I want to share my personal experience with acrylic paints to help out those who hand paint their kits. This is more about the texture and finish of acrylic paint rather than the hue. I've been an acrylic painter for almost 10 years. I started off using Apple Barrel acrylic paints and gradually moved to more expensive paints as I experienced. My current favorite brands are Atelier and Winsor Newton. They have a thick creamy texture that is great for blending on canvas. Apple Barrel has a more watery texture and has "weaker", more transparent pigments. (Of course, both of these brands will need to be watered down before being used for hand painting kits.) What I noticed from using both of these paints is that Atelier, when dry, has a "waxy" finish/texture. It's like a satin sheen that can be slightly sticky depending on the pigment. Apple Barrel, when dry, has a "chalky" finish/texture. This is a true matte. I much prefer Apple Barrel for painting kits because of the matte finish. However, because it's very "weak" compared to higher quality brands, more layers need to be applied. The matte chalkiness makes it susceptible to scuffs and damage, but that can be protected by a sealer. A bonus for Apple Barrel is how affordable they are. At least where I live in the USA, you can buy a 2 oz. bottle of Apple Barrel at Walmart for 50¢. I recently bought two potential skin tone colors, "Sunkissed Peach" and "Lite Mocha".

*2022 edit: For those continuously asking about where I got my torsos to practice... guys I said I made them myself 😑 in fact, there's a link to an amazon listing to where I purchased the molds, stop asking and read the damn descriptions! If the item is no longer available, then just look for a premade silicone mold of a torso, there are tons of those on amazon. ****************************************** Thank you so much for the welcome back comments 🤣 It feels weird to come back doesn't it? LOL I've been reading and replying to almost all your comments, but some are same and I guess my replies get lost in between, so I want to address the question that has been repeated several times here: Thinning Americana (and folkart brands) Thinning can be done with just water or even an airbrush medium if you have it. It depends on the consistency of the paint itself to determine how much water it needs to be thinned out, some bottles come with runny paint, others come in super THIC 😏 If the paint is runny, I thin 1:1 with water, if the paint is too thick that your're basically squeezing out a tiny poop dollop in your paint cup, then thin down with 2:1 or you might even need a 3:1 ratio, always add a little at a time and mix to see how the paint thins, I normally leave it at chocolate milk consistency and crank up the compressor just a little bit (from 20 to 25 PSI) because craft paint is a less pigmented than hobby paint and thinning too much will result in you having to do 3 or 4 layers for full coverage. To thin out Vallejo paints, they carry their own brand of thinner, I used that and their airbrush flow improver, just a few drops of each and it does the trick to use with your AB. I also want to say that thanks to all your continuing support, we've now reached 10,000 subs! 😲 I didn't think I'd reach 100 when I started xD so this was a morale boost to continue to put more videos out! I'm still in the editing seat, I'm doing a small video review and unboxing of an amazing Sailor Moon kit that I'm sure, most of you here have not seen, and that will be coming out between tomorrow and Friday 🤓 Next video after that is a GK special on Charagumin kits from Volks and then part 2 will drop 🤩

I've wanted to get into garage kits for the longest time but never knew where to start, found your channel recently and wanted to say thanks for the really helpful videos and info.

The thing about Vallejo and some of their skin tones is that they're meant for smaller scale miniatures and then to be used with a flesh wash and layered up with lighter and lighter tones to create depth and contrast. I'm new to the gk scene and have just ordered my first kit from e2046 im mostly a miniature painter so excited try something new. Your vids have been a great help.

Its been 1000 years but the second i saw that notification i smashed it. Glad the queen of gks is back!

Love to see some girls of color in the anime pvc world! Need a tutorial for all kinds of earth tone skin tones

I was hoping for darker skin tones, this does help me plenty though. Guess I just have to look around more.

Out of curiosity think you would ever like to try a video like this for gold paints since it can be quite difficult to paint gold with acrylics? And it would be nice to see comparisons between a few different golds.

I actually really needed this video. I am about to paint my very first resin kit. And I was very hesitant on what I should use for the skin tone. But thank you so much for this!!! I will be re watching it again.

Thank you so much for showing all the flesh tone colors. Helps a lot on learning.

