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Hey all,



I've been out of painting Warhammer for a few years, but I'm getting back into it, and I need some new paint. I was wondering if anyone out there had experience with other paint lines beyond Games Workshop's basic one; I hear from rumor they have by far the best metallics, but what other ones are good?


Price is really not an object; I want the best quality and the most variety I can get in terms of paint. GW I believe has 100ish colors, are there larger lines?



Looking forward to the answers.



-DaBestest

for airbrushing its createx, the wicked colours, pearl and gloss, as the standard ones.
for brush painting i recommend vallejo model colour , unbeaten in variety. they also have a new game colour air series thats quite good for oing colours.
as for technical paints i recommend ak interactive under new regime from mig jiminez.
oil colours from winsor and newton.
for acrylic painting there is also scale colour 75, they have very good paint sets for nmm etc

edit: best metallics are the vallejo alcohol based ones, magic stuff just be careful to only use synthetic brushes.
buypainted on youtube has quite a few tutorials that show the effects

For sheer breadth of colours Vallejo can't really be beat, As they have the Game Colour, Model Colour and Panzer Aces ranges as well as doing a whole bunch of auxiliary products ranging from brush in primers and thinners to washes and weathering powders.

Reaper might mount a challenge with their Master Series and HD ranges, though. They're pretty sizeable and come in the awesome triad set up where you get a shadow, mid-tone and highlight colour designed to work together. Makes it a little bit easier for those without a natural eye for complimentary tones/shades or a working knowledge of colour theory.


You'll probably find yourself picking up paints from all the over the place as various lines have their strengths and weaknesses, plus the odd colour that their rivals simply don't produce. Others to looks at are P3, Army Painter, Scale 75 (wonderfully matte finishes) and Coat d' Arms.

Vallejo hands down. Model Color, Game Color, Model Air, Panzer Aces... and you can mix and match all of them. 90% of my paint collection is Vallejo.

And I think GW has the most expensive paints on the market. Correct me if I'm wrong. They're not bad, but other paint companies offer the same quality for a lower price 9and usually they come with more paint).

Just because a paint range has a lot of colors doesn't mean they're necessarily the right colors for you. For instance, if you like painting fantasy/scifi like 40k or Hordes, Vallejo has 100+ camouflage colors you'll never use, including more shades of dull army green, grey, and brown than you ever thought existed. In comparison, Citadel has 40+ paints in the blue and green range, many of which are fantastic for Orks, and Eldar, but useless for World War 2 replicas. Despite it's humongous number of paints, Vallejo has practically no variety in the bright reds, oranges and orange-reds, and nothing at all in the ultrabrights (like Lugganth Orange or Fire Dragon Bright).

Another factor is what your local FLGS stocks & sells. It doesn't really help if there are 300 paint colors and they cost $3 each, but you have to wait 2-4 weeks and pay $11 shipping for each shipment. Unless you want to buy the entire range at one go, it's really handy to be able to go to the gaming store and pick up a few colors at a time.

Personally, I find the Citadel range my favorite pigments for gaming. The colors just match what I want to paint, and there is a wide variety of shades that allows me to express variety across different models without mixing -- for instance my frost giants use very different blues than my ultramarines; my Orks. I also like the pots, but I understand lots of people prefer the droppers. That's personal preference that you'll develop over time.

Also, keep in mind that Citadel colors use a system where you basecoat with relatively dark colors (which are designed to cover better), and layer with lighter/brighter colors (which come out of the bottle slightly thinned and transparent). More experienced painters won't care, since practically all paint is thinned at least a little; when you start though, this is either a little bit of a help (if you like to paint the citadel way, where you layer up) or a bit of a nuisance if you like to basecoat with a midtone, and paint (instead of wash) shadows.

Finally, keep in mind that even though you can accomplish the same thing with almost any of the paint ranges, they aren't really "the same". There are small nuances that you will appreciate (or not) between them. Just compare black: anyone who owns Game Color Black, Model Color Black, P3 Thamar Black, and GW Abbadon Black should be able to tell you they are significantly different from each other. Glossiness, dry time, viscosity, coverage, behavior with flow aids and drying retarders are most certainly not the same. One is not better than another; they're just different. It also doesn't help to have a satin sheen, if the rest of your model is matte. Except sometimes, that's actually a nice way to distinguish a feature.

At the end of the day, it's good to use a variety of paints from different companies. Some just go on thinner and cover better than others, and sometimes, another company has a good color that closes a gap. For instance, when I wanted a very dark purple, and a very dark red for wet blending cloaks (and I want reproducibility, so I don't want to mix it), I went Reaper with Nightshade Purple and Burgundy Wine. Though Vallejo's paint range is double the size, these colors just don't exist.

I won't focus on price, because you said it doesn't matter that much to you. However, this is what I pay in Canada, after FLGS gaming group discounts: $4.50 for Vallejo, $4.25 for Citadel, $3.55 for Reaper, $2.95 for P3, and $2.65 for Army Painter. In addition, Army Painter and Vallejo come in useful sets that are significantly cheaper, and Citadel has sets that basically include a discounted tool as well as a complete collection set that makes no sense price-wise the way it is here. Depending on sale events and that kind of thing, I can get an additional 10% off of that.

Keep in mind that Army Painter gives you the most paint per bottle, and Citadel gives you the least. Though, for the vast majority of my paint range, this doesn't matter -- I don't use up even one bottle after many years, and I paint quite a lot. A few colors, on the other hand, I'll go through a bottle every couple of months.

Hey all,


What I'm basically trying to do is simplify my logistics; essentially, I'm asking what is the best collection of paints for Warhammer that I can get in a single purchase? Metallics are already filled; I have enough GW metallic to last a lifetime. What I have almost none of is any other kind of paint.


Also, of those companies mentioned, which offers paints closest to GW? I'm not sure if different companies have different consistencies of paint, but I've learned to paint with GW-style paints.


I do use camo for IG and a few SM and Orks, but I definitely don't need 100+!


As to paint use, I use all my colors almost evenly; I both paint my armies and paint my club's armies, and everyone wants a different paint scheme.


Good responses, it's been enlightening thus far.


Regards,
DaBestest

Vallejo should be fine with there game color range for the mor bright colors as well they seem stable as a company

Edit: Stable as in probably wont change colors like GW did like 3 times

As well they sell on amazon so its accessible.

Dropper bottles has its perks and cons

They have dedcatied airbrush lines as well if your into that sort of thing.

Pigment in the paint are generally good. currently my favorites are most of the model color blacks and greys and there model air burnt umber.

And there metallic range is very good for silvers and steels. iv had a bit of hit and miss with there golds and other colors.