Decanting Games Workshop Paints into Dropper Bottles

Last Updated on June 11, 2020 by FauxHammer

Plenty of people have made this same post about how to transfer Games Workshop paints into dropper bottles. But I wanted to bring it up to date and show what I have found in the process to recover as much paint from your original pot as possible. Follow this guide to make your own Citadel Dropper Bottle.

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Sign Our Petition

We have set up a petition on 20/01/20 asking GW to replace all their paint pots with dropper bottles. After the video released today which embarrassingly shows GW trying to pour paint from a dropper bottle into an airbrush. It’s so obvious they need to change these pots.

I’ve set the petition up so that all milestones we hit will be emailed directly to Games Workshop’s current CEO. If we hit 500,000 signatures. I will deliver it to GW head office myself – in person.

Do you want to know how to transfer your Citadel Paints into dropper bottles?

I have received lots of great feedback since posting this article. So I have significantly updated it with the input of many great people in the community. Thank you all.

I’ve now included some notes on adding Citadel Contrast Paint to Dropper Bottles. (spoiler alert, just pour it)

Do you want to transfer Citadel Paints to Dropper Bottles or would you rather just buy another brand? Let us know in the comments.

If you have an idea of any improvement I could make to this guide, please share it in the comments below, or anywhere else (social media shares) I have linked this guide.

Transfer GW Paints into Dropper Bottles

Why Transfer GW Paints into Dropper Bottles?

First of all, what are the reasons for Transferring Citadel Paints into Dropper Bottles?

Well, a lot of people will say, “there is no point” or “you waste paint doing this” (not quite true). And my personal favourite, “Don’t buy sucky Games Workshop paints in the first place, Buy Vallejo, Reaper, Scale 75 Army Painter or literally any other miniature paint brand.”. Sigh! Some people like the Games Workshop paints, I like the Games Workshop paints. But mostly, before I learned there even were other options I was heavily invested in the Games Workshop colours.

How to Make a Dice Tray - Spilled Agrax Earthshade Knocked Over
Oh no – I tipped over a bottle of Agrax Earthsahde!

I’d rather just buy Citadel Dropper bottles in the first place, but Games Workshop insists on using these pots.

Here are just some reasons you may want to do this,

  • The paints will last longer
    • A dropper bottle is much more airtight than a Games Workshop pot. Also, when opening a Games Workshop pot, the paint runs into the lid crease. Over time this builds up to the point you are unable to close it. Or you need to messily scrape the excess out of the crease
  • You can easily control how much you put on a palette
    • Sure, you can get some control with your small brushes, but the main thing is you can add paint drop-by-drop and you don’t need to wash off a brush afterwards, keeping you water pot a bit clearer.
  • You can measure mixes more accurately by drops
    • How many times do you see 4:1 ratio of X paint to Y paint? Easy now, 4 drops of one and 1 drop of the other. You can even add water to a bottle to get accurate paint to water ratios.
  • You can save space
    • Ok, so the volume of paint is pretty much the same, and the bottles are technically larger (15ml over 12ml). But the diameter of the base is much smaller on the bottles. If you have only one flat surface to store paints on you can get many many more bottles than Games Workshop pots.
  • You can replace the lid and spout
    • These things aren’t perfect and may eventually get clogged. But you can easily pop off a spout and/or replace the lid if it is getting too thick with paint. Or, just try to remember to wipe the excess off the spout before you put the lid back on.
  • It’s cheap to do
    • Doing all my paints cost less than £12 (that’s without agitators, however)
  • They look tidier
    • Ok, so this point is more of an opinion than a fact. There’s something about the bottles that just make them look a whole lot tidier than the Games Workshop Pots.
  • You will save more paint
    • Yes, you lose a bit in the transfer but a lot less than you would lose by it drying out in the pot.
    • My paints have been in bottles for 3 years now and are still nice and fluid.
  • Adding an agitator to a bottle is better than the Games Workshop pots
    • Sure you can add an agitator to the Games Workshop pots. But because the neck of the pot is a smaller diameter than the base, when you shake the pot your agitator will not get into the corners. With a bottle, the sides are parallel and the base is a smaller surface area, chances are your agitator will have more likelihood of striking settled paint and getting it to flow again.

The best example of the benefit to dropper bottles (other than the numerous pictures of spilled Agrax Erthshade Shade pots out there) is the below photo from one of my readers in the “40K Death Guard Players – Plague Marines Of Nurgle” Facebook Group.

