"Best Paint Sets?" Topic

Hi folks,

I haven't done a whole lot in the way of painting for a while, and some of my GW pots have been dried out since I last touched them. I wanted to look to some alternative paints, as I feel Citadel's rang is a bit pricey for what it is at the moment, and I prefer the dropper bottles.

I'm an effort to get my hands on a good variety quickly, I thought it might be best to look at large sets, or bundles of colors. Vallejo, Reaper, Army Painter, P3, etc. I haven't used any of them before, so I'm curious as to your opinions of each.

I should mention that I'll be painting mostly 28mm SciFi with a lot of camo tones. I have an airbrush for vehicles and large surfaces, so I'd ideally want paints that go well with airbushes.

Thanks!

Vallejo Model Color series, or Vallejo Model AIR. Lots of colors that are dead flat. Sadly, there isn't a perfect correspondence between the designed-for-airbrushing VMA series and the VMC series, but VMC is airbrushable. I like the VMA metallics.

I like the Reaper Master Series for skin tones.

I had the same problem with my GW pots. Vallejo is my preference, although I do not often use the airbrush. They have a special range "vallejo game color air" that I have used for base colors on castle walls…worked well for me.

I ordered the camo set online--if I remember correctly it has 16 colors and it was around $3.10 USD per bottle.

I use a mixture of GW, Tamiya and Vallejo – I love the Tamiya blues and their desert sand equivalent, but for range and quality Vallejo are hard to beat

Also, since you're in the US, look in Hobby Lobby. Some Vallejo Model Color is carried by them, and you can usually get a 40% off coupon.

I have a mix of Vallejo and GW. I purchased both the Game Color set and the Flames of War one…

The Vallejo Game Color one is almost a 1 to 1 match of the older GW colors before all the name changes.

The Flames of War one has most of the colors that they use in the smaller sets and list in their hobby articles.

I use P3, GW, Reaper and Vallejo:

I find the P3 paints to be an absolute joy to paint with, but their color range is limited (couldn't live without "Bloodtracker Brown" and "'Jack Bone"). They seem to dry well with a nice finish and take handling well (never had any paint chip off).

Reaper Master series are nice as well but seem to dry with an almost hard-candy-coated finish and have occasionally chipped slightly (but this could be more of a reflection of poor miniature storage habits).

Vallejo has some great colors that I use for specific things (like German Fieldgrey), but I do not like their metallics at all.

For GW, I like the brush-on primer, their shades (old washes), and metallics.

I've picked up a couple colors of the Army Painter range, but the jury is still out on those.

Good luck!

Lots of Vallejo love, seems like! Would you recommend getting the whole 72-color case, or buying the smaller 8 and 16-count sets as needed? My reason for asking is I like to save where I can, and if I can get a solid base of colors with the smaller sets, I'll do so, without having any pots from a bigger set that may not get as much use in my regular painting.

Which colors do you find "essential?" I'm sure that depends on what models you paint, but if you had to pick out the bottles that get most use, which would they be? (especially with military in mind)

I'd pick up the various Flames of War sets. Oh, wait, those are Army Painter now… (I think AP contracted out to Vallejo)

That's most of what I did.

Actually, I advocate for the cheap craft paints (apple barrel, folk art). Get a good primer and a good sealant like Krylon, and you should be good with the other paints.

ehotheipi is correct. The cheap craft paints do every bit as well as the big money paints you all are using. I have used them all and none compare to Keepsake Craft Colors from Grumbacher. Unfortunately, they haven't been available for decades…the ones I still use I bought in 1987.

If you are planning on having a camo tone on the majority of your miniatures, check out the smaller sets. If you are dominant grey, look at the German/Panzer sets. Olive would be the WWII basics. Supplement this with either your metallics or base color set and you should be good to go.

FYI--I have purchased a 72 color set, while it is great, there are a number of colors in the set I purchased that I will probably not use---the one that comes to mind…is similar to GW pink horror

I've been using Vallejo since they became widely available in the states. I am very happy with them. There are other sets I like such as foundry paints. However Vallejo sounds perfect for you as they have the airbrush paints and a huge range.

Andrea make some very nice paint sets. Vallejo Air range is hard to beat for no fuss airbrushing.

Not used an airbrush, but use mostly Foundry and Vallejo, but starting to use Reaper as well, really like their camo triads, recomend them especially since you're in the US

I've actually switched to art store paints. Liquitex soft body acrylics.

They come thick and go on like a joy, perfect for detail or drybrushing when you want the paint exactly where you put the brush. No worries about the mixes being too thick or separating. This paint is supersaturated with pigment so you can use their acrylic media to thin it to flow however needed, or farther for translucency.

