Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I have only had luck with gw products, iv looked at a few different kinds( no names stand out) but none caught my eye that much. What's your guys opinions on paints and primers? You guys stick to gw or have you had luck else were?

Personally, I like the GW paints. The price is good and the paints work great.

I like GW paints and also Badger minitaire for airbrushing ( no mixing involved )

tilarium wrote:
Personally, I like the GW paints. The price is good and the paints work great.

Objectively, that is not accurate. GW charges more money for a lower volume of paint compared to their competitors. The quality of the product is fine but it is overpriced.

Some of my favorite paints to work with are Tamiya. They don't take to hand painting very well, but they are wonderful to airbrush with. I also like Vallejo Model Air, Model Color, Game Color, and Game Air. I also really like P3 paints; interesting choices of color and a high quality product. I have a large amount of old GW paints that still get regular use, especially the Foundations.

Vallejo Surface Primer is great to airbrush with even though it is a bit tricky to work with. As far as aerosol primers go, Tamiya Fine Surface primer is the best available. It goes on really smooth and takes to sanding (especially wet sanding) really well... definitely worth the money.

I like GW paints too

Other paints might be a little cheaper, but frankly, the amount of money I spend on paints compared to models is almost inconsequential.

There is no real "best" paint line. All of them have great colors and some not so great colors to work with.

Personally I reach for the Vallejo stuff most often. For Silvers I love the Vallejo Model Air. For greens there is nothing I have found that's better than Vallejo Model Color. Golds I like the Tamiya and Vallejo Alcohol based.

Lately I have been really grooving to the P3 line for most other colors. P3 Bloodtracker Brown is just insane.

The multiple lines of vallejo for me.

You should make this a poll. I would like to see the dakka community's general preferences on this. You would also get more responses-people like voting on things.

Not GW...

Ya the wife and I just bought a few dark elves things... no paints yet just wondering what you guys usually like.

ellis91 wrote:
Ya the wife and I just bought a few dark elves things... no paints yet just wondering what you guys usually like.

The best advice I can give you is this:

If you have a FLGS (that isn't a GW store) and it sells more than one brand of paint, go there and just pick the colors you like and don't concern yourself with what is "the best" because they're all more or less equal.

My favorite is Vallejo Model Color.

I will say that with the GW paint pots, .04 oz for 4bucks or more is not so good a deal, plus paint drying in the pot if not used is also a loss for me.

I get .05oz from Reaper Paints in a dropper bottle for less per bottle, and it lasts longer if I do not use more drops than needed!

 shasolenzabi wrote:
I will say that with the GW paint pots, .04 oz for 4bucks or more is not so good a deal, plus paint drying in the pot if not used is also a loss for me.

I get .05oz from Reaper Paints in a dropper bottle for less per bottle, and it lasts longer if I do not use more drops than needed!

I do not understand this. Why does your GW paint dry in a GW paint pot? O.o

If you keep your pot clean, and close it properly, the paint lasts "forever". I have a some paints like Stegadon Scale Green or Stormvermin Fur that I don't use very often (just because I use some other similar color), or are highlight colors that I only use a tiny bit of (like Temple Guard Blue) -- for these, I'm still using my pots that I got at release. I've never actually had a bottle go dry.

If you put one drop of a dropper paint onto a wet palette, it might be way too much paint (this happens to me all the time with Vallejo Silver). Then, once you're done, you actually have to wipe off the excess from the wet palette so that it flow into a gooey mess overnight. With a paint pot, I can take just the amount I want.

On the other hand, if I'm using an airbrush, I find pots not fun at all; I far prefer dropper bottles -- though lots of people have said they simply put paint and thinner into the airbrush cup and stir it up with the brush there.

 Talys wrote:
though lots of people have said they simply put paint and thinner into the airbrush cup and stir it up with the brush there.

Yep, that works perfectly fine, though it helps to put the thinner in first as to avoid sending unthinned paint through the airbrush.

