So I wanna start a conversation about different paint brands...

Not that guy, but yes. Game color is the GW copy.

I use Games Workshop paint, because I live in the UK where every single town has a Games Workshop on the high street, but actual independent stores are often hidden away on industrial units. When I run out of paint, I can go and get some more paint.

This is undeniably the reason you find people still using GW paint even while knowing other paint it better.

Awesome. I did not know this.

Army Painter hasn't done me wrong painting from a wet pallet. They do have a bit of a limited color selection. In the cases where I want a consistent primary color for my army that isn't on the Army Painter range, I fill in with Vallejo.

I also think a lot of people are just ignorant of the other brands. I'm the only one in my hobby group that considers other brands than citadel. I think the biggest problem is spending money on something that you aren't sure is gonna hold up quality wise.

I've had issues with Game Color paints permanently separating.

Really? Tried stirring it?

I tried stirring it, putting a bead in it, everything. It seems to happen only with certain colors, primarily reds, yellows and greens.

If you have a GW you almost certainly have a model shop or model train shop.

Heck, even Boyes general shop stocks the entire Model Colour, Game Colour and Humbrol ranges.

I switched to Game Colour myself but I've bought a few new Citadel paints. The Scorched Earth equivalent always separates, as has the Goblin and Dark Greens. They're actually more awkward to shake than even the new awful GW pots, being a longer tube they just don't seem to mix as well even with a death-grip wank of a shake.

So I end up squeezing out a lot and then mixing it with a brush.

I'm not sold on the metallics either, gold seems fine but the silver and bronze are mildly suspect. I've bought some Leadbelcher to base them with in future though.

They're all fine. GW, like in most things, is average quality, but priced like it's top tier.
Vallejo, Army Painter, Reaper, all good choices.

I wish Reaper was more easily available in the UK, apparently they go straight on Bones.

Vallejo has been good to me, i prefer their model colour than their game colour.

I like some of the army painter paints; especially the red, it's really red not that shitty redish orange you normally get masquerading as red

Curious as to why you prefer model, to game. I haven't tried either, so I'm wondering why.

It goes on the model just a bit easier and the ww2 colour paints

P3 is pretty good, from Privateer Press. That said, I've heard quality has gone south recently. I also do not like their metallics in general. They use little flip lids. The hinges break easily but they will actually close properly all the time. You'll just have a bit of trouble opening them sometimes.

I also really like Reapers Master Series line of paints for metallics. They are little droppers with a screw on cap. Pretty nice but you'll want a paper clip or small object to stuff down there in case it gets plugged.

Both water down easily and mix very well.

Only GW stuff I'll use is the spray on primers and dips (also called washes or inks).

anyone had experince with army painter's washes?
the ons in the bottles not the ones in a tin?

I've had good experiences with Resene, Atelier Interactive, and Chroma A2.

>Only GW stuff I'll use is the spray on primers and dips (also called washes or inks).
Why the primers? Washes I can understand, but there's nothing special at all about the primers.

The dip? I hear it's good for big blocks of troops but not if you want well painted ones.

I use Vallejo and Citadel together.

aren't the more recent gw primers thinner now or is that bollocks?

They aren't even primers per se, they're just the citadel paints, in a spray can.
Which works fine most of the time, but army painter is way better and a bigger range.

the washes are good, but as inks they behave differently than Vallejo and GW stuff. They are almost glazes in their behavior l, and sink to recesses less. I use dark tone on metals to get a really nice oiled look, and on some colors to blend in highlights. As someone who was looking to replace some Vallejo washes I was disappointed however.

Only ones I can find half the time. Rest of the time I use Army Painter. I don't trust some random shit from walmart or similar.

I have encountered a single problem with Vallejo. I love them, but they seem to need mixing to keep from separating out more often than other brands. It's not exactly hard labor, but with the narrow squeeze-top I use a straightened paper clip to stir it inside the pot itself so it squirts better.

That sounds kinda gross in retrospect.