Transfer GW Paints into Dropper Bottles - Example

Thanks to Jamie for taking this picture and letting us share it. This is a new GW pot (left) vs a used GW pot (right)

How to Transfer Games Workshop Paints into Dropper Bottles – The Tools

To follow this method, there are a few necessities you will need. There are some other things you should have to hand (such as water, although distilled water is better) but the main items are listed below.

Dropper Bottles,

With spouts and Lids (15ml for normal paints and 30ml for Shades)

  • Some people have reported the poor mould quality on some bottles they have bought. Which has meant they needed to trim some mould lines from the base of the bottle so they actually stood up. I’ve had no issue with these. The only parts that had any extra mould were the necks of the lids.
  • 100 x 15ml bottles were £9.99. The only downside is that they took over a month to arrive (my fault for not checking shipping times before buying).
  • A note about Vallejo Bottles. Many people may want to match the Vallejo range with 17ml bottles and have a more uniform paint rack. But for some reason (probably because this is an odd size only Vallejo use en-masse) the 17ml bottles are about £1 per bottle! 15ml bottles will fit all of your Games Workshop Paint (a standard GW pot only contains 12ml (ish)) and as I said you can get 100 for about £10.
  • Whatever bottles you buy, make sure they come with the spouts pictured in the main post image as some of them come with really thin spouts which are more commonly used by people who smoke/vape e-cigarettes. People have used these ones, however, in my experience, they clog easier and can lead to the whole spot popping out if you apply too much force.

Buy 15ml Dropper Bottles for normal Games Workshop paints and Citadel Air Paints using the links below

AmazonClick here
eBay – UKClick here
eBay – USClick here
eBay – AustraliaClick here
eBay – CanadaClick here

Buy 20ml Dropper Bottles for Citadel Contrast paints using the links below

AmazonClick here
eBay – UKClick here
eBay – USClick here
eBay – AustraliaClick here
eBay – CanadaClick here

Buy 30ml Dropper Bottles for Games Workshop Shade paints using the links below

AmazonClick here
eBay – UKClick here
eBay – USClick here
eBay – AustraliaClick here
eBay – CanadaClick here

100ml Dropper Bottles – For other fluids. I keep distilled water in one and an airbrush cleaner I made in another

AmazonClick here
eBay – UKClick here
eBay – USClick here
eBay – AustraliaClick here
eBay – CanadaClick here

Funnels

When you buy Dropper Bottles, many of them come with some plastic funnels If you buy a large enough quantity. Great! If they don’t, You could make your own Funnels out of paper.

I think these plastic ones are much sturdier and I’m glad I bought some. You can use water to rinse the final dregs of poured paint out of them into your bottle. They’re also very easy to wash or even strip the paint from them when you’re done. With paper ones, you have to make them, you’re more likely to spill and they start to break down when wet. 10 plastic funnels cost about £1, and for me, they arrived within 15 days (unlike the bottles themselves which took over a month to arrive, ooops).

AmazonClick here
eBay – UKClick here
eBay – USClick here
eBay – AustraliaClick here
eBay – CanadaClick here

Agitators

Either High-Grade 6mm Stainless Steel Ball Bearings, High-Grade Stainless Steel M3 hex nuts or glass beads.

If you don’t get “High-Grade Stainless Steel” Ball Bearings or Hex Nuts they will rust in the pot, ruining your paint. Nuts can often work out cheaper and because of the shape, they shouldn’t get stuck in the spout and restrict the flow of paint. The issue here is that if you buy from eBay, you are at the mercy of the seller’s honesty. I bought these exact ones from a reputable seller, and whilst they were quite expensive. At £10 for 100 they have been fine for over 3 years.

Richard made a great note about these in the comments – so goo I’ve copied it here;

I would suggest Googling ‘316’ or ‘A4’ grade bearings. This grade of austenitic stainless steel is often called marine grade and will not corrode in the presence of water, salt or any common contaminates (well it’s a bit more complex than that, but effectively they will be fine) and I have used them for years as agitators without issue. Other grades may also be suitable, but 316 is readily available and reliable.

You can actually buy Ball Bearings Made specifically for paint mixing from The Army Painter, Mig Jiminez & AK Interactive. All of which are reputable brands in the miniatures and modelling community.

