A water-dispersed film-forming vehicle suitable for lacquers is disclosed. The vehicle consists of an aqueous dispersion of an air-drying alkyd resin dispersed by the use of a surfactant consisting of an adduct of allyl glycidyl ethers and ethylene oxide units onto a hydrophobic aliphatic radical having a replaceable hydrogen atom, optionally substituted by an aryl radical. The hydrophobic aliphatic radical may be a fatty-acid radical of from 6 to 26 carbon atoms and the aryl substituent is a phenol. The adduct includes 2 to 10 allyl glycidyl units and 5 to 25 ethylene oxide units per mol. The water-based dispersion diluent in which the alkyd resin is dispersed may include pigments, siccatives for the alkyd drying resin and optionally processing-aid solvents.