>So tell me Veeky Forums, which brand of paint is the better option?

Whichever is available.

>I don't trust some random shit from walmart or similar.

Have fun throwing away your money.

>where every single town has a Games Workshop on the high street
man that sounds nice i have a hard time finding one and i live in germany

by the way what do you guys think about pic related

>OldGW / Coat of Arms(?)
Decent quality, I liked them but they're hard to get nowadays. Kinda generic palette but it was like a decade ago. Love their Foundations though, the muted colors really work with whatever you put on them. Old soft-top pots could last forever, then GW jewed up and replaced them with shitty ones that dry out whenever the seal's not perfectly clean.

>NewGW (base/layer/shade)
It's shit. Less paint for more money, still use the newer shitty pots, rougher pigment, hard to airbrush (even layers clog airbrush more than old foundations), coverage issues (how the fuck do you fuck up black paint?). Worst of the "big brands" now, the only advantages is you can get them anywhere and their Technical special effects.

>Vallejo
Replaced GW in the "nothing breathtaking but decent/good" department. Has paint separation issues, needs to be shaken much more than others. Very much depends on what line you use, VGC have varied palettes but shininess/coverage varies, VMC are pretty and smooth but very military model-oriented palette (a ton of browns and greens and greys) and rub off very easily until varnished, VAir are airbrush stuff and too thin to brush on comfortably but have great smoooth metallics, Liquid Metal are awesome metallics with great coverage and color but alcohol-based and finicky (they launched Metal Color line that's the same thing but water-based and supposedly cuts down on the hassle).

>Reaper
Smooth, great for glazing/blending, would be my favorite but they don't like washes and need to dry much longer or they reactivate. Many paints are arranged in triads (shadow/base/highlight) for easier purchasing. Pretty bad bottles, they have something inside so the stirrer ball/skull wouldn't stick, but in practice that clogs like a motherfucker.

->tbc

->cont'd
>Privateer Press/Formula P3
See OldGW. Similar quality, similar pots (the good ones), I think it's the same manufacturer. They're good except metallics which look like absolute shit.

>Army Painter
The generics. If you're a serious painter you probably have gotten equivalents long ago, but they're good for dabblers, beginners, boardgame painters etc. Quality is OK, maybe a bit too thick. I absolutely love their washes though.

>craft paints
Don't. They either have poor coverage/thinning issues/coarse pigment/whatever problems you can think of because you're painting stuff at least several times smaller than they're for, or they're the really good artist's paints, but at that price you're better off buying some of the above. Cheap craft paints are good for when you have a ton of terrain to paint though.

>scale model/enamel paints etc.
Don't. They're often very good but you'd have to relearn painting as scale models are painted in very different ways and their paints are designed for that.

also my bad, that's Coat d'Arms and not Coat of Arms.

>Enamel paints
I did know a South African who had his painted with these simply because they were the only paints you could get there

i just started painting how do i know if i get my hands on new gw pots?

did you buy gw paint?
then it's the shitty pots
hope i helped

>tfw i miss the smell of the old gw washes

It's simple, you don't.
GW stopped selling them like a decade ago.

Pic related is most of pot generations. It's missing an even older one (high, round, with a soft top, similar to current PP pots). Good pots are the one I described and #1 from pic. #3 and #7 are the ones that tend to dry out and #2 (screw-top) was even worse.

No wait, it's missing the screw-top too. It looks similar to #2 but screwed on. Both are bad though.

i know far too many old gognards that still have useable 17.5ml paints

>buying a pot of pigmented Satans jizz at the local hobbycraft shop
>prying open the pot with a screwdriver
>it fucking stinks, but not as bad as devlan mud did
>stirring that gloopy sludge
>finally getting to apply that horrid shit to your model where it doesn't adhere and streaks
>having to wash your brushes with white spirit
>the end result is a horrible dry finish that seems to suck the moisture from your body if you touch it
They are apparently good for painting and getting a realistic finish on old model steam trains, of which I have no experience and cannot verify.
Other than that they are absolute and utter shit.
Vallejo forever.

thanks for the help i really appreciate the support on this board

What a load of shit.

