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Hey all,

Sorry if this is the wrong place, it was the best place, in my mind, to put it.

Ok so here I am, I am starting from scratch as I was a collector many years ago (Medusa V Veteran) and have decided to dust off the Wolves of Russ and start again. In the 6 or 7 years I have been MIA alot has changed, not only the paint names, but also alot of other brands have surfaced and have a strong foothold now.

I am starting from scratch, I will be stripping my 1500 odd points of wolves and repainting as well as purchasing new models and some various FW pieces as well.

I want to get it right and start off strong, but I am confused about what paints to use. Vallejo, Privateer Press, GW, Army Painter and a few others are all showing up and I am really going in circles.

What should I be using and what decent paint sets are available / recommended? I will be spending a fair bit in getting my painting gear vast so don't hold back.

Any help would be awesome!

~Phrixus

Hi the GW paints are pretty good and they have a section on their website that gives you a guide as to what colours to use.

Vallejo paints are also good I use the model air range for airbrushing as they are ready thinned, however I have used their game colours and they are pretty good.

I would suggest you have a look round at some colour schemes you like and ask what colours they used.

I can’t really comment on paints other than GW and Vallejo.

TBH i find that they are all pretty similar anyway, it just depends on the colour scheme you want to use.

Hope this helps

G'day mate, welcome back to the hobby.

As far as paints go I highly recommend Vallejo. They come in dropper bottles, have more per bottle then GW paints and i've always found them to be cheaper then GW and come in a massive array of colours.
The new GW paints are a bit of a mixed bag i'd say. Big range of colours compared to their old line but still the same amount of for a high price. I've only used a few of the new line so i can't comment throughly on them but from what i've used they seem to be pretty good. I believe they are already watered down a bit so be careful about diluting them to much.
i can't speak as to the quality of P3 or Army painter paints but i do like the Army Painter rattle can primers so i can only imagine that the AP paints are just as good.

If it takes your fancy then i'd suggest looking into getting an airbrush. Everyone who uses them raves about them (and with good reason). If you use the forum search feature you can find tons of threads about air brushes and compressors and what not.
If you are looking for brushes then a lot of people tend to recommend Winsor & Newton series 7. Bit more expensive then your average brush but they are far superiour. Again if you use the search function then you will find a multitude of threads about various brushes.

Hard to recommend a single brand, as paints are largely a matter of personal preference. There also tends to be as much variation between the behavior of different colors in a line as there is between the same color in different lines. The different brands do, however, each have a few features frequently cited as selling points.

GW paints are an obvious choice to use at GW stores and on GW models. If you like to follow tutorials and painting guides, many use GW colors. They're also pretty widely available, sold nearly anywhere you can buy the models. On the other hand, they're the most expensive per volume and the flip-top pots are prone to wastage. I've also heard that the metallics, previously a strong point of the line, have gone downhill in the latest iteration.

Army Painter (Warpaints, was it?) are supposedly good (only used the inks, myself), but the range was somewhat limited, when last I checked. The big draw is their incorporation into the whole Army Painter "system." The paints are matched to their colored primers and are supposed to have good coverage and vivid pigment, to show through their dips and washes. Speaking of washes, their Strong and Dark tone inks are dead ringers for the dearly missed Devlin Mud and Badab Black, respectively.

Vallejo has an absolutely massive range, when you add their various lines together. Anything you might want - from old GW color clones to historical camouflage colors to premium metallics to airbrush paints - they've got, and at a decent price and volume. About half of my go-to paints are VGC (the other half being now defunct Citadel colors) and I'm quite happy with most of them (every line has a few problematic colors). They also offer several sets of various sizes that grant a decent discount over buying the (already reasonably priced) bottles individually.

P3 is the one range I have absolutely no experience with, but I've heard good things. Aside from the behavior of the paint, itself, they also have the triad system (each color has a midtone, shade, and highlight) to simplify color selection. They have larger sets available, too, based on the main colors of the various Warmachine/Hordes factions. From what I gather, they've got a bit of extra drying retarder mixed in, giving them a slightly longer working time than most other lines - a boon if you're big on wet-blending.

With all of that said, it's worth repeating that paints are mostly a matter of preference. If you're able, grab a few from various producers and try them out, seeing what best suits you. You may find yourself gravitating towards one line or another, making your first choice for future purchases obvious. You aren't marrying the manufacturer, of course, so when you come across a problem color (unavoidable, really), you can try another brand's equivalent.

I'll also mention that I'm not a fan of paint sets, personally. While the idea of getting everything you need in one go is alluring, that's rarely the reality - usually, you end up with a few colors you hate, a few that are probably decent but you'll never have a use for, and a few that will get used up within a week. Unless you use everything in the set, the bulk savings are liable to be eaten up by the unused paint. Far better, in my opinion, to cover your basics and pick a few extras you're likely to use frequently, then expand piecemeal as need arises.

Hi there, Welcome back to the hobby
I was in the same boat as you just 18-24 months ago. Digging up the old models, tools, paints etc from storage and seeing what was left ! was a fairly nostalgic afternoon
Needless to say the vast majority of the paints I used to use were beyond usefulness and i binned a lot of them.

For new paints I went with citadels and got a small selection before they updated the line. Then I have expanded my collection with the new range, finding them quite good compared to the citadel's I remember using as a youngster. Not quite the same, but on the whole user friendly.

