the pigment richness of your paint (because you will paint several thin layers)
• You want to thin down an airbrush color for example, here you usually use a thinner medium or a flow improver, because those paints are already really thin and you dont want them to lose their characteristic while being thinned further down. 
• Metallic paints... here I recommend to thin down with a medium, because the pigments behave a bit odd in comparison to normal paints (or just use pre thinned airbrush colors)

You see there is never only one way and it always depends on what one wants to achieve with the paint in the end. Besides a wet palette keeps the paint fresh and wet for a really long time (if your wet palette is good), way longer than a thinned down paint on a normal palette for example.

[Trout]

2 minutes ago, Vaux said:

It really depends on what paint you use and what you want to achieve by thinning it down.

Some examples:

• You want to create a glaze of a color, there you will thin it down with a medium and sometimes a bit of water to get a better flow, this way you keep the characteristics of the paint, because the medium is just a paint without pigments.
• You just want to thin down your paint a bit to let it flow smoother and get a more consistent coat of paint in the end. Here it is normal to thin down with water, because you want a really thin paint and you dont have to think about the pigment richness of your paint (because you will paint several thin layers)
• You want to thin down an airbrush color for example, here you usually use a thinner medium or a flow improver, because those paints are already really thin and you dont want them to lose their characteristic while being thinned further down. 
• Metallic paints... here I recommend to thin down with a medium, because the pigments behave a bit odd in comparison to normal paints (or just use pre thinned airbrush colors)

You see there is never only one way and it always depends on what one wants to achieve with the paint in the end. Besides a wet palette keeps the paint fresh and wet for a really long time (if your wet palette is good), way longer than a thinned down paint on a normal palette for example.

Well, what is the reason that people encourage you to always thin your paints?

[Chris Tomlin]

Hey @Trout,

Glad you've enjoyed the thread. It's certainly been one of my favs in a while as well.

As previously mentioned I do actually use Lahmian Medium instead of water to thin all my paints. I find the properties much more agreeable with my painting style. It applies/flows much better and creates a much smoother, even finish.

Sorry, that is a bit brief I know and does not really offer much about the technical reasons why I do this! To be honest though, I just found it preferable when I made the switch, so stick with it. I just like the way the paint flows off my brush as it seems to keep some measure of viscosity when diluted, whereas when diluting with water you can lose some manner of control as the paint thins out.

I guess reasons for not doing this would mainly be of a monetary nature. I do go through a lot of pots of Lahmian, kinda wish I'd kept a tally of how many I've used!

Give it a go and see what you preference is.

 

[Vaux]

6 minutes ago, Trout said:

Well, what is the reason that people encourage you to always thin your paints?

Easy to explain: thinning down paint lets them flow smoother and while needing more layers of paint you get a more even coat when doing so instead of using one thick layer. Another reason is that with several thin layers of paints you dont get visible brush strokes.

[Trout]

3 minutes ago, Vaux said:

Easy to explain: thinning down paint lets them flow smoother and while needing more layers of paint you get a more even coat when doing so instead of using one thick layer. Another reason is that with several thin layers of paints you dont get visible brush strokes.

Do you consider lahmian medium at least as good as water for those purposes?

[Vaux]

I consider it a waste on normal paints when not glazing or thinning down a wash to be honest. But if one wants to use it, he/she is free to do so. I use two different mediums and only if they serv the purpose I want them to achieve. Like I said, there is no "you have to always thin down with a medium" case.