A review of different types of outliner. (sometimes called contour paste)

There are many makes of outliner but make is not an important factor when it comes to buying outliner. There are two main factors to consider when buying outliner. Firstly, colour and secondly rigidity.

Colour is not really an issue, most bottle and tubes will state the colour on the outside. Few however, tell you about their rigidity. Remember a "hard outliner may last longer but only a flexible outliner will be of any use for "pipe, paint and peal" work.

We have chosen to test 3 different types of outliner; Anita's Glass Paint "Leading",Gallery Glass Simulated Liquid Leading and Rainbow Glass Black Outliner.

Anita's Glass Paint, Leading

Colour wise this was the "blackest" of all the black outliners. Unfortunately it was rather too runny. Worse still, once it has dried it was very difficult to peal off. This wouldn't have been a problem if it didn't claim to be usable for pipe and peal work. Sizes available: 59ml

Gallery Glass Simulated Liquid Leading

A very nice outliner to pipe with. Not only this but it pealed well and is just about the best outliner for pipe and peal work. Sizes available: 236ml and 59ml

Rainbow Glass Outliner

Rainbow have completely redone their outliner. They sell the basic black silver and gold, some might find it slightly too runny for their taste but it does have the advantage of coming in an easy to use container (the 25ml one) with a nice fine nozzle. Better still Rainbow sell a thickener which, when added to their waterbased paints, turns them into an outliner. This gives you an even larger colour range to choose from including luminous and pearl. Sizes available: 250ml and 50ml and 25ml (Waterbased paint 30ml, thickener 10ml)

Don't forget you can always choose to make your own outliner, this can be great fun as well as saving you money. The instructions for this are on the basic outlining skills page.