A Hidden Gem: Golden High Flow Acrylics
When I started composing this post in my head I had a kick-ass title in mind. For some reason I thought that it was Tom Schadle who had introduced the idea of using Golden High Flow Acrylics for hobby painting and I was going to call this post: “Tom Schadle is a Prophet.” When I google it, however, I don’t find any mention of Tom in connection with this brand of acrylics. In fact, I find no hobbyists talking about this paint but I know that the idea of using the paint was introduced to me by someone online.
This piece was painted using Golden High Flow Acrylic Neutral Grey. Deadzone terrain produced by Mantic Entertainment LLC.
I’m not going to prevaricate or waste words introducing this paint. It is simply an excellent paint which works as well in an airbrush as it does on bristle. I had tried it before but I don’t think I was experienced enough with airbrushing to understand what I had in my hands. I’m currently in the process of painting an Airfix 1/48 Supermarine Spitfire PR.XIX using Vallejo Model Air acrylic paints. I love Vallejo paints and have been using their model colours for years. I’ve found the Model Air to be easy to use, spraying fine straight out of the bottle, and this experience airbrushing, added to my experience painting the terrain in the Deadzone boxed set, meant I was able to truly appreciate how nice Golden’s High Flow Acrylics spray.
I’ve been painting the interior of the photo recon plane and after painting a bunch of parts Interior Green I had a couple of cameras that needed to be grey. Remembering that I’d purchased some Golden Neutral Grey I put some in the airbrush and started spraying. The difference was noticeable: Golden High Flow Acrylics are less viscous and covers better that Vallejo Model Air. I also had a smaller camera that I had to brush paint so I put a few drops on my palette and found it covered in one coat. I had tried to touch up some of the Interior Green with a brush before and found that it was extremely translucent.
I’ve only used one colour but I am eager to try more. Grey is a colour that tends to cover other colours easily so it may not be representative of the line as a whole. Being an artist’s paint instead of a hobby paint I’ll likely have to mix my colours but that doesn’t phase me, I’ve been mixing Vallejo for years and rarely use colours straight from the bottle. Of course I’ve already purchased the paints I need for my current kit but the next time I need paints, either for brush painting a miniature or airbrushing a model, I’m going to give Golden High Flow Acrylics a try.
You may not want to take my word for it, however, as the only other person I’ve found mentioning these paints in relation to the hobby is not pleased with them.
Have you tried Golden’s High Flow Acrylics? They’ve only been around for a couple of years. Leave a comment and let me know what your experiences with them are. Alternatively if there’s a line of paints I absolutely must try let me know in the comments. You can also find me on Google+ and Twitter. Don’t forget to subscribe, I’m making progress on my Spitfire and will be sharing it here once it is done.
In the video he’s using the transparent line. You can tell by the bottle which would explain why he was having such a hard time.
Goldens high flow comes in two lines, regular and transparent. Transparents function more like water colors and are great for glazes and tints. The regular line is opaque and covers solid rather than layering in tints. Both are great but use very different techniques.
Personally, I love the high flows as they have excellent pigmentation and are very versatile. Haven’t experienced any issues with adhesion as I always use a primer and thin with liquid medium so as to maintain the integrity of the acryllic polymer.
I like the watery consistency of the paint. Most models have fine lines and details that are easily lost when painted. Thinner paint means less detail lost on the model and Golden paints are so pigmented that only 1 or 2 coats are ever needed even with additional thinning. In situations where I need to thicken the paint I mix in a bit of gel medium (gloss or matte).
Also, all of the colors discontinued from the airbrush line are easily made by mixing. Golden even provides a mixing chart on their product page for the discontinued colors.
How do you handle the glossiness of the paint. I find about mid way into the painting process it’s hard to judge my highlights and contrast.
After initially giving up I’ve found that a 50-50 mix of Golden Super Loaded Matte Medium (SLMM) and Liquitex Fluid Matte Medium mixed with as much again water cuts the sheen without making the paint as thixotropic as just SLMM and water.
Ouch, I can’t imagine using transparent paints for basecoating.
While I’m no longer chasing the “covers black in one coat” opacity dragon I’ve found that many painters are moving too quickly to glazes.