The added benefit of getting ball bearings is that with a strong magnet you can ensure you can get paint out of those hard to reach places.

Ball Bearings

AmazonClick here
eBay – UKClick here
eBay – USClick here
eBay – AustraliaClick here
eBay – CanadaClick here

M3 Hex Nuts

AmazonClick here
eBay – UKClick here
eBay – USClick here
eBay – AustraliaClick here
eBay – CanadaClick here

Transferring Games Workshop Paints into Dropper Bottles – The Tools you already have (most likely).

An old paintbrush (or two)

Just something old for encouraging the paint out of the pot and down the funnel

Water

You may have this in your tap, however, if you use tap water it is filled with natural bacteria, over time this will grow inside your paint pots and eventually mould. You know you’re heading this way if your paint starts to smell. If it does, stop licking your brush immediately (don’t say you don’t).

To get around this, you should use Distilled Water which has been fully purified -Do not drink this!.

Tweezers

You’re gonna want to move those Agitators out of your pots without getting your fingers messy.

Kitchen Roll (aka Paper Towels)

At least a couple of rolls.

A Knife (or Scissors)

You have one/some anyway no doubt.

Blu-Tack (or putty)

Something to stop the funnel from sitting too far into the neck of the bottle and stopping airflow.

How to Transfer Games Workshop Paints into Dropper Bottles – Steps

Step 1

Create your own Citadel Paint Dropper Bottle, Prepare your work surface by laying down some kitchen roll. You aren’t going to accidentally pour paint on your desk anyway, are you? let’s hope not, but just in case.

Step 2

Get all your tools ready

Step 3

Prepare your bottle and funnel. These Funnels are the perfect size for the bottles, too perfect.

 Transfer GW Paints into Dropper Bottles - Funnel

When placed in the bottle they pretty much create an airtight seal around the bottle neck. Meaning, as you pour paint in the funnel, the air in the bottle has nowhere to escape to, so the paint just sits in the funnel. This is why a small bead of Blu-Tack is placed on the edge (softly) to create enough of a gap for the air to escape.

Step 4

Shake your paint, well! (if you have a paint mixer, use it) Depending on the paint, I sometimes put an agitator in now to help mix it. This depends on the age of the paint, how long it has been sat unused and what type it is. Base, Layer, Edge, Contrast, Shade – (Technical & Texture paints do not transfer well) this can have an effect on how thick the paint is and how much of the really thick pigment has settled at the bottom of the pot. Either way, mix the paint as well as you possibly can.

Step 5

Pour. I’m not sure how much advice I can give you here. “Be steady”, pretty much sums it up. Shades pour straight in, Some Layer Paints pour very easily, but some are thick and clumpy (Damn You White Scar!), Base paints like Mephiston Red are very very thick. Just pour it nicely into the Funnel until the funnel is about 80% full. If the paint keeps flowing through the funnel, great, keep pouring. If it slows and you need to stop, then stop.

Sometimes paints are so thick that they need some encouragement. You can use a paperclip, thin screwdriver or an old brush to get the paint flowing. Paint sticks to the brush though, and you want it in the bottle.

Note, if you used an agitator, try not to let this fall into the funnel, it will block the flow and then you need to fish it out blind with some tweezers. If this happens, get a paperclip down the side of it and swirl the paint around until it all goes through and you can see the bearing. The only other way is to messily transfer the paint to another funnel.

Step 6

Add some “drops” of water to the remaining pot and swirl it around with your paintbrush. It can be very thick at the bottom if it’s been sat a long time. so use the back of your paintbrush to swirl it around to get a nice flowing consistency. Don’t add too much water or you could end up thinning your whole paint too much

Transfer GW Paints into Dropper Bottles - Thin

One interesting thing I noticed, Games Workshop pots are advertised as 12ml, and these bottles hold 15ml. I’ve had some paints where I’ve added at least 1ml of water, there’s almost nothing left in the pot and I still only have what looks like 8ml-10ml in the bottle. But other times I’ve simply poured the paint without any additional water, still had some left in the pot and have got clearly over 12ml. My Khorne red actually overflowed the dropper bottle??? I don’t know if somehow the paint molecules have expanded/contracted with time/temperature. But it’s certainly not an even 12 ml in each pot.

Also, do not do what I thought was clever on my first go an pour 12ml of paint and assume 3ml of water will be a good mix. I killed my brand new Thousand Sons Blue, less than a week after Games Workshop released it!

