Reaper Master Series Paints

B

Bobbo

New member
I\'ve been gaming and painting for quite some time and most of the \'experts\' at the comic store I go to have been ranting and raving about Master Series Paints from Reaper. I\'ve been using Citadel/GW paints because thats what I started painting with. Every color in the Master Series Paint Series is part of a Triad, the paint has very thick pigmentation and is good for just about everything imaginable.

I was wondering if anyone has experience with Reaper Master Series Paints and can give me some advice if it is worth changing from Citadel Paints to Reaper Master Series or another high quality paint. I\'m currently in the middle of painting my Orc and Goblin Army ( Warhammer ) so it would involve finding close matches to the skin colors I have been using for my orcs/goblins. For those that don\'t know about Master Series Paints here is a link showing the paint colors and the triads, remember the color shown on your monitor may be different from the real color.

The reason I am considering changing is I am fed up with the Citadel Paint Pots and prefer the \'eyedroppers\' that Master Series come in and I am fed up with not having the right colors for some things and having to mix paints too much, even mixing Master Series are easier because you can remember X drops of Y color and X drops of Y color. It seems the Master Series has a much larger selection of colors. For example I am starting to paint black orcs and I wanted a black metal color, citadel has no such thing.

http://www.reapermini.com/Paints/master
 
G

generulpoleaxe

New member
master series or vallejo are both a step up from gw in my opinion.

some of the better painters still use gw and swear by them.

but if you can get easy access to reaper master series or vallejo get them.

it will save you money in the long run.:)
 
airhead

airhead

Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
Citidel is good paint, just needs lots of thinning.

Reapers Master Series (RMS) is a good all-around paint. This stuff has more binder in it than any other paint I\'ve tried. (This is based on getting it off of my ceramic tiles after paint-n-takes). Comes in a dropper bottle so it is more efficient to use than GW. It does not match the GW line of colors and it comes in triads so that a newer painter can see the shadow, midtone & highlight colors.

Vellajo Game Color (VGC) is a great line of paint that matches the Citidel (GW) line of colors.

Vellajo Model Color (VMC) has very little binder in it and is designed more for the display modeler - or you gotta really pour on the clear coat.

My opinion only, your milage may vary.

I would support my FLGS and buy local if that is within your means. Yes, you can save a couple of bucks on the internet if you buy a full set (ask your FLGS guy if he will give you a discount on a full set - he just might), but you cannot get it from the internet on Saturday afternoon when you just realized your blood red is empty.
 
M

MathewBaich

New member
I currently have about 33 master series paints and a big difference in the master series paints is that the reds are oh so much better in coverage. Also the master series paints have great binder. I have tried to break the paint down and have been unsucessful in doing so. I am going to get more after I move. The paints also last longer due to the almost airtight seal and the little dropper for effeciency.

PS vallejo/reaper saves money. vallejo more so.
 
B

Bobbo

New member
Thanks for the info guys, only problem is my local store doesn\'t stock Vallejo and I wouldn\'t buy RMS from them because he already makes enough money and actually tells us that if we want a whole set to buy them offline, but its nice that he stocks them so we can buy singles that we run out of.

Im thinking of getting the RMS set and just sticking with using the greens from citadel to finish my orcs and goblins.

Thanks
 
S

spazzy

New member
I\'ve often wondered the same thing about the different brands myself. You people are always so helpful with information! My only problem is that we don\'t have a game shop in our town, and the closest one (50 miles!) only carries a limited supply of GW paints, but nothing else. So, unfortunately, I\'ll have to do my shopping online, but now that i know about the reaper paints, I\'ll probably be doing that this weekend. Thanks!
 
H

hakoMike

Active member
I have a couple of the Reaper metallics, and I like them. Their \"shadowed steel\" is a gunmetal with a bluish tint.

I have yet to find a reason to user \"Adamantium Black\" ... metallic black? Hmmm. Anyone use this?
 
airhead

airhead

Coffin Dodger / Keymaster
Mike, I use the black metal for basecoating on my swords and other bits. Highlight up to Mitheral in layers, just like any other color. I also mix it with the shadowed steel to get a bit darker metal when I don\'t quite want black.
 
B

Bastetcat

New member
Reaper Master paints are quite nice. They seem to have more pigment than the GW which translates to better coverage. The white especially covered well.

Can\'t beat the nifty eyedroppers, too.

I still use some of the GW inks on a limited basis.
 
