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I didn't like the last one forum topic on this, so I made a new one with a couple more options To better define the question, "primary brand" means that, excluding the primer, at least half the model is painted with that brand of paint.

Also, I am referring to paintbrush paints, not paints that might be used for airbrush -- not because that's not a good question, but because the answer might then be different.

Me: Citadel, mostly because the colors match well with what I want to do, and I like pots. But, I own and use a the entire P3 range, and 150+ Vallejo paints as well. If the question were airbrush, it would be Vallejo.

It seems half my paints are Vallejo Game series and the other half are Citadel. This is primarily because they're two of the three brands my FLGS carries, but I do have preferences for certain colors. Vallejo cannot make a red to save their lives it feels like, but Mephiston always goes on clean for me. And likewise I can never get a good pot of any Citadel white but Vallejo Game white goes on very well for a white.

I have about 10 citadel paints and something like 30 Reaper paints. I use citadel washes and metallics (Reaper metallics are ok but I like Citadel's more). The washes I have because I bought them when I started and they're also good. Most of the washes I use now are made by thinning darker paints.

I like Reaper paints because:
1. Dropper bottles
2. Made in US (Texas)
3. Good price
4. The powerpalette on their website is amazingly convenient
5. Great range of colors with good quality

 robam45 wrote:
It seems half my paints are Vallejo Game series and the other half are Citadel. This is primarily because they're two of the three brands my FLGS carries, but I do have preferences for certain colors. Vallejo cannot make a red to save their lives it feels like, but Mephiston always goes on clean for me. And likewise I can never get a good pot of any Citadel white but Vallejo Game white goes on very well for a white.

Man, this is so true.

In all fairness, Citadel's old red was horrible, too. It wasn't til Mephiston that Citadel got a good red. I also use VMC white... which is far from awe inspiring, but I guess I've just gotten used to it. Ceramite white is awful; I don't really see the point of it, as the only way to get it to go on smooth is to dilute it (way) past white scar, so why not just start with white scar? Then again, I have never found a use for VMC Foundation White either.

Mix and match, so GW but mostly craft store $1 for 4 oz vs $4 for 11mls. Or is it 13mls

One note: many airbrush users also their airbrush paints to brush on - I do.

Some airbrush paints do this better than others (vallejo model air brushes on just fine - where as badger minitaire is a bit more difficult to brush on).

Is there a specific question someone is looking for?

I find paint choices (in the beginning at least) are determined by;
1 - what the flgs carries
2 - what your friends use.

I can say one thing - I will never invest an army into a citidel paint again - dont trust them after their range change recently.
Fool me once...

(thank goodness for army painter and their "inks").

I mostly use Citadel, the main reasons are compatibility with what I have (using it since 20 years and still have usable paint in pots from back then), availability in local stores and overall quality.

I have to say I really like the new Citadel technical paints, like that corrosion stuff. Makes my Grey Knights, Necrons and all Melta muzzles look great

Vallejo mainly (more than 50% so that's what I voted for)
P3 for basecoats/bone (the P3 cryx set is great)
Citadel foundation paints/inks
Tamiya clear red for the most realistic fresh blood I've found so far

A mix of citidel, and army painter and other odd bits.
Mainly whatever works best and I can get. No particularly loyal brands.

But army painter Wash's are a true gem.

Mostly all citadel paints. My FLGS carries a lot of the Vallejo paints and I am thinking of starting to use those more just because I like the dropper bottles (easier to put on my wet pallet) and I think their metallic paints are a bit better/have more of a range

 chiefbigredman wrote:
Mostly all citadel paints. My FLGS carries a lot of the Vallejo paints and I am thinking of starting to use those more just because I like the dropper bottles (easier to put on my wet pallet) and I think their metallic paints are a bit better/have more of a range

When I started branching out from GW, I used Vallejo to fill in color gaps to Citadel's range. There is a really nice selection of greys -- in GW, Eshin is the end of the line for dark greys, whereas Vallejo has a few shades darker than that, like Black Grey. There are some nice almost-whites as well, and as you say, the metallic range has a lot of breadth, particularly in silvers darker than Leadbelcher.

