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I'm planning to buy a set of Terminators and i'm working my way around to re-supplying on my painting stocks. However I notice Citadel is rather expensive when it comes down to average items such as model glue.

In the case of glue is citadel glue any more special than the rival Revell or Airfix glue to justify a £3.10 increase in price?

But on to my real question - Are there any better alternatives to Citadel Sprays 'Chaos Black' and 'Purity Seal' that are cheaper and just as good?

No, citadel glue is crap. I use humbrol liquid poly. Does the job fine.

In terms of the sprays, I airbrush primer and varnishes. For the cost of a £150 airbrush kit and a couple of bottles of primer (£11 each) you make your money back in savings. Cans are horribly horribly inefficient and when it comes to it, especially with purity seal, unreliable.

Other than that, if you must use rattle can, halfords primer is good, Tamiya primer is the best you can get (but very expensive). Testors dull cote is great by reputation as a varnish.

Most Citadel products are just repackaged goods of the same product so any regular superglue should work just fine. (I find my self using zap a gap works out fine.)

For primers, I think any sand able car primers will work though more research should be done on each individual product.
I like using a product in the states called quick color flat black. Only a dollar can’t go wrong with that.

I cant think of any good alternatives to the seal though.

I'd never recommend a GW hobby product - they're all rebranded and overpriced. In all cases you can get better products cheaper elsewhere - such as the revell plastic glue. Their spray gun is horrible, their tools are nothing special just overpriced etc.

Army Painter have a range of spray primers. Never used them but many think them great since it also combines a basecoat as there are many colours to choose from.

I prime with my airbrush and vallejo polyurethane primer. Cheap, very effective and (imo) a better finish than spray can primers. I'd recommend this solution - if you don't have an airbrush it's a great excuse to get one. (I'd recommend vallejo paints in general as an alternative to GW paints too btw, though ideally you'd pick from a variety of ranges including P3 etc too).

Nice, UK based (it's easier to name products) ...

Glue; I've used Revell Contacta Professional Poly-Cement since I was a kid building Airfix kits. You can find it in any modelling/hobby store, craft stores - even my local Beales store carries it. It lasts an age and applies nicely.

Spray: As winterdyne said... Head down to Halfords and pick up the primer cans. Cheaper than GW, larger volume and better finish (IMHO).

I used to use Humbrol and Revell for all my Airfix kits when I used to do them, so I'm confident that they'll be fine - just needed confirmation.

As for an airbrush - I can't fork out £150 just yet, so I guess I'll just have to stick with the spray cans, but i'll look into alternative brands.(though like winterdyne says, they're horribly inefficient - that I can confirm :()

At least I can save £3.10 on glue from now on

 Warpig1815 wrote:
In the case of glue is citadel glue any more special than the rival Revell or Airfix glue to justify a £3.10 increase in price?
Citadel glues are crap. Stay away from them. I use Revell Contacta Professional for plastics and at the moment Gale Force 9 Hobby Glue for everything else. Zap-a-Gap is extremely good so if you can find it, then pick it up. Gorilla Glue and other super stuffs are also very good. Basically anything is better than the GW crap - even the "dollar store" super flue tubes (that suck totally).

But on to my real question - Are there any better alternatives to Citadel Sprays 'Chaos Black' and 'Purity Seal' that are cheaper and just as good?
If you are looking for sprays, then grab a cheap car paint spray from your local hardware store. Primer is better than non-primer, but it might fill details. Grab a can and try out on some sprue first. If the sprue melts and/or goes otherwise bad, don't use the paint. Get another brand.

As for the sealant, grab a can of matt varnish from your local hardware store. This will be the protective stuff. To kill the shine use Army Painter Anti-Shine or Testors Dull coat. Just be careful with the varnishes as they can cause nasty effects on the models if used wrong.

Bolded mine

Cheers kaapelikala, but I may, depending on funds, just stick with citadel sprays. I've tried to find another brand just now, but I'm slightly dubious of them. As for glue, I'm taking everytones advice and dropping my use of Citadel.

I did the same for greenstuff: Citadel, 12g - £4.20 Versus Ebay, Kneadtite, 36 Inch long roll - £8.00 = No-brainer

I only use Halford's primer now.
Re green stuff, Heresy do a tube with the blue & yellow seperate for £11 - will last ages if you put it in the freezer (not joking - keeps it fresh):
http://www.heresyminiatures.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_69&products_id=172
I also Revel's Contacta Pro glue - the one with the steel tube.
A tip if the tube gets blocked - hold up a flame to the end of the tube - this vapourises the blockage.