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So i'm getting realy tierd of GW paints.. So I was looking arround some and found P3 paints and wanted to get some opinions on them, Are they good? Are they better then GW paints? Do they actualy survive being left unused in a bag for a month?

GW paints should survive being left in a bag unused for months at a time (mine tend to). It's more about ensuring you've a good seal when shutting the pot.

As for paints its mostly personal preference. P3, Vallejo, and GW are all solid brands of paint with a wide range of colours. You can use one brand, mix and match or mostly do whatever you want. Some people even pick paints just by the style of pot rather than the paint itself so the three big brand names are very easy to shift between.

I have been using P3 paints for years and overall I find they are a bit better than the GW paints. My only gripe has been with some of the metallics, though I believe it was due to a bad batch.

commissarbob wrote:
I have been using P3 paints for years and overall I find they are a bit better than the GW paints. My only gripe has been with some of the metallics, though I believe it was due to a bad batch.

They reformulated the metallics not too long ago and they are much improved now. I believe the newer formula bottles have a black label.

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:

commissarbob wrote:
I have been using P3 paints for years and overall I find they are a bit better than the GW paints. My only gripe has been with some of the metallics, though I believe it was due to a bad batch.

They reformulated the metallics not too long ago and they are much improved now. I believe the newer formula bottles have a black label.

Yep the new metallics have a black label and are much improved. I really like the P3 paint line. One thing to consider is the colors are a bit different from GW's stuff.

P3 I believe uses a liquid pigment. This supposedly allows you to mix colors and thin them easier. Their color choices don't have direct matches to GW paints. If you have an existing scheme that you want to match, check out Vallejo or reaper. If starting a new scheme give P3 a try.

I was planning to start a new mostly green scheme for my Tau and found a P3 paint box, P3 Mercenary Colors. It gives you 6 paints for the price of 5 and I'm thinking of buying that to try them out and see if I can paint a nice colorscheme for my Tau using those colors.

Give it a bash, a lot of people like P3. If you want some info on Vallejo or Minitaire as alternatives to GW, happy to help. Vallejo Game Colour has direct colour matches to the old GW range if that helps.

I've only used a couple of P3 paints, and found they work just fine.

I have been replacing my GW paints with Coat D Arms paints. They're the original GW colors (and consistencies) way back when GW had the paints in larger round and hex bottles (not the newer, smaller ones).

P3 is a solid paint range, with the exception of a few of its metallics (brass balls comes to mind, not sure if they ever got that worked out... been afraid to try).

I have dozens of paints from when the range first launched that are still good as new.

In particular i find that they are pigment heavy which makes painting over black primer easier with lighter colors.

Definitely recommend them (although i personally recommend sampling from P3, GW, and Vallejo... all have something to bring to the table).

The only thing I've found with the limited number of colours I've got, is that they need a lot more thinning than Citadel.

Neither good or bad, merely a thing I've noticed, but figured I'd mention it if you're the sort who likes to paint straight from the pot, they're probably not as "get awayable with" as Citadel in that regard.

their "warm" colours are washed out. I'm guessing it's because they dont put cadmium and other toxic elements into their pains. they are also all nontoxic and say so right on the bottle. For that reason they make a good airbrush paint.

GW paint i highly doubt it is nontoxic. i would like to see a MSDS and some kind of evaluation from a third party.

kb305 wrote:
their "warm" colours are washed out. I'm guessing it's because they dont put cadmium and other toxic elements into their pains. they are also all nontoxic and say so right on the bottle. For that reason they make a good airbrush paint.

GW paint i highly doubt it is nontoxic. i would like to see a MSDS and some kind of evaluation from a third party.

Well GW puts nontoxic on their paints as well, and from what I can find they appear to be about as safe as most others on the market such as Reaper and P3. Vallejo are supposed to be more toxic.
http://brokenzealot.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/paint-toxicity.html

Far as that link and others said it should be fairly safe, just don't go drinking it by the pot load and you should be ok.

I'm a fan of P3 paints, though they tend to dry a little shinier than most of the GW stuff. Not a fan of their washes though, at least not for the purpose a wash is used for.

Ever since GW came out with their new paint line I was raging against their new "Bleached Bone" until I discovered P3 Jack Bone with a touch of Menoch White highlight.

Don't have to switch the whole range but being open minded enough to pick what really works for you through multiple line is really what's best.

I use both, I really like p3 inks but I prefer citadel solid colors and glazes. But I've never had a problem with P3 and have substituted it for some citadel colors.

I'm a total paint slut. P3, Vallejo, Reaper, GW, Badger, even some off brands no one has probably ever heard of.

Out of them all, I like P3 the best. The color is pretty consistent. Something that a lot of other paints seem to have trouble with. Due to the liquid pigments, it makes mixing these paints very, very easy. Wet blending is a dream with them. I'm not a big fan of the bottles though. Mostly because I break the lids off a lot. The Metalics blow chunks, though the new P3 Black Label is usable. Drying glossy or mat doesn't matter all that much. All good modelers use a sealant anyways, right? I will say they are a bit thick, and do require thinning, but all acrylic paints require thinning to some extent.

Each paint has advantages and disadvantages. For amount of colors available, you would be hard pressed to beat the Vallejo Model range, followed closely by the Reaper colors. For special effects, the GW paints have the lead here. I'm talking their Glaze, Texture, and Technical line. You can make all these yourself with the colors you want, but it is a bit of a hassle, so my hat is off to GW for making these paints. For blending, the P3 is the best.