Hi guys, I'm new there and I'm really attracted to try oil paints, but I'm bit lost. Not exactly sure, what colour pallets would I need or eventually best would be if You could direct me to certain product. There is quiet a lot of brands on the market, some are reviewed as beverage, good, great. I would be extremely gratefully, if You can point me to some direction and maybe write something more if the process is completely different than with acrylics. Thanks and have a great day!

Don't buy the expensive ones, those are meant for on canvas. You can buy the student ranges (for example from Daler Rowney this is called Georgian, from Winsor Newton is called Winton). One 37 or 38 ml tube should cost around 3 euros I think (converting from my local currency).

Because oil paints give you all the time you need for mixing, you don't need huge amounts of colours, to start with I would say buy white (titanium white), black (lamp black), primary colours (alizarin red, naples yellow, ultramarine blue) and some earth colours (yellow ochre, burnt sienna, natural umber, burnt umber). Earth colours are helpful when mixing skin colours. I think Naples yellow is just a mixture of white and ochre, so you could perhaps skip that one, leaving you to buy 8 tubes, some 25 EUR. Of course you will also need some solvent, either turpentine or an odourless alternative, to thin the paint and clean the brush. Brush soap is good but I found that simple soft soap works just as well for cleaning. You might think that turpentine and other solvents are hard on your brushes but it's dried paint that does most damage, so since oils dry so slowly, you're actually doing your brushes a favour.

Learn to squeeze out the tiniest amount from the tube or dig a bit out with the tip of a clean brush and your tubes will last you a lifetime. If you decide you like working with oils, you buy more one at a time if you feel you miss a colour.

The important difference is that with oils the concept of layering is not so useful, think more of blending colours. You probably already found the youtube videos of Milan Dufek. If not, they're highly worth watching. Then just grab a miniature and hit it with paint, experiment with any crazy different things you can come up with and keep what you like (strip what you don't like).

Edit to add: oh, if with palette you mean the physical palette, any shiny surface will do. I use an old saucer. Slightly off-white seems best to judge colours.

I would first point you to the 'Painting Techniques' section on oils...here you will find a treasure trove of information and discussion on the use of oil paints.
Whilst there are many different opinions on their use...the basic rule applies...apply the absolute minimum of paint...if you ignore this one aspect...you leave yourself open to the main two complaints when using oils...brush marks and glossing.
Another couple of common points of disagreement are...soaking out the oil on card before applying...and 'thinning'...personally...I never do either of those...which is the result of never buying the cheaper 'students' ranges.
Having used oils for 40+ years now...this much I can tell you...the extra premium you pay for the 'artist's' colours is more than made up for in the quality...finer ground pigments that have much stronger colours...and much higher quality of carriers and binder...which will...in themselves...totally avoid the issues of brush marks and shine...providing of course that you obey the rule of only the minimum amount being applied.
Many new users find oils a daunting prospect...I for one have the luxury of having got past that many years ago but...with all the helpful advice available on here...that should prove far less daunting to you.

Best wishes

Ron

Ron, thank You very much for useful informations, I will go through the threads, and how about the paints please, do You reccomend more expensive ones right? Id like to know at least a brand, if to buy a whole set or just certain coours as was mentioned previously. Thanks for help and have a great rest of the weekend!

Your very welcome

As for a good brand...I personally use 'Old Holland' and 'Sennelier' as my primary paints...but have a few tubes of Windsor & Newton artist's colours...simply because they are specific colours I like.
Please keep in mind...it's really about what you can afford...and how far you wish to go...as with brushes...which are another subject on their own...but have a great bearing on painting with oils.
Keep in mind that these are my personal preferences based on my experience...and are not 'absolutes'.

Ron

Hi, thanks for Your time to answearing my questions. Im now going through the threads concerning the oil, thanks a lot for answearing and greetings from Czechia!

Hi, I would love to try oil on my figure, but have no experience which colours should I get, if to buy only certain colours and actually which are must have in arsenal or if to buy some whole set. I'd actually need the advice how to go step by step using oils, do I also apply primer? I used tamiya grey primer on my cheaper figures, but would love to start soon on my Pegaso model and wouldn't like to mess up, even I'm sure the result won't be too impressive, I love to learn, I can all ways strip the colour with some medium right. My biggest concern comes to which colours to buy to be set. Thanks guys and enjoy the rest of the weekend (I've posted on general, but found this subforum

Funny you should mention that. I likewise don't soak out oil nor thin but even with the `student' grade paints (mostly Georgian) I don't fine my results glossy.

Tyrell90, you're very welcome. For all things controversial, I would say try everything and stay with what works for you; at least you'll know the difference. Ron mentions a few brands, there's also Talens (Rembrandt) from the Netherlands, Schminke from Germany (no experience with those). In my opinion, no point to make life difficult, just go to the local arts shop and see what they stock. There is also Abteilung 502, they claim to be different because they're specifically for miniatures. I haven't tried them and I probably won't but maybe someone else can chip in on those.

Greetings from Malaysia.

I think it would be good to stick to one conversation. Maybe these can be combined?

Appologize me, I was just looking for more oppinions...sorry. I found Lefranc burgouise extra fine, are you familiar with this brand?

I have a few of their small tubes, but they're labelled Louvre. I think they've changed their lines. I have no issue with the paint but in my experience the metal of the thin tubes is too thin, causing it to easily crumple when twisting tubes open/close (I'm a slob and have the threads filled with half-dried paint). Hopefully their new line has improved on that.

