Army Painter and Andrea paints?

[shponglefan]

I've been trying to get info on these paint brands, but haven't found too much. From what I can gather, the Army Painter paints seem designed for turning out fast "tabletop" quality minis. From what I have seen, the results don't look half bad.

The Andrea paints sound like they are good paints, but haven't been able to find much on them. One thing I am confused about is their pricing... they sell 6 bottle sets for $26.52. That works out to $4.42 per bottle. But then they sell individual bottles for only $3.60. Isn't that the opposite of how it's supposed to work?

At any rate, I'm particularly curious about the Andrea paints. I've been browsing their 54mm models and have been thinking of ordering a couple, so I might toss some of their paints in the cart to try out.

[Wyrmypops]

C'mon had a sale on that included Andrea paints. Picked up a couple and don't regret it. Mostly as they were colours that filled a gap (dark orange and terracotta). They're just like any regular paint in other respects.

[Ben Clapperton]

Army Painter have an overall system for speed painting minis, but the individual warpaints are just paint. They're a good price and give good coverage. I have no experience with Andrea paints. I would guess that they're not designed for 28mm wargaming minis but that doesn't mean they can't be used for that.

[Dragonsreach]

I've got several Andrea miniatures, still to do because SOME of them have bad fit/moulding lines.
They're not really suitable for someone just jumping back in, BUT by all means get one you want as a "Target Level" you want to work up to.

[ced1106]

Well, if you're a tabletop painter, Army Painter Quickshade Inks are a must. I use the black Dark Tone to pre-shade my figures before painting them in, and the brown Strong tone to wash the evil guys with bad hygene.

[Bailey03]

I've got the Andrea red set and I've been very happy with it. Yeah, the pricing does seem off. Unfortunately they can get away with it because they don't offer those same colors individually... so you can't just make up the same set. For example, the red set comes with a red base, shadow 1 and 2, highlights 1, 2, and 3. Individually you can get dark red, crimson, basic red, and napoleonic red. So not exactly the same thing.

In general I've liked the Andrea red set. I think the paints are nice and blend well. However I would caution you to avoid relying too heavily on those sets. If you do, all of your reds will look exactly the same. The same goes for the blue set, green set, etc. There are times when you're going to want different reds on different minis or parts of a mini. The set is a good starting point, just don't forget to work in other colors too. For example, maybe use a dark purple or a dark brown for the shadows instead of the shadows that come in the set. This will change the look of your reds. You can also change up the highlight colors.

To show you what I mean, here's a guy a did a while ago using their red set. I used the red set as is for his shield and tunic. Then for his cloak I use browns for the shadows and didn't go as far with the highlights.
http://www.coolminiornot.com/297744

Just remember to be flexible and experiment. If you do that I think these sets can be quite helpful.

Andrea's 54mm figures are nice too. I've painted a couple historicals from them and have some of their warlord saga figures waiting for paint. I agree with Dragonsreach, since they are more expensive they are good models to work up to. But I also think painting at different scales can be very beneficial. Trying to paint the eyes on a 54mm figure is a lot easier than doing it on a 28mm (though still tough!). And don't forget to check ebay, sometimes you can get some good deals on Andrea figures. There are usually quite a few listed under Toys & Hobbies-> Models & Kits.

[shponglefan]

Awesome, thanks for all the replies. And Bailey03, it's especially good to know the colors in the sets are not the same as the bottles; now it makes a little more sense as to why they get away with charging higher per-bottle rates for the sets. I've been thinking about trying their skintone set, so we'll see if I end up ordering...

And yeah, their 54mm models while pricey are something I'd like to aspire to!