Reaper, Vallejo and P3 in that order. I have paints from Coat d'Arms, Scale 75 and GW too, I just prefer the other 3 brands.

 Talys wrote:
I like GW paints too

Other paints might be a little cheaper, but frankly, the amount of money I spend on paints compared to models is almost inconsequential.

Actually, other paints are significantly cheaper. 18ml pots of Coat d'Arms costs £1.80 here, which is 10p/ml. Citadel paints are about £2.40 for 12ml, which is 20p/ml. So Citadel paints are literally twice the price. That is not an inconsequential difference. Introducing the comparative cost of miniatures is just a red herring. It serves no purpose other than to deflect conversation away from the cost of paint by claiming it is "not worth discussing". Which is a sneaky slight of hand on your part, since the paint that you say you like cost twice as much!

Even if we did expand the discussion to the overall cost of the hobby, I would still disagree that the cost of paints is "inconsequential". For someone starting out, a paint set is one of the biggest money sinks. A decent sized starter army, such as the Astartes Strikeforce, is about £140. If you bought the DA paint bundle to paint it with (a respectable starting paint set) that would set you back a further £84. So well over a 3rd of your start up costs would be spent on paint.

If you're like me, and you buy loads of miniatures compulsively, and then don't paint them: YMMV. But there are also people who hoard paints, and might only have a few miniatures (which they paint really well).

My favorite paint probably is Coat d'Arms. It is great quality, cheaper than GW, doesn't separate like Vallejo, and the old style pots are tried and tested. I also like Vallejo premium, as you can buy it in larger 60ml dropper bottles fairly cheaply, which I find useful for mixing colours.

I like the current Citadel line of paints. Very good strong pixelated colours. Base coat effortlessly covers the primer. Really really like the metallics and glazes of this lineup they have now. For other projects I will be branching out to less vivid contrasts. Vallejo and Reaper both come to mind as good quality paints to try. If I can get those without paying for shipping and handling then it'll be a cheaper option. GW pays for all my shipping (which is expensive for this isolated island) so they are one of my cheaper options. I'm glad they are good quality. You probably should be more tidy with your pots if your paints dry out but a messy artist is a common thing. My mother preferred droppers and tubes herself for the same reason, less consequences for lapses.

GW paints. I usually buy from other ranges when there's a color I need / want but there's no equivalent in the GW's paint range.

I use Delta Ceramcoat craft paint mostly. It's not quite as nice as GW/PP/Valejo but is close enough in flow and pigmentation for my uses (I'm a tabletop-quality painter/dipper) and is IMHO, the best of the craft paint brands. Also, the cost difference is incredible.

Miniature-branded paints cost aroudn $3.50 for 0.5oz (15ml)
Delta Ceramcoat paints cost around $1.50 for 2 oz (60ml)
That's $7.00 per oz vs $0.75 per oz!

There are painters whose skills are good enough to benefit from the better qualities of miniature-brand paints, but I'm just not one of them. Also, I think alot of beginners would do well to buy craft paints. You can get a much wider selection of paints for the same amount of money and if you feel the need to upgrade when your skills improve you can do so then. Of course some might never do so. The best painter in our club uses craft paints and if you take a look at his stuff and it might improve your opinions of these "lesser" paints. http://mdarrow.blogspot.com

I do buy bags of second hand mini-brand paints at the local FLGS auction just to increase the number of paints available to me, but those typically work out to 50 to 75 cents a bottle.

Vallejo firstly and coat de arms are my second choice.

Vallejo multiple lines for me. I get whatever works. GW when I am looking for a significant line of colors. Though I am really digging the new Vallejo Game Air now.

These are my go to paints...

Primer:


Paints:


Metallics:


Washes:


I do have e few others but these are the ones most used. Are they they the best? Don't know but I like 'em

 Talys wrote:

 shasolenzabi wrote:
I will say that with the GW paint pots, .04 oz for 4bucks or more is not so good a deal, plus paint drying in the pot if not used is also a loss for me.

