Solved What is the purpose of GW's "dry" paints?

I duno, supposed to be good for dry-brushing,
thats what I use my sticky half-dried-up paint for.

 

They are most defiantly for dry brushing the highest highlights. That's why they are such light colors.
I do hate them though. It basically forces me to dry brush the lightest highlights. They dry out faster too. I don't understand why they didn't just make them regular. I have mixed them with water and gotten good results applying them as a layer. But it's not any better than trying to do the same with a dried out paint. And the results are just good. Not great. It's near impossible to get a very thin even layer with them, and when I do, it's hard to repeat.

 

Well, yeah, they are not the greatest invention on earth, that's for sure. I think they are only worth it for brand new painters who have not even heard of the technique drybrushing, and let's them try it out without having to worry about if the paint is dry enough or not. Although, it can be a bit difficult to get the right amount of the Dry paint on your brush, as at least with my experience when using bigger brushes, some clunks of the dry stuff ends up hidden inside the brush, and will leave horrible long scratch marks on the model/surface.

I have used them a bit, especially the Underhive Ash for highlighting the bases with Lustrian Undergrowth on them. It works pretty well and is quick to use. And will probably never run out. Kindleflame is also kinda nice. I also got a Necron Compound from a friend, but haven't tried it yet. But all in all, I don't think they are worth it.

 

I use Terminatus Stone for drybrushing some of my bases. I must say, while the results are fine (and fairly consistent) it is not something I couldn't do with normal paint. The paint is not even "dry", and you will still need to brush off the brush on some piece of paper to get the right amount/dryness. And indeed, it can be horrendous with large brushes.
Must say that I love the colour though

 

They are really good for stone. They give a good random, scratchy look when dry brushed onto a surface. For the jade on my saurus speartips and icons and standards, i go gray, then dark green ink, then a dry brush of GW Hellion Green Dry paint. It gives a scratchy light green surface that still shows the darker green and gives a somewhat crystalline depth to the jade bits. Haven't done it on any large surfaces yet, but it works fairly well on smaller bits.

 

I use both regular, and "dry" paints for dry-brushing, and i must admit i am leaning quite a lot to the side of dries being a very good, and nicely textured paint.

I cannot really explain why, but i really enjoy working with them. I get less excess paint of my brush, it dries up very fast in the actual model, and the thick texture completely disappears once the paint hits the model.

I started off with 1x skink blue, and only later got into drybrushing, now i have several and use them regularly. I can see the pro's of having them just be regular colors and have them be generally useful, but they last much longer this way, applies a great, spread out coat, and doesn't waste much paint when used.

just my 2 cents.

 

... Ugh, accidentally bought these instead of regular gold and silver colors....
I can barely get any of the paint to stay on the brush, and zero on the model....

do I have to add water or something ?

 

You can't use them like regular paints, they are meant only for drybrushing. Dip the brush in there, wipe it couple of times against a paper and brush away. My personal experiences with the metallic dry paints have been pretty bad. They dry into the pot rather quickly and they are not, in my mind, bright enough to be the brightest highlight.

 

My problem is that they are Soooo dry that they won't go on the brush.
(they are a jello like consistency)

 

That's the constancy they are new. Use a tooth pick or a stippling brush and water them down.