Other than it's sold in much smaller bottles that is. Is it chemically different? I'm not talking about the primers, I'm talking about the color paints.

In the same vein, are oil paints for miniatures different from classic oil paints? I find it hard to believe one would be using the same type of paint. Oils (as those sold for canvas painting) take ages to dry, especially if on plastic. They mix up too easily and I would predict a mess if you had to paint something that needs a lot of handling, such as a miniature.

Most miniature painting guides online focus on techniques but gloss over materials specifications. As someone with a fair amount of experience in traditional painting, I find this frustrating.

Other than it's sold in much smaller bottles that is. Is it chemically different? I'm not talking about the primers, I'm talking about the color paints.

In the same vein, are oil paints for miniatures different from classic oil paints? I find it hard to believe one would be using the same type of paint. Oils (as those sold for canvas painting) take ages to dry, especially if on plastic. They mix up too easily and I would predict a mess if you had to paint something that needs a lot of handling, such as a miniature.

Most miniature painting guides online focus on techniques but gloss over materials specifications. As someone with a fair amount of experience in traditional painting, I find this frustrating.

Both the primers and paints are different. They have smaller particles of pigment, this allows much finer detail to be achieved. I believe they use different medium for the paint as well.

I have seen an amazing painter paint a model using cheap ass paint from Walmart and model paints, the details are lost using the cheap paint.

Acrylic paints for miniature painting are, barring "technique" paints, roughly the same, though often much more thinned down than the acrylic paints found in a craft or art store.

I have only used oil paints to do special effects (oil streaks, grime, etc) using white spirits and wiping off most of the oil paints. While I cannot say for certain, I don't know of anyone who has painted a miniature using oils exclusively. We're they to do so, I would assume it would be as a display piece and not one to be handled.

That checks out, I would be expecting the medium in particular to be different for that reason.

So I guess the same goes for oils? I suppose they would be more similar to oil based varnishes for wood instead, rather than oil based paints for canvas?

Have you used oil based paint for miniatures specifically or was that the same oil paint sold for canvases? I can see the spirits helping with the drying times if it's just smear effects

Other than it's sold in much smaller bottles that is. Is it chemically different? I'm not talking about the primers, I'm talking about the color paints.

In the same vein, are oil paints for miniatures different from classic oil paints? I find it hard to believe one would be using the same type of paint. Oils (as those sold for canvas painting) take ages to dry, especially if on plastic. They mix up too easily and I would predict a mess if you had to paint something that needs a lot of handling, such as a miniature.

Most miniature painting guides online focus on techniques but gloss over materials specifications. As someone with a fair amount of experience in traditional painting, I find this frustrating.

Other than it's sold in much smaller bottles that is. Is it chemically different? I'm not talking about the primers, I'm talking about the color paints.

In the same vein, are oil paints for miniatures different from classic oil paints? I find it hard to believe one would be using the same type of paint. Oils (as those sold for canvas painting) take ages to dry, especially if on plastic. They mix up too easily and I would predict a mess if you had to paint something that needs a lot of handling, such as a miniature.

Most miniature painting guides online focus on techniques but gloss over materials specifications. As someone with a fair amount of experience in traditional painting, I find this frustrating.

since youve mostly gotten your answers on the basic questions, i will add some other information here for you as FYI. If you're wondering, you can use regular old acrylic hobby paints for miniatures. It's going to take some extra work and a lot of mixing to get it the right consistency and will be a learning curve there.

If you're wondering if it's worth the money to spend on mini paints, that's going to be entirely up to your preference. Mini paints can be quite pricey vs regular old craft store paints. I would maybe suggest dabbling with regular paints and getting some thinner medium and see if mixing them works out well for you. If you find it too annoying/frustrating/not worth your time then get mini paints. Mini paints can basically be used right out of the bottle.

Thanks. I was wondering about spending. From what I gather, a basic set of paints for minis would cost the same as a basic set of regular paints or perhaps slightly more. The difference would be the amount of paint. Atm I'm heavily leaning towards the minis, since it would take less storage space. But I'll see what I end up getting. Knowing the regular ones can be used too is still useful, in case I find any old acrylics in my possession.