Super stoked on the video! Glad you posted! Primera vez que oigo pronunciado *Vallejo* correcta mente. 👌🤣 I live in the U.S. and I’m hispanic so when I went to my local hobby shop and asked for Vallejo primer the way its pronounced in spanish, they looked at me like like all confused and then proceeded to correct me and called it “Valeyjo” 😂😂😂

DAAAAAAMMMMNNNN some of those went on SO YELLOW it was crazy to see, seeing it in the bottle and it appears such a peachy skin tone, but goes on bright yellow would make my flip out like you said, yikes! Thanks for doing a comparison! I hope you'll also do other common paint brands for typical skin tones.

You saved me a lot of trial and error for my garage kit waifus, also you popped first in my search. Great Job! Subscribed and like! 😊

Hey there. Good to see you. I use Garage Kit colors skin tones ( water based ). They make great colors with corresponding transparencies. I paint from dark to light and use an organic approach. Every character has skin tone that is different. Don’t want to be one trick pony. Just saying, they are the best skin tone colors available. Thanks for all your hard work.

I loved this video. Skin tone is one of the major problems when painting GK and what I liked more is that you compared two brands of paints I can find in my country (Brasil). I am returning to airbrushing after a few years (I stayed for a while using rattle cans) and I think I will try Americana paints first because they cost less than the half of Vallejo ones for bigger bottles. Thank you very much!

Really nice to see you post new videos on painting resin. Thanks!

There’s a lot of us who just want you to upload when you feel the product is ready... you’re a person not a company!

Oh my god girl, I just declared myself your number one fan, as a visual artist I would love to learn how to do this, I just saw your video of the sailor moon figure and I was fascinated!

So I just subbed to you. Apparently, you're the only one online who can explain this shit correctly.

Thank you for the update and rundown of various skin tones. Much appreciated!

Welcome back Leona! I'm so excited to see your video again! Thank you very much for another great, in depth tutorial!

Hi, found your channel while trying to learn how to get better at flesh tones. I just paint wargamming stuff and use VALL-EH-HO paint almost exclusively. I think the tones work better on smaller scales where you want more contrast in the highlights. Skin tones look waaaaaay nicer and more natural at that scale though, makes me want to try one of those kits lol.

Great information, I will try out Vallejo! I have a zillion different colors of Tamiya... this made me realize how limited the colors are in some areas of the spectrum! Im more of a military modeler, this will be my first time painting a figurine. I bought a 3D resin printer, so I doubt it will be my last.

Since i use Vallejo a lot the one thing I learned is a white primer is a no go with there skin tones

love your channel, i've been interested in GK's for years

Thank you so much for this video! I’m starting with the airbrush with my self made figures, and didn’t really know what to buy, love the video!

Glad your back Senpai. Vallejo is really common here in the UK and I love it.

Thank you for the video, I only recently considered picking up a resin figure of a female pilot but didn't know how to approach the skin tones. Keep up the great work.

Looking forward to the clear lacquer technique! It looks amazing.

Great to see you back, your videos are the best.

Welcome back!! I'm really excited you're back almost right after I got my first garage kit 😂

That's really awesome. Thanks for doing all that and was a great visual for my future painting!

Whoa, this gets bookmarked. Man, what a great reference, thanks for doing all that. Great vid.

yes, glad your back leona love your work.

Don't suppose you happen to have a source for the torsos you used? Hoping to do some tests to see how i feel for skin tones.

Thank you for this video! It saved me from using the wrong shade on some figures I worked very hard to get ready for painting.

Welcome back!! Always glad to see your video, your videos are very useful!

Help me so much, great video! Im a beginner try to paint my first garage kit.

thx for test it all

Thank you for the video. I'd be really thankful if you could answer just one question - I feel like this video mostly concerns female skin tones. Could you recommend some paints (base+shade) for painting more masculine anime skin? Think for example - a Goku garage kit. Preferably acrylic.

Hey Leona If the Americana flesh tone used to be your favorite skin tone, which one is your favorite now ?

I only have two colours for doing skin. One is Vallejo Carne Palida. You showed it off. I don't like it much on my models but maybe I use it too thick or it's more suited for anime characters with very clean skin. The other one which isn't in this video is Vallejo Carne Oscura 72.044. It's for much blacker skins. IMO it's like magic. It really makes the skin feel alive and it blends easily into other colours for things like scar tissue. I mostly paint dnd miniatures and Warhammer. These colours look a bit too clear and clean for that.