Citadel paints are for gays
Except the washes, they are pretty decent.

I like to use Tamiya acrylic paints for my guard, especially on tanks and armour. I also use a flat as a base for their khaki.
I then use whatever I've got around to finish stuff off. A mix of GW paint that's still going, and vallejo, which I'm buying more of as time goes on. Vallejo is nice, but, as mentioned in the thread, really needs a good mix before you use it.

>#2 flip top is shit
>any of #3 onwards are good

What are you on mate? The screw top of #2 was pretty poor but that's definitely their best pot. You'd have to be some kind of mongoloid to have one of them dry up.

I can confirm. I live 20 mins from a GW in BC Canada and I just buy all my shit from there because its close, its reliable, and they know more than I do about everything I need. I'm the kind of person who will pay more than I need to for convenience.

What company sells the best start paint kit?

*starter

Only one I know of is Privateer Press. You can buy all the colors they use for painting a specific faction as a set. Brushes and such don't come with it though.

IIRC Army Painter has a modeling starter set. Stuff like a small drill, dykes, and brass rod so you can pin stuff. I think it includes modeling clay of some sort (I use greenstuff).

GWs aren't actually horrific either

>That bent as fuck sword on the knight
Is using some hot water that hard?

Currently transitioning from GW to Vallejo paints. I use a lot of modle air.

What makes me unhappy is watching people buy GW primer. Jesus, just get some from home despot/lowes/OSH for .99c

This so much. Krylon primer is perfectly fine and comes on very well.

>What are you on mate?
Same to you, I specifically said the lattter ones are the ones that dry out. As for #2, I say it as it is. Maybe you had better experience with them, but calling #2 best, as in better than old soft-tops? Plain retarded.

Hey now, there's a difference between being gay and plain faggotry.

I like reaper personally, but I live literally just down the street from their warehouse and I like the people who work there, so I'm a bit biased.

>Vallejo
>Good range
>Easy to water and blend
>Great containers
>Fair prize

I use GWs washes and their new metalics. Also their texture paints in some occasions.

I have been trying Privater Press own paint line recently. Not that bad. I prefer Vallejo. But the faction based paint set I bought has seen some use.

They are a fun and classic that I have used simply because they are so bad. I know this sounds insane. But I found some old type 80s - 90s airplane models and a fuckton of these paints in a local store basicly for free. A walk down memory lane I can tell you.

Nr 1 is god their. I have a bunch of these and the paints are as good as the day they were made.

I was thinking about picking this up as a beginner set to get me started painting minis. Does anyone know if the newer Army Painter paints perform any differently than older ones? They seemed to have added a lot of colors compared to their older sets, and I can't really find much information about this set online.

That ain't accurate right there. I've done tests with generic sprays and using gentler paint removal methods and the sprays come right off. Hit it with the GW primer and only the spray comes off. There's definitely a gripping agent that's in there. Obviously normal paint came right off as well.

While that might not technically classify as a primer, that's going to be unneeded if it does the same thing. I mean shit, you'd be able to use something like Bulldog Adhesion Promotor instead of GW spray and you could keep the plastic grey as a base.

Honestly though, I've only used gw black spray.

I use what I have on hand. Never really restrict myself to one brand. I own tons of GW pots from old, and has there after filled the stock with both privateer press, Vallejo, Tamiya and other less known brands.
I also mix and match to suit my needs, not really caring as long at its all acrylics. And I rarely paint straight out of the pot anyway.

Which is the best? Not really sure, Vallejo got the best bottles thats for sure, no matter if you own an airbrush or not. GW´s new range is great if you do it by the book, restricting yourself to oldschool brush techniques and following their tutorials. Privateer press is also alright... You know what, just paint with what you got, thats my tips to all of you, stop being obsessive fanboys all of you, and just paint!

t. shitty painter

I love Army Painter's Strong and Dark tone inks. Haven't tried the others though.