Step 7

See Step 5 – Pour again, but this time, use your brush to encourage every last drop out of the pot, don’t forget to scoop paint of the lip of the lid into your watered down mix. This can be a touch (a drop of water or two) thinner than the paint you originally poured as you want it “all” out. Then, to clean the funnel, dip the tip of your brush in some water and rinse around the funnel, getting as much as you can to pour into the bottle.

Take the funnel out and dump it in a bowl of water. You can immediately go wash it out, but this whole process takes a while, I do it in batches of 10 (because I only have 10 Funnels). leave them in water to stop the paint drying and wash them at the end of that batch.

I will be rinsing my brush during this process too, but I use my normal water pot for that.

Step 7.5

If you used your agitator in the pot, use your tweezers to pull it out and drop it into the bottle, if you didn’t use one earlier, pop a fresh one into your dropper bottle now.

I tend to add 2 agitators to each pot. 2 agitators tend to mix much better than just one, adding 3 doesn’t make much of a difference over 2.

Step 8

Pop the spout and lid on then marvel at your beautiful work.

Transfer GW Paints into Dropper Bottles - Poured

The question now is what to do with your old pot? Well, you have a few options;

  • Wash them out. This is what I did and it works much better with washes, one problem with these pots is that the pot itself is quite hard plastic and you can easily scrape paint from out of the inside. except for under the lip. But the lid is really soft and I think a bit porous. When the paint sticks to it and gets pretty embedded. So removing it completely from the lid would require you to use something similar to what you would use to strip minis, but I don’t know what it will do to this plastic. I know what boiling water does, it shrinks it and makes it brittle.
  • Washed out empty pots can actually be sold on eBay! (some people like these things).
  • You could use washed out pots to store mixes.
  • I like to use the washed pots to hold some Airbrush mixes of these colours. Basically the same paint, but thinned with car screenwash or distilled water.
  • You could continue using the pot until the paint fully runs out.
  • You could put other modelling materials in like glue, flock sand or stones.
  • If you have a lot of them, you could throw them in the bin.
  • As advised by Paul Morris in the comments, use them as stands for your in-progress models instead of getting your fingers all over them. (Cheers Paul). Unless you want a propper hobby handle?

Step 9

Move the label, I like to peel the whole label off the pot then get it into position on the bottle. By doing this I’m not getting my fingers all over the sticky part of the label I’m keeping.

Transfer GW Paints into Dropper Bottles - Label

Step 10

Simply trim the edges of the label with your knife or scissors and use your fingers to smooth it out.

Transferring Games Workshop Paints into Dropper Bottles – The Result

Now give it a shake and test it out.

Transfer GW Paints into Dropper Bottles

I trapped my thumbs in a vice when I was a kid and destroyed the nail bed. That’s why.

All done, after your test drop, wipe the spout with your tissue so your lid doesn’t get clogged like the Games Workshop paint pots used to. Otherwise, what was the point in all this?

Transferring Games Workshop Paints into Dropper Bottles – The Extra Mile

If you really want to make it easy – check out this awesome gothic style funnel holder made by Patrick Fenner. (Paint Job by me)

Sure, it’s overkill – but it’s cool and if you have access to a 3D printer it makes the whole process super simple – barely an inconvenience.

This is made to work with the 15ml bottles, Which is why the 20ml bottle above is raised out of the recess, I was transferring P3 Paint. I easily adapted this to work with a larger bottle by just putting some blue-tack on the base.

You can get the 3D file for this here. If you download, please leave a like and a comment on the page to thank the creator.

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    Self-appointed Editor in chief of FauxHammer.com - But I need to thank the team for existing and therefore enabling me to give myself role - without them, I'm just a nerd with a computer and a plastic addiction.

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Games Workshop Paints into Dropper Bottles
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Games Workshop Paints into Dropper Bottles
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Guide: Games Workshop Citadel Paints in dropper bottles?
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FauxHammer
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FauxHammer

Self-appointed Editor in chief of FauxHammer.com - But I need to thank the team for existing and therefore enabling me to give myself role - without them, I'm just a nerd with a computer and a plastic addiction.