Este es el mejor tutorial del mundo mundial. keep it up !!!!

Tamiya flesh has been the perfect base coat for all of my figures for over forty years. I don’t use anything else.

Your content is so great, do not rush it! Keep up the amazing work!

Thank you! This video will help me a lot with a few figures restoration.

Is americana flesh tone under a different name now because I can't find it in stores

Thanks for the overview! I'm still hoping to actually start working on any of the myriad figure kits I've picked up over the years, so the more information I can get the better.

i wouldn´t take blizzard´s current philosophy 🤣 great video !

Very informative video as usual! I just got a new kit and can't wait to paint!

Thank you!!! I was going crazy trying to get skin tones correct!!!

Bienvenida de vuelta. Gracias por los consejos :)

Vallejo has a pretty good set for the face/skin that goes further with darker skin. Most of the use I see has been for wargaming figures and not garage kits. Skip GW (Citadel) as their market is for the wargame hobby and blending is much more difficult from their containers as opposed to dropper bottles. The pots would be an absolute mess to work with for airbrush unless you transfer them to empty dropper bottles or use droppers that you'd find for essential oils. There's also the longstanding gripe that the paint in the pots dries out quickly.

Thanks for this video. I’ve always wanted to get into garage kits. So many I want but I didn’t know how or where to start for colors. Subscribed

just subscribe... thanks for this planning to repaint some anime fig kit this coming... really grateful for this tutorial... your one of the humorous tutorial sensei i met on KZfaq.. hope to see more eye opening tutorials in the future.

Thanks for sharing, I been planning to air brush once again when the weather got better around my location.

thank's four your tutorial, it's difficule t imagine the result about that tone, i understand now !!!

I know this video was from many many moons ago, and it's a very unrelated question, but I love the lipstick on you and I wondered what it was! Whenever I watch one of your videos you always look beautiful - ~goals~

Been doing mini painting for about two years now and kind of want to get into doing anime scale figures. I already have display case of anime figures so figured why not! Not sure what to start with really though. Was eyeing a Asuka bust kit seen someone recommended in a forum.

I am going to be that person. But I paint plastic models, which means I test my colors on spoons lol. But I have 3 resin figures and am looking to buy some flesh paints. But I am super curious as to where you got the multiple chest pieces from? I want to paint practice on what would be essential for my figures.

I come here to take some pointers and learn from the queen of resin & garage kit... luv skin tone lesson to death.

Do you have a video that helps with having a set up for painting ? like a good way of getting the pieces to hang for drying

idk why i cant seem to get my colors to look like yours. mine tend to all end up looking more in the yellowish side for some reason but video did help a lot nonetheless and i could just add a bit of pink or orange/brown to some of these to get the tones i want. really good video especially with showing the vallejo colors i don't own already.

Yeah, finally! Can’t wait to watch :3

Welcome back! Wonderful video as always

what if u have a preciously painted figure and u didnt have a airbrush would it ruin the texture of the figure to paint over it with a fine tip brush if u watered it down? i need some advice ty

Was scrolling past el facebook and saw you posted a vid, I'm like ah fuck yeah!!

Just subscribed

Hi Leona, you finally came back to do tutorials, you're very good. Can I know how to dilute the Americana colors and the Flockarts to give them as an airbrush? Thanks for your help.

Awesome video. Can you make a tutorial on how to add highlights/shadows/tones to a flesh tone base?

I think maybe the yellow skin tones would be good for creating a sunlight look on a figure, like in a diorama or for a certain effect? Or maybe as a base for darker skin tones (going more toward olive tones maybe?) Anyway, awesome job, maybe someday in the future you could wipe the paint from those busts and make a video with different skin effects specifically, like getting a freckled Irish skin or a deep brown skin tone that doesn’t look flat. That might be pretty cool, and can challenge you to use your gross yellow skin paints? ;p

