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Morning everyone. I had a question in regards to the paint used for the gaming models. I've built and paint regular scale models with the usual enamel and acrylics from Testors and Tamiya, yet oddly enough I am finding the painting of the first batch of test figures somewhat more challenging.
My local game shop in the area recommended using regular ol' craft acrylics and of course citadel paints. On here I am finding that people are using citadel and Vallejo paints. My question is, what is the recommended or personal preference of paint type used for the members here? I know to each there own, but I would like to see what the more expereinced users and collectors have used and find works.

The new citadel range is actually very good, I used to use lots of Vallejo but mainly citadel paints now, Vallejo black is still my favourite paint ever though

Vallejo and Minitaire are my go to paints, I substantially prefer them to citadel due to better containers, substantially better price per volume, and not changing paint ranges for business reasons, knowing how much it would screw people over. The quality of the paint is similar across all the major hobby brands, though you will find some ranges, and some paints within each range behave differently.

Vallejo Game Colour (VGC) are thick and have a tendency to separate which can require substantial thinning and stirring of the paint rather than just shaking. Vallejo Model Air is pre thinned for airbrush use, but is still great to brush on, many prefer it since it's close to a consistency you'd want to brush with anyway. VGC has a vibrant fantasy /sci-fi range of colours, VMC/VMA both have more muted, realistic ranges for camo and terrain.

Minitaire is an airbrush paint made by an airbrush company - badger. It's generally glossier than other ranges but I find the bottles the best, the price per volume the best, and they are an airbrush ready vibrant range of paints good for sci-fi and fantasy.

I don't use Citadel because they are substantially overpriced and I do not like the pots they come in - the paint dries quicker and it's very awkward to use with an airbrush or wet palette. They are not superior to other hobby paint ranges, and their reformulating their paints regularly makes it hard to colour match to continue paint schemes in your armies.

My advice would be to buy a set of VGC if you prefer vibrant sci-fi / fantasy colours, or a set of VMA if you prefer more muted and realistic colours. If you can gte a set of Minitaire for 50% off like I did and money is a concern, that would be a great choice too ; ) Whichever set you choose, I'd add to it specific paints as you need them. Metallics should be Vallejo Liquig Gold if you don't mind working with the more difficult alcohol based paints they're widely regarded as the best paints. If not, VMA metallics are your next best bet in general. You can generally save a lot of cash by buying online from discount sellers so definitely try to do that.

Buy citadel. It is inexpensive and you can find it quite easily. Investing in all the boutique paints will just be a headache for a new hobbyist. Keep it simple when you start out.

I used Citadel until they reformulated their line. I experimented with Army Painter as a replacement, because they offer an affordable primer in a color that was a pretty close match to the one I use for my army. I was pretty happy with the price and quality. Since I needed to replace a bunch of paints anyway, I started switching to Army Painter. These days, I use mostly Army Painter, with a few pots of Vallejo and Citadel. The Citadel paints are mostly leftovers, though. When the Citadel paints are gone, I probably won't be buying more. Citadel paints are significantly more expensive than the alternatives, and pots are inferior to dropper bottles when it comes to longevity and ease of mixing.


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 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
Buy citadel. It is inexpensive and you can find it quite easily. Investing in all the boutique paints will just be a headache for a new hobbyist. Keep it simple when you start out.

Citadel paints are anything but inexpensive. In terms of price, Citadel is actually the "boutique" line, with GW charging $4.00 for 12ml versus $3.29 for 17ml (Vallejo) or $3.00 for 18ml (Army Painter). And paints from other companies aren't more difficult to use than Citadel paints or anything like that. I'm not sure why they would be more likely to generate headaches.

I use a mix of VGC and old Citadel paints, with occasional dips into my stash of craft paints or bargain bin Liquitex Soft Body. I much prefer the behavior of the two hobby lines, generally (there are a few duds in each and the occasional gem in the craft paints), so the others usually only come out for large-scale terrain painting or spots of color that I can't mix, myself. Preference between Citadel and VGC varies by color, so I consider them roughly equivalent. VGC has the edge in container design and value, but I can source GW's stuff locally.

I use Reaper, Vallejo, and Citadel. Mostly I buy paint based on the color I want, I'm not very particular about brand.

For the money, Reaper usually has the best deals. As long as you don't mind buying online.

Vallejo has the brightest colors imho. And the new range from GW is pretty huge, so lots of variety.

I use Reaper, P-3, Vallejo, Army Painter, Tamaya, Model Masters ..all acryllics ..enamels I have no use for ..someplace on here is a colour comparison chart that shows which paints are the same shade from differnt companies..(Citadel is now by far the most expnsive)
Craft Acrillics (Plaid mid range) are good for large scale terrain only .the bottom end plaid is about useless.