46 thoughts on “Decanting Games Workshop Paints into Dropper Bottles

  • July 29, 2018 at 3:15 pm
    Permalink

    Interesting article, however I would like to know if anyone has experienced Vallejo paints going slimey, Black in particular. The paint hangs from the nozzle like snot ( forgive the expression but it’s the best similarity I can find). The paint thins and covers as normal but the water pot if left overnight will develop a thin slimey layer which hangs off the end of the brush.

    Reply
    • July 29, 2018 at 3:06 pm
      Permalink

      Thanks for your comment, Honestly, I’ve never seen this, but I always add an agitator to my paints, even Vallejo ones, before I use them.

      Reply
  • September 2, 2018 at 2:52 am
    Permalink

    Another great cheap agitator is the size 4 round lead weights used for fishing. Lead won’t react with the paint and no, it won’t leech into your paint or anything assuming you don’t chew on the weights.

    Reply
    • February 8, 2019 at 10:44 pm
      Permalink

      Thanks for your comment, Honestly, I’ve never seen this, but I always add an agitator to my paints, even Vallejo ones, before I use them.

      Reply
  • August 6, 2019 at 5:48 am
    Permalink

    Very good information in this article. Just had one question, though: why is it better to use wide spouts instead of the thin spouts? Thanks.

    Reply
    • August 6, 2019 at 6:47 am
      Permalink

      As someone who vapes. I’ve found that these thin spouts come on those bottles and some are hard to squeeze. However, this is probably more down to the thicker bottles than the thin spouts. I suppose that either is probably fine.

      Reply
  • October 26, 2019 at 7:59 pm
    Permalink

    Thanks for this guide! A question, do you dilute the flow aid before adding it?

    Reply
    • October 27, 2019 at 11:02 am
      Permalink

      Honestly, after the first flow-aid disaster, I didn’t bother adding any flow aid to any of the bottles. I just used distilled water to thin any stubborn paint.

      Reply
      • October 28, 2019 at 6:08 pm
        Permalink

        I watched some youtube tutorials and just finished transferring ~20 pots into dropper bottles using the Vallejo flow improver before pouring, I think I used around 50ml of that in total. Paints seem to be fine (and I really went ham with whites) so I guess your mileage may vary depending on paint and brand of the flow aid?

        Reply
  • November 11, 2019 at 8:19 am
    Permalink

    liked the tut very informative, one observation couldn’t you use a magnet to retrieve your agitator from the funnel and just work it up the side until you are able to remove it using tweezers.

    Reply
  • November 21, 2019 at 1:32 pm
    Permalink

    Never though of transferring into dropper bottles so thanks for the idea, I’ve had quite a few citadel paints solidify. Only since they changed from from the ancient taller heaxagonal bottles though. I still have some of those I bought in the late 90’s/early 2000’s that are liquid – both opened and unopened. I have a Citadel Barbarian Flesh that’s over 20 years old where almost the entire lid has crumbled except the bit in the middle and I can still use it to paint fine

    Reply
    • November 21, 2019 at 9:35 pm
      Permalink

      That’s a really great use for them too. If you have any dried out paints, a wire brush on a Dremel or drill and some appropriate medium will revive it

      Reply
  • February 11, 2020 at 3:21 pm
    Permalink

    Hey!

    I transfered my paint thanks to this walkthrough but I have a question. When I’ve shaken my paint and want to pour it on my palette it just keeps pouring and pouring without stopping. How can I handle this? Do I need to let it rest for a while after shaking or anything?

    Cheers

    Reply
    • February 13, 2020 at 1:10 pm
      Permalink

      What do you mean keeps pouring? Do you mean it pushes itself out of the bottle? I recommended 15ml bottles so that you have some room for expansion based on temp and bottle pressure what size did you get and did you add any extra medium or water (how much)?

      Reply
  • February 14, 2020 at 10:27 am
    Permalink

    It indeed forces itself out after a good shake, it will just run out of the top. I’ve got the 15ml bottles and most of them are only half full, so the expansion shouldn’t be the problem I guess? Is it maybe because of the shaking that paint will build up near the nozzle?

    Reply
    • February 14, 2020 at 10:28 am
      Permalink

      Yeah but it shouldn’t just keep pouring out of the spout then you sit it back upright.

      Reply
  • February 14, 2020 at 10:33 am
    Permalink

    Then I will try it, give it a good shake and let it rest for a few secs :)

    Reply
  • February 19, 2020 at 4:43 pm
    Permalink

    Hey!

    Very nice tutorial, which I was looking forward to using since I just received word that my dropper bottles that I ordered from Wish have arrived!

