How To Transfer Paints Into Dropper Bottles

If you’ve been painting miniatures using Games Workshop’s Citadel paints for any length of time you’ve probably experienced some issues with the pots they decant their paints into. Small flip-lid pots that frequently from dry out (not least because paint clogs the seam of the lid), get knocked over and overload your brush. If you’ve looked into solutions for any of these issues you’ve likely seen the most commonly recommended solution; dropper bottles. If you’re looking for better paint control, storage and lifespan this could be the answer for you, and we’re going to talk you through how to transfer your paints into dropper bottles and why to get done!

Why Transfer Paints to Dropper Bottles?:

In short transferring your paints to a dropper bottle will give you a way better experience when using them, for a number of reasons:

• Protect your brushes – one of the quick ways to ruin a paint brush is to overload it with paint and wreck the base of the bristles. One of the most common ways to do this is using a brush to load paint onto a palette. Members of the HoD team even have older sacrificial brushes to protect their nicer ones from this problem. Using a dropper bottle, as the name may suggest, means you can add drops of paint directly to your palette and cut out the brush altogether.
• Longer lifespan – storing your paints in a dropper bottle will increase the lifespans of your paints significantly. A repeated complaint about Citadel paint pots is that paint runs into the seam of the pot and dries, preventing effective closure of the pot. A dropper bottle will give you a much better seal and there’s no risk of paint clogging the lid. The more airtight your bottle is the longer your paint will last.
• Better palette control – mixing paints is an excellent way to upgrade the quality of your paint schemes but consistently mixing the same shades is easier said than done. Using dropper bottles allows your to measure out a consistent amount of paint each time. This makes it infinitely easier to consistently mix the right shade, thin paints equally or take just as much paint as you need. This gives you much better control over whats on your palette.
• Save paint – One of the big criticisms of transferring your paints into dropper bottles is that you lose paint in the transfer process. We aren’t denying that you lose a bit but definitely not as much as you will to dried out or spilled pots, or overloaded palettes. For maximum use you can even add an agitator to your bottle to help mix and loosen up every drop.
• Efficient storage – storing your painting supplies is an ongoing issue for a lot of mini painters. Citadel paint pots are an awkward object to store, with a flared base and design that doesn’t stack. Dropper bottles tend to be bigger volume-wise, but their cylindrical shape makes them fit more efficiently in whatever storage solution you use.

Materials and Tools:

In order to transfer your paints to dropper bottles you’re obviously going to need a few things. Nothing is hugely expensive and there’s a number of different places you can buy they – the most obvious being Amazon. Here’s the full list of what you need to transfer paints into dropper bottles:

1. Dropper Bottles – Very obvious place to start. Make sure to get ones the right size. You’ll need 15ml bottles for Citadel’s standard pots, and 30ml for contrasts/shades/larger pots.
2. Flow Improver – You won’t need this with contrast paints or shades, but it’ll make your thicker paints easier to transfer. It will also slow down drying time which can reduce the risk of paint clogging your new dropper bottles.
3. Agitators – these are little ball bearings that you add to your paint pots to improve mixing. Make life easier for yourself and add them to each dropper bottle if you’re going through the process of swapping to dropper bottles.
4. Clippers – For taking the lids off the Citadel pots to allow for easier transferring
5. Funnel – This could be optional if you have a steady hand, but it definitely makes the transfer process easier.
6. Labels – Keeping organised isn’t the most glamorous of tasks, but making sure you take time to label your dropper bottles clearly will make life so much easier. You can choose to use the labels off the citadel pots, we’ll talk you through that in a sec.

Get hold of the above list, and obviously the set of paints you want to transfer, and you’re all set to go!

Step-by-Step Guide:

Before you begin get your work area all set up. Make sure everything you need is at hand. You’re going to be at risk of getting paint everywhere, so protect whatever surface you’re working on.

First, use your plastic clips to cut the ‘hinge’ off your citadel pots, so you can take the whole lid off. This is going to make it way easier to pour the paint later on.

Secondly, add some flow improver and your agitators, depending on what paint you’re moving. For thicker paints use a couple of drops and two agitator ball bearings. For shade/contrast paints just use one agitator ball, and don’t use any flow improver. Put the lid on and give the paint a good shake to get it all mixed.

Next, transfer the paint to the dropper bottles. While you can just pour them across the easier option is to use the funnel. This allows you to turn the pot upside down and leave it to drain the last drops.

Finally, once the paint has been transferred across, you just need to label the bottles up. You can use whatever labelling method you want, but make sure you mark what colours are in what bottles. A great solution for this is carefully peeling the label on the citadel pot off and transferring that across to the dropper bottle too. Might as well go all in on the process if you’ve come this far after all!

Storage and Organisation:

As mentioned one of the benefits of choosing to transfer paints into dropper bottles is ease of storage. Due to the shape of a dropper bottle you can fit a lot more into a storage system that the citadel pots. We’d recommend going the whole way to getting a dedicated storage system for them, like the Element Essentials Modular Painting Rack System. It gives you a ton of storage options all in snap fit MDF for a simple, easy to build system to sort your painting area right out.

Conclusion:

So learning how to transfer paints into dropper bottles gives you a range of benefits like easy storage, improved lifespan for paints and brushes and saving paint. The process is a bit fiddly the first time, but once you’ve got all you need it’s simple and easy to do with a bit of time.

Are you transfer your citadel paints to dropper bottles? Have you taken the plunge already? Let us know in the comments!

Did you enjoy this article? You could always tip the author with a coffee (or something stronger). If you want to find more painting advice, check out our painting tips post. If you want to pick up any of the paints or supplies mentioned in this article then check out Element Games. They have great deals on a wide range of minis, paints and basing materials. Finally, make sure you’re following us on Instagram to stay up to date and get involved in our community!