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Well, isn't life funny, I have had this exact conversation with my beloved when talking my Christmas prezzy. I have a couple army painter ones that are very good, but the Vallejo ones I have are most excellent, and they do some really nice sets, and the paint range is comparable on colour to GW, for ease of matching up with your existing range. I am going for the Vallejo stuff. The only thing I cant decide is whether to go the whole hog and get an airbrush. It's so expensive, but Vallejo do special air paints, and I don't know whether to buy them and use with a brush for now, or go with traditional and worry about the air paints when and if I can ever afford an airbrush!!!

You can use Vallejo with either a brush or an airbrush. Also, it doesn't matter whether you get Game Color, Model Color, or Air color, they all work. I have a mix. Also Vik..Brand DOES not matter. you don't have to have ALL one brand of paint. Acrylics are acrylics, they all blend and mix together. They just have differing quirks. Get the colors you WANT to use. Try a few. Personal preference is 90% of it. ALso consider rethinking sets, unless it's a better deal price-wise.

Vik I am finally rejoining your thread just in time for 500 pages. I think this is also my first comment so yay to no more creeping.

I like Reaper, but i think their range is limited. Listen to me, acting like I know how to paint....... lol......

shrike wrote:

 Viktor von Domm wrote:
Hey mates! This is a small text update to inform you that I'm still alive...

The junk is indeed in good "spirit" , primed and first basecoat aplied,
But why I speak to you today, is that my wife and me had a long talk about my painting...I want to change the paint range and she was willing to help me in this, so I mas choose a good starter kit of any paintrange (except GW)... So for around 50€s I might get me a new start in painting heaven...which brings me now to ask you my friends to guide me and provide me with your suggestions...

Thanks in advance, yours truly vik

I've always painted with GW stuff, so no suggestions here

well... I have to say the new paints look nice, but I think could be made do with what you already have too...so no real need for in investing in these for me...but I want to get rid of the GW pots... I think I can up my painting game with dropper bottles...

dsteingass wrote:Vallejo

yup, but I was thinking about getting me a set...to start... but not really sure which one...

Camkierhi wrote:Well, isn't life funny, I have had this exact conversation with my beloved when talking my Christmas prezzy. I have a couple army painter ones that are very good, but the Vallejo ones I have are most excellent, and they do some really nice sets, and the paint range is comparable on colour to GW, for ease of matching up with your existing range. I am going for the Vallejo stuff. The only thing I cant decide is whether to go the whole hog and get an airbrush. It's so expensive, but Vallejo do special air paints, and I don't know whether to buy them and use with a brush for now, or go with traditional and worry about the air paints when and if I can ever afford an airbrush!!!

well....it is a vexing theme to have paints dry out just by looking at them...specially metal paints...so I hope I can make things work better by going dropper bottles...maybe even due to this I start blending?...here is hoping...

dsteingass wrote:You can use Vallejo with either a brush or an airbrush. Also, it doesn't matter whether you get Game Color, Model Color, or Air color, they all work. I have a mix. Also Vik..Brand DOES not matter. you don't have to have ALL one brand of paint. Acrylics are acrylics, they all blend and mix together. They just have differing quirks. Get the colors you WANT to use. Try a few. Personal preference is 90% of it. ALso consider rethinking sets, unless it's a better deal price-wise.

well I wanted to get me a set...to save money and to not have to think about which colors I need...tho I probably will have to do that anyway^^

Nafarious wrote:Vik I am finally rejoining your thread just in time for 500 pages. I think this is also my first comment so yay to no more creeping.

welcome! and I am totally in favour for quitting on lurking ...

mxwllmdr wrote:I like Reaper, but i think their range is limited. Listen to me, acting like I know how to paint....... lol......

LOL... well... once you start with painting I am sure you will all leave us in the dust ...
how quick is their webshop in delivering?...would santa be in time?

This is something I need to look into as well really, as the only paints I have are a few very old GW ones,
And I do want to get some painting done, haven't done any in ages.

See?! My point exactly...

Vallejo

Don't bother with a set - just pick and choose what you need out of their different ranges... I have a mixture of Game, Color and Air - just need to use them more

Don't buy anything yet. Wait and see what secret Santa brings you.