P

Patrick

New member
G

GreyHorde

New member
This is neither an expert opinion nor a paid advertisement, but I can relate to your hesitation moving from tried & true to something different. My own experience was thus: hopping through the years, picking up and putting down painting on an occasional basis, depending on time, budget and willingness to pitch about half my dried up paint pots every time I sat down to paint. This was a lot of wasted time, frustration and expense collecting, mixing and pitching gunked up bottles of GW/Citadel and many other brands of paint. I tried a few of the Reaper Pro Paints (pots) and liked some of the characteristics, but still couldn\'t \"jump in\" all the way.

When the Master Series (bottles) started coming out, I wondered about them, too. Decided it was time to put some real effort into finding the right tools, paints, brushes, techniques and such. Took some classes at GenCon \'05, got a chance to try a handful of Master Series paints...wow. Very different feel. Reason? As I understand it, GW are acrylics, effectively a plastic emulsion with a lot of filler. RMS are smoother, thinner, but highly pigmented and more matte than anything else I\'ve tried.

There are a lot of close matchups between RMS, VMG/VGC and GW. Poke around a little and you\'ll find .jpg, .pdf and maybe even .xls charts for conversion. If there is not a direct color equivalent listed, chances are good you can mix a good match or find an easy recipe -- 1 drop of this, 2 drops of that, etc. -- floating around out there.

After trying a few and buying a few more, I have dumped all but a few GW and other paint pots in favor of RMS. I don\'t plan to go back. The triads and variety, mixability, consistency and range are just great.

My painting has improved since making the switch. I never posted a mini here on CMON until I switched to RMS. Some of this is due to taking classes, reading forums and tutorials, practice, tools and environment, but still -- the paint just flows, covers better, thins better. I doubt my prior attempts would have rated better than a 5 or 6 here, and my second attempt at a fully RMS mini is holding at a steady 7. No, this is nothing earth-shattering, but I just don\'t think I could have made a noticeable improvement without changing the paints I was using.

So, if you can\'t find them locally and your local shop won\'t order them for you, tell them it\'s their loss and get them here: Miniature Market They have the best prices, great service and they\'re getting better all the time.

[/dissertation-fanboy rave]
 
E

EricJ

Active member
Just to voice a different opinion, I actually prefer GW paints. However GW paint bottles are crap, all the GW I paint has been moved to paint bottles IWM (I think) produces, which are twist off caps, since I can\'t stand dropper bottles, but actually seal nice and tightly.

I\'ll admit that probably the reason I stick to them is that I\'m really quite stubborn and slow to change, but I like the fact that they don\'t cover as well actually. Makes my style of layering work well. By the time I thin them the enough to where they are properly useable, they have the right opacity for me. Everything I\'ve done in my gallery is exclusively GW paints and I don\'t see myself switching any time soon. :)
 
G

Grumgore

New member
I use both GW and vallejo, and the brand I end up using for a job depends on the colors available. Sometimes I even mix the two brands together (though as a general rule I try not to mix different brands).

Since I started using GW paints about 5 years ago, I found the best way to make the paint last is to use a pallette knife to get the paint out and onto my pallette. I use this same knife to mix my thinning medium (water, etc) or to mix colors together. This is practice is easier on your brushes, and the jars can be closed immediately. Sure I prefer the vallejo jars, but even they occasionally clog up and I get a sudden jet of paint when the seal losens up.

No matter what paint I use, I almost always end up thinning the paint by at least 50%.
 
B

Bastetcat

New member
Originally posted by GreyHorde
<snip>...got a chance to try a handful of Master Series paints...wow. Very different feel. Reason? As I understand it, GW are acrylics, effectively a plastic emulsion with a lot of filler. RMS are smoother, thinner, but highly pigmented and more matte than anything else...<snip>
Click to expand...

Just to clarify; all the paints here in question are acrylics, i.e. pigments suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion. Other types of paints include watercolors, which are pigments suspended or dissolved in water (or water-soluable media like gum arabic), and oil paints, which consist of pigment suspended in an oil. Often, the actual pigments invloved are the same, just mixed with a different media.

The difference in quality of any paint depends on how finely ground the particles of pigment are, how much pigment is present in the finished product, and what kind of pigment is used. Some pigments fade over time, especially when exposed to UV light.

This is also why acrylic paints can be mixed together as needed, or thinned with Future floor polish (which is actually a clear acrylic).

A commonly agreed on difference between RMS and GW is the GW paints seem to have less pigment in them, resulting in a more transparent finish. Which, as Eric points out, is not necessarily a drawback, but more of a preference.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back To Top
Top