Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I've got my eye on a couple of Scale75 paints, but before I make an order I just wanted to see if anyone had anything to say about them.
Are they good paints? How do they compare to GW/Vallejo? Etc etc.
Are there any Must Have paints from there range? I've heard some good things about their "decayed metal" but are there any other stand outs among them?


And to further the discussion a bit, does anyone have any suggestion from other, smaller/lesser known brands of paints? Maybe a whole range or maybe just a singular one-off one hit wonder that are just really useful.

Scale 75 are very thin paints that use a gel based medium meaning thinking is gonna be different. They are near impossible to get a base coat with.
They however are great at glazing and blending

Oh... I didn't know they were gel based.

Are gel based paints different from other acrylics? Like do I need special thinners to thin them/clean brushes with? (like spirits with oils, for example)

Nothing special needed for cleaning, and you can still use water to thin them. Definitely invest in shaker beads though, and really give them a good flogging at the start of your painting session, otherwise you'll end up squeezing out mostly clear medium.

Metallics are fantastic, but they separate very quickly on a wet palette, so I'd recommend a dry one when using them.

Don't really have any complaints, I've found them to be well worth the cost.. They mix well enough with Citadel paints, as long as you use a sparing amount of the Citadel colour first and slowly add more, because they're much more dense.

Only downside of them for a West Australian like me, and perhaps a Victorian like you, is that lack of presence in any brick and mortar stores that I'm aware of, so it's all gotta be online orders. Not a real problem, just a mild factor of inconvenience compared to more readily available brands.

Thanks, Tim.
I have shaker beads. Need more, but I have some.
Dry palette for metallics, check.

I've never seen them in B&M stores either, so I was just going to buy direct from the manufacturer. Is that where you get them from or do you have another line on them?
Any colours you recommend getting?

Yeah, ordered direct from Scale75 a couple of times to get the complete Scale Colour range (the matte finish, as opposed to the satin finish of the Fantasy & Games range). No issues at all, other than the slow delivery time, which was to be expected from Spain to Australia (the dispatch was decent).

Since then, however, I realized that the Combat Company seems to carry the range, and they're based in Sydney. Always had pleasant dealings with them, so as I need to replace individual bottles, I'll be checking with them first to see if I can avoid the hassle of waiting for international shipping.

As for colours, probably depends on how you want to use them. I wholeheartedly recommend the metallics, particularly fond of Black Metal, Necro Gold, Viking Gold, and Decayed Metal. I used to hate metallic paints, always trying to do NMM to avoid them, but those colours have changed my tune. The paints in the Scale Colour Flesh paint set are also fantastic for the solid range of skin tones, so if you paint a lot of humans with visible skin, I'd definitely recommend them too.

That said, the most important thing would be to grab a few colours that you're interested in to see if they're actually for you. They're good quality paints, but personal taste does make a difference.

Was not impressed with Scale 75 paints. I honestly think that for most applications, Citadel paints are superior. Except for White, Greys and Metallics. Vallejo Model Color makes the best Greys and Metallics. I'm still looking for a really smooth drying white that doesn't break up on the wet palette and look grainy. YMMV

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Scale 75 are very thin paints that use a gel based medium meaning thinking is gonna be different. They are near impossible to get a base coat with.
They however are great at glazing and blending

This matches my experience with them. Glazing and blending? Great! They are a fine addition to your paint toolbox. Otherwise I tend to stick to Vallejo or GW paints.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Scale 75 are very thin paints that use a gel based medium meaning thinking is gonna be different. They are near impossible to get a base coat with.
They however are great at glazing and blending

Wait, what?

The standard scalecolour paints I have are very thick and require a great deal of thinning. This was mentioned in many online reviews when I first checked them out so, I don't think it's just me. They also have an incredibly matte finish.

I really like them.

They do have a more recent fantasy line which I have a few colours from and these are thinner, but still not as thin as the average, say, Vallejo Game Colour. These also dry much glossier than the Scalecolour.

 sockwithaticket wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Scale 75 are very thin paints that use a gel based medium meaning thinking is gonna be different. They are near impossible to get a base coat with.
They however are great at glazing and blending

Wait, what?

The standard scalecolour paints I have are very thick and require a great deal of thinning. This was mentioned in many online reviews when I first checked them out so, I don't think it's just me. They also have an incredibly matte finish.

I really like them.

They do have a more recent fantasy line which I have a few colours from and these are thinner, but still not as thin as the average, say, Vallejo Game Colour. These also dry much glossier than the Scalecolour.

Based on the full comment, I believe they meant "thin" in terms of coverage.

I do usually mix them with a Citadel Base paint for initial basecoating, or even just using a pure Base paint and going from there with Scale Colour, but I've always seen that as more a testament to the high quality coverage of the Base paints compared to the Layer paints that Scale75 are more similar to.

The relative thickness of Scale75 paints are why I absolutely recommend using paint shakers with them (they're a convenience for most other manufacturers, but border on necessity here), otherwise you will end up leaving a lot of the pigment behind

In terms of viscosity

Tim the Biovore wrote:Since then, however, I realized that the Combat Company seems to carry the range

Good to know! Like buying local where I can.

I wholeheartedly recommend the metallics, particularly fond of Black Metal, Necro Gold, Viking Gold, and Decayed Metal. Scale Colour Flesh paint set are also fantastic for the solid range of skin tones.

Decayed Metal was already on my list of things to get, as are black forest green and spring green. I'll check out the other metallics too!
And I don't paint a lot of flesh, but I am in the market for a good mid-tone flesh. Something between Bugmans glow and Elf flesh.

OldGuy73 wrote:Was not impressed with Scale 75 paints.

Was there anything in particular that you weren't impressed with? Something you feel lets them down?

I'm still looking for a really smooth drying white that doesn't break up on the wet palette and look grainy. YMMV

You're not the only one, mate!

 Snrub wrote:

I'm still looking for a really smooth drying white that doesn't break up on the wet palette and look grainy. YMMV

You're not the only one, mate!

Maybe try a HBA titanium white "thinned" with a white Ink?

While I have those, honestly, I have not tried this exact combination, but seems like it might plausibly "work" to get what you want.

I found the paint didn't cover very well, was tough to work with on the wet palette and the colors were not as vibrant as I expected.