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Hi all. Today I discovered that a store, literally 30 feet from the local GW does Vallejo paints, for equal or sligtly lower prices than the GW paints and would like to give the brand a go. The guy who was on duty told me its really nice to work with and he personally loves it (he seemed quite genuine about this), and I was thinking of picking some up tommorrow to give it a go. I as just wondering if there is anything I should know with Vallejo, like how it handles and stuff, how much thinning it needs, etc. Also, I was only planning to pick up 1 bottle for my test, and test it on my Helbrute. What would be the best colour to try out?

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

check this chart out.... hope it helps you..

It's all a matter of personal preference, but definitely try some of the Vallejo paints out. They're better in price compare to GW paint pots and the quality is just as great if not better. Vallejo has several different lines of paints, so the paints are slightly different in composition. Two of the lines, Game Color and Model Color have the colors you're most likely going to use, which I think the chart lists from that Chute82 posted.
I personally love using Vallejo paints, and I use it along with a few GW paint pots I have. It's definitely a lot more useful to have dropper bottles to control your usage of paint. Get whatever color you're going to use on the Helbrute, any color will work as you get a feel for Vallejo, you're likely going to pick up a Game Color paint as those have some of the more "brighter" colors used.

Vallejo are awesome.

There are four major ranges, each of which handles a little differently:

Vallejo Model Color. These are pretty standard acrylic paints. Coverage can be a little thin; you will generally thin slightly (putting it on a wet palette is enough I find). Works well in a couple of coats for layering etc.

Vallejo Game Color. I don't use these, but what I've heard is they're a little thicker, and colours are designed to be comparable to GW's old range / Cote d'Arms etc.

Vallejo Model Air. These are brilliant. They're pre-thinned for airbrushing, but work excellently with a brush for blending and layering. Don't need to thin these at all I find on the palette, but I always do thin for airbrushing. Especially worth while is my holy trinity for parchment highlights; Hemp, Sand Yellow, then Sand. The silver metallics (aluminium / gunmetal grey etc) are superb too. Very fine grain, very smooth finish.

'Panzer Aces'. These I find to be pretty thick and opaque usually, and designed with military models in mind. 'New wood' (I use it regularly when highlight reds / browns) and 'Weathered wood' (I use it as a base for bone, parchment and warm whites) are essentials in my painting regime, as are 'Light Mud' and 'Dark Mud'.

Thanks very much gentlemen.

Edit- Missed winterdyne's post.

At some point in the near future, if you are feeling adventurous, try out the Vallejo line of "Liquid Gold" paints. They are alcohol based and take dedicated brushes to work with, but they are hands down the best golds/silvers/copper you will find. if you do a search on this forum for them, you will turn up rave review after rave review.

Also the metallics from the Model Air line are fantastic. Specifically Metallic Black, Gun, Steel, Chrome, Bronze. IMO, they are better than the metallics from the Game Color or Model color line. I use them in my airbrush and with normal brush.

At this point Vallejo is all I use.

Thanks for the advice guys. I had a look around and have decided to go with Cold Grey Game colour or Basalt Grey Model Colour, equivilent to Citadel Codex Grey/Dawnstone, which I need in future for some Wet Blending and for something on my Heldrake I will get at Xmas. Thanks for the help everyone.