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Hey guys Ive been looking into using Vallejo paints, but only being aware of of the citadle paint line when I first began the hobby (6 years ago) I ofcourse know better now, but over the years I have amassed a large collection of Gw paints/washes/foundation paints,what Im wondering is what are some good ways I could start transitioning to Vallejo colors? and what do I do with the Gw colors?

Personally I use both regularly. I use many GW colors just thinned with water. Vallejo I use for that extra detail. I use it alot for NMM just because of the smoother abilities it has. I would keep the GW paints. Slowly but surely when you need a new color check out the vallejo line. For each project find the right color that you like. Shake it up before you look at what the color will look like though. Also try not to keep it in the back of your head that you need to match the vallejo line colors to the GW colors you may need. It is rather difficult and time that does not need to be spent.

Personally, I'd go for Reaper Master Series instead of Vallejo, as they're just a step above the rest. Currently the way I'm doing it is just replacing each color when I run out with the equivalent RMS (Or VMC, your choice) color. However, if I had a little extra cash, there's a collection of most of the line that's in the area of 100$. Not sure if Vallejo has the same kind of thing.

Outside of the dropper bottle you are not going to find a huge difference in quality. GW does make good paints. I'd just replace em as you run out and/or add colors that you don't have.

I'd argue that. Having used GW, Vallejo, and RMS, I have to say that I think they run in that order of quality, with RMC the best. Vallejo and Reaper are much smoother, and mix and blend so much nicer than GW's paints. Of course, your mileage may vary.

I've got em all... (see my gallery 'workshop' photo hehe) even P3, Tamiya and Andrea.

I think the GW paints thin and mix quite well, the only real difficulty is the lack of dropper bottle convenience. I find some of the Vallejo colors to separate when thinned and some of the RMS paints to dry 'chalky' ... but more or less, they all work fine most of the time.

When I started my transition I transferred all of my GW paints into dropper bottles and when they run out I replace them with Vallejo equivalents. The only GW colors I buy anymore are washes, foundations, and metals.

I just got some Reaper Master Series and must say I like the results so far.

chalkiness is a problem, especially with watered down vallejo black. I'll always keep a pot of chaos black. I find vallejo paint has much better coverage than gw stuff and the container is superior.

The single best black IMO is Apple Barrel black mixed with 10:1 water-flo aid mix, slo-dri, and some matte medium.

At $1 per 2oz bottle it is easily the most economic choice and works exactly the same as GW black after being mixed properly.

I've been playing 40k for over 10 years now.
I too used GW colours untill now. I just switched from GW to Vallejo... Partly. I Kept all GW foundations and those new miracle washes. Rest went into the bin. Vallejo is more easy to work with imo, and those eyedrop flasks are MUCH better then GW's (on purpose drying out crap bins) bins.

People talk much about economic here... Well... Frankly, If you dont have the cash, dont switch. But hey 10 marines cost about as much as 10 colors. and 10 colors goes along way.

Switching paint brands is best done slowly. color by color, not all at once. A full paint setup can easily run $200-300 USD.

What's the difference in the vallejo colors i seen vallejo game colors and another vallejo what would be the difference

Swarmlord wrote:What's the difference in the vallejo colors i seen vallejo game colors and another vallejo what would be the difference

Vallejo Game Color is designed to be a colour match for the paints put out by Citadel, Reaper, Coat D'Arms, etc.

Vallejo Model Color equates more to things like Tamiya and Humbrol for military modelers - WW2 colours, etc.

Finally, Vallejo also does Model Air (which is solely for airbrushing). It has similar colours, but a smaller range to Model Color.

Hope that makes sense!

Simon

I'd switch over slowly, only replacing "problem colours" at first to see if the other range suits any better. As already said above, GW colours aren't all that bad.

I'll second that blending with Vallejo paints is much smoother and eaisier. GW paints are great for putting decent colors on models, but Vallejo work exceptionally well for more detailed work.

One thing I will say about Citadel Paints is that their Foundations and Washes ranges are phenominal. I would advise the OP to keep these if they are in his/her collection. Once one of your citadel paints runs out, buy the VMC or VGC paint equivilant.

Or you could budget it. If you just bought 2 paints a month then eventually you would have what you need. The pro is that it's not breaking your budget, the con is that it might take forever (depending on how many paints you intend on replacing).

