Cheaper paints please!

[ChaosUnited]

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well. 

Currentky I'm facing the same issue that I'm sure everyone faