What paint brands do people recommend?

Andy

Member
Just getting back into Warhammer and I was wondering what paints you good people would recommend. I have a few Citadel and Revell acrylics, but have seen other brands available from companies such as Warlord. I used to use a mixture of Citadel paints, the Rowney acrylics that came in a tube and Windsor & Newton inks, but was curious to find out how things have moved on in the 20+ years since I was last properly painting :grin:

Apologies if this has been covered many times before, I did search the board for paints, but understandably returned hundreds of results and I couldn't see a similar thread on the first couple of pages.

Cheers
Andy
 

ardyer

Member
So different brands have different strengths and weaknesses (and different people have different opinions on what is a strength and weakness). I would greatly recommend just trying a bunch.

That said, I use a mix of citadel (20+ year old to present line), vallejo, p3, tamiya, army painter, and a few war colors. And those are just the acrylics! I also use oils and enamel for various things ;)
 

Chico

Member
I have a large mix of brands but I recommend Army Painter Washes and Metallics, Vallejo Model/Game Colours for everything else.

I also have randoms paints from various citadel over the years, it all jells rather well.
 

Andy

Member
Thanks for the feedback guys. Think I will pick up a mixture of stuff as you suggest and see how I get on.
 
Hi! I am also going to buy a lot of new paint soon, since most of my old paint has dried out.

So far, I have always used Citadel paints (except for when I started painting and used model aeroplane paint).

Could any of you other painters tell me, why you prefer some painting brands over other? What are the strengths and weaknesses (in your opinion)? I am especially interested in thoughts about how Vallejo differ from Citadel.
 

Chico

Member
LilBroGrendel":15sxncpf said:
I am especially interested in thoughts about how Vallejo differ from Citadel.

Vallejo is splint into a number of smaller ranges so depending on what range you go for it has different properties.

Vallejo Game Colour: A range which is designed for the bright Fan/Sci Fi market, thinner paints then Citadel and best used in thin layers.

Vallejo Model Colour: Thicker paints and more heavy pigmented, more natural colours. Also has a sub range called Panzer Aces for WW2 colours.

Vallejo Extra Opaque: Much the same as Citadel's Foundation/Base range, dull colours designed to be the base/block coats.
 

MagpieJono

Member
When I got back into painting I bought a load of Coat D'arms paints. They're made by the company who used to make the original Citadel paints. I'm very pleased with them. You'll have to order online as pretty much nowhere stocks them. Citadel and Vallejo are readily available at most model shops. I've also got a few Wargames Foundry paints. They're expensive but very good. Also they are sold in graded triads making highlighting easy straight from the pot.
 

ardyer

Member
Citadel paints strengths are they are widely available, the wakes are excellent for speed painting, and I like their satin finish. Their previous ranges had excellent metallics. The weaknesses are the pots and their correct range is a bit inconsistent in their consistency. Their new metallics aren't near as good.

For vallejo, the have an insane range of colors among all of their lines. They are also readily available. They're airbrush paints are great too. I don't think their coverage is quite as good, and I, personally hate the dropper bottles because they clog, but other people love the dropper bottles.
 

Galadrin

Member
It really depends on the colour. Personally, I love solid, strong pigments that go on smooth in a single coat (conversely, the old Citadel painting guides recommend several thin coats). If you also like strong pigments, then I have never found a better red than Army Painter's Dragon Red, or a better rich yellow that P3's Heartfire. If you want to stick to a single company, though, you can't go wrong with Coat d'Arms... They produce all the old Citadel paint formulas and those old paints still work great.

I also own a ton of Vallejo and have decided that I don't really like them. They tend to be watery, they separate out and require a lot of shaking (I don't shake CdA paints at all, in contrast) and their colours are not very bright. If you want washed out or greyed out colours (good for historicals), then they are useful simply because of the sheer range, but other than that I avoid them these days. I want my colours to be super bright and colourful.
 
I have a big mix of colours. THe best I have used are GW, Cote De Arms and Vallejo. I have loads of old paints (GW ones from 89 still!). I use some system 7 acryllic art paints and have painted using really cheap crap I bought from hobby craft. All paint is good paint, just some is better for what you want than others. SO it depends what you want.

The cheap colours are good for strange effects and glazing, or doing bases an such like. Here is a link to some models I painted when I moved. I bought all the material to paint them for about £15, so 5 colours plus the brushes!
http://realmofchaos80s.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/on-boil-curtis-fells-roc-warband.html

Art paints like windsor and newton, daler or such like are good but have very strong thick mediums. Good and hard wearing, so great for vehicles or scenery or other large or handled areas. If you click the link above the backgrounds are painted with these kinds of paints (although the orange for the rust is GW and Vallejo)

Model paints like GW give very good coverage but are most expensive. Still, a £3 pot goes a long way.
 
Thank you for the advice, everyone :)

I think I'll stick to Citadel paints in most cases but try other brands if I want different effects. Good idea using art paints for terrain pieces - I've got a lot of art paint but have only used it for painting on canvases so far.
 
... And now I ended up ordering a whole lot of Coat d'Arms paints from Hasslefree :grin: I haven't tried them before but if they are anything near the old Citadel paints it can't go completely wrong.
 

