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Im relatively new to the hobby of wargaming and so far am loving every aspect of it. At the moment im looking to expand my arsenal of paints, brushes and tools and was wondering if you guys could point me in the direction of good sites and places to purchase paints and other supplies. I intend on being a regular around the forum and want to become someone who others can count on for constructive criticism as well as bounce other ideas and techniques off of.


This forum is awesome.

Ok first off paints are important try buying from a few companies except GW. Popular paint brands are...... Vallejo (get them from thewarstore.com) Reaper paints (The only place I saw them was at miniwargaming.com) and p3 paints (dont know where you can order these just search around on the interwebz)

Second up is brushes I have only a few brushes from GW, the wash brush and the big tremendous drybrush, then going on to quality products I go to michael's arts and crafts store for acrylic brushes, go to http://www.kolinskyartbrushes.com/ws_index.html for some extremely high quality brushes that are pretty expensive so I personally have only 2 so far

That should get you pretty much started for now ; )

Happy Wargaming, Khorne Flakes

BTW this is the Tutorials section, not the asking questions section. but its slightly excusable because you are a noob.

On to the question. I personally use GW paints, and don't have a problem with them. Its convenient being able to buy them at my local games workshop, and I can't really complain about them. The paints also work together very well and the system of foundation->color->wash is very easy and looks good.

That all being said many people don't like GW paints (like the above poster) and will swear by other products. A common complaint is that games workshop paints are too thick. I'm personally too inexperienced to know the difference. I would suggest trying out different companies and seeing which one you like best. They are all different. It would also make a difference as to which one is easily available in your area.

Welcome aboard! I do like buying from the warstore , they have a great selection and carry all of the major non gw paints. Here's what I know from experience that I can pass on to you:

Games workshop paints: easy to buy at local stores. The paint quality is not as bad as everyone says in my opinion but the bottles are terrible because they promote paint drying. There washes and metallics are of excellent quality and I prefer them over other brands.

Vallejo Game Color: Excellent quality paints that are named similar to there GW equivalents. They are harder to find in stores but are everywhere oline. They come in dropper bottles promoting use of a palette and preventing paint drying in the container. They are also less expensive than gw and you get more in the bottle. They are formulated for gaming and are tougher after they dry. They also have there own versions of foundatio paints as well.

Vallejo model color: a huge range of colors ( over 200) that compliment the game color range. They are more geared towards the military modeller and alot of the colors reflect that. Also come in droppers and are well priced.

Vallejo Model Air: the airbrush line of paints. They are thinned for airbrush use right out of the bottle but can be used with s brush as well. I use them with my airbrush and when I need a nice thinned out color for lining .

P3 colors: I've had limited experience with these. The few I have perform nicely. They have a nice line of colors and are competitively priced.

Reaper Master series: another huge line of colors and also in droppers. These paints are designed more for painters with good skills with blending and layering and are designed thinner than most others. They take alot of practice to use correctly and require a lot of patience.

As far as brushes go, kolinksy sable hair brushes are preferred. Windsor Newton Series 7 are popular. The Artist watercolor line are also very good from my experience and are easy to find at local craft stores.

Hope this helps with your shopping choices.