    Sadly, all of my 50 15ml bottles are missing their tips/nozzles.

    I contacted Wish and they just refunded me. So, now I have 50 more or less useless bottles.

    Do you have any tips for me? I have tried to see if anyone sells just the tips, but that seems unlikely.

    Appreciate any advice :)
    – Max

    Reply
    • February 19, 2020 at 4:47 pm
      Permalink

      I’m sure you can get tops, eBay, Amazon? But it could be tricky as some are push fit and some kinds clip over. So you could end up with the wrong ones. Contact the seller, see id they will sell you the tops?

      Reply
  • February 19, 2020 at 5:05 pm
    Permalink

    Thanks for the very quick reply!

    Seller has disappeared from the site, no luck there. Got a refund, but still.

    Thanks for the tip about eBay and Amazon. I’ve sent a few mails asking if I can indeed order just the tops.

    Seems the ones I got are pretty generic and the ones I found on eBay and Amazon look like a perfect match.

    Time will tell if I can get some use out of these bottles! :D

    Reply
    • February 19, 2020 at 5:25 pm
      Permalink

      Hope it works out for you man. I’d be chomping at the bot if I only had half what I needed for a project. You’ll probably regret starting by the end though

      Reply
  • March 7, 2020 at 12:52 pm
    Permalink

    As a tip, ‘high grade’ doesn’t really mean much when searching for stainless steel ball bearings as there are many different grades of S/S all designed for different use purposes and to resist certain environmental conditions.

    I would suggest Googling ‘316’ or ‘A4’ grade bearings. This grade of austenitic stainless steel is often called marine grade and will not corrode in the presence of water, salt or any common contaminates (well it’s a bit more complex than that, but effectively they will be fine) and I have used them for years as agitators without issue. Other grades may also be suitable, but 316 is readily available and reliable..

    Reply
  • March 13, 2020 at 11:14 pm
    Permalink

    Dropper bottles & funnels arrived today – I just snipped the damnable hinges off & started pouring my 1st Citadel pot – Celestra Grey. I am not ashamed to say that I am giggling in giddy delight! Thank you FauxHammer!

    Reply
  • March 14, 2020 at 6:38 pm
    Permalink

    Hey Faux! Thanks for your guide and clarification on some issues and thoughts I’ve had on this topic. I have one question though, when looking for these dropper bottles, there are two options, one for a squeezable bottle and the other that doesn’t say anything, only that the kinds of plastic differ from each other.
    Do you have any experience with this? And if, what’d you recommend? In regard of the soft or hard bottles that is
    (I haven’t used or tried any of the brands using dropper bottles)
    Thanks a bunch in advance!
    Regards,
    Aske

    Reply
    • March 14, 2020 at 6:43 pm
      Permalink

      Hey, thanks. I’m not sure what you mean exactly, but I have seen clear bottle which are like what you get for vape juice and the softer semi opaque bottles which are much easier to squeeze. Either work but I prefer the softer ones

      Reply
  • May 10, 2020 at 2:32 pm
    Permalink

    Great guide! Would this work for the texture/technical paints, or are they better left in the original pots?

    Reply
    • May 11, 2020 at 5:09 pm
      Permalink

      It depends, Lahmian Medium,’Ardcoat, Nurgle’s Rot and Blood for the Blood God are fine, but the Texture paints I have not tried with as they just seem too thick to even pour.

      Reply
  • June 21, 2020 at 1:11 pm
    Permalink

    I’ve seen people suggest Hematite Beads as agitators.

    Reply
    • February 8, 2022 at 11:36 pm
      Permalink

      I know this is 2 years old, but that product dried out everyone’s paints.

      See the Citadel pots are designed to be flawed on purpose, so your paints won’t last forever and you have to use them or loose them (due to them drying out) the pots themselves are designed not to be air tight, so even sticking a new top on them won’t help much.

      Granted the product itself might have been flawed and lead to the paint drying faster, but those citadel pots are bad if you need something to be air tight. I’d only use them to store stuff like basing sand in them, after transferring the paint out of them.

      Keeping washes. contrast paint and tech paints in them is largely fine though. It’s just the thicker acrylics that really suffer.

      I plan on keeping my contrast paints in the pots they come in I think, unless I notice any issues. so far I haven’t though. Same goes for the tech paints.

