"Difference between Vallejo Game Color and Model Color?" Topic

Saw an ebay for a VGC set. hesitant b/c I'm not sure what GC is compared to Model Color. Anyone have any experience of same?

My figs don't get a lot of handling so I can't say I've noticed any difference but purportedly, GC is for gaming figures whereas Model Color started out for display models and is missing some thing that contributes to the paint's durability. GC was also, originally, a one for one copy of Citadel's paints – no doubt to cover shops who wouldn't/couldn't work with GW's retailer requirements.

I also paint figures with a bunch of different brands depending so who knows what part was painted with what.

My guess is with pre-cleaning and then sealing after, one isn't likely to notice any difference.

From Vallejo's FAQ:

Model Color and Panzer Aces are creamy, highly opaque acrylics formulated principally for brush application: the two ranges total some 246 matte colors and mediums, and 8 brilliant alcohol based metallic colors.

Game Color has been developed for tabletop games. The range consists of 119 acrylic colors, washes and inks; designed for painting small figures, the formula has a lower viscosity than Model Color and a resin more resistant to frequent handling. The colors provide opaque coverage without loss of minute detail.

Some of our customers have told us they think the Game Colors are perhaps just a bit thinner than the Model Color -- but not that it doesn't cover as well, just a bit thinner in consistency.

My experience is similar.

Game colors are touch thinner out of the dropper than Model colors and tend to suffer less separation and thus
require a bit less shaking prior to use.

They do feel a bit more rubbery when dried. They usually come out of paint wells in one clean rubbery chunk, as opposed to model colors which tend to be a bit more crumbly when scrapping out my palettes. I don't know how much, if any, protection this actually lends to the finished paint job. They airbrush okay, though I prefer the Model and Game Air lines, since they're specifically formulated for that.

Color-range wise they're obviously more in line with other fantasy and sci-fi paint ranges like GW or Reaper and less with historical/modelling lines like Testors as with the Model colors. At one point they were a pretty close 1:1 replacement for the Citadel paint line, but Citadel has gone through several revamps since then and allegedly also switched manufacturers, so that's no longer remotely true.

They're pretty forgiving paints all told, so I wouldn't have any concerns picking them up if offered on the cheap. That said, these days, I tend to use P3 as my primary acrylics, supplemented by some Model and Model air colors and a few one offs from other lines.