I don't think the Vallejo Gold/Bronze/Copper range is really exciting -- I use GW's selection, with more AP as a backup, but VMC Gold is still pretty useful.

If they have it, Reaper is a nice range to fill in GW gaps too.

By the way, there are two things I don't like about the dropper bottles. First, you pretty much have to use one drop, which is pretty big. Second, I like to be able to see the paint in the pot, because otherwise, I'm not positive I've shaken it enough. This is especially true of paints that have sat for a while, and metallics in particular, because even after a really good shake they can still not be homogenized.

Mix. Vallejo is primarily what I order, Citadel is what's locally available. Which I use more of depends entirely on which color I'm painting, at the moment. In the end, though, I imagine they roughly balance out.

Other paints see use (a smattering of airbrush paints, a little Army Painter, a few fine arts and craft paints), but those two brands account for the bulk of what touches my miniatures.

I'm still using the older Citadel pots that I've had before the latest paint line change, and I've been slowly replacing them with Vallejo Game Color equivalents. My only complaint with VGC is that their metallics leave a lot to be desired. They're too thick and thinning them causes a sharp drop in their opacity.

Anyone have a favorite line of metallics they'd recommend for brush painting?

 the_Armyman wrote:
I'm still using the older Citadel pots that I've had before the latest paint line change, and I've been slowly replacing them with Vallejo Game Color equivalents. My only complaint with VGC is that their metallics leave a lot to be desired. They're too thick and thinning them causes a sharp drop in their opacity.

Anyone have a favorite line of metallics they'd recommend for brush painting?

Almost every water-based metallic paint is like that, sadly. The only two paints that I can feel go on thin and opaque are GW Leadbelcher and Balthazar Gold (which is more bronze than gold).

The GW metallic layer paints are quite thin, and go on thinner than VMC/Game Color, but they are not opaque. Still, they are good for layering, and are intended to go on top of GW base metallic paints (for example, they direct you to paint Gehenna gold directly over Balthazar Gold).

It is also often very helpful to basecoat brown underneath golds, and black underneath silvers. This way, your thinned metallic paint shows through a solid color that looks intentionally less metallic, rather than one that is out of place (like blue, green or red).

Talys wrote:

 the_Armyman wrote:
I'm still using the older Citadel pots that I've had before the latest paint line change, and I've been slowly replacing them with Vallejo Game Color equivalents. My only complaint with VGC is that their metallics leave a lot to be desired. They're too thick and thinning them causes a sharp drop in their opacity.

Anyone have a favorite line of metallics they'd recommend for brush painting?

Almost every water-based metallic paint is like that, sadly. The only two paints that I can feel go on thin and opaque are GW Leadbelcher and Balthazar Gold (which is more bronze than gold).

The GW metallic layer paints are quite thin, and go on thinner than VMC/Game Color, but they are not opaque. Still, they are good for layering, and are intended to go on top of GW base metallic paints (for example, they direct you to paint Gehenna gold directly over Balthazar Gold).

It is also often very helpful to basecoat brown underneath golds, and black underneath silvers. This way, your thinned metallic paint shows through a solid color that looks intentionally less metallic, rather than one that is out of place (like blue, green or red).

Yeah, I've always painted metallics over black; great tip for new painters, tho. Golds have always required two coats to remove that greenish cast. I'll probably give Leadbelcher a go. Citadel was always known for their metallics, I just hope that's still true. I miss Boltgun Metal immensely

 the_Armyman wrote:
Yeah, I've always painted metallics over black; great tip for new painters, tho. Golds have always required two coats to remove that greenish cast. I'll probably give Leadbelcher a go. Citadel was always known for their metallics, I just hope that's still true. I miss Boltgun Metal immensely

Leadbelcher is virtually identical to Boltgun Metal (which was so superior to anything else in its time, in my opinion). It goes on exactly the same way, and looks indistinguishable (certainly after any wash). I can't imagine that you won't like it if you enjoyed Boltgun

The one that I sorta still feel nostalgic about is Devlan Mud Wash