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Hello there,

trying to return to the hobby I also need new paints, so presumably some kind of starter set containing the most important colours should offer the best value for money.

Relevant points:
- affordability (relatively speaking of course ), also with a view of later buying individual pots of paint.
- should keep for a long time if properly stored
- should cover all primary colours and needs so it can be used to build a new paint collection from

After having a look around on Amazon I see that there is a variety of starter sets from different companies, some with names that already had a good reputation many years ago when I last bought models, others names that I have heard but don't know too much about.

Of course there are GW's own colours (Citadel), but if not a lot has changed GW products are overpriced for what you get and tbh I am still quite miffed about what happened to the last GW colours I bought (of course the much reviled screw on cap variety, the flip lid ones which must date from the 1990s are still liquid even now!). So I saw that GW changed the paint pots (again), but I don't know how much better that has made the drying out problem. And since I know myself and time will pass between painting sessions not drying out is a crucial point.

Nevertheless I had a look what GW sells, but the "Citadel Base Paint Set" with 11 pots for ~40€ does not appear super-attractive, And that is not even taking into account they sell separate "dry brushing" and "layer" sets. Now I am certainly not a specialist on the matter, but my impression was that while washes are something worth buying I am much less convinced that specific dry brushing paints are a need-to-have? So anybody have a really compelling argument to buy GW, otherwise I would probably rather not.


So easily available starter paint sets from other companies I have found are:

- Vallejo "Introductory Acrylic Paint Set for Fantasy Miniatures" - 16 colours for ~32€ -> was already hyped as THE GW alternative long ago, so probably good?

- The Army Painter "Wargames Hobby Starter Paint Set" - 10 colours plus a wash for ~24€ -> They seem to have a lot of colours, reviews don't sound bad, so what do you think?


Then I have come across mentions of colours by P3 and Coat d'arms, but those seem to be more difficult to get here, especially as a beginner's set.

And then there seems to have been a big change for Revell and Humbrol who now also sell water-based acrylics in addition to the classic enamel modelism colours (yes, I know, don't even think about using the old enamel paints for miniature painting, I got that from reading up on the topic In any case alone the smell/ fumes issue seems like a very good argument). So any reason at all to go for these companies's water-based colours? There also seems to be Tamiya, but alcohol-based instead of water-based, so probably no to that option.

As for brushes I think I will go to an art supply store, that should do the trick. Primer will see, there is an old Skull white spray can somewhere, if that doesn't blow up when I open it that should be fine

Thank you for your thoughts and recommendations (or new alternatives!) in advance!

So your mileage may vary, since different paint brands will always appeal to different painters with different styles. Whether you go with Vallejo, P3, Scale75, etc, they all get the job done. Obviously some painters will have preferences, but go with what works for you (my personal bias is towards Scale75).

Insofar as paint sets, I always find that there's a lot of unnecessary colors in there, so I would actually recommend picking up as you go, per the needs of whatever project you are working on. That way, you only have paints you need, and no paints you don't need.

Regardless of what colors you grab, there are a few essentials that you should always have in your paint kit:

A dark and a bright silver
A dark and a bright gold
Dark, mid, and bright fleshtone
Black and white
Dark, mid, and bright brown
Ivory/khaki color
Primary red, blue, and yellow

For Primers, I would highly recommend Vallejo surface primer (black), but since it's an airbrushed primer, it might be difficult to use if you don't actually have an airbrush! Krylon matte black is a great primer, and GW skull white is still fairly solid.

You'll also want a sealant to protect your miniatures. GW Purity Seal is my go-to, but if you love a super matte finish, Testor's Dullcote is also really good.

Brushes, I would recommend something with sable hairs; Winsor & Newton 7 series miniature are my staples, with some Raphael 8404's for support. My recommendation is to not skimp on these, and to avoid GW (quality aside, they're way overpriced).

I can tell you my experience regarding various paint ranges. I'm sorta of a paint junkie and I always looking for the "perfect" paint.

The Vallejo Model Color is my go to range. Reliable, affordable, available. The finish is matt to satin, but mostly matt. Also it's
beginner friendly. The range is quite consistent but there are some paints that separate more than others. Dropper bottle
High pigmentation and good flow. One of the best all around paint ranges. Huge selection of tones.

