Games Workshop Paints vs. Vallejo Paints (Game Color/ Model Color)

[redarmy27]

I had a pretty good discussion with one of my modeling/painting buddies today. He\'s all for GW paints while I paint with Vallejos. I\'m just trying to get a general consensus about what people use just out of curiousity.

What do you like about the paints you use, what don\'t you like about them? How do they compare to the paint you to the ones you don\'t?

Just wanted to put this conversation out there

 

[lizcam]

It all depends on your style. GW are good for most things but vallejo (and reaper master series, my personal favorites) thin way down really well so if you do layers and thin glazes they are better. P3\'s split when watered down a lot as well.

 

[mattsterbenz]

I use almost all GW. I do a lot of really thin layers, and never had a problem with it. Maybe I\'m a little different, but I like it that way.

I own the whole VMC line, and a good sized handful of P3s. I don\'t find myself using the Vallejo much simply because of the bottle design, and every color seems to have a different consistency and dry to a different finish.

P3 are very good. Nothing bad to say about them.

Try a variety of paints, and buy the rest of the brand you like best. Any kind of paint will get the job done. All that it really comes down to is the colors and bottle design that you like the most.

-Matt

 

[Jericho]

I\'ll give my stock answer, although it does get slightly shorter every time!

Use what works for you. What colors you like, and how you like to paint. I personally have switched over to P3 paints for a lot of my work. I like their color pallet better than Citadel, and I think they are 10x better paints than the Vallejo\'s I\'ve used.

But I still have pretty much the entire Citadel, Citadel Foundation, and P3 paint ranges. And I use most of them on a regular basis. They all mix well with each other (well, some Foundations don\'t play well with others I suppose). Plus I have some ancient Citadel paints (like Amethyst Purple, Turquoise Glaze, etc) that I picked up recently for very very cheap. They\'re awesome too.

I\'ll continue to use whatever paints I feel like using, but I\'ll admit that GW paints are less appealing now because they keep going up slowly in price ($4.25 a pot for 12mL in Canada), when the others are still around $3 a pot for like 17mL.

 

[painterboyroy]

paints

Over tha past year I have replaced most of my GW paints with Vallejo.. a much better range of colours, nice sets, bottles dont dry out, easier to put drop onto pallette, then you get more paint for less money as GW paints are now becoming expensive in comparison.

 

[james sequeira]

I find i use mostly vallejo, with a few GW colours, i find you cant beat GW metallics and inks though. Took the dive into local store to see if they had any \"older\" inks they hadnt sent back, had a full box, loverly

 

[skeeve]

Originally posted by redarmy27
I had a pretty good discussion with one of my modeling/painting buddies today. He\'s all for GW paints while I paint with Vallejos. I\'m just trying to get a general consensus about what people use just out of curiousity.

What do you like about the paints you use, what don\'t you like about them? How do they compare to the paint you to the ones you don\'t?

Just wanted to put this conversation out there

I agree with Jericho here. Among \"high end\" paints anything is good and only consideration would be the range of colors.
GW has a rather narrow range when it comes to grays, blue/violets and browns. So.. I use pretty much equally now GW, VMC and Reaper master. Different colors for different purpose.

 

[hakoMike]

I had slowly gone to VGC from GW over time but the in-bottle separation of VGC\'s finally pushed me over the edge. I now buy Citadel and pour them into the empty VGC bottles.

The consistency also bugged me (plague brown...argh) but I started to mix glaze medium into the thinner ones and it makes them a bit more workable (for me anyway.)

 

[generulpoleaxe]

GW\'s paints cop a fair amount of flak which to be honest they don\'t deserve.

their range isn\'t that big compared to artists acrylics or vallejo\'s model colour but if you can mix then you can create any colour you want.
their paints only dry out quickly if you leave their pots open and often (still have a few that i rarely use but have had for a number of years (the old screw tops)

whilst the dropper bottles may cut out the need for using a brush or stick to get your paint onto the pallette they can block (or turn into a volcano which is fustrating as it wastes paint)

in a long winded way i\'m saying that no line is better than another, they all have advantages and disadvantages.
mix and match, you get the best of all the lines then.

 

[MPJ]

I mostly use VGC though I\'ve been battling back and forth between VMC and Reaper Master for years now.

I like the paints I use most often for one main reason... I like the dropper bottles, they force me to paint off a pallet rather than straight from the bottle which I am so prone to do (lack of self discipline).

I still have a complete set of Citadel paints/inks/foundation and for some reason I keep replacing the ones that get used up/dry out even though I tell myself I won\'t anymore (see self discipline note above).

 

[Multifracture]

I\'m a big fan of GW paints and have just invested in the Foundation box. I have to say i\'m incredibly impressed and would recommend it to anyone who wants to paint quickly. I\'ve found they do dry incredibly quickly outside the bottle but as long as you take that into account and paint quickly the coverage is great.

As for VMC and VGC i found VMC rubs off very easily and the bottle design is a nightmare other than that they\'re pretty good. Not for me though

P3 i\'ve heard nothing but good things about and i\'m looking to invest in some of them.

GW paints are generally easier to come by and quite decent though. The new Inks are also amazing.

 

[Logan]

I use GW simply because of ease and availability.
Did contemplate going to Vallejo a while back but couldn\'t justify the cost whilst I still had a boatload of GW at my disposal. This was during the period when the screw top hexagonal bottles dried up on me. Find the new flip tops work brilliantly and love the foundation paints and new inks.

Think (like most GW stuff) they could be more cost effective but it\'s a case of \'better the devil\' and I\'m more than happy sticking with what\'s worked well for me...

 

[supervike]

The Vallejo Game Color Paints are junk, as far as I\'m concerned.

I liked the idea of the dropper bottle, but they often leak on the seam and plug up in the nozzle. Plus the paint rubs off too damn easy. Plus some of them, no matter how much you shake the bottles, do not mix well.

The newer GW lids (which reincorporated the flip top design) is really nice.

I also like some of the Reaper and P3 paints...

 

[donga666]

A little bit of what you like does you good!

So it\'s a case of what you want to use, I have six-seven differant manufacturers paints in my paint box. Having said that I used to say Vallejo Reds kicked all the rest into touch, but I have had to get a cocktail stick and remix the pigment sludge (on more than one occasion!). Some beautiful relationships end badly!

 

[squidders]

As long as you have a bottle of titlliating pink and a bottle of smelly primer you\'ll be ok.

 

[redarmy27]

Originally posted by squidders
As long as you have a bottle of titlliating pink and a bottle of smelly primer you\'ll be ok.

lol, nice. I\'m looking at possibly trying some P3 paints. Lately I\'ve been having a bit of trouble with my VMC\'s. I\'ve heard nothing but good things about P3\'s so I may give them a shot.

 

[evil tendencies]

I like VGC because of the fine pigmentation; I find that I end up with too much \"chalkiness\" with GW paints, but that\'s just me. Many of the high-level painters here use GW and can do things with them that I simply cannot replicate.

I also like the Reaper Master Series metallics an shades - adamantium black is a great color to use as a basecoat for metallics, and khaki shadow is very convenient for a lot of earth-tone cloth recipes.