hey guys,

well i have had these paints for a little while and i am thoroughly disappointed. I've mixed them by hand and shook the crud out of them and they wont go on smooth and solid. They go on patchy and horrible as if they put to much medium in them or something. I've tried thinning, no water, a little water. I've used several kinds of water and i've used a flow extender. They all yield these results;

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/war...mp/P1010161.jpg

so i am thinking i am going to switch back to GW paints and see if i have more success in getting a nice solid basecoat.

Yeah I never thought they were that good but I wasnt getting the finish of what you got. For some reason they tend not to mix well with water though.

I only really use the black now because of how matt it is

I use them a lot, and I find they go on ok:



Although I did find that because they are so pigment rich, compared to GW paints, they can be rubbed off easily with out Varnish.

I have never got the results you have there....

Have you tried putting a ball bearing in the bottle to aid in mixing?

i am going to switch back to GW as, as i said i am thoroughly disappointed. If anyone has good results i would like to see pics and know what you did?

cheers

'Wraith

If you have problems, I'd suggest e-mailing the guys at Matisse. I had one of the metallic mediums go funny & they said they'd had problems with them in that size & replaced the bottle that day. They were a great help.

Here's a couple I've painted with them.

With mt exsperience I have had the same problems as you, I would suggest giving vallejo a chance, they are really really nice paints and i wonder why I didn't get them sooner.

I find if I thin them down too far they dry funny. Also, I've been finding them to apply inconsistently when doing really thin layering. THey're not really easy to use.

I love the white and the black, but apart from them, the rest are mostly ordinary. I'm gradually switching back to Vallejo because I get a better result. Better consistency and flow no matter how far I water them down (within reason of course).

can you get vallejo in south australia? Preferably adelaide?

I did this with Derivan Minis - All of it apart from the NMM Gold and the Skin

very nice, i would be happy if i could get consistent results. It is very frustrating doing 14 coats and having no solid basecoat or even approaching solid.

I use them near 75% of the time and never had a single mini go like that.

My suggestion woiuld be to open the container and stick something down into the bottle to ensure the medium is mixing with the pigment. Looks like pure medium you are painting with not mixed at all.

As a side thought what under coate did you use?

That not being the case you may have simply goten a bad bottle. Contact Matisse and they will help you out , no doubt.

Stick with MiNi's though, there is nothing wrong with their range I use it next to Vallejo all the time (Vallejo for historical colours).

You know those little tabs of metal excess that come with many mini's? I use them as 'agitators' in some of my paints, mostly GW admittedly, but it could work. Like the ball in cans of spraypaint.

RoV

Hi All,

If you have an issue with the Derivan Minis I suggest that you speak to David the Sales Manager from Matisse.
His email address is dm@matisse.com.au

If you would like some technical advice and assistance, I would speak to Vivien.
Her email address is vk@matisse.com.au.

If approached in a constructive manner they are very helpful.

I have never had a miniature end up like the one Bloodwraith showed and if that had happened to me I would be disappointed too.

I am aware that some of the Derivan minis colours do better with a white undercoat because of the nature of the pigment. Sherwood Green comes to mind. When I undercoat in black for some colours I place an intermediate coat of white in place, to ensure I get the best out of the colours with semi-transparent or transparent pigments in them. (reds, yellow etc are by nature transparent pigments)

I have put ball bearings in the metallic colours, but I have not ever had to put ball bearings into the other colours, so I am at a loss to explain what has happened to Bloodwraiths miniature, except it looks like the pigment has settled and needs to be remixed. A ball bearing would do the trick, although you might have to first clear the noozle of any clear carrier fluid that has been caught in it. (I bought stainless steel ball bearings that where approx 9-10mm wide, the ball bearings made using imperial measurements are cheaper than ones made for metric measurements, I don't know why they just are.)

There are some very good examples of miniatures painted with Derivan Minis by Bail's daughter, my son, Lemmingspawn, DMG, and many others on

http://www.matisse.com.au/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=5

and

http://www.matisse.com.au/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=6

Red Dragon and Greenmonkey, I would like to encourage you to place that miniature photos of the figure you have shown in this topic on the Matisse gallery. They look great.

Each brand of paint will have its own characteristic, and you will be use to the brand you have used in the past. I can only suggest speak to Matisse before you go and buy yet more paint.

Bloodwraith, Please private message me with your address, I have some spare ball bearings that I will post to you and you can try that.

Cheers Ty

Oh, that pic is no where near the finished one!

And I virtually always use White UC.

And I must say, I had some mixing problems with Vallego paints, I think a pot of Green Ochre for German tanks.

I am a bias source so I did a search for derivan and found these on the Reaper board from another painter. (far better than me)
http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?...&hl=derivan

Using the reds
http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?...&hl=derivan

Ty,

thanks for addresses i will get on it. I've flushed the nozzles and all sorts of things and they just wont work properly. I am going to contact dave and possibly vivien. I'm not angry as i said just a little disappointed. I will contact them and see what happens, now i have photo proof.

The nature of your undercoat would play a part too - the derivans work a lot better on undercoats that have a bit of bite to the plastic or metal.

Personally I hate the stool caps that the derivans come in, and always just unscrew them to get paint out - perhaps you should try this, as you might get a better mix of the pigment and binder.

what undercoat are you guys using?

Dulux flat black is a good undercoat to use. Havnt had a problem with it and been using it for about 3 years now

GMD, is that an aerosol or a paint pot? I've been looking for a far more economical BC than the GW cans. Sorry to go off topic guys.

Its an aerosol, you can get it from the dulux shop in High street, Belmont

Try using glass beads, not ball bearings. Ball bearings as with all things metal have a nasty tendancy to rust when combined with water based solutions and air...

Speaking from experience.

depends if they are marine grade or not.

That is a real shame you are having dramas with the paints as I haven't heard many problems with them, I've owned the whole set for a while now and couldn't be more happier with the outcome of them, I will post some pics shortly of the work I have produced, by no means masterpieces but anything to help showcase the derivan range.

not sure why i am having problems with them. Even my prussian blue has crapped out on me, which was really unexpected. Maybe i will be able to fix it somehow.