Brands I have used:
>Vallejo Game Air
Awesome colors. Thin paints. I love the,

>Vallejo Model
Ok. People like to say they are cheaper than GW but if you buy the bottles individually they aren't that much cheaper.

>Secret Weapon
Good, but people like to say they are phenomenal game changers. They aren't, but don't overlook them either.

>GW
Modern GW paints are actually pretty good. The real kingpins are the metallics, the technical paints, and of course, the washes.

The gloss shades from GW are really awesome and you'd be a fool to pass them them up.

>Reaper
I haven't used many reaper paints, but i like the ones I've used.

I have not used Army Painter, but people say good things about them.

>tl;dr
pick and choose your favorites from each brand

>They might have changed their stuff in the years since then. Inks were a new thing back then. Call them washes now?
yeha a couple years ago they swapped manufacturers and went to a larger rangr of higher quality paints.
washes arent quite the same as inks.
they're more translucent and have lower surface tension so they dont dry with the hard edges of colour like inks can. they're pretty nifty.

>Vallejo Model
>Ok. People like to say they are cheaper than GW but if you buy the bottles individually they aren't that much cheaper.

I guess that depends on where you are. Over here in moonland Vallejo goes for 290 a pot and GW starts at 550 these days.

I've seen people here try to sell Vallejo for 5.50 and GW MSRPs at 4.50. If people actually sell Vallejo at MSRP it is cheaper though.

Vallejo Model isn't really my favorite. I think the Vallejo Game has better and more vibrant colors.

>basicly for free
You could hit your own dick with a hammer basically for free, that doesn't mean you should do it

I only hate gw paints because when you open them, paint drips down into the back of the lid and dries, making it so it doesnt close in the back

how are people so bad at opening and closing GW paint pots

It seems to happen too so many people but I have literally never had this issue. I just make sure to not leave them open too long and close them fully each time

Is that in USD? That's crazy.

I agree with you on VGC/VMC, but VMC has been good for my dabbling in Bolt Action.

I think VMC were pretty much made with historics in mind since they have about 50 shades of olive drab

Well, made with scale models (i.e. Tamiya) in mind, but one man's scale model is another man's wargaming piece.

when I think tamiya what comes to mind is the battery powered slot cars, but I know they make a lot of historic models too. But yeah, lot of brands make scale models of WWII hardware. Or idk, you could paint model train or mustang olive drab too I guess.

i feel the same way.
just alittle care and they're no issue.
i still have some of the old screw cap GW paints that I'm currently using for my new army.

Enamel is nice if you want to paint a model sports car with a nice shiny paint job. Shit choice for wargames models though.

Most strong painters will use a mix of paints and brands. Not everything in the vallejo range is perfect. You could check any high end painter blog to see that.

VGC has brighter/more fantasy style colours and a slightly glossy finish (which also makes them very slightly more resistant to damage). VMC has a wider range of more realistic/muted colours and a matte finish. VGA is supposed to be the airbrush version of VGC (not that you can't airbrush VGC) and is thus slightly thinner and in my experience the colours are very slightly different to the VGC versions (which can actually be a good thing sometimes because it gives you slightly different tones to use). VMA is also for airbrushing but has a totally different range of colours to VMC. They're all good paints though and I used a wide variety of colours from all of them depending on what I want.

If you want an equivalent to the old GW Scorched Brown, get P3 Umbral Umber. I've never had an issue with the VGC greens so I can't help there. For silver metallics I recommend the VMA metallics. VMA Gun Metal, Steel and Silver are great and match the old GW Boltgun Metal, Chainmail and Mithril Silver, especially in being smooth as fuck.

>I've seen people here try to sell Vallejo for 5.50 and GW MSRPs at 4.50
That still makes Vallejo slightly cheaper since Vallejo is 17mL and GW is 12mL.

It depends on what you want.