Badaab

Member
I use a mixture of paint lines for my stuff.
GW stuff for things like washes, the colors that used to be Boltgun Metal and Dark Angels Green, and some of the browns. The flesh tones as well... though I will likely switch to Vallejo Game Color for the Elf and Dwarf Flesh when my current pots run out. I prefer Privateer Press Formula P3 Thamar Black, and do like a number of their other colors, like Muderous Magenta (think Warlock Purple). P3 also has a number of other more 'natural' colors that some of the other lines aimed at fantasy miniatures lack. Vallejo Game Color is probably closest to the older 'hex' bottle GW line, and Cobra Leather (old GW Snakebite Leather) is something I couldn't do without. Lately I have been grabbing the Vallejo Model Air (airbrush line for scale models)metallic paints for brush on work- they have a high pigment content and are already a very thin consistency, which makes mixing metallics a lot easier! Also in my collection are a few Reaper Pro Series Paints, and some Vallejo Model Colors- Luftwaffe Blue in the VMC line is a great alternative to the old Shadow Grey, and Reaper makes a fantastic metallic color called Old Pewter which is great for Nurgle, Skaven, and other filthy things.
 

Grumdril

Member
Hope people don't mind a bit of threadomancy...

I'm generally a fan of Vallejo paints but sometimes the shaking thing is a right pain and sometimes it seems to get me nowhere. I'm wondering what other peoples' experiences of this are.

  1. Some paints are fine, bit of a shake and on it goes
  2. Some paints need massive amounts of shaking (my Sun Yellow being a case in point here) but once you've shaken it enough it's obvious - you get thick pigment out of the bottle rather than just filmy liquid
  3. Sometimes it seems you can shake as much as you want and you still get a thin, glossy not-actually-paint

It's the third situation which bothers me, and I mainly experience the problem with dark greens and blues. But I've done so little painting since my return to the hobby that I've yet to use up any bottle of paint (although I think my Beasty Brown is getting close) so my experience is fairly narrow.

So my question is, what are other peoples' experience, and is the answer in the third situation to buy another bottle and hope that's better? My plan B is to put something small and metal inside the dodgy bottles to see if that helps with the mixing when shaken...

Any advice appreciated,

Paul B / Grumdril
 

Gallivantes

Member
Grumdril":3ggl4q97 said:
I'm generally a fan of Vallejo paints but sometimes the shaking thing is a right pain and sometimes it seems to get me nowhere.

There's a bit of hope for you Paul, I have remedied this fairly easily with my Vallejo paints.

I know exactly the scenario you describe, Vallejo paints, some only depositing filmy liquid no matter how much you shake it. I have just fixed this for a bunch of my Vallejos without too much cost or effort.

Two things:
1.Pop the top off the bottle - they come off and snap back on easily with hand force - get a coffee stick and stir. My paints are in various states from "as new" to "all pigment having solidified to a doughy lump and won't blend with the paint medium no matter how much I shake the bottle" (the filmy liquid is probably paint medium separated from paint pigment, that's my guess). So far all paint bottles I've tried have blended back into serviceable paint and all my bottles are around 20 years old. Maybe your paints have lost so much medium they're beyond saving, this I wouldn't know, but restoring my old paints was doable :)
2.I bought a can of 500 metal bb pellets, popping a couple in each bottle. How much it counteracts the paint settling I can't tell but the bb's cost me somewhere around £5 and putting them in takes a few seconds per bottle. Worth a try in my opinion but I consider this more optional than step 1, which was crucial.

It certainly was a bit mucky to wipe paint off the nozzles before as I put them together and my 72 bottles are a few hours work but I chose to do that instead of spending £144 at replacing them at £2 each (or more).

And just to be clear I'm not for Vallejo as a paints choice over others, some people have already pointed out that other brands seem superior in not settling as much. But if what you have is a large set of Vallejos already this could perhaps be an option to splurging on a new set.

DISCLAIMER: I don't know if a lead pellet can have any adverse effects on the paint. Just thought I'd throw that out there before I propagate some way to ruin your entire paint set... at the very least I should mention that lead is not the most friendly of substances, whether you want to be as gung-ho about it as I am is up to you :grin:
 

Grumdril

Member
Thanks for the advice folks. I tried the stir with a stick method at the weekend and it helped a lot, although I've also invested in some Coat d'arms paints in the problem dark greens and blues. Time to experiment with them I feel.

Thanks again,

Paul / Grumdril
 

Fimm McCool

Member
Personally I love Vallejo and have only had the problem mentioned above happen a couple of times. Mostly a stir with a cocktail stick sorts it out, but I do have a yellow which I've chalked down as 'unusable'. I've just started using Foundry (by Cote D'Arms)paint and I'm a big fan of most of the range for consistency (although some of the B's are a bit watery) and colour. The triad system is very helpful even though I don't use the 'official' Foundry painting technique on my models. Not tried the latest iteration of Citadel paints, but previous ranges were much too thick for my liking. Vallejo is still my paint of choice, with Army Painter quickshade washes also a great tool for the arsenal. :)
 
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