Vallejo Game Color. Not as consistent (thinner) as the VMC. More saturated with satin finish. Smaller range.

Vallejo Panzer Aces similar to VMC, mostly military colors. Very consistent range.

The Army painter paints, these I don't like except the metalics and washes. I bought about 10 bottles and they behave weirdly. Their
medium in paints is very thick so it's hard to mix properly. It separate like nuts, doesn't flow nicely. You can find videos on youtube how
to fix them (Lukes Aps painting channel ). Washes are great and so are the metalics.

Scale 75, extra flat finish( ) but are not beginner friendly. Very thick consistency and doesn't flow like the Vallejo's.
I use them all the time for shadowing and glazing. Kujo Painting (youtube) makes great use of them.

Scale Warfont, I LOVE these. A bit thinner than Scale 75 but easier to use, but mostly military colors. Extra flat finish.

Scale Fantasy & Games. Similar to warfront but with satin finish. A bit thinner than Scale 75. Very saturated colors.

AK Interactive Figure range, these are becoming my favourite line. Not as pigmented as Vallejo but they leave extra flat and smooth finish.
Harder to get though. Medium range again mostly military colors.

Privateer press P3 formula paints, very good line actually. A bit thinner than the rest but the paint flow very nicely with great pigmentation.
I just have a few paints but they work like a charm. They aren't the cheapest and they come in flip top pots.
Smaller range.

Citadel the most expensive paint per ml. Satin finish. Overall the paints are good and quite consistent but the pots are crap.
They tend to dry very quickly.


I'd suggest vallejo Model Color starter set like this one - https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/producto/hobby/sets/basic-en/basic-colors-usa-70140/

I also highly recommend Game Color extra opaque - these are perfect for base coating and insanely pigmented.
https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/producto/hobby/sets/basic-en/colores-extra-opacos-72290/

The only compelling reason for GW paints, aside from them being generally pretty good if a bit expensive, would be if you want to closely follow the Warhammer TV tutorials or the GW Paint app. They're both very useful resources for the GW stock colour schemes, and for how to achieve certain effects.

Aside from GW I use Vallejo Game Colour, I have about 50:50 GW vs VGC. They're a bit runnier than GW paints and need brutal shaking, but generally I'm happy with their quality and finish. The only exception I've found has been their yellows - they're gak.

Vallejo 100%. No one else comes close as far as qualit, reliable paints in a dropper bottle at decent price. Army Painter - while I love a lot of their products, has been miserably disappointing with regard to painting. In fact, given the quality of their bottled paints, I think it would be a terrible starter set (even for someone coming back to the hobby).

Vallejo has a number of excellent paint sets for pretty reasonable coin. Go there and don't look back.

Crispy78 wrote:
The only compelling reason for GW paints, aside from them being generally pretty good if a bit expensive, would be if you want to closely follow the Warhammer TV tutorials or the GW Paint app. They're both very useful resources for the GW stock colour schemes, and for how to achieve certain effects.

I guess that both tutorials and effects should also be applicable to the Vallejo range, no?

Crispy78 wrote:
Aside from GW I use Vallejo Game Colour, I have about 50:50 GW vs VGC. They're a bit runnier than GW paints and need brutal shaking, but generally I'm happy with their quality and finish. The only exception I've found has been their yellows - they're gak.

I seem to remember that yellow somehow is always a pain in the ass. "Runnier" I can not really picture, but then I guess this is something one has to try in practice to see the difference.

 Modock wrote:

The Vallejo Model Color is my go to range. Reliable, affordable, available. The finish is matt to satin, but mostly matt. Also it's
beginner friendly. The range is quite consistent but there are some paints that separate more than others. Dropper bottle
High pigmentation and good flow. One of the best all around paint ranges. Huge selection of tones.

Vallejo Game Color. Not as consistent (thinner) as the VMC. More saturated with satin finish. Smaller range.

So why would one want to get the game color range? What is its advantage as compared to the "Model" range?

 Modock wrote:

Citadel the most expensive paint per ml. [...] but the pots are crap.
They tend to dry very quickly.