No need to apologise, we're all here to share our hobby.

Best of luck with your oil painting! My advice would be much the same as the others, always use the bare minimum of paint and buy the artist's quality. Start with a range of 6-8 colours so that if you don't like them you will not break your heart. The brown earth colours will always be good for weathering, horses and tanks so wherever your modelling takes you they will always be useful paints.

Use an art shop if you can so that you can see the colour before you buy. Otherwise it's the internet and you are at the mercy of colour monitors. If you're in the UK then I can recommend Great Art and Jacksons Art for good prices and fast delivery.

Keep an eye on the transparency rating of the paint; certain colours, such as alizarin crimson and some greens, are Transparent; they are designed for tinting/glazing and don't cover very well. You'll need to underpaint in acrylic to use these ones so look out for Opaque for good coverage. Of course, you can get some great paint effects with underpainting and glazing...

Paint prices vary as they are based on the cost of the pigment, most brands use a Series system where Series 1 is the lowest price band and you will find there are loads of different colours but you will be able to get all the colours you actually need from Series 1.

As for brands, they're all good! Lefranc et Bourgeois are brilliant paints and come in small tube sizes. Most brands want to sell you a 40ml tube which is way too much. 40ml is for painting on canvas and you only need a dab of paint on a miniature, buy the L&B 20ml tubes and save some cash. Get a tube of their Indigo for dark blue uniforms.

Here are the brands I know:

Winsor & Newton. You will see W&N in art shops all over the world. You can't go wrong with W&N, they are consistent and good value for money.
Sennelier Rive Gauche. Priced as a Student's quality but as good as most Artists quality. Wide range of colours, low prices and just great paints.
Schmincke-Mussini. Beautiful paint and a massive range of colours. Lovely flow off the brush, you get what you pay for but they can be a wee bit expensive.
Jackson's Professional. A small range of colours, only seen them on Jackson's Art website. Very nice paint and good prices. If you do Napoleonics then get tubes of King's Blue Deep, Sap Green and Cadmium Red Genuine and then you can paint the Grand Armee.
Isaro. Really nice paint and available on Jackson's Art website. A bit expensive but worth it. For Napoleonics, try Green Deep, Deep Blue, Ancient White and Ancient Yellow.
Michael Harding. Probably my favourite paints, nice range of colours and they are a joy to paint with. Everybody needs a tube of Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber for painting horses and Michael's are superb.
Lefranc & Bourgeois. Hard to find in the UK (I think W&N owns the company) but easily available in France! In the UK, they are available on the Great Art website and Cornelissen art shop and website. Very nice paints and look out for their solvents and mediums which they are famous for. In particular I recommend:

Essence de Petrole Minerale as a solvent for thinning and cleaning. If turps brings tears to your eyes or you can't stand the smell of that lemon stuff then try this one.
Siccatif de Courtrai Blanc. Usually, you have to be patient and allow your oil paint to dry. The merest touch of this dryer will dry most oil paint overnight, sometimes 45 minutes.
Medium a Peindre Mat. Wax medium which mixes easily into your paint and dries to a dead flat matt finish. Slow drying so use a touch of the siccative to dry matt overnight.

Happy days.

Sorry, I did'nt read the thread properly. You are in the Czech Republic, I bet you will find either W&N or L&B in your local art shop.

Yes, you must use a primer for oil paints especially on metal but recommended for resin or plastic too. You need a nice, matt primer which shrinks onto the miniature and has a "tooth" for the oil paint. Not too smooth...

Do you have Tamiya or Mr Surface? Both work well. White or light grey colour is usually preferred. If not try to find Vallejo surface primer or (I think much better!) Stynylrez white or grey. I like the Vallejo grey primer but the Stynylrez white with a bit of the grey gives a light grey which is perfect.

Henkm mentioned Abteilung oil paints. I tried them years ago, they are OK paints but nothing special. The same as a regular artists quality colour but with "Modelling" names i.e. instead of "Burnt Umber" the paint is "Grease", instead of "Unbleached Titanium Dioxide" the paint is "Light Mud". I'm not sure that I have the paint names right and I think it's good idea to give the paints more obvious names.

They are perfectly good paints but bare in mind that they are the smaller 20ml size whereas most other brands will be the 40ml size.

If you want a good video to check out, try this.

You've had a lot of good advice here from some very experienced oil painters. Sometimes
their advice may seem to differ a bit - it doesn't mean they're wrong, it's just that all artists
have evolved different techniques over the years which work for them, while others follow
a different approach. There's not much I can add other than to remind you that oil paints
have a wonderful 'mixability' - that is they combine well to create different colours, so you
don't have to buy unnecessary paint - and an equally wonderful 'blendability' - where you
can seamlessly integrate contrasting highlight and shadow. Lots of techniques to learn of
course, and lots of practice........but.....Rock on !!

Mike

Besides all that painting with oils and being off your nut on absinthe makes you feel like a real artist and not some geek painting toy soldiers.
Roger.

As I will be using oil paints in the future I cant offer any tips based on experience I can just offer what helped me to be convinced to try oil paints 1 would be this group of a bunch of great talented members here always willing to offer tips 2 the oil forum here is full of great info and 3 go to YouTube and check out the videos by Milan duflek and also check out the facebook group called bust . Good luck and looking forward to your progress