INSTAR Alpha is a revolutionary new paint formulation that exists nowhere else in the world.
When mixed with Instar's 'Water +' agent, Instar Alpha paints become four products in one bottle:
As thin as a wash with an ultra high opacity and with all the control of a normal thinned paint means that not only can your miniatures look amazing on the table, but also game ready fast!
Because they are already thin means that you no longer have to worry about manual thinning ratios, we’ve already covered that step for you so you can spend more time painting and less time wondering if your paint is thin enough. Just dip your brush into our Water+ (Or other thinner) and mix it into the paint to give you the perfect consistency every time. It’s also airbrush ready as well so you can just add the paint and pull the trigger, nothing else required*
But Alpha is not just designed to be the ultimate paint, by thinning down further you can transition them to a layer paint, a contrast style paint, a glaze or even a wash. By adding Matte+ from our Provectus line, you can also create a Primer or Drybrush paint too.
This gives you the ultimate tool to create anything you want to get your miniatures looking amazing!
All the colours are designed to be mixed together easily and the “Pure” line allows you to create over two billion colour combinations.
Did we mention they’re freezable too? Just let them defrost for a day and the paint will revert back to its normal state, no more cold weather shipping worries! (You can also use it in a semi frozen state too as a sculptable terrain on bases)
*Because of the fast drying time, you may wish to add a small amount of retarder
Since I have been using Instar Alpha so much over the last six months I have put together a Mixing Recipe document that shows all of the easy variations you can get by 1:1 mixes plus pages of recipies showing recipies and color swatches for mixing favourite colors from GW / Citadel ranges both present and discontinued.
Click here to download Free PDF Instar-Alpha Mixing Guide
A welcome addition to the painter’s arsenal is the latest product from Instar Paint. It would first seem that the ‘Alpha’ range steps into an area of the hobby currently created by the Games Workshop Contrast paints. An apparently fast and easy way to get your models on the table and battle ready, while retaining a degree of quality that is usually sacrificed when using standard painting methods.
Instar’s Alpha paint is however highly versatile and can be brushed straight onto the model in its pure form, or mixed on a palette with their Water+ formula. This gives a nice flow and allows the painter to vary the depth of the colours to their choosing. One thing to be aware of is how quickly the paint can dry. A definite advantage when you want to finish models quickly, but problematic when the paint keeps drying on the brush or the palette. I found that this was avoided by simply placing a spot of Water+ next to the paint and dipping the brush into it as I went along.
There has been much debate over preferences for either Vallejo dropper pots or the Citadel flip top style. Those who celebrate the former will be pleased to know that the Instar Paint comes in dropper pots and also includes a ball bearing or agitator inside to keep the mix consistent. The other great thing is that they come in a variation of sizes (5ml, 10ml, 20ml, 50ml and 100ml).
I had the pleasure of using the 5ml pots and was amazed at how much I could get out of one of these. Which makes them extremely good value for money. Worthy of note is the sheer range of colours. Historical figure painters will be content to see that the darker shades are much catered for which is great news when painting say WW2 camo for instance, but there are some real eye popping colours at the other end of the scale too. This in itself leaves the competition standing. As much as I enjoy using the GW Contrast products I’m currently frustrated at the lack of colours available and right now I’m only using them as an occasional compliment to the Instar range. I was very impressed at the eventual results I achieved with these paints, and felt I could go further with the time I’d saved by adding a couple of small highlights to the figures which really made them stand out. In conclusion Instar have proven to be ahead of the curve and I’m excited at the possibilities that lay ahead for this growing company.
The figures above are a mix of Wargames Foundry and Artizan 2nd Afghan War miniatures. The figure below is Jonny Frost from the Wargames Illustrated Giants in Miniature range. They were all painted using the Instar range.
Here's some links to reviews of Instar Alpha Paints
Monkeys with Fire Instar-Alpha Review
Orc Painter Nerd - Instar-Aplpha White - Best White Ever!
Instar Alpha Pure YellowProduct no.: PUYINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure WhiteProduct no.: PUWINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure RedProduct no.: PURINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure PurpleProduct no.: PUPINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure Oxide YellowProduct no.: POYINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure Oxide RedProduct no.: PORINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure OrangeProduct no.: PUOINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure Mid YellowProduct no.: PMYINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure MagentaProduct no.: PUMINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure GreenProduct no.: PUGINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure BrownProduct no.: PUBINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure BlueProduct no.: PBLINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Pure BlackProduct no.: PBKINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Gloss+ MediumProduct no.: PGMINSTAR Gloss+ is a special formulation designed to modify your paints to make them shinier and thinner Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Matte+ MediumProduct no.: PMMINSTAR Matte+ is a special formulation designed to modify your paints to make them flatter Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Metal+ MediumProduct no.: PMTMetal+ provides the building block for metallics, you can add this product into upto 90% of paints to turn them into a metallic paint, it’s really that simple, how metallic you want it is entirely up to you! Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Water+ MediumProduct no.: PMWINSTAR Water+ is a unique creation. Unlike typical mediums such as distilled water or acrylic bases for thinning paints, Water+ acts differently by creating a finer particle dispersion and cross-linking the solution, meaning it evenly distributes the paint compared to typical water based mediums which creates larger particles clumps leading to blotchy layers and leaving unsightly tide marks. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Warm FleshProduct no.: PWFINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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Instar Alpha Dead FleshProduct no.: PDFINSTAR Alpha is a unique formulation that isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Super thin, no brush marks, beautiful paper thin, yet tough finish. Supplied in 20ml dropper bottle.
Delivery weight: 35 g
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