In that case they are out, I have had it with paying for paints that dry out just like that.

 Modock wrote:

I also highly recommend Game Color extra opaque - these are perfect for base coating and insanely pigmented.

But are they any use (more diluted?) for "normal" painting? Or really just for the undercoating? In that case for a beginner I am not sure how necessary they are.

Yeah I'd say Vallejo is the way to go, I love their paints and the dropper bottles are a big help when it comes to mixing colours. They also never seem to dry out as I've had some for about 8 years and they work just as well as the day I bought em...

I do still prefer gw washes as they seem to work the best and their specialist paints are also fantastic.

Vallejo Game Color has a different formula than Model Color, It's supposed to dry harder. Also most of the paints from the line are more vivid
in nature, meant for fantasy wargaming.

Extra opaques works just like the rest, you can thin them as mush as you want. I like them, max pigmented, easy to use and nice color selection for base coating.


Heavy Ochre - base coat for yellow.
Heavy Charcoal - great near black tone
Heavy Siena - rich medium brown
Heavy Green - dark olive green

These are excellent base paints with tones I really like.

Dollar-store acrylics work just as well as Citadel, Vallejo or Army Painter paints.

 Modock wrote:
Vallejo Game Color has a different formula than Model Color, It's supposed to dry harder. Also most of the paints from the line are more vivid
in nature, meant for fantasy wargaming.

Extra opaques works just like the rest, you can thin them as mush as you want. I like them, max pigmented, easy to use and nice color selection for base coating.


Heavy Ochre - base coat for yellow.
Heavy Charcoal - great near black tone
Heavy Siena - rich medium brown
Heavy Green - dark olive green

These are excellent base paints with tones I really like.

"Dry harder" as in being more resistant to being handled on the tabletop I assume. The point with the more vivid colours is important to know, after all for example Space Marines (or Harlequins or whatever) are quite flashy as compared to historic miniatures

About the extra opaques ones I have to do some research. I only quickly checked that people compared them to the "foundation paints" of GW, but the GW online store does not list such an item; have they been discontinued?

Dollar-store acrylics work just as well as Citadel, Vallejo or Army Painter paints.

I'll take that with a grain of salt

Or, you know, try it out.

Worst-case scenario you've spent four or five Euros on some paint you can only use on terrain. Best case scenario, you save hundreds of Euros over paying through the nose for the exact same paint that says 'Vallejo' on it.

buy a red, yellow, blue, white, and black. best starter set anyone needs. you'll learn a lot about colour mixing to get the tones you need. get a couple of inks and a couple of metallic and youre good to go.

 Inquisitor S. wrote:

 Modock wrote:
Vallejo Game Color has a different formula than Model Color, It's supposed to dry harder. Also most of the paints from the line are more vivid
in nature, meant for fantasy wargaming.

Extra opaques works just like the rest, you can thin them as mush as you want. I like them, max pigmented, easy to use and nice color selection for base coating.


Heavy Ochre - base coat for yellow.
Heavy Charcoal - great near black tone
Heavy Siena - rich medium brown
Heavy Green - dark olive green

These are excellent base paints with tones I really like.

"Dry harder" as in being more resistant to being handled on the tabletop I assume. The point with the more vivid colours is important to know, after all for example Space Marines (or Harlequins or whatever) are quite flashy as compared to historic miniatures

About the extra opaques ones I have to do some research. I only quickly checked that people compared them to the "foundation paints" of GW, but the GW online store does not list such an item; have they been discontinued?

Dollar-store acrylics work just as well as Citadel, Vallejo or Army Painter paints.

I'll take that with a grain of salt

Yes as more resistant to handling.
I'd stay away from craft paints. I started with various craft paints and they are not on the quality level as miniature paints. I still use them for terrain though.
I guess some people can make some good painting with them, but it's a hassle to use them. Miniature paints are much more convenient.

 Excommunicatus wrote:
Or, you know, try it out.

Worst-case scenario you've spent four or five Euros on some paint you can only use on terrain. Best case scenario, you save hundreds of Euros over paying through the nose for the exact same paint that says 'Vallejo' on it.

