Prefered Paint Choices

[Old Man Gloom]

When I first began painting I started out with the classic GW pots. Later on i switched to P3 which I stuck with for a few years. I now have Vallejo which are pretty great but, I was wondering what everyone else is using and why? Reaper and Scale 75 are two I've never tried.

Any input and/or comparison is more than welcome.

[Turelio]

Everything I say below is from my experience. Other people's experiences may vary...

I started with GW about 20 years ago. Good paints. I've found that each time they rerelease or overhaul the range, they do something I like and something I don't like. I loved the addition of foundations and washes originally, and their dry paints are an interesting development which I have found a few uses for. My current view on them is that I like a few of the core (base and layer) paint colours, but have found they are easier to use through an airbrush than actually painting, where they feel like glue in some cases, and have trouble covering. 

Vallejo has a lot of different colour choices, and the paint quality is better IMO. I've found that if you want flesh tones they exist in the range, but usually are hidden under non-flesh names. You need to shake the paint well to get it to mix, and a new bottle may have a small amount of clear binder still in the nozzle when first used. I have also found that they chip/rub off minis as well, but if you are aware of this issue and are careful, its avoidable. 

P3 are similar to older GW in some ways, and I mean that in a good way. I haven't had issues with them wearing off, and they have some interesting/useful colours in the range. I have found that some colours don't cover well, and need a few layers more than other paints to fix that issue. They also take longer to dry when thinner, but again, that might not affect you. 

Reaper I have been using maybe a year and a half now. I really like them. They dry matte, the triad system takes guess work out of colour schemes, and they suit my painting style. Large range of colours as well. Maybe lacking some things like a large range of washes like some other ranges have, but I can supplement in. I've found they react well to being mixed with other brands as well, and their pure black colour is my favourite black available. 

If you like washes, check out Secret Weapon as well. A nice range of colours, easy to use for blending as well. Maybe a bit shiny for my taste, but adding a bit of matte medium fixes that in my experience. 

Currently I'm favouring Reaper, with some supplementing from Vallejo/P3 based on painting technique used and colours wanted for my core paints. I'm using a lot of GW's washes and dry paints but very few of their core range, and moving more towards Secret Weapon washes to replace GW washes. 

[Bengt]

Before I played miniature games I used to build plastic scale models and painted them (sporadically and quite poorly ) with Humbrol oil based paints. When I started with GW games in the early 90s I initially used these paints. The good is that they covered very well, they were very tough even without sealing and there was a very noticeable difference between matt, gloss and satin paints. The bad is that they you have to use solvents to thin them and clean your brushes (which wears more on the brushes then soap and water) and the pots were absolutely atrocious, they were metal with metal lids that you had to pry of with a knife or screw driver, like cans of house paint, but tiny.

As I mostly had "military" colours, i.e. matt browns and greens, and saw others using water based acrylic paints I shortly switch over to GW paints. This was their second generation with hex shaped soft plastic pots with flip lids. They were pretty good. But then they switch to terrible pots of hard plastic with screw lids that didn't keep tight if there was an atom of paint anywhere out of place, according to the sell in White Dwarf these pots looked "just like bolt gun shells" which was apparently supposed to be a good thing. They also changed the formula at this point because the paints tasted differently, but kept the same colour range (same shades may have changed subtly but I didn't use them very long) and names.

At that point I started switching to Vallejo paints, which I still do. As they come in dropper bottles I started using dry palettes and that accelerated my move from GW even though I still had a bunch of the flip lid paints as it's a pain to move paint from open pots to the palette. I eventually started using wet palettes which is great. I still like the paints. But they do have some problems, the pigments can settle into a big lump that wont break up with any amount of shaking (at least not without power tools). Occasionally there is over pressure in a pot and paint will pour out as soon as you unscrew the cap.

I've been thinking about sampling some other companies as there are so many now, but haven't goten around to it.

[Parintachin]

I started out just like Bengt, and about the same time it seems. I've tried a bunch of different ranges, and really like mixing and matching - they seem to each do Something really well.

Army Painter does really good washes.

P3 does really great reds, white, black and odd colors, also it goes on very smooth and is optimized for wet blending. Just stay away from the metallics. 

Reaper master has the very best flesh tones, and is also optimized for wet blending. Adamantine or Blackened Steel are the best metallic shadows. 

Valjero has an enormous range. I like their new 'heavy' greens and greys, and use a lot of their metallics. The metal medium stuff is the ultimate metallic highlight color, and Iraqi Sand and Burnt Umber from the model range are really nice earthy browns. They make fluorescent colors which are very bright but don't cover very well - try adding a bit of white to the magenta for a screaming pink. And they have an extensive range of effects; crackles and blood and oxidation and stuff. 

Foundry paints have really interesting earth colors, the bone and linen triads are superb, as are some of the greens and blues. The quality is really shaky in others though; the metals are almost as bad as the p3 metals, and some of the reds are atrocious. 