I get .05oz from Reaper Paints in a dropper bottle for less per bottle, and it lasts longer if I do not use more drops than needed!

I do not understand this. Why does your GW paint dry in a GW paint pot? O.o

It may depend on the paint pots in question. The screwtop pots GW used for a long time were notorious for drying. Pots that had never even been opened would dry out. My FLGS gave away a mega set once as a tournament prize, box never opened, and it turned out half the paints in it were in different stages of drying up.

Some of us still remember the good old days when GW used Coat d'Arms as their paint manufacturer. Now those were good paint pots.

Anyway, to answer the original question, I use Vallejo for primer, varnish, and additives, Army Painter for washes and dips, and Reaper for most everything else.

Yeah, I think "best" paint turns out being what you are used to and get the best results with.

For density of pigments I like Liquitex as an artist brand: http://www.liquitex.com/US/.
I tend to mix their soft body paint for air-brush and find it covers well and has more durability.
Here is a good overview of the horde of stuff they have: http://www.liquitex.com/Resources/AcrylicLiterature.aspx

Their acrylic inks tend to spray on well and make a good wash:
http://www.liquitex.com/us/shop/mediums/set-type/ink/36032/

My next favorite is Vallejo http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/.
Model Air impresses me for spraying or painting-on by brush out of the pot.
I took their white and brushed over brown and the one coat almost covered = good pigment content.
http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/en_US/model-air/family/17

I have GW paints but you need to do a few things to make them "good" put them in a proper air-proof eyedropper container and they last MUCH longer I tend to add a drop of flow aid and about 1/6th of the contents with distilled water to "work right" but in the end they are very expensive compared to similar paints.

I think it all depends on what features are important to you on what makes a "good paint".
Good luck, some of the fun is figuring out what works as you go, take good notes!

 Talizvar wrote:
..snipped...

I have GW paints but you need to do a few things to make them "good" put them in a proper air-proof eyedropper container and they last MUCH longer I tend to add a drop of flow aid and about 1/6th of the contents with distilled water to "work right" but in the end they are very expensive compared to similar paints.

I am paint-agnostic, I'm too old I guess. I remember the wargaming world pre-internet when you painted with what you could find ;-> Back in the 70's (yes, I was painting minitatures then) that meant Testors, Humbrol, and Floquil which were the "model/model railroad" brands, and the "artist" brands like W&N and etc. As I recall, when "pre-mixed" hobby acrylics appeared on the scene it was a pretty big deal. No more solvents and no more working with heavy bodied acrylics in tubes!

That said, I simply do not understand replies along the lines of the one I copied. Why on earth would anyone go through all of that "old school" aggravation in today's market - repackaging, remixing, etc. Buy paints that you like in a container you can work with and spend more time painting ;->

Jack_Death wrote:
That said, I simply do not understand replies along the lines of the one I copied. Why on earth would anyone go through all of that "old school" aggravation in today's market - repackaging, remixing, etc. Buy paints that you like in a container you can work with and spend more time painting ;->

Glad you mentioned this, there is method to the madness of repackaging paints to make them last:
I have a large army that I mainly used GW paint, they have changed the paint so it is harder to buy more that matches, I already had a lot, I have taken steps to preserve my old school paint "for the ages" so they do not get wasted ($4!) and I do not have to find an equivalent.
Plus the "aggravation" is ridiculously minor and you would have to do this anyway with normal paints if you want to airbrush them (add isopropanol as well then, which I now do).

You know I HATE to do models to a time limit, especially something as silly as a shelf life time due to bad packaging (that I was unaware of during time of purchase).

So I hope understanding was achieved, plus we can start getting finicky and the container is good but the paint is not so, or the other way around: I can "fix-it" to what I want.
For me the hobby is the journey, not just the destination.

What is the hurry anyway? Most of us I am sure have enough models which may not get assembled never mind painted in our lifetime.
Really glad you asked, I am sure I seem much less crazy now...