I actually saw that Flying Tiger Copenhagen (not exactly a "Dollar Store", but let's say more a cheap gadgets store) carries an acrylic primary colours set in small pots and thought about it. Just then I thought: There must be reason people don't use THAT for wargaming minis So maybe I was wrong, I don't know, certainly the choice is limited to the primary colours ^^

Dont buy a mega set. Do some research, and see what schemes you like, then buy just those paints. Over time your collection will grow.

As far as cost stand point per oz of paint Vellajo I believe is best.

Now quality, everyone has there own opinion. I find certian colors in certain ranges work better.

In general Army Painter and Citadel (GW) have the best washes I have found.

Tamiya has some good paints if you are going for historic colors like WW2 theme etc...

Vellajo Game color and Vellajo model color have different consitencies of paint and I find some colors are great and others are lacking.

Vellajo has really good Metal paint colors.

Citadel base paints seem to have pretty solid consistency.

P3 has a few colors I love, iosen and necrotite green mainly.

I havn't used scale 75, mainly because i cant find them. I do prefer dropper bottles though and most of my paints have moved to that over pot paints which I find dry out a lot.

GET A WET PALLETE. You can even make one with tubbaware, towel, and cooking parchment, just google it. It will help keep you paints a lot longer and truly is a game changer.

Also check out the Dakkadakka paint conversion chart to get an idea of what colors are the same across the various lines.

 Dynas wrote:
Dont buy a mega set. Do some research, and see what schemes you like, then buy just those paints. Over time your collection will grow.

Yes, I wasn't planning to, just a beginner's set to see how it goes

GET A WET PALLETE. You can even make one with tubbaware, towel, and cooking parchment, just google it. It will help keep you paints a lot longer and truly is a game changer.

Sounds sensible. I assume this goes for the mixed paints rather than for the dropper bottles.

Also check out the Dakkadakka paint conversion chart to get an idea of what colors are the same across the various lines.

Very good tip, thanks!

 Elbows wrote:
Vallejo 100%. No one else comes close as far as qualit, reliable paints in a dropper bottle at decent price. Army Painter - while I love a lot of their products, has been miserably disappointing with regard to painting. In fact, given the quality of their bottled paints, I think it would be a terrible starter set (even for someone coming back to the hobby).

Vallejo has a number of excellent paint sets for pretty reasonable coin. Go there and don't look back.

I got back into the hobby a couple of years ago with an Army Painter Mega Paint Set, and it was a mixed bag. So many of their paints are inconsistent with poor coverage, but at the same time I'm really fond of several of their paints, love their washes and the set was really great value. Gave me a lot of colours I don't need, but on the other hand plenty of those have come in handy once or twice where it would have been a waste to buy a whole bottle otherwise. On the whole I've gradually moved into Vallejo Model Color as a much more reliable range.

 Inquisitor S. wrote:


"Dry harder" as in being more resistant to being handled on the tabletop I assume. The point with the more vivid colours is important to know, after all for example Space Marines (or Harlequins or whatever) are quite flashy as compared to historic miniatures

About the extra opaques ones I have to do some research. I only quickly checked that people compared them to the "foundation paints" of GW, but the GW online store does not list such an item; have they been discontinued?

Generally the Model Color line is formulated for historical scale modellers, so they're designed to paint things that aren't going to be handled a lot. The Game Color line is aimed at wargamers, so the finish is more durable. I've found that Model Color is a much nicer line to work with, really good pigment density and coverage, but you'll definitely want to varnish them afterwards otherwise the paint will rub off with repeated handling. Varnishing is generally advised anyway, but you can get away without it for a lot of ranges that are designed for wargamers. And don't be fooled that Model Color is only drab greens, browns and greys. There's lots of those colours in it for the WWII tanks and the like, but there's quite a few brighter colours as well - it's a big range.

The Game Color Extra Opaques are really good, but from what I can find out I think they're just rebranded Model Color, which makes sense given that line generally has better coverage. For a couple of examples, VGC Extra Opaque Heavy Green is almost identical to VMC Luftwaffe Camo Green and VGC Extra Opaque Heavy Khaki is almost identical to VMC Middlestone.