 

As for the new gw range?
Well, I'm pretty sure if you dry it really well, grind it up and add a bit of it to cement, it could conceivably be used to fill out potholes. 

[Old Man Gloom]

This is where I'm at right now with paints. I'm using mostly Vallejo's Game paint with a combination of P3 washes and inks. Now with Vallejo you do have to use a bit more paint due to it being thinner and it has that semi transparent quality. I like that quality because it makes it easier to add those subtle undertones and you don't lose detail in the model with too much pain.

1. Anyone using or tried Scale 75?

2. Anyone using or tried Liquitex?

3. Is it possible to add tiny ball bearings to Vallejo bottles to help mix the paint?

Thank you guys for your input.

[Bengt]

I've had ball bearings rust in paint pots, this was when I used GW paints, but most acrylic paint should be about as corrosive. I didn't seem to ruin the paint though, there were just these annoying rust flakes in it.

Now days I use 5 mm glass balls.

[Old Man Gloom]

49 minutes ago, Bengt said:

I've had ball bearings rust in paint pots, this was when I used GW paints, but most acrylic paint should be about as corrosive. I didn't seem to ruin the paint though, there were just these annoying rust flakes in it.

Now days I use 5 mm glass balls.

Have you tried using stainless steel ones since they aren't supposed to rust if they really are stainless?

[SpiralngCadavr]

I don't find there to be a huge difference between vallejo and reaper, just some preference one way or another. I only use those lines now, except with old paints I haven't replaced (used to heavily use GW) and occasionally colors where other lines don't make them as well (there are a few GW paints I'll still buy since they're unique effects or like exactly how the color mixes, for instance).

[Math Mathonwy]

25 minutes ago, Old Man Gloom said:

Have you tried using stainless steel ones since they aren't supposed to rust if they really are stainless?

Stainless steel can still corrode. It is a lot more resistant to corrosion but not completely immune. And there are different degrees of corrosion-resistance.

As for paints, aside from the usual suspects, I really like Andrea and Coat'd'Arms.

[Bengt]

18 minutes ago, Old Man Gloom said:

Have you tried using stainless steel ones since they aren't supposed to rust if they really are stainless?

I scavenged the ball bearings, so I have no idea what their rating was. I don't expect that your average ball bearings are made from stainless steel since they are supposed to spend their existence drenched in oil.  

If you purchase some stainless steel balls I don't expect they'll rust in paint.

[Old Man Gloom]

3 minutes ago, Math Mathonwy said:

As for paints, aside from the usual suspects, I really like Andrea and Coat'd'Arms.

I'm not familiar with either of those brands. Can you share some details on?

[Math Mathonwy]

Just now, Old Man Gloom said:

I'm not familiar with either of those brands. Can you share some details on?

Sure.

Andrea does these paint sets that are meant for painting a specific colour. I have their white and black paint sets but I've also used the red and blue ones that a friend had. You'll get a base colour and then darker and lighter shades. But there are some twists like the black base leaning towards purple while the highlights go more in the direction of pure grey. Good coverage and if there's a particular colour you find difficult, give them a try.

Coat'd'Arms then. How long have you been painting? Do you remember the GW flip top hexagonal bottles from the nineties? They were really loved but then GW changed the paints and the pots and the pots got these horrible twisty caps that were really difficult to work with. Well, Coat'd'Arms are those classic, lovely paints that GW used to sell before that change. They were designed by Mike McVey and they are really nice.

[Old Man Gloom]

21 hours ago, Math Mathonwy said:

Coat'd'Arms then. How long have you been painting? Do you remember the GW flip top hexagonal bottles from the nineties?

I didn't start gaming until around 03' and 04' so, Coat'd'Arms would have been before my time. So, they basically their pot style now is the same or similar to P3. I started out with the hard plastic, bolter shell shaped pots which were trash.

[Omenbringer]

On 2/18/2016 at 5:49 PM, Turelio said:

Reaper I have been using maybe a year and a half now. I really like them. They dry matte, the triad system takes guess work out of colour schemes, and they suit my painting style. Large range of colours as well. Maybe lacking some things like a large range of washes like some other ranges have, but I can supplement in. I've found they react well to being mixed with other brands as well, and their pure black colour is my favourite black available.

If I could start again I would have gone with the Reaper Master Series line. They have an awesome line for all of the reasons above plus they come in the dropper bottles with additives already included in the mix. The triads are fabulous but even better is the ease with which they can be expanded into quintets (or further) through the purchase of empty dropper bottles and mixes between shade to mid and then mid to highlight. Dont know if I completely agree about the limited washes being an detriment though, it is easy enough to thin many of their paints to near translucency with a "magic mix" of additives, essentially allowing many of their colors to function as a wash.

