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I started painting miniatures again a few months ago and I was using Army Painter because I felt they were cheaper than other brands and I couldn't really afford to blow the bank open.

I was finding that thinning the paints made them very watery and hard to control and that it was getting a bit of a hassle to do any painting at all. I managed to complete the objective markers you can see in the picture below pretty reasonably, but even then I felt I could be a lot better.



I have quite a few miniatures that I've yet to decide on a scheme for, but I was struck by inspiration to do a purple / green Infinity Nomads scheme. I wanted to get some really high quality paints to do them so I ended up looking up Vallejo paints. I discovered that not only was Vallejo around the same price as Army Painter, they had a much wider variety of paints.

So, I bought some and decided to give them a try on my wizards that I was using for Frostgrave. Not only did the Vallejo paints thin a lot easier, the coverage and pigmentation is far, far beyond the Army Painter stuff. You can see the difference above.

I don't think it'd be so bad when the Army Painter miniatures have got a few layers on them, but at the moment it's pretty damning.

One thing's for certain: I'm buying Vallejo paints from now on. (Unless someone can suggest an equally reasonably priced alternative that is even better.)

Branding of paint isn't always so much an issue of cost as it is familiarity. I've seen some gorgeous work done with Apple Barrel and some garbage done with Vallejo. It's important to find a brand that performs in a way that plays to your painting style and then maintaining consistency. Once you have a baseline then start experimenting with technique and new skills.

 Dust wrote:
Branding of paint isn't always so much an issue of cost as it is familiarity. I've seen some gorgeous work done with Apple Barrel and some garbage done with Vallejo. It's important to find a brand that performs in a way that plays to your painting style and then maintaining consistency. Once you have a baseline then start experimenting with technique and new skills.

Probably true. I'm not a very good painter, so I might just be compensating using this stuff, but it definitely works.

Well acrylic paints are supposed to be translucent, anyway. It's quite normal (and expected) that you don't get an even coat with only one layer of paint.

I'm using more and more Army painter paints, as I'm switching from GW when I empty my old references. I am happy with them so far, and their washes are imho far better than GW's. The only thing I didn't try so far are the metallics, I hope they are good.

 Minus wrote:
Well acrylic paints are supposed to be translucent, anyway. It's quite normal (and expected) that you don't get an even coat with only one layer of paint.

I'm using more and more Army painter paints, as I'm switching from GW when I empty my old references. I am happy with them so far, and their washes are imho far better than GW's. The only thing I didn't try so far are the metallics, I hope they are good.

Oh, trust me, I completely understand that. It's the main reason I was impressed when I used this Vallejo paint.

The Army Painter metallics are pretty good. The objective marker's skulls were done with Army Painter stuff and I was pleased with the result.

Any time you thin an acrylic paint with water, the colors tend to fail. I always thin with flow-aid.

The few Army Painter paints that I've used (because a commission required it) have all seemed to be very light on pigment compared to other hobby paints. Vallejo is really good in this area so it's not surprise that you found them to be better.

Right now I'm really fond of Warcolours. It's a little-known paint line out of Cyprus that's pretty much the cheapest line available and yet some of the best. I also use a lot of Vallejo, though.

 Minus wrote:
Well acrylic paints are supposed to be translucent, anyway

Gah don't remind me. I've had to talk to so many new players and painters about how much the priming step effects the actual painting.

Also reminds me of how much a pain in the ass my Lamenters have been Mustard Yellow with Black and White accents and that's all before weathering. It's been a unit by unit struggle. Do I prime White and go yellow the fast way or Black and build up slow? A few things I even primed brown to get a quicker sense for the shading and play of light.

Black, brown basecoat, grey 45 degree zenital, white 90 degree zenithal, yellow all over.

 RexInvictus wrote:
I have quite a few miniatures that I've yet to decide on a scheme for, but I was struck by inspiration to do a purple / green Infinity Nomads scheme

You're in luck, then - Army Painter's Alien Purple Warpaint is quite nice, IMO!

The thing with model acrylics is that most of them cost the same, within brands (lines, really - VMA and VGC have two different price points, for example). The pigments they contain, however, do not. 'Fine arts' brands tend to charge more for the same volume of paint if the pigment is pricier, but hobby brands generally want uniformity in pricing, which means they skimp on weak/expensive pigments to compensate. It's not that white, red, or yellow can't be made truly opaque - it's that the affordable pigments are rather translucent and it would take tons of it to make a paint with amazing coverage. At best, that means increased cost; at worst, issues with the pigment to binder ratio, which affects the paint's behavior.

There may be overarching trends in pigment density with Warpaints, but I, in my limited experience therewith, have yet to see them. I love Vallejo, mind you, but there's no 'be all, end all' paint brand. Every manufacturer has winners and duds, in terms of behavior, coverage, etc. and (most) every manufacturer has unique hues. When people say paint selection is mostly personal preference, they aren't kidding. If you hear dozens of negative reviews and barely a whisper of praise, though... probably safe to avoid.

Yeah I love Vallejo and all but I avoid their red colors like the plague, except for Model Color Flat Red. For seome reason it's the only one that works really well.

My collection is mostly Vallejo but that's because it's more accessible. I'm actually looking for model washes: the Vallejo Game Color ones don't cut it for me. In any case, I try not to focus too much on the brand and more on the performance of each individual color: each paint will have different characteristics, even in the same range.