A lot of Vallejo's sets are geared towards specific historic color schemes too. Like German Tanks, or US Olive Drab etc. But Best thing is to get what they carry locally. You want to be able to walk or bike to that store and pick up a color when you need it. It would suck to have to plan a 2 hour train ride just for a bottle of that funky shade of red you need.

inmygravenimage wrote:Don't buy anything yet. Wait and see what secret Santa brings you.

Ach...'tis the sweetest torture you are practising on me here...

dsteingass wrote:A lot of Vallejo's sets are geared towards specific historic color schemes too. Like German Tanks, or US Olive Drab etc. But Best thing is to get what they carry locally. You want to be able to walk or bike to that store and pick up a color when you need it. It would suck to have to plan a 2 hour train ride just for a bottle of that funky shade of red you need.

Those sets got me really confused...you know what limited color range I use currently... So was never too sure if wwii or an other set would provide me with needed colors...I think I am looking for a woolly milk giving egglaying duck here(German proverb I think poorly translated...)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh and sadly I doubt that there is any artshop in close hand that could sell me the ranges I have in mind...Berlin feels like a small third world village sometimes in that regard...

what about model/toyshops? I had found a great place to stave my plastic cravings in Ulm, Plenty of 1/72 Panzers in my area of the barracks I can tell you! and paints.

Art stores aren't going to carry model paints, you want a Hobby SHop
http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=hobbyshops&find_loc=Berlin
You've GOT to get out of the mindset that only GW paints can be used for GW models bro!

Santa <3 VJ

err What I meant to say is:
You've GOT to get out of the mindset that only miniature paints can be used for miniature models bro!

see? even I am not immune from the GW Brainwashing

inmygravenimage wrote:Santa <3 VJ

*nudge, nudge, nudge...wink, wink, wink...*
there is a german saying... you need to be able to spot the wooden picket that´s been smashed on your head as the hint it was indended to be i think i got that hint now...

dsteingass wrote:Art stores aren't going to carry model paints, you want a Hobby SHop
http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=hobbyshops&find_loc=Berlin
You've GOT to get out of the mindset that only GW paints can be used for GW models bro!

dave, i didn´t knew of that search page... i think this will provide quite helpful for futur searches as well...

shasolenzabi wrote:what about model/toyshops? I had found a great place to stave my plastic cravings in Ulm, Plenty of 1/72 Panzers in my area of the barracks I can tell you! and paints.

well... here in germany you mostly get paints from

i have a handful of their paints in my collection...but i have to add...i don´t like them... i still think of berlin as a desert when it comes down to this hobby... peeps have been painting with lots of different kinds of paints old tin soldiers for a millenia... but the plastic and thin coats of paints put together are especially in my homeregion a new thing...i know theo pointed out battlefield berlin...that is a shop with a very wide variety of stuff...but i was there once... and well...the peeps at the shop have been mostly jerks, truth be told...so i try not to go there...
lots of other shops are really at the other side of the city...and since our car was put to rest (read got sold...) this is something that involves a drive via the subway (read buy a ticket mostly i do everything by bike...) i know of some in the western part of the town located shops that would be the right kind of shops...i am just not often gifted enough with time on my hands to waste it in traffic....

dsteingass wrote:err What I meant to say is:
You've GOT to get out of the mindset that only miniature paints can be used for miniature models bro!

see? even I am not immune from the GW Brainwashing

at least a brainwashed brain smells nicer than an unwashed one?
and i currently have a DIY store primer paint , the very same one i used for the main color for my turtle tank...and that works quite well... so i am very open to almost everything to get my stuff painted

er...and now to something differently...

totally differently at that... hopefully dave can cope...
as now i want to show you what i´ve been working on...my youngest son oskar keeps asking me for working on his marine chapter...the badassery heavy clad marines known as the iron templars...

well... i started to paint the only rhino that is still with us... and this is how it looks now...:




the red is in RL a bit brighter and almost nice ... i think i have to fix the rather sloppy looking black wash on the metal...the gunner is still highly WIP but is getting better...^^

and then this is the junk i have been working on too....




don´t get fooled yet on the colors here... only basecoated and still lots of room for improvement...

and while i was with said son decorating our home according to tradition of this season in nice sparkly lights and lil gems of a twisted sense of style the postman brought me this....:



which after some heavy grunting and fumbling...( i felt like some guy from the bomb disposal team...)
revealed these precious gifts...:




CAM! mate... what have you done !!!!.....man... that is a fortune!... so much cool stuff... mind you...i have been opening the package with my family together...everyone was very eager to see who from i got this early santa package...(at first my wife i thnk speculated i got a secret self present...) but then everyone was very happy for me to see all these goodies...

which will be shown now in detail to make you all a bit envious

oh and cam...the big pipe cam in totally mint condition... so your packaging was absolutly rightly planned!!!


these small items in that bag...where are they from??? looks very interesting and with lots of uses...
the blue big pipes curretly are my favorite... they feel great to the touch... i see some big guns probably comming up soon...maybe even for the horse?...hmmm...
also...is that a kit of fixing bumps for cars? the famous alu mesh and a kneadadite???...awesome!
a sheat of plasticcard with that anti slippery profile...and a full sheat with plasticcard with premade lil rivets!!!!! i will have plenty of fun with that you may be sure!
those flat pipes... are these the pipes you have in wardrobes to hang your clothes on? in plastic? they have a very nspiring shape i have to tell you!
and my favorite material for making gun barrels from...those small black pipes... really that material is very strong and i can glue it with the utmost trust to have it survive even a drop...it is ideal for my glue and plasticcard constructions!


then i got a set of two instant mold bricks... this will tested hopefully soon too... that might be just in time to solve some future problems in creating details on new projects!
the different white string stuff looks very interesting....very soft to the touch but it is rather strong stuff!


and then a complete new tube of glue i will have to try ... seeing as some of the stuff is so multimaterial you built i think this might be a true problem solver too!...

and what isn´t to be seen in such detail on these pics... and odplex of styrene rods in shapes that have already inspired me of new projects... damn... where do i get me some extra amounts of time???

cam... i am not sweet talking here... i had wet eyes while unpacking the stuff and trying to translate your letter to my kids and wife...i am thanking you with all my heart here...i will show you soon that this was not in vain...all will be eventually put to good use...in the best way to spoil you alll with stuff that you all like

i wish you too a happy and merry and prosperous christmas... and whatever good warm rain has been pooring over your head recently...may that good kind of weather phenomena be further on you and your family!...


best wishes, your friend vik!


well... so much for all that... no back to the hobby desk?...yup^^

Vik I can only imagine what the postal worker who x-rays packages must have been thinking if they had scanned your package with all the rods, wire bundles, and other bits along with chemicals packed into a dense cylinder covered in duct tape Glad it made it!!

to be honest.... that was my first thought too... how nowadays such a shape get through customs and whatnot is a mystery wrapped in an enigma^^

Simply, you are most welcome sir, and I look forward to seeing your creations.

The metal bits in a bag are of all things, staples used to seal Haggis. needless to say they are unused. For me they have many uses, not least of which is ladder rungs.

The Glue please be careful of the fumes, and the kneadite, is a special metal putty, it sets very quickly, you only have 10 minutes to shape it, but once set it is very very solid. Ideal I hope, for use with the mould blocks.

That's a pile of good stuff and a half! Hope Santa can live up to that

Camkierhi wrote:Simply, you are most welcome sir, and I look forward to seeing your creations.

The metal bits in a bag are of all things, staples used to seal Haggis. needless to say they are unused. For me they have many uses, not least of which is ladder rungs.

The Glue please be careful of the fumes, and the kneadite, is a special metal putty, it sets very quickly, you only have 10 minutes to shape it, but once set it is very very solid. Ideal I hope, for use with the mould blocks.

sounds very interesting... as for the fumes.... my kids are my smell police...as i have no sense of smell, i keep my ears open for their calls of if something doesn´t smell nice...
and that haggis spales...lol...that´s probably the only place in the world where something like this could be found...when seeing this my oldest son felix instantly said..."looks like you could build a caterpillar or centipede from it..."

inmygravenimage wrote:That's a pile of good stuff and a half! Hope Santa can live up to that

you make me sweat you do realize that?^^

^That's a whole other bit of the internet... also happy 500! It's nearly here!

lol...well...i never heard of that...



almost.....

That is a fantastic treasure trove you got there. Glad I bought my own stuff cause santas bringing me my usual lump of coal. If I lived in Alaska that might be precious.

