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I've recently decided to get back into collecting and painting miniatures after not having done so for quite a long time. I no longer have any paints, because I gave them all to my little brother many years ago when I thought I'd be getting out of the hobby for good. Back then I had nothing but Citadel paints, simply because that's all they sold at my LGS back in the late 90s/early 00s.

Now that I'm getting back into it, I've been wanting to buy a comprehensive paint set to get a nice base of color choices to build up from.

After extensive research, reading, and watching tons of youtube videos on the subject, I'm fairly certain that I'll be going with Vallejo paints, as it appears to be generally agreed upon that they provide a great balance of selection, cost, and quality. Scale 75 was also a strong contender due to their supposed very high quality, but ultimately the greater cost, smaller range, and absence of local availability put me back in the Vallejo camp.

The part I'm stuck on is deciding between the Game Color set or the Model Color set to get me started. Based on the marketing materials, I'm leaning towards Game Color, as I will primarily be painting Warhammer again to get me started, and Vallejo claims that they're better for Sci-Fi/Fantasy miniatures. However, I'm a little worried because I've seen a lot of people saying that Game Color tends to separate very badly in the bottle and that it breaks down more on a wet palette, making it frustrating to work with. I've also read that Model Color tends to be higher quality and more heavily pigmented than Game Color, but that their color range tends to be more flat and realistic, thus making them less suited for the bright and over the top figures I'll be painting.

Can anyone offer some insight on the difference between the two? Is Game Color really that annoying to deal with? Would I be better off going with Model Color or are the duller tones going to be a problem?

The two sets I'm debating between are:
Model Color
Game Color

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer.

I had the same decision to make when I got back into painting a few years ago. I started with Game Colour and I do not recommend them. Model Colour are much nicer to work with.

Game Colour dries too quickly, doesn't mix or blend very well, and has a thick, glossy finish. (This doesn't apply to the Game Colour Extra Opaque set, which have the same properties as the Model Colour paints.)

Model Colour have a nicer feel, they flow from the brush better. They also mix and blend better, so creating highlights and shadows from a single base colour is much easier. Because they don't have the fast-drying additive they put in GC, you have more time to work with them.


(I can, however, recommend the Game Air paints from Vallejo - either in an airbrush, or as a brush-on glaze).

I have predominantly Model Colour --- I definitely have some Game Colour, but I don't know that I've ever noticed a negligible difference in the way they perform. I prefer the Model Colour palette.

Wavey Raven may well be right if there are different formulas. I will say, in general though, Vallejo has been fantastic.

 Elbows wrote:
I have predominantly Model Colour --- I definitely have some Game Colour, but I don't know that I've ever noticed a negligible difference in the way they perform. I prefer the Model Colour palette.

Wavey Raven may well be right if there are different formulas. I will say, in general though, Vallejo has been fantastic.

Vallejo themselves say that they use different formulas in the very first question of their Model Paint FAQ:

Model Color and Panzer Aces are creamy, highly opaque acrylics formulated principally for brush application: the two ranges total some 246 matte colors and mediums, and 8 brilliant alcohol based metallic colors.

Game Color has been developed for tabletop games. The range consists of 119 acrylic colors, washes and inks; designed for painting small figures, the formula has a lower viscosity than Model Color and a resin more resistant to frequent handling. The colors provide opaque coverage without loss of minute detail

Later on they mention that the Extra Opaque paints in the Game Color line are basically just re-bottled and renamed Model Color paints.

Sounds like Game Color would be the winner

 WaveyRaven wrote:
I had the same decision to make when I got back into painting a few years ago. I started with Game Colour and I do not recommend them. Model Colour are much nicer to work with.

Game Colour dries too quickly, doesn't mix or blend very well, and has a thick, glossy finish. (This doesn't apply to the Game Colour Extra Opaque set, which have the same properties as the Model Colour paints.)

Model Colour have a nicer feel, they flow from the brush better. They also mix and blend better, so creating highlights and shadows from a single base colour is much easier. Because they don't have the fast-drying additive they put in GC, you have more time to work with them.


(I can, however, recommend the Game Air paints from Vallejo - either in an airbrush, or as a brush-on glaze).

See that's exactly what I was afraid of with Game Color. After looking at the conversion chart here at dakkadakka, it appears that there's an equivalent color in the Model Color range for every Game Color anyway. I might as well just go with the higher quality product.

Thanks!

Model Colour's my preference, as they tend to have a more matte finish and are a bit easier to use.

Model colour has more earthy tones more suited to contemporary military stuff.

Game colour has the extra bright skittles colours for certain far future extradarkgrimgothic warfare stuff.

I prefer the model colour - but I've never been a fan of brightly coloured military forces (which is why I don't play napoleonics).

 Grimdakka wrote:

 WaveyRaven wrote:
I had the same decision to make when I got back into painting a few years ago. I started with Game Colour and I do not recommend them. Model Colour are much nicer to work with.

Game Colour dries too quickly, doesn't mix or blend very well, and has a thick, glossy finish. (This doesn't apply to the Game Colour Extra Opaque set, which have the same properties as the Model Colour paints.)

Model Colour have a nicer feel, they flow from the brush better. They also mix and blend better, so creating highlights and shadows from a single base colour is much easier. Because they don't have the fast-drying additive they put in GC, you have more time to work with them.


(I can, however, recommend the Game Air paints from Vallejo - either in an airbrush, or as a brush-on glaze).