I usualy find that the paint set packages contain just enough colours that I wouldnt have picked to make them unworth it I suggest hand picking a set, then seeing if the package deals can offer a saving.. if not.. oh well. (This could be true with any brand)

In terms of equipment, some good quality brushes are a boon! Windsor and Newton series 7 are a good but expensive choice, not break the bank.. only when compared to cheaper brushes.. which they outlast anyway. Other good choices are Rosemary & Co, Raphael, or any other artists kollinsky sable brush you can get a hold of in sizes 00 through 2 or 3. Kollinsky sable is not red sable, sable blend or any other kind of sable... its a specific type of hair from a siberian weaselish animal, is widely considered the best.

Tools you might already have... but if your needing new knifes, clippers, files, glue etc GW stuff is good (except the glue) only really over priced! all necesary tools should be sourcable on ebay or local hardware stores or non GW model shops... model trains? airfix specialst or something like that.

I woudl really reccomend gettign an airbrush if you can afford to, theyre brilliant and really useful.
Doesnt have to be a top end highly priced model to be useful for basecoating and basic highlighting of models.
Somethign with a 0.3 or 0.4mm nozzle, 2ml-5ml paint cup, gravity feed dual action airbrush with a small compressor (any... but a tank is preferable)


Another really useful product to own is a bottle of medium.. or a selection of medeiums.
Personally I like Liquitex branded ones, but theres a few, Golden and Windsor & Newton spring to mind.
The liquitex range includes;
Matte medium - a semi transparent matte finish colourless paint
Ultramatte medium - An opaque colourless matt finish
Gloss medium - semi transparent glossy finish
glazing medium - fully transparent(ish) glossy finish
Slow dry - increases working time of paints for wet blending
texture gels - textured acrylic binder with no colour (like citadels new texture paints... without colour and a selection of textures)
Airbrushing medium - Low viscosity acrylic binder for thinning paint out to spray

All of these are to be mixed with acrylic colours (any brand) to change and tailor their effects for a wider range of possibilities.

Primers, GW seem expensive, Army painter seem better for the high price point, I've had success with a few brands of automotive primers, test with sprues first if unsure

A development in modeling toolbox items since your used to build and paint might be Instant mold, aka oyumaru, which can be really useful for duplicating emblems, icons and odd one off little items with greenstuff in conversions. Just something that you may not be aware of yet that can be really useful

I think I've covered a fair few of the bases here Goodluck with getting your new kit.

Thank you for all the feedback. I will watch some air brush tutorials and see what it is like, I have always liked the idea but I never went into it too much. Can it be used in as much detail as a brush or is it more for of a tabletop squad painter?

I was probably leaning towards the Vallejo gear due to a local supplier having great prices as well as pick up which cuts down on costs even further.

As said, what would be the 'neccessary' paints and inks to create a great looking model? I noticed a few names of inks but what would the 'must have' base paints be?

An airbrush probably wont replace the brush for detailing. Its just another tool, Its great for quick basecoats, shading, highlights, 'Zenithal' highlighting uses an airbrush, they do great fades and blends in mere seconds with little to no skill unlike brushing a wet blend does. But they cant edge highlight, apply washes correctly or a few others bits. Cant be a bit of a chore to clean out for one off jobs at times.

I think Awesome paint job on youtube do some airbrush tutorials, maybe see what he does with them and judge if youd liek to have one... you could get set up reasonably cheap.... although they certainly cost more than paint brushes do.

An air brush doest replace a paint brush and a paint brush doesn't replace an air brush. I use an air brush for my models and I love it but it has its limitations same as a paint brush. You can't do small detail as well with an air brush so you will find most people will use an air brush to do the main colours and the priming, then swap over to a paint brush to finish it off.

In terms of the colours you should have in my opinion you need to start with a good white and a good black undercoat or primer. I use the Vallejo model air polyurethane primers. Then I would get a good black and white paint. You should also have the primary colours basically once you have red green and blue you can mix pretty any colour you like. Then get some silver metallics a light coloured one and a dark one. Next you need some washes, personally for the main part all I use is a brown wash and a black wash.

Both Vallejo do sets you can buy which are pretty good. But as I see before decide which army you are going to do decide on a colour scheme and buy the paints to suit. If you like a style someone else has used ask them what paints they used. If they have used a different brand to Vallejo for example there are plenty of colour charts that match the different brands colours.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
If you have a shop locally that supply Vallejo ask him to get some specific sets in
http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/vallejo/vallejo-paint-sets/model-air-set-basic-colors-x16-/prod_10206.html
This would be a good start

Or If you want something more comprehensive
http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/vallejo/vallejo-paint-sets/model-color-hobby-range-box-set-72-colours-3-brushes-carry-case-/prod_10190.html

ichigo wrote:


You should also have the primary colours basically once you have red green and blue you can mix pretty any colour you like.

Try Red, Blue, and Yellow.
Green is primary when talking about light, yellow primary when talking about paints. (red + green light = yellow light, while you cannot mix yellow paint from two other's)
You wont however be able to mix any colour with citadel's, true primary colours dont actually exist within citadels range.... still though mixing does produce a massive range of shades. (Theres no magneta red/pink withing the citadel range currently)
For just general painting colours I like to get a warm and a cold tone of each colour I add to the collection.
Primer should probably be grey for a more allrounder product that wont be as much a pain to paint white over.