I like the rhino vik. As for the paint you may have to look hard as the British post has changed their regulations on paint shipping. Check the news and rumors thread before ordering from England.

Wow Vik, what a haul and your commentary at the end about translating the letter to your family - awesome, it brought tears to my eyes... I get soppy about family...

As for your paint dilemma, sometimes you have to look beyond the flgs, especially if there isn't one nearby. At this point ebay is probably the best bet...

http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313&_nkw=vallejo&_sacat=0&_from=R40

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=m570.l3201&_nkw=vallejo&_sacat=0

Taking P&P out of the equation I look to spend around £1.40-£1.75 for a bottle of Vallejo (Game tends to be cheapest, while Model Air is most expensive) No idea the Euro equivalent I'm afraid...

Nice supply drop you got Vik! snow here prevented UPS from delivering some items for me, they couldn't hack it.

Hello Vic,

is your paint problem still up-to-date?

Which paitns to choose?
Vallejo and Army Painter are two paint suppliers I have good experience with and which you can get in many FLGSs and online stores in Germany.
Both even have paint sets which you should have a look at. Maybe one of the beginners sets can help you on your choice.
In addition Vallejo has a lot of themed sets (skin, NMM, black & white, different historical tank colorings, etc).

As well both suppliers have a good collection of inks and washes, which - mostly - can be optained in sets as well.
For example the "Army Painter Quick Shade Ink Set" comes with seven dropper bottles of different tones. Three classic shades (Soft Tone, Strong Tone and Dark Tone) which - as far as many people say - are very close to the old Citadel Washes. Plus four colored shades/inks (blue, green, red and purple). If you want more information best have a look at Army Painters webpage and the guides you can find there.
For sure Vallejo has similar products too and a look at the FAQ PDF to thier paint range gives some details on the different mixtures but they all work together pretty well.

Army Painter paints are a little thinner than for example Game Color from Vallejo while Game Color is sometimes a little thinner than Model Color.
Model Color Air on the other hand is - as far as I have read - made to be used out-of-the-bottle for airbrushing (concerning the consistency).

Army Painter (Warpaints) and Game Color paint range are usually discribed as "brighter colors" made for tabletop figures while Model Color (Air) has more realistic tones that better fit for dioramas or so. In the end it's more a question of your handling and mixing in my eyes.

Alternatives

Have a look at acrylic paints from artist stores like "Boesner" or "Gerstaecker". Boesner has local stores as well.
Brands like Lukas, Schmincke, Lascaux, Liquitex or the store's house brand should offer a good selection of acrylic paints to you and for example Schmicke has some "Starter Sets" in their product range as well. They mainly contain the primary colors (RGB or CYK) plus white and black as far as I remember. Pricing of the package is similar to Army Painter or Vallejo
but the amount of paint inside is usually bigger.

Consistency of these paints is different to the colors from Vallejo or Army Painter. They are made for use on canvases etc but some thinning should do the job in my eyes. I mainly use black and white from those ranges because they are 1) effectivelly cheaper and 2) black is black and white is white (mostly) .

Where to get the paints?

You mentioned you're from Berlin?

Did you visit "Battlefield Berlin", yet? They have a huge collection of tabletop products in their online store and in their local store, too (as far as I could see on their "We've re-arragned our store" pictures on Facebook.)

Converning the artist stores: Boesner has three local stores in different parts of Berlin. Maybe you should give one of them a visit.

That's a lovely haul of bits and pieces there Vik, any idea's as to what you might make yet,
Surely the possibilities are endless .

hello pfibp....welcome to this lil piece of weirdness...

thanks for the rather komplex insight to different paintranges...i was searching and asking specifically for such infos before making any decisions! this was of great help for me!
your suggestion to visit boesner was of great importance to me as i never yet heard of them and this is now a planned trip for me during the upcomming holidays...

i had a look at your immages in your gallery and at your blog as well... lots of very interesting information to be found there and very good looking minis to be seen!!!

hope to see you here more often!!!

cheers, vik

at hk1x1...

Surely the possibilities are endless

almost^^... it´s now the candy shop dillema... once you start with something, you´re not able to do something else...this sometimes gives me starting at all problems choices, choices, choices...

Paralysis of choice! A terrible thing