I personally am satisfied with the GW paints, except their yellows, and while I generally don't use it too often I may need a good yellow soon for some daemons. I will check out another vendor.

i really like GW paint but have been thinking of trying others some when, did think army painter but after readig this i may pick vallejo to give it a try

My experiences so far have been with GW Paints, GW Foundation, GW Washes, Folk Art Paints, Apple Barrel Paints, and Vallejo Game Colors.

GW Paints - Good quality, typically require thinning. I used these back in third edition, when they had the screw tops. Unfortunately, these tend to dry up due to the bottle design. The only current GW Paint I have is Tin Bitz, which is an excellent quality metallic paint. The metallics are top notch.

The tops are hard to open and it's easy to splatter from that bit they have extend into the paint. They also dry out in the bottle over time.

Quality - B- Principally due to the bottle design.
Cost - F

GW Foundation Paints - You've heard people gush about them, and for good reason. They are VERY strong colors for mixing/blending purposes, so be aware that mixing Mechrite Red with Yellow to make orange, for example, will take at least 4x the yellow one would normally require. I highly recommend these, but you still have the bottle issues.

Quality - B+
Cost - F

GW Washes - I remember the old days where you had inks instead of washes. I can also feel the difference when I use them. I don't use washes alot except to kick back strong highlights. I prefer to mix up my own washes just by very strongly thinning a good quality paint, as I can get it to the coating strength, which is usually stronger than a GW wash. GW washes seem ok, but nothing magical to me.

Quality - C
Cost - F

Folk Art Paints - These are EXCEEDINGLY hit or miss for me. The easier colors such as Greens, Blues, Browns, Blacks, Greys, etc are all very good quality that thin well and coat well. The hard colors such as Reds and Yellows are very poor quality to me. They don't thin well and they cover very poorly. Even a "straight from the bottle" yellow onto a medium grey will show the grey through. Cost wise, these are very good paints, coming in at $1-2 (US) for a 50ml bottle. The bottle design is more of a cylindrical squeeze tub than a dropper bottle, but is worlds better than GW bottles. I have some 8 year old Folk Art Paints that are still very good. The Metallics are very good when compared to other lines.

Quality - B+ or D
Cost - A-

Apple Barrel Paints - These are cheap, and you get what you pay for. I haven't had good quality luck with any of these paints, but it's less than a dollar for a 50ml bottle. Don't use if you thin your paints much at all, as it quickly becomes unusable.

Quality - F
Cost - A+

Vallejo Game Colors - My newest edition, these are a very high quality paint that comes in an easy to use dropper bottle. Except for the metallics, the paints mix and thin exceptionally well. In many cases, even thinned 1:1 I have to at most apply 2 coats of medium tone colors over black primer. For lighter colors, I would always recommend to apply a foundation coat first. I also have the Vallejo Game Color metallics set. So far I have used three, and all three have been disappointing. They dry very quickly on the brush, getting very chunky, and they don't take to thinning well. Coming in at $2-3 for a 17 ml bottle, the cost is reasonable.

Quality - A+ (except metallics)
Cost - B-



An additional note on the Vallejo Metallics I noticed last night is that whatever media they have used as the binder seems to soak right through my wet pallette, no matter how well mixed. I am going to try on a cheap plastic pallette next and see if I have the same issues.

On the topic, I HIGHLY recommend getting a wet pallette. I picked one up at Michaels for $12, and the improvement in my painting by maintaining a much steadier paint wetness far outweighs any gains I can get in quality going between different brands.

While the questions are being asked, if anyone has used them alot, how do the privateer line of paints fare compared to vallejo and gw? Ive heard some good things but havent actually bought any myself.

Might have to get some Vajello paints for my scale aircraft modelling, as they are the only makers that I can get for certain colours. Do they mix okay with Citadel please?

Make your own wet palette for next to nowt
but yes I agree about using one!

Editops Vajello is for something totally different

Apple barrel black works wonders if you put a few additives in it.

Chibi - Yeah mate. All water-based acrylics mix fine with one another.

Thanks
Have mixed Humbrol with Citadel no sweat.
Just useful to know before I buy and apply the Vallejo

My only experiences so far have been with Citadel (sort of meh-quality) and PP. I have 2 PP Colours, one of them is superb quality, the other... sucks arse. Im thinking of swiching to something other than Citadel, prolly PP. Can anyone tell me of a good, high quality but still affordable paint? people say Valejo, but how do i get my hands on it? i cant find it in my FLGS (and thats where I'd rather get my paints)

Another of the "craft paint" is Delta Ceramcoat which I am quite fond of. I have had a few bad bottles, but it is the bulk of my paint collection.