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Hey guys this might sound noobish but here I go...



Well I was wondering is the Vallejo range superior to the GW paints,and if they consist of the same colours?


Also I wondered if they work well with the GW minis(I assume so as a mini is a mini).

thanks in advace for your comments.

there are 3 main ranges - Model Colour, Model Air & Game Colour.

The Gme Clour is basically all the GW paints (although with recent changes to the GW range inc the removal of some colours & the addition of the foundation paints the ranges now vary a bit).

Model Colour is a bigger range and is mostly aimed at historical figure / model painters.

Model Air has similar colours to Model Colour but is (I think) pre-thinned for use in an airbrush.

The pigment content in the Vallejo is higher than standard GW paints (but the new foundation paints may have a simialr pigment ratio & therefore the covering power).
The bottles are 17ml with a removable (with pliers) eye dropper nozel meaning getting the right amount of paint out is easier.
Due to the high pigment ratio & thickness of the paint you will have to -
1, shake the bottle lots before using &
2, thin down the paint.

Note - Tamiya thinner, vallejo paints & an airbrush is not a great combo (as I recently found out). I now use car pre-mixed windscreen washer fluid. The blue colour in the fluid doesn't seem to affect the colour of the paint much.
Also pouring Tamiya thinned-paint back in to the main pot of GW paint is not a great idea - you end up with a lump of soft plastic and some medium! Luckily it was in a mix pot with not much paint left.

I love the vallejo paints. When I run out of a specific GW paint I switch over to the matching Vallejo color. I've found that the series of reds that they offer are fantastic. Being able to paint a single of coat of red on black is really nice. They also have a line of inks that work really well. I've found that the inks need to be thinned down, but provide a richer color. At our local store they keep a brochure with their full lines. They may have it on their website.

There's a gaming store in Joplin? Wow.

I like the Vallejo paints. I tend to paint a variety of figures and the wide range of colors helps me get the best color for the job.

I suggest you thin our paints on your painting board and not try to directly thin the paint in the bottle.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Paint_Range_Compatibility_Chart

Personally I love the Vallejo paints. they can be thinned down well so they become translucent for layering really well.

The Vallejo web site has colour charts and tutorials on how to use their paints :-

http://www.ttfxmedia.com/vallejo/cgi-bin/_modelis_princip.asp?p1=ing&p2=modelcolor&p3=

Its very rare I use any other make of paint these days...
Mick

I don't touch anything but Vallejo EXCEPT for GW's fabulous washes.

I still have some GW paints but mostly use Vallejo now. I do like some of the foundation paints by gw though... the mechrite red is nice.

I'm a noob myself, what's the difference in quality between GW and Vallejo paints?

What can you guys say on the quality of Tamiya model paints (XF series)? I'm not interested in the color variety, since I mix my own colors.

Also, how and why do you thin paints?

tuatha1337 wrote:I'm a noob myself, what's the difference in quality between GW and Vallejo paints?

Vallejo are more covering, especially the model color reds are so much better than any GW reds, except foundation red. Also yellows are covering much better. The bottles are also better on vallejo, the paints do not dry up in them and the dropper bottles are so much better more getting paint on the palette.

tuatha1337 wrote:What can you guys say on the quality of Tamiya model paints (XF series)? I'm not interested in the color variety

They are also great, but need a lot of thinning. They are comparable to Vallejo model color.

tuatha1337 wrote:Also, how and why do you thin paints?

With water to ease the painting on thin layers, to avoid clumpy finish and loss of surface detail. The paint is much easier to handle when thinned a bit.