Cost? List is $8 USD to $16 USD per bottle, or 2 to 4 times what Citadel colors cost, but these are 2 oz jars, which is 39 times as much paint as in a Citadel 12ml bottle. Plus Dick Blick and other art stores discount them. Why are they different prices? Because each color is supersaturated with the highest quality pigments, and really good quality pigment is not all the same price. With hobby paints that are all the same price, it stands to reason either the pigment quantity or quality is cut to get to that price point. Not so with Liquitex. They make the best, and you pay for what you get.

And there is a full range of compatible additive media.

Thin for washes? Use acrylic matte or gloss media and/or water softened with Flow Aid.

Airbrush? Thin with airbrush media and spray away.

Filler? Use sculpting paste or texture media; this is white, but add 25% of a color and you have a filler the same color as the paint. Yes, you forgot to fill a slot gap on a Raw Umber base, or want some extra texture on a Yellow Oxide desert base? Mix it up and spread it on, same color.

Primer? Many other painters have written about using Liquitex gesso as a brush on primer. It comes in white, black, and gray (also clear). Did I say brush on? Yes. But you can also airbrush it.

Why Liquitex versus some other art brand? Well . . . Liquitex is the company that invented acrylic paint. That decided me, though I'm sure those other brands make fine paint too.

One downside is the range of colors is more limited than a hobby brand, but once I was sold on the paint quality, I realized this was a bonus. Rudimentary color mixing is a skill worth learning. After 40 years in the hobby I've finally taken a few steps in this direction.

Oh and the metallics are fantastic.

Oh, read the label. They say whether they are opaque, semi-opaque, or transparent. Personally I always want the opaque.

Some would argue that Sam Golden invented acrylic paint Don. It is actually quite an interesting history. I take your points about Liquitex products however, I myself use quite a few Golden products and their High Flow range is excellent through an airbrush.

The Golden Paint invention was indeed an interesting read, Fizzypickles: thankyou for pointing it out.

Something I new zip about, I have to confess.

John T

I did say "those other brands make fine paint too" but thank you for calling me on my facts. I did some more research and have learned some more. This is apparently the timeline of acrylic paint:

1934 BASF in Germany invented an acrylic resin dispersion, and in the 1940s marketed a synthetic paint based on it, a cross between oil and water color.

1947 Sam Golden invented and sold a mineral spirit-based acrylic paint called Magna.

1953 Otto Rohm invented acrylic resin. (Not sure how but this must be different from what BASF invented or the sources wouldn't mention it.)

1955 Liquitex in the US marketed the first water-based acrylic emulsion artists' paints. The name Liquitex was because the new paint could be varied from liquid to heavy texture depending on how much it was thinned with water. The same year Politec in Mexico also marketed similar paints.

1956? Golden followed Magna with a water-based acrylic paint called Aquatec. I can't find a release year for Aquatec. The Golden web site says "eventually". All references I've found that cite "the first water-based acrylic" refer to Liquitex in 1955. So it sounds like Aquatec was released post-1955.

1963 Cryla artists' acrylics introduced in Europe.

So to be true to facts, give proper credit, and strike closer to my intent, I should have said something like "Liquitex was one of the first companies to market acrylic paint as we know it, that thins and cleans up with water, and they have years of manufacturing experience satisfying professional artists, a clientele far more exacting about paint quality than any of us hobby painters".

I used to use GW paint for everything, primarily because my game store had it, and I had some store credits. I switched to using acrylics from craft stores, as I could get more paint for less cost. I would recommend looking for Folk Art. I have tried a few others, and they were either too thick or too thin.

I personally use Vallejo for nearly everything; as was said in the US Hobby Lobby has some (mostly WW2 type colors e.g. German Field Grey, Brown Violet, Russian Uniform – good for camo :D), but since their selection is limited (mine doesn't have much in the way of blues, for example) I tend to order most things online, especially if I need Model Air, washes or Game Color.

I haven't tried the P3 colors since I'd have to order them as well as don't see a reason to try them other than Vallejo, and while I like the GW colors I refuse to use them because why pay $4 USD for 12ml when you can get 17ml or more for $3 USD and change.

I've also recently tried the Army Painter colors, and while their selection is VERY limited I find the colors to be pretty good.

In 20-something years of minis painting I've found that Army Painter are the best value on the market, especially for block painting large armies. I burn through paints quite fast and 2-something bucks for 18ml dropper bottles of consistently good paint (that color matches their primer, which I also use for speed-painting, and is absolutely wonderful) just can't be beat.