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Since your in the USA Vallejo is made in the USA and available everywhere (Hobby Lobby, Ace Hobby Centers, FLGS, Model Stores ..every where ..) the Model colours are excellent the Metallics are great the Game Colours are decent ..and they are half the cost of citadle..they also have a large airbrush line ..

Primers in a rattle can ..Clourplace flat grey, white and/or black are good thin primers..for really cheap..(walmart) ..or ACE Hardware housebrand primers are also decent also cheap..

Testors dullcote for a final coate available everywhere


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Krylon has some flat color primer base coats that are nice but take some trial and error to get used to using them ..


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and for when you screw up a paint job (we all do it ) or you buy a batch of used minis that have a paint job you dont like then

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/365067.page

Cheapest safest paint remover yet for plastic, Metal and resin does not hurt your wallet or your minis

All the paints made for miniatures are pretty much the same. If someone gave you vallejo red, next to citadel red, next to reaper red you would not be able to tell them apart. All the name brands are good quality paints and you would be fine picking any of them. So how do you pick paints?

First, do you want to paint your models using a GW/citadel paint guide? If so, buy citadel paints. Conversion charts will tell you that two colors are the same but when you actually paint with them you will notice the difference, tau ochre is one especially hard paint to find in other ranges, as other ochres are more yellow or brown while this is orange. Buying from citadel means your colors are going to be the correct shade every time. Likewise if you are using a guide on the net and they use say X brand paints, just buy that brand, it will make your life so much easier.

If you are not using a paint guide almost any paint that come in a dropper bottle is a better option than citadel paints. The dropper bottle is just so much easier to use, has less drying, is better for mixing, etc. Go to your local shop that you support and see what they offer in dropper bottles and get that brand, because you should be supporting your local shops.

If your local shop doesn't have paints that come in dropper bottles then you can start looking for different brands. My personal suggestion for someone starting out painting is Reaper brand paints. The reason being is they have Triads of paint, basically a base, shadow and highlight, all in the same color and they tell you what it should be use for. So if you want to paint a rock, you buy the stone triad or if you want to paint skin you buy the rosy flesh triad. It makes it extremely easy for a novice to just pick up the paints and do a base, shadow and highlight. Price wise they are competitive with vallejo and p-3. They have less of a range than vallejo but make up for it with ease of finding the color you want.

I would say pick what ever is local, as having drive several hours or order online for a specific paint is a bit rage inducing.

But i would suggest Vallejo or Reaper, as GW may or may not change there color line....again.

I bought a lot of Citadel paint jars (100+) bit by bit when I started out. Citadel paint is nice, but also expensive compared to the other offers.

Today, I use Vallejo Model Air and Vallejo Game Colour paints. Especially when you add airbrush to the mix, you'll stop using Citadel paints.

When just using brushes, there isn't anything wrong with Citadel paint as long as you dilute it with (destilled) water or medium depending on the job at hand and your requirements.
Out of the jar it is much too thick to allow any decent painting.

Note that you can mix and match between different water based acrylic paints. Just stay clear of any artist supply glossy colours since they'd stand out a bit. ;-]
Depending on the competitor, they might even have a comparison chart. In general, that is only important if you need to paint additional units to match previously painted ones exactly.

 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
Buy citadel. It is inexpensive and you can find it quite easily. Investing in all the boutique paints will just be a headache for a new hobbyist. Keep it simple when you start out.

Exactly!!


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http://wargamesfoundry.com/paints


Or this is always Wargames Foundry, they even sell 3 colors in sets for the three up paint schemes. They come in great paint pots and they will literally last for years like the old citadel paints of which I still have quite a few.




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http://wargamesfoundry.com/paints/foundry-paint-system/original-paint-system-bsfp003

Link to War Games Foundry and the "secretive" three paint system... shhhh

I just want to point out that it is possible to use Enamels to paint miniatures. You can check my gallery or blog and see for yourself.

I use Humbrol Enamel paints almost exclusively because that is what I'm used to and what I have a huge collection of.

However, the use of white spirit over water as a solvent will put off most people and I've been told by a few people that Acrylic paints are easier to use for the kind of painting required for miniatures.

So don't throw away your old paints, but if you are finding them difficult to use then Acrylics are probably the way to go.

I personally use a mix of citadel and vallejo.

I am slowly moving towards vallejo due to money concerns.

If you generally go online to find recipes, you find that alot of good paint jobs use vallejo so if you ever want to copy them start using vallejo.

Also as people said before vallejo is cheaper and has a larger range of colours.