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Ello

I looking to upgrade my paints as theyre getting old (Pre 2012 GW)

Vallejo looked a very good choice but i wanted to give my army a more saturated coloured rather than the oily colour of gw

Alos price is a point, so ml for £s.

Cheers!

Hmm well I'd personally describe GW paints as highly saturated and intense, especially the newer ones.

Vallejo Game Colour has a lot of intense colors; they're overall great paints too.

Its abit hard to explain

I dont want something with strong oily, bright looking colours (See Below)


But im after something abit more saturaed/dull, realistic, kinder on the eyes. (See below)


I understand the above image was done by a professional but I also understand the quality of the paint has an effect.

Sorry if the images are too big, not sure how to scale them down.

The difference you see there is much more dependent upon technique rather than the brand of paint used.

Either style of finish can be achieved using GW or Vallejo paint.

That said, the Model Color range from Vallejo does include a wider variety of subdued and earthy colors, since they're aimed primarily at historical modellers. They're essentially the same as the Game Color paints in their other technical characteristics, and are the same price too.

I'm not sure you're using the right terminology to describe what you're looking for, if you say you're looking for "saturated" colors. Saturated refers to colors that are very bright and intense (they are 'saturated' with pigment). The second example picture you posted I would describe as "desaturated" - the colors appear drab and closer to grey in appearance.

Yeah what Wasteland said.

You can desaturate / dull any color by adding it's complement to your mixture. This doesn't require any specific brand of paint.

Get a cheap color wheel or just google it, the opposite color is always the complement. So, to dull red add green to your red mix, to dull blue add orange to your blue mix, purple - yellow etc etc.

My apologies. I did mean unsaturated. So if I mix a dark angels green with a scab red I should get the result I'm after. (with ratio experiments obviously)

Basically, when you mix opposite colors (Blue-Orange, Red-Green, etc.) you move it to the brown spectrum. Yes, this will dull the colors significantly and move it towards brown. This works with all colors, except Black-White, which obviously goes to grey.

However, in looking at the model you reference, it looks to me the dulling of the colors may have slightly been done with the basic color itself, but more to have been achieved with light washes over the color than anything else.

Gamezdude wrote:
My apologies. I did mean unsaturated. So if I mix a dark angels green with a scab red I should get the result I'm after. (with ratio experiments obviously)

Yes, if you use a fair representation of the opposite you'll dull it, if the mix has a bunch of other tones you'll move more towards brown.

But that 2nd picture does look more like a pastel (has added white) blue-green that is just dirtied up with glazes and washes.

What you've shown is very much a Vallejo "Model Colour" (not "Game Colour") approach. Vallejo's Model Colour range is suitable/used for mainly historical models, etc., where the Game Colour range is far more vibrant/showy.

You can also do an unsaturated approach by using dips/washes to "tone down" the miniature. My Chaos army is very toned down, using a mix of earthy colours and washes.



Sample of my terminators.

Those minis look great Elbows, I'll 2nd Vallejo Model Colour, it is all around just a great range of paint. I LOVE their metallics also.

Be careful, though; I've found the Vallejo Model Colour paints to be less resilient than the Game Colour - they're not designed to put up with as much handling as paints for miniatures. Not usually a problem after you've varnished them, but it does mean they can rub off while you're painting a model.

 AndrewGPaul wrote:
Be careful, though; I've found the Vallejo Model Colour paints to be less resilient than the Game Colour - they're not designed to put up with as much handling as paints for miniatures. Not usually a problem after you've varnished them, but it does mean they can rub off while you're painting a model.

Wow weird, I've never experienced. Though I'd say GW paints are more Latex-y and peel on me sometimes.

I can definitely agree that the model colors do not hold up as well as the game color paints. MC's are a vinyl based paints that, if not coated thoroughly with a several coats of varnish, will chip very easily. They're basically designed for something to be painted and then put on a shelf to be viewed as a neat piece of art.

That being said, I use almost exclusively VMC paints, although I've recently been experimenting with Scale 75 paints as well and have been quite pleased with what I've found. I would certainly recommend either of those 2 brands if you're looking to branch out some.

 AGProductions wrote:
MC's are a vinyl based paints that, if not coated thoroughly with a several coats of varnish, will chip very easily.

The Model Color range still uses an acrylic resin base. However, the Game Color paints are formulated with a harder resin to better resist handling.
If you want to know more about some of the technical details (and just some useful info in general), Vallejo has a FAQ document:
http://cdn.acrylicosvallejo.com/3125a70282d7ae1b26302b70f227e502/model-FAQS-CC001-rev03.pdf