I haven't tried all the brands out there - nowhere near - but I'd definitely say the nicest painting experience I've had is with:
- Auto primer from the local hardware store (big cans for cheaper than most wargaming aimed ones, with the extra advantage that these are a good, proper primer and not a coloured spraypaint masquerading as a primer like the gaming paint brands often are)
- Vallejo Model Color for the main range of paints (nice to work with, heavy pigment, good coverage, wide range of colours, dropper bottles, good price)
- Army Painter Washes (goes on well, settles into the recesses nicely, good choice of shades, dropper bottles, good price).
- For brushes you want sable. You don't need to go all out on something like W&N, but something like the white handled Army Painter (regiment, character, detail etc.) or Rosemary & Co Series 33 are very reasonably priced.

But generally everyone likes different things in a paint or a brush and I think we could all benefit from trying some different brands now and then.

 Inquisitor S. wrote:

Sounds sensible. I assume this goes for the mixed paints rather than for the dropper bottles.

Wet palettes are useful whether it's straight from the bottle or mixed. Having the paint not dry out while you're trying to use it is always going to help!

Also on the topic of colour conversion charts, this is the most useful one I've come across.

 Bellerophon wrote:

I got back into the hobby a couple of years ago with an Army Painter Mega Paint Set, and it was a mixed bag. [...]

That about corresponds to experiences people had on boardgamegeek (I did some late night reading up yesterday ) AP somehow seems to have its problems (with the exception of metallics and washes which people seem to like).

 Bellerophon wrote:

Generally the Model Color line is formulated for historical scale modellers, so they're designed to paint things that aren't going to be handled a lot. The Game Color line is aimed at wargamers, so the finish is more durable. I've found that Model Color is a much nicer line to work with, really good pigment density and coverage, but you'll definitely want to varnish them afterwards otherwise the paint will rub off with repeated handling. [...] And don't be fooled that Model Color is only drab greens, browns and greys. There's lots of those colours in it for the WWII tanks and the like, but there's quite a few brighter colours as well - it's a big range.

Actually when I say getting "back into the hobby" it is about collecting and painting. Not about gaming, I somehow am not attracted to the way GW handles it anymore, prefer "normal" (board)games where I don't have to run after the newest or most powerful kit to "win". I still love and always have loved the background and minis though (well, up to certain points in product "development", but that's okay, I just ignore what comes afterwards ). So a lot of handling is not what I am worried about. As long as the paint sticks to the model if it just stands around and is looked at.

Varnishing is generally advised anyway, but you can get away without it for a lot of ranges that are designed for wargamers.

A question about varnish: I have found several pots of acrylic craft varnish in a drawer. Should they be used or better to get some "professional" spray on varnish?

The Game Color Extra Opaques are really good, but from what I can find out I think they're just rebranded Model Color, which makes sense given that line generally has better coverage.

And they sell these rebranded colours at a higher price?

- Auto primer from the local hardware store (big cans for cheaper than most wargaming aimed ones, with the extra advantage that these are a good, proper primer and not a coloured spraypaint masquerading as a primer like the gaming paint brands often are)

Does "hardware" primer come off as easily (or as difficult) as "hobby" primer when stripping a mini that has gone wrong?

Wet palettes are useful whether it's straight from the bottle or mixed. Having the paint not dry out while you're trying to use it is always going to help!

I meant that if a dropper bottle is properly closed anyway and not used at that moment if a wet palette helps the paint in the closed bottle to keep humid...

Also on the topic of colour conversion charts, this is the most useful one I've come across.

Very good, thanks

On a related note I have also seen that there is a beginner set from Reaper, but I don't know where to get it over here.

Also some people were talking about getting a colour wheel for mixing. While I am aware of the theoretical concept of the colour wheel I am not so sure about how it helps with mixing different shades and why one would have to buy what is basically a piece of paper for it? Or do these people mean something else?

Our paint were designed from the ground up for beginners, very little water required for thinning (Or even without thining).

This is what people have accomplished with our colours



We're looking into creating starter packs next year that will contain our signature colours for mixing upto 44,000 different shades, 1 or 2 miniatures, some brushes, cleaner and thinner.

And all of it we hope will be able to go through your letterbox