See that's exactly what I was afraid of with Game Color. After looking at the conversion chart here at dakkadakka, it appears that there's an equivalent color in the Model Color range for every Game Color anyway. I might as well just go with the higher quality product.

Thanks!

'Equivalent' doesn't mean it's going to be an exact match. It just means that it might be close enough to use instead of the original paint depending on the process you're using for the comparison. For example, both the Dakka chart and Vallejo themselves say that Russian Uniform (a distinctly green color) is the equivalent for Mechanicus Standard Grey because that's the closest match using the process that they decided to use.

 chromedog wrote:
Model colour has more earthy tones more suited to contemporary military stuff.

Game colour has the extra bright skittles colours for certain far future extradarkgrimgothic warfare stuff.

I prefer the model colour - but I've never been a fan of brightly coloured military forces (which is why I don't play napoleonics).

To be fair, Model Colour has a lot of bright, vibrant paints too.

 sockwithaticket wrote:

 chromedog wrote:
Model colour has more earthy tones more suited to contemporary military stuff.

Game colour has the extra bright skittles colours for certain far future extradarkgrimgothic warfare stuff.

I prefer the model colour - but I've never been a fan of brightly coloured military forces (which is why I don't play napoleonics).

To be fair, Model Colour has a lot of bright, vibrant paints too.

Model Colour yellow green is the mutt's nuts. Love that paint.

Use both and not really noticed a difference. Dig on Vallejo, their Smokey Ink covers all sins!

I use both. They don't compete, they completement each other quite well : Model for realistic, mate colors, Game for vibrant ones.
I would add Mecha Color range which is great so far, with very good coverage (on black primer) and easy to use with brush and airbrush : I painted using Grey, Titan dark grey and Gun Metal and I really love them.

 Skinflint Games wrote:
Use both and not really noticed a difference. Dig on Vallejo, their Smokey Ink covers all sins!

And then I hear things like this. One person says Game Color and Model Color aren't noticeably different, and another says Model Color is better quality. I don't know what to believe.

The answer is...get Vallejo, and you'll be fine. Don't stress out about minor differences in paint formula. Vallejo makes a good product.

VMC is earthy and subdued, with a tendency to look more matte. Their metallics are amazing, especially after being washed.

VGC pops really well. It looks almost cartoony sometimes though, like something out of a comic book or anime. Great for armies like Tau and Warhammer Fantasy. If you do 40k, you might have to wash/shade with darker colors.

 Grimdakka wrote:

 Skinflint Games wrote:
Use both and not really noticed a difference. Dig on Vallejo, their Smokey Ink covers all sins!

And then I hear things like this. One person says Game Color and Model Color aren't noticeably different, and another says Model Color is better quality. I don't know what to believe.

Without wishing to be too harsh, some hobbyists aren't as discerning or attentive as others. Sometimes it comes down to experience, new hobbyists may not notice the differences because they don't have the hours logged working with the tools to engage with the nuances. Variations on the 'which paints?' thread come along pretty much weekly and the majority of people cite the difference between GC and MC. Not every GC out glossier than MC or behaves the differently on the palette, but over the range there is a tangible difference upon which there is broad consensus.

 sockwithaticket wrote:

 Grimdakka wrote:

 Skinflint Games wrote:
Use both and not really noticed a difference. Dig on Vallejo, their Smokey Ink covers all sins!

And then I hear things like this. One person says Game Color and Model Color aren't noticeably different, and another says Model Color is better quality. I don't know what to believe.

Without wishing to be too harsh, some hobbyists aren't as discerning or attentive as others. Sometimes it comes down to experience, new hobbyists may not notice the differences because they don't have the hours logged working with the tools to engage with the nuances. Variations on the 'which paints?' thread come along pretty much weekly and the majority of people cite the difference between GC and MC. Not every GC out glossier than MC or behaves the differently on the palette, but over the range there is a tangible difference upon which there is broad consensus.

I would say that's fair comment

Suzuteo wrote:

VGC pops really well. It looks almost cartoony sometimes though, like something out of a comic book or anime. Great for armies like Tau and Warhammer Fantasy. If you do 40k, you might have to wash/shade with darker colors.

That's because the Game Color line was designed to be a direct take on the original Citadel paints. You can especially see it in the names of the Game Color paints and their Citadel counterparts.

If you're going to varnish anyways, the extra resins in Game Color are unnecessary. That said, I use both GC and MC, they are both good.

The GC paints I've bought behave oddly, and I'm not sure if they're old or if they are behaving as intended. The pigments in one seem to have become a solid lump, and another seems to have become too thin to actually form a covering layer on the paint beneath. I really like MC, though. It's most of my paints, with the rest being GW for metallics, a few other brands for odd things, and the GW washes. I do need to try Vallejo's washes sometime.

Game Color has been developed for tabletop games. The range consists of 119 acrylic colors, washes and inks; designed for painting small figures, the formula has a lower viscosity than Model Color and a resin more resistant to frequent handling

Vallejo describe Model Color as more ressistant to frequent handling - something I've heard other people mention too.
Does anyone have an idea of how frequent "frequent" is? Would it be safe to use model color without fear of rubbing off if you get your models out for a game once a month?

Just invest in a can of spray varnish. I got some Testors matt stuff I like, other brands are available. I used some Krylon satin varnish for a time, but it began drying like fine hair so I quit using it.

I agree with the others that say use both.

Use both.

Remember, you need 2 types of Varnish.

You need the High Gloss varnish to Protect and the Matt varnish to remove the shine.