So I have been looking at the paints in here and decided to try it. On a spending freeze so couldn't get the $5+ paints, so got some real cheap ones. I will post the results this weekend, will it be a disaster or will I I have wasted a few bucks? Only time will tell!!!!

Use lots of water and have lots of patience.

I know of people who are far more skilled than myself who use non-hobbyist paints. I'd say skill trumps expensive paint every time.

Use lots of water and have lots of patience.

Distilled water or will filtered water from the tap do?

Makes sense really, no need to spend lots of money on expensive paints if you are just learning. Have fun and experiment and if the results aren't to your liking then you aren't out of a lot of money. Keep training.

Oh and be carefull of cheap Yellow and Red paints. Cheap paints in those colors have a chance of looking ugly and you'll need multiple layers to get a decent effect. (It has something to do with the pigments) Yellow is also a difficult color to paint.

Use lots of water and have lots of patience.

Distilled water or will filtered water from the tap do?

Tap will be fine most of the time.

Use lots of water and have lots of patience.

Distilled water or will filtered water from the tap do?

I've never had a problem with tap water, although if you have really hard water in your area, you may want to use filtered water.

I'm far from the best painter on here, but I can hold my own, and here's my two cents.

The skill of the painter will trump the quality of the paints every time, but having good quality paints can make a HUGE difference. I have used Citadel paints almost exclusively - while they are expensive, it's nice to know that the paints are going to be useable straight out of the pot, without any fuss, and will look great. I can't say that for many other varieties of paint.

Here's the thing - if you're new to painting, you've got enough to worry about without having to figure out how to make cheap paints useable too. I know enough now to probably switch to lesser quality paints, but for me, the extra expense is worth it.

Don't use Testors. Unless you just plan on using them once, or just want to practice

Seriously, don't bother.

I stopped using Citidel paints since they are rather chalky and the new(er) plastic flip cap can easily dry out the paint. My FLGS has started phasing Citidel out in favor of Vallejo. Vallejo has a nice big bottle with a screw top and plastic dropper. With the caveat I have only been using them for a month, I hardly see any separation in the paint compared to citadel or Testors. I can easily drop out a few drops onto my palette and go to work painting without fear of mixing or pouring out too much

BUT then again, i am not the authority, and I just dabble a little bit with painting

Ok the results are in, I think it went pretty well, I will probably still need to touch up the panels on the side but I am pretty satisfied with the color and how it turned out. I only did the TIE fighers, as they don't require very much detail work. Below is a little bit about what I did.

Someone had recommended using the plastic tube that comes on cotton swabs may be a good thing to mount these on, I tried it and it worked well.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxfM7Q8J7EKiYUdSYUN0c2Q5VlE/view?usp=sharing

I lined them up in a box to prime them.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxfM7Q8J7EKibmhaMTZrbGpiZzQ/view?usp=sharing

I took one of the panels for the box I used to make a drying stand.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxfM7Q8J7EKiSmIxZDU2aWEwbFU/view?usp=sharing

Once primed I did a base coat, I chose to try a few colors on 3 "prototype ships". The first I thought of was a traditional Imperial Grey type color, for this I had found a Silver Grey in the cheap paints I bought, this is more like a regular grey with a metallic quality to it. I needed to lighten the Silver Grey color so I used White paint to lighten it, I would say 2 parts white to 1 part Silver Grey. The Second was the Imperial Blue color some of the TIEs have, for this I again used the Silver Grey I used before and mixed it with Steel Blue, I would say I mixed both in equal parts. The last was a Royal Guard Red which is just Crimson, no mixing done. Once I had base coated one TIE each color, I decided that the Imperial Grey was the easiest coat and will be the majority, next the Imperial Blue I wanted for a unique squadron and finally the Royal Guard Red lost out with only letting it lead another squadron. The picture below illustrates what the colors look like, keep in mind the red is not that red in normal light.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxfM7Q8J7EKiMVlmdklIM042WE0/view?usp=sharing

I than started the detail, blotting out the front windows with black and then doing a light semi dry brush to the front just glazing the surface with the overall color. I thought the windows were going to be the worse part, it was actually the sides of the panels, I kept over painting and going over the base coat and then I would have to touch it up (to perhaps mess that up as well). I only did the guns in neon green and didn't bother with the red lights in the back of the TIE. My wife helped and said she will "elf" the side touch ups but for now I am done with it. I don't know if I will do it again, I may just settle with a base coat in the colors I mixed on some future models but who knows. Below are the results, they look good from afar up close the panels get a little iffy (which is probably why I only took pictures of the front).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxfM7Q8J7EKianQzOVE5NlRvYTA/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxfM7Q8J7EKiMU1OX1ZHSzJoV2c/view?usp=sharing

Look if they are your first attempt I would say be happy and proud of what you have done. My first attempt was not even half as good.

Props to you for having a go.

'Ruddy good for a first attempt! Bravo!

Good job - makes a nice improvement over the base plastic and will look good at the tabletop level.

Well done. Remember that most people won't be looking at your work up close, so 'errors' will be harder to see

So I got some new paints and painted some xwing and TIE Bombers and they came out great. I am now thinking about repainting some of the first ones I did, I am now wondering if I should strip off the paint I put on them ( I read an article that says an antiseptic called dettol works well) or should I just spray another coat of primer and call it good? Any advice would be appreciated.

Dettol works on resin models and water based acrylics, however I'm not sure about this type of plastic, you don't want it to melt. Don't leave resin in the solution for too long, as it will eventually eat the detailed parts. Head over to a modelling forum, that'd be a great place to start. Hope that helps. Your first run looks great. As I'm sure others will tell you, you could repainted forever. Best bet is if you have the minis and time, move on to the next project. Have fun and good luck.