Wahoo! You’re back and I can shoot you a question that has been rattling around in my skull for some time now. I watched and enjoyed all your videos especially on finding kits, loved it and has been very helpful. My question is, once a kit leaves production is there any hope to see it on any specific sites? It seems that the kit I wanted to buy (long ago) but waited, because I wanted some cheaper practice kits first, is now out of print/stock everywhere and eBay-sellers are asking for well over $100! I’m even willing to go to a sketchy non name brand option. Any leads or general advice would be awesome! Side note, my entrance to model making and painting comes from table top gaming miniatures (D&D, Warmachine, Warhammer, bloodbowl....) and I first found your videos to get me more comfortable with airbrushing. One thing lead to another and you managed to convince me to step out from my comfort zone of 1/24th scale (mostly vehicles) to the 1/6th scale! I’m not afraid of bigger models and higher detail anymore thanks! Looking forward to your updates, when they are ready of course ;) -Your faithful resin monkey

yay! Love it! Thank you taking your precious time to make these wonderful videos. Quick question: how do you thin Americana acrylic paint and what's your suggested ratio? I find that it peels sometimes after it dries, or maybe my nails are just long. lol

Vallejo tend to cater more to people painting warhammer or DnD minis. That's why 'Elf Skin' is darker, and while a lot of them are totally out of the ballpark for Japanese GK's. I paint everything from Western GK's, to Anime GK's, to tabletop minis, and there are specifics paints that are perfect for one but not for another.

Thank you for posting a video on how to use acrylic paint skin tones. That's definitely going to help me out here when I build some figurines. Question what kind of primer do you use is it black or gray or white before you add your base coat??? Also can you by chance make a video on how to airbrush skin tones like start to finish where did you make one like that already???

Great video. Thank you for the time that you put in to this. Just one question. What is your current favorite skin tone you are using? Thanks.

Been waiting for this for so long, but the wait was worth it. Would have liked to have seen you do darker skin tones, so as to do a more complete and all inclusive look at the subject of skin tones, but I get why you wanted to narrow it down. I am looking forward to the next part and await its release. PS: Any chance of you posting photos of the finished samples with some more direct/front lighting?

i love the content please make more and more tutorials of this kind of content..

thanks a lot, great information

Your hairs so pretty i love it!

Great video, thanks!

Is there a tutorial on how to hold the body parts with those clippers correctly? I have difficulties getting them stable.

Where did you purchase your test body samples? I want to make a color list :]

welcome back thankyou for uploading again! ^•^

One thing that always surprises me is how many model painters seem to be so hesitant to mix their own colours. I know it's way more convenient to use pre-moxed... but I remember blowing my friends mind by making a skin tone from the red, blue, yellow and white from his Vallejo 'basics' set. From that you can make any skin tone from pale Caucasian to deep black and everything in between.

Hey Leona, great to see you uploading more stuff! And especially a skintone video; your last one has been SO helpful to me and I've seen it maybe 100x already. I have one question: how did you thin the Vallejo paints for airbrush? I know they are intended for handpainting (at least some of them) and I've used their Airbrush Flow Improver medium when I airbrush. Just curious what you used.

Welcome back!!!

Great video miss. I'm thinking of going down this rabbit hole. Which gun do you recommend on starting off? Thank you and be safe

Thank you for this video, this will help.. But now that I saw that.. I wonder where I can find bodies to test different tone and effect, since it'll help to not ruin a kit without knowing the render...

Just curious, do you just airbrush a basecoat, or are you going to have follow up tutorials on how to layer on highlights and shadows for skin specifically?

Welcome back!

thanks so much for this video! .. could you consider making a video abo8ut olive/medium - dark skin tones for poc characters ~?

Liked. Favorited. Subbed. Omfg thank you.

love your videos and how you curse LOL ... btw have you ever tried mr color lacquers ? i want to try them instead of acrylic cause my acrylics tend to peal no matter how much top coat i use

Can you do the same effect if do hand brushing

can you handpaint with these paints? i don't have an airbrush, only brushes. would i still have to water this paint down?

Muchísimas gracias! Realmente informativo :D

Are you using any paint thinner mixed with the paint before you spray? If so, what is the ratio you are using?

Hi, you mentioned that using lacquer will be completely different from airbrushing acrylic. Do you telling me some of the differences? I understand that the thinning agent will be different and the lacquer are more toxic. Is there anything else?

Dark flesh and medium skin tone for Figures of Marge Simpson maybe? XD