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Alright so this question has probably been asked and answered a million times already... well maby not that many times, probably more like a dozen times.
But I'm going to ask it again, because I'm yet to see an answer that fully satisfies me.

What are Vallejo paints like, compared to Citadel paints - particularly the ones that were discontinued last year?
I don't mean in terms of quality, I mean in terms of colour matching - how well do they actually match up?
I've looked over the 'Paint Range Compatibility Chart' so I know that this Vallejo colour is the equivalent of that Citadel/GW colour and so fourth.
But what the chart doesn't say is how much of a match the paints are.

So do Vallejo paints match up well with the Old/French Citadel paints or are they a little off? If they're not quite a match, how far off are they?
Like is it such a minor difference that if you compared a couple of miniature, one painted in the Citadel paints and one painted in Vallejo paints, you'd only notice a colour difference if you examined them thoroughly? Or is it noticeable enough that when you look at them under normal lighting conditions from more then a few feet away, you can easily see they're different colours.

If the Left side (The solid Blue side) is a Citadel Paint and the Right side is the Vallejo equivalent, which would be the most likely result


A good 60-70% of my miniatures are unfinished/unpainted and I'd like them to finish them and have them look as close too the finished and painted miniatures (that were painted with the Old/French Citadel paints) as possible.

Depending which exact line of citadel paints your after... Look at army painter war paints, Coat D'arms and vallejo game colour lines. All seem to hvae been based on the classic GW colours, (I think Coat D'arms actually made them a long time ago)

The new GW paints seem more like Model colour to me.

That article helped me immensely, I use it all the time for paint comparisons and it's been right about 99% of the time. It was once off by a smidge of a shade on a color of green.

Not sure you're going to find a particularly satisfying answer - at least not a universal one. From what I've seen, the VGC range is generally a good match, but the degree of closeness varies by color. Even if the mean and mode are 8, using your "closeness scoring" graphic's scale, that doesn't preclude the odd 10 (which is great) or 6 (somewhat less so). A few of the compatibility chart's entries have been reported as duds (went with the closest option for the sake of completeness, but there wasn't a direct corollary color), but it's still a useful tool for directing purchases.

If you can, it's always best to view the paints in person and gauge things with you own eye. Your personal painting style is also a factor - if you tend to mix and blend paints extensively, you're far less likely to be affected by slight color discrepancies. If you use large, solid blocks of unmodified color (no washes, no blends, etc.), though, it's a bit of a crapshoot - the specific colors you need will determine how likely you are to notice a difference. Personally, I'd just trust the chart blindly, then change one or two odd colors, if needed.

HairySticks wrote:Depending which exact line of citadel paints your after... Look at army painter war paints, Coat D'arms and vallejo game colour lines. All seem to hvae been based on the classic GW colours, (I think Coat D'arms actually made them a long time ago)

From what I understand, via the research I did, until about 1997 Citadel paints were made by an English company called 'HMG Limited'. From 1997 until last year (2012) they were made by a French company, whom I cant find any info about. Despite keeping the names and colour shades when they switched manufacturers, there were some discrepancies in the final paint colours.
Coat D'arms is made by HMG ltd, so they basically are the pre-1997 Citadel paints.

oadie wrote:Not sure you're going to find a particularly satisfying answer - at least not a universal one. From what I've seen, the VGC range is generally a good match, but the degree of closeness varies by color. Even if the mean and mode are 8, using your "closeness scoring" graphic's scale, that doesn't preclude the odd 10 (which is great) or 6 (somewhat less so). A few of the compatibility chart's entries have been reported as duds (went with the closest option for the sake of completeness, but there wasn't a direct corollary color), but it's still a useful tool for directing purchases.

If you can, it's always best to view the paints in person and gauge things with you own eye. Your personal painting style is also a factor - if you tend to mix and blend paints extensively, you're far less likely to be affected by slight color discrepancies. If you use large, solid blocks of unmodified color (no washes, no blends, etc.), though, it's a bit of a crapshoot - the specific colors you need will determine how likely you are to notice a difference. Personally, I'd just trust the chart blindly, then change one or two odd colors, if needed.

Actually it helps quite a lot.
I'm a pretty average painter at best and use mostly unmoded colours, but I just want something that's going to match what I have painted with out being glaringly and obviously different, and if most of Vallejo paints are going to be a very good match, with the odd exceptions being either a merely an alright match or a damn near perfect match, then I think Vallejo will suit me fine.

That said, I think I will do a couple of quick tests at some point in the near future. I still have a few of the Citadel paints which are either in good condition or in poor but salvageable states.

Thanks a lot guys, this has helped set my mind at ease about using Vallejo paints.