Best Brand of Paint

[KatieG]

OK, if I were more or less starting from scratch and just wanted to buy a set of paint, I probably would go for the entire Vallejo Game Color range. When the set first came out, some places on the web were offering decent discounts if you bought the whole set, I don\'t know if anyone still has that sort of deal in force. But the main reason I would get these is that they are the exact same colors as the GW range, but they\'re better (at least I think they are). They\'re in the Vallejo dropper bottles and they cover better than the GW colors in many cases. I think for some reason they don\'t have Ice Blue, so you might want to pick that up. I also think the GW metallics are better than the Vallejo one, but I haven\'t had the chance to play with the metallics much lately as I have been practicing NMM lately
This is just my opinion, since I have so many paints already, I haven\'t bought the whole set (though I am replacing my GW paints as they run out with Vallejo GC).
--Katie G.

 

[supervike]

I may agree...

Yes, I think if I were going to start with a whole new set, it may be vallejo. I am not a firm believer that the paint is any higher quality than that of GW, but it is the handiness of the bottles.

The eye dropper bottles really make mixing paint (and thus remembering the exact mix) very simple.

GW has now released its new flip top stuff, and I haven\'t tried it yet. I do have the MEGA paint set (with the old bottles) and still use that everytime I paint.

The fliptop probably makes GW\'s a better value. I guess ultimately I would see which set you can get for the cheapest and save your hard earned cash for what is really important (miniatures!)

 

[atacam]

It has to be Vallejo for me too. I hate GW paints. They are too expensive and the paint dries in the pot and becomes unusable. Also £1.75 for 12ml(GW), £1.50 for 15ml(Val). The choice is clear to me.

 

[Fizl]

You can still get those discounts on those Vallejo game colour range, I bought the entire set for £69 online, but there are one or two colours that GW have brought out that aren\'t in the range, the ice blue mentioned earlier, and Graveyard earth are the two I can think of. There may be more but I\'m not that knowledgable of GW paint line. Also the Vallejo paints are 17ml which is a bit more for your money

Shaz

 

[KatieG]

Yeah, I forgot about the new colors, GW brought out I think it was 6? new colors in the last 6 months or so, and these aren\'t in the Vallejo GC range (at least, not yet, perhaps they will add them). The ones I can think of are Kommando Khaki, Terracotta, Tanned Flesh, the aforementioned Graveyard Earth, there\'s a green that I forget, and one more I think.
--Katie G.

 

[Caelithar]

Seems Vallejo are a lot of peoples favourites . Fizl/Shaz , do you have the addy of the place you bought yours at please ? Thanks a lot .

 

[Fizl]

I ordered mine from Chelgames

I know they sometimes have a bit of a blase attitude to helpfulness, but I received my package within 1 1/2 weeks even though it was sent second class post.

Hope that helps,

Shaz

 

[Caelithar]

Thanks a lot , tried the website but apparently everything has been suspended ? Looks like no joy from them .

 

[Fizl]

It is also available from other sites in the UK, but that was the cheapest I found. You could also look at Game-Mart or Wargames workshop

These are slightly more expensive but still sell the full range giving a discount.

Shaz

 

[MDL]

paints used...

Another 2 cents...

Vallejo: good coverage out of the bottle, a little thin on a wet pallete; decent coverage, great hue retention when thinned, mix well with GW paints.

Note: game colors are NOT the same hues, values and saturation as the GW colors. They are similar, but they are NOT the same, so if you are trying to match colors on something, know what you are dealing with (for instance if you are doing a repair job for someone...).

GW: Thick and stand being thinned. Work well on a wet pallete. Not enough colors, compared to the vallejo line. Severely lacking in greens, browns. Not true flats, but o.k.

Polly S: good flat paint. Thin. Easy to airbrush. Good military and earthy colors. Will \'flake\' more easily when rubbed. Still can blend with GW to a degree.

Good way to keep this from happening: after you get done with major steps, seal your mini (e.g. dullcote) really quick. Let dry. No loss of paint in the future, or detail if you just dust it.

Badger paints: Good for airbrushing, otherwise, too thick to paint with.

Tamiya: Good solid colors. Don\'t mix well with other paints.

Model master enamels: awsome washing tool. More on this later. Hard to deal with as they use organic solvents to clean up.

Craft paints: don\'t tolerate being thinned to the level I desire. Only use them for terrain.

Art paints: liquitex, golden and others: use for terrain to get very nice effects. Good hues- umbers, siennas, greys, etc. Don\'t use on minis that much, unless I need a specific color.

Ral partha: Too \'rubbery\' and thick for my tastes. Not as easy to thin as others. Haven\'t really liked them, in spite of having quite a few colors.

Anyway, that\'s just some ideas....

 

[dapatrick]

Best paints

I\'ve started painting again after a long,long break. The general consensus here seems to be that Vallejo paints are one of the best brands but there are few hobby shops near me and none stocks them. However several shops sell the brand \"Miniature Paints.\" There appears to be a large range and they make inks as well. I think they might be local (Liverpool,UK). Have any of you had experience in using them? How do they compare with other paints?

 

[Ebonbuddha]

VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO VALLEJO

:bouncy::flip::bouncy::flip::bouncy::flip::bouncy::flip:

Originally posted by Caelithar
Ok , I\'m pretty new to this , just like to say the few pots of GW are nowhere near the amount I should have . I was about to post a similar thread on \"what are the best paints \" until I saw this . One thing I dont like with these pots of GW paints is , if they have been left a while , you need to be Conan to remove the tops . On to my question . After christmas I am going to splash out on a set of paints ( a full set ) so , money willing , what set would you buy ?

Oh and how do you put your location in your profile , for the life of me I cannot seem to get it in .

Thanks

 

[Coyote]

I\'ve noticed the problems with vallejo mentioned earlier. One of the problems is that they dry faster then most paints, but cure at the same rate.

So, when you put a new coat over an un-cured coat you risk lifting it and ruining the surface. Also, because they dry very fast you cannot overwork an area, or you will end up with spotty coverage and a bad surface.

Apply efficient strokes going from dry to wet. Allow an area to completely dry before putting another coat overtop when basecoating, although with very thin layering I will often get away with repeatedly covering an area to build up colour.

That\'s my holy grail of flow control, paint consistency and colour choice: So that the paint is so thin that it barely changes the colour of the surface, is applied in a thin layer and the transition from wet to dry is 1mm from the tip of my brush.

I\'ve done it a few times, but only on tabletop quality where I wasn\'t taking advantage of it. Basically, you would be putting a layer per brushstroke, creating many, many layers.