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Hi! After almost 10 years, I'm going to be painting again. My old GW paints are all dry, and I'm hoping that I can pick up a nice selection of colors for a low price by buying used on ebay.

What types/brands of paint are comparable to GW's (or better)?

Any advice for buying paint on ebay?

Or should I buy new, but not from GW. What company/set would folks here recommend?

I suppose I'll need primer to, while I'm at it.

Thanks, Eph

I would recommend army painter - if you go to the right sites you can get 20 bottles at 1.80 ish each and get a range of colours. You are guaranteed decent quality unlike ebay which is a bit of a risk. Also their washes are really good.

You can buy brand new on eBay. It's where I get 90% of my paints. Whatever brands you want, usually, too. Citadel, P3, Vallejo, whatever. Also, bear in mind that just because you see something slightly more expensive than you'd see at retail (online or otherwise), you're not paying the taxes or shipping fees usually, so it can end up cheaper.

I can't recommend Army Painter for their bottled paints - I've only had a few but they've been garbage.

I can recommend Vallejo, as I use it more than anything else. At $2.65-$2.99 a bottle it's very reasonable (fact facts: you'll end up owning a lot of paints and it is part of the cost of the hobby).

GW paints are nice (haven't had one in years) and they have excellent coverage, but their price and their pots are enough to look elsewhere.

I've bought a heck of a lot of used paints on ebay, 95% of the time I've been happy with what I've bought.

In general all brands have strengths and weaknesses.

Army painter has a very low pigment count so you will need quite a few layers for an even coat.

P3 are my favourite these days, liquid pigment means they go on super smooth and have great coverage.

Scale 75 paints are great, super matte finish, downside is they require a hefty shake before using.

Vallejo are decent, main selling point is dropper bottles.

Coat D'Arms is essentially the old Citadel style of paints.

Foundry paints are great, smooth coverage and the paints come in threes; a regular, shade and highlight version of each.

Secret weapon have a small range, mainly washes, but they do a great job in filling gaps in other paint lines. Many unique washes.

Forgeworld airbrush paints are very expensive, but the few I've tried I've liked.

I have my own paintline coming out soon called INSTAR. At the moment it is based upon GW shades (to within 98-99% accuracy) but the paint is supplied slightly thinner and comes available in a variety of sizes (upto 100ml) that other companies don't offer as well as sample sizes so you can try the paint or the shade first before committing!

Feedback from testers has been positive with some of the testers coming back wanting to know when the product is being launched as they wish to purchase it again

Launch date is planned to be between November and January 2018 (Not much help I know) and prices are planned to be highly competitive.

Search for INSTAR using the forum tools to see what the fuss is all about and you can also visit the website by clicking on the www button below.

I've been switching to Vallejo over the past couple of years because a) you get more paint for lower cost and it keeps longer in the dropper bottles and b) they colour match the previous range of citadel paints, which I started my armies with, whereas the latest citadel line doesn't. (Grrrr)

So far my experience has generally been good with the main colours and their metallics, but I've not been impressed with their washes, to the point that I'm switching back to GW for washes (or whatever they call them now!)

There is a seller on ebay, goodtimejo, who sells any 10 Vallejo paints for $29.00.

He lists them in Game Air/Color/Model air categories, but when you send the list of paints you want you an just pick any 10 that Vallejo makes, he doesnt care. He ships same day usually.