GW has a good color range, and is designed around the idea that you layer certain paints over others without mixing two paints together to achieve that. They are in truth designed to layer, say, Skrag Brown over Mournfang brown. They work fine for mixing and blending, but it's not their intended purposes. They also have some of the best washes and technical paints.

Privateer press do a good paint range, but the color pallete is highly limited, and each pot can be hit or miss. Their White and Black however are excellent in both consistency and application.

I haven't had a lot of experience with Vallejo, but their color range is ENORMOUS and they have a whole range dedicated to Airbrushes, that also works for brushwork.

Scale 75 is also an extremely good brand. VERY good at being thinned and keeping consistency, would recommend to any beginner painter.

Vallejo paint sells for $5.50ish on Amazon...Is there a better place to buy them?

>ton of consumer complaints
>"the product is good, you're just using it wrong"
>no such problem with literally any other miniature paint line
Or, you know, since GW started digging itself out of that pit they're in, they might as well fix the pots.

Currently it's
>Vallejo Game Air for priming and basing
>Citadel for the rest, might swap them for others once they run out
AP is GOAT for people without an airbrush, since they do coloured primers

I use GW, Vallejo, Army Painter and some cheapo arts and crafts oil paints for some sorts of weathering. The GW colors are not as bad as people say, esp. the base colors are very nice to establish a smooth base layer very quick and easy. Vallejo onesare really nice, but some are very very watery and Army Painter has some great metallics with very fine pigments in wich GW colors suck hard.

>newer Army Painter paints perform any differently than older ones?
I had no complaints with the older ones (rounder bottle) formulations and they underwent a reformulation anyway. (The sharper edged droppers (the ones with the prior label but same bottle as pictured)). These seem to have a new bottle label. I have the last two generations of AP paints.

I would assume it's just an updated label.

Flesh Wash is new. I got their inkset before it had that.

>beginner set to get me started
One of the Mega Sets did become the defacto set for at least one pro painter I remember after he reviewed it-
-but that set is not everything you need.

It's arguably better to get the colors you need as you need them, unless you live in the middle of nowhere and can't buy single droppers without paying 5$ in shipping each time.
So, can you or can you get to a FLGS and buy droppers for ~2.50$ each?

You'll need basically the whole lineup of AP brushes as well in terms of size and type. The AP brushes are pretty good, but the natural fiber brushes have the occasional lemon and Veeky Forums will autistically screech at you for not buying GENUINE SABLE W&N BRUSHES AND NONE OTHER. Seriously though, artificial brushes are just fine if you get the softer kinds (EG look for treated nylon "watercolor" brushes) you're looking for stuff like Golden Taklon.

I have the AP Sable brushes, and they're pretty nice even compared to the "real" Sable canvas brushes I had. The triangular grips are a godsend for working on tiny shit. I had to trim off maybe 2 misbehaving hairs on one brush. Just take care of them (don't buy "brush cleaner" just use some cheap liquid Castile soap). You can fix artificial brushes too with some heat (google). Actually, short of intentionally bending all the hairs, even the most "ruined" brushes can typically be made brand new.

I'd recommend artificial brushes starting, since they're more consistent than Sable, but just buying the set of AP brushes is fine.

If you want to replace them, the manufacturer (Coat d'arms) is still in business. Color range names are changed, but it's still the same paint.
blackhat.co.uk/product-category/coat-darms-paints/coat-darms-paints-fantasy-range/

I'm using the cheapest brand local hardware store has. So it's hard to call it a brand, since they are literally "Cheap-ass brand for cheap-ass products"

And they work just as good as any other brand, just make sure you don't let them open for too long.

Has anyone tried warcolours?
I'm thinking of picking up some of their metallics.

I put a small metallic bead in my vallejo pots. Makes shaking a lot faster. They are called agitator balls and I buy them for 2 euro per 50

i ordered some Vallejo paints. Needed one particular paint but i thought i'd give a set a go, i've only used geedubs paints before.