[tmod]

On 19.2.2016 at 7:58 PM, Old Man Gloom said:

Have you tried using stainless steel ones since they aren't supposed to rust if they really are stainless?

 

On 19.2.2016 at 6:00 PM, Old Man Gloom said:

This is where I'm at right now with paints. I'm using mostly Vallejo's Game paint with a combination of P3 washes and inks. Now with Vallejo you do have to use a bit more paint due to it being thinner and it has that semi transparent quality. I like that quality because it makes it easier to add those subtle undertones and you don't lose detail in the model with too much pain.

1. Anyone using or tried Scale 75?

2. Anyone using or tried Liquitex?

3. Is it possible to add tiny ball bearings to Vallejo bottles to help mix the paint?

Thank you guys for your input.

 

On 19.2.2016 at 7:04 PM, Bengt said:

I've had ball bearings rust in paint pots, this was when I used GW paints, but most acrylic paint should be about as corrosive. I didn't seem to ruin the paint though, there were just these annoying rust flakes in it.

Now days I use 5 mm glass balls.

 

On 19.2.2016 at 7:58 PM, Old Man Gloom said:

Have you tried using stainless steel ones since they aren't supposed to rust if they really are stainless?

Pretty much all types of steel will rust eventually if left soaked in paint for a prolonged amount of time. Get glass balls or balls if lava rock instead. Cheap, just as good shakets as steel and won't react with the paint in any way...

Back in the day Reaper used to add pewter skulls to their paint bottles as shakers. Don't know if these are discontinued, but I think they might be. The extra weight could be a small benefit, but a few extra shakes should more than outweigh the risk of something reacting with the paint...

[Omenbringer]

I like plastic craft beads for my paint agitators. They are cheap, available in large bags and many colors.

[lusciousmccabe]

2 hours ago, Omenbringer said:

I like plastic craft beads for my paint agitators. They are cheap, available in large bags and many colors.

Does the colour matter?

[Gabbi]

On 2/22/2016 at 10:36 PM, tmod said:

Pretty much all types of steel will rust eventually if left soaked in paint for a prolonged amount of time.

Wait. I may be wrong, but... shouldn't the metal be exposed to air to develop rust..?

[hippodruid]

Nope.  Just an oxidizer.  In this case, oxygen, which is undoubtedly a part of any water-based paint or medium.

[tmod]

4 hours ago, hippodruid said:

Nope.  Just an oxidizer.  In this case, oxygen, which is undoubtedly a part of any water-based paint or medium.

Yeah, otherwise stuff submerged in water should be unable to rust at all. Easy enough to see for yourself...

[Old Man Gloom]

Has anyone played with Army Painter Warpaint yet and if so how were they?

[tmod]

42 minutes ago, Old Man Gloom said:

Has anyone played with Army Painter Warpaint yet and if so how were they?

They are very good! Their washes are awesome, and their metallics are good (but I tend to prefer Vallejo Air Metallics). I use an airbrush for priming and stuff, so find their 100% spray colour match gimmicky, but could possibly be useful if you want to be quick about painting (skipping base coating). Similarly I've never tried their dipping system, and I'm not inclined to either.

Apart from this their regular paints are very, very good for a very reasonable price. Their only major downfall is that the range is smaller than many others. I use warpaints as my go to paints, and use Reaper, Vallejo, P3, etc, for very specific tones. I find that they are better mixed, thin well, are easier to use than for example Vallejo (they don't separate), but nothing in the warpaints line can replace deck tan for example...

In short, the best bang for your buck for most basic colours. Some specifics are better from other brands, but that's the way it's always going to be...

[Munindk]

On 20. februar 2016 at 5:57 PM, Old Man Gloom said:

I didn't start gaming until around 03' and 04' so, Coat'd'Arms would have been before my time. So, they basically their pot style now is the same or similar to P3. I started out with the hard plastic, bolter shell shaped pots which were trash.

Coat'd'Arms are still in business, Hasslefree miniatures carry the whole line http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?category=accessories~paints-%252d-coat-d%27arms

[Omenbringer]

On 2/24/2016 at 3:32 AM, lusciousmccabe said:

Does the colour matter?

Not really (unless perhaps you are really anal retentive), but you can use them for other things as well such as status counters and such.

[The Warlock]

I've got some Scale 75 paints in the post - the steam and punk set should arrive tomorrow and their metallic steel series set should be arriving Friday. I'll second/third the question asking about their quality/how the paint handles, etc

Personally, I dislike the new GW range but there are some gems in there just as long as you're not after a pure red, etc. So far, P3 and Vallejo are my go-to paints thus far outside of a 11yr old tub of Boltgun metal which is still going strong. VMC deck tan is a godsend for painting white over black. AP's red works better for me as a solid red when compared to VGC's blood red.

It eventually boils down into picking the paints that work for you from any brand.