      Reply
  • September 27, 2020 at 7:12 am
    Permalink

    hi there, thanks for the very informative article as I am filing to me transferring those GW alpaints. Have a question about the links to the bottles though – the Amazon/ebay links of the dropper bottles are from different sellers. Which is the most reliable Bottle that wouldn’t dry up/caps don’t break etc though? There are many on Amazon but also many with bad reviews. Didn’t want the decanted paint go to waste.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • November 1, 2020 at 2:58 pm
      Permalink

      Hi, I’m not really sure there is much in it. I have bought from various sellers over time. never had an issue, they are all as good as the next IMHO.

      Reply
    • February 8, 2022 at 11:40 pm
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      I’d honestly say just don’t cheap out too much if you’re worried. I opted to buy ones that were not the cheapest for this reason. I paid about 12 quid per 50 of them for 15ml dropper bottles.

      if you still have not transferred yours I can link you to the ones I’m getting.

      I held off doing this for ages, but I’ve noticed even pots I have yet to open have started to “reef” and I’ve basically had it with GW and their under handed ways. It’s time to transfer what I have, and not buy any other paints from them in the future.

      PS: some shades they sell for convenience I will still buy, and their rattle can primers are really nice. For the most part though I try to buy other brands of paints now. Mostly Vallejo, Scale 75 and pro Acryl. Those new Army painter Speed paints look great though as well.

      Reply
  • October 7, 2020 at 5:15 pm
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    I’ve transferred dozens of GW pots to dropper bottles – NEVER AGAIN!
    Finally got my DropTops by DrTableTop – they are FANTASTIC!

    Reply
    • February 8, 2022 at 11:42 pm
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      I heard that they dry out your paints from loads of people. Absolute bedlam on the Kickstarter comments.

      Reply
  • October 7, 2020 at 5:36 pm
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    I’ve transferred dozens of GW pots to dropper bottles – NEVER AGAIN! Finally got my DropTops by DrTableTop – they are FANTASTIC!

    Reply
  • November 23, 2020 at 6:33 pm
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    Thanks for that great tuto.

    I was trying to find a way to revive old citadel paints but discovered this tuto instead and I was wondering, do you know if this would work the same way for enamel paints? I’m thinking revell enamels in particular as i find their container pretty difficult to use.
    I’m guessing there wouldn’t be any difference but maybe I need to be careful of the type of plastic because enamel could react with some plastics.

    Reply
  • December 4, 2020 at 12:43 pm
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    Hi, thank you for this article. After the latest “cleanup” of dried out Citadel paint which costed me at least 15£ of dead paint, I decided to move everything to dropper bottles, easy and cheap, your guide was inspiring and I found the process easy and satisfying.

    Quick tip: I used drops of Lahmian Medium instead of water to revive denser paints.

    Problem: the cap has in the inside a small upside cone, which should seal the tip of the dropper, but obviously doesn’t. The droppers I bought were cheap but with correct tip shape, same as you suggested, but the bottle cap doesn’t hold the paint down. When I shake the dropper bottle, I open the cap and there’s quite a big drop coming out, leaking down.

    If It doesn’t hold paint down, neither it does hold air in, eventually drying out my paint as much as regular Citadel pots. Suggestions?

    I thought of small O-rings to place inside the white caps or to switch the caps. Anyone else had this and how did you solve it?

    Thanks in advance

    Reply
    • February 8, 2022 at 11:44 pm
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      You can make your own Lahmian medium with Galeria Matte medium, water and a drop of washing up liquid. 50:50 mix of water and matte medium. Will save you a fortune mate.

      Midwinter minis has a vid on it, if you’d like to check that out.

      Reply
  • March 15, 2021 at 2:21 pm
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    I think what they’re saying is they expected to have to squeeze the paint out a little, rather than it flowing freely from the tip.

    Reply
  • March 24, 2021 at 6:46 am
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    this is so good!! i appreciate all you advice and recommendations. i cant wait for your next post!

    Reply
  • December 24, 2021 at 10:46 am
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    Followed your guide today, and just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to write this – wouldn’t have thought to reuse the label

    Reply
  • February 18, 2024 at 3:33 am
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    Thanks for the tutorial. I know it’s been some years, but maybe you’re still here :)
    My question is: that’s not working and is pointless with dry brush colors, right? So these should better stay in their original bottles?
    How long do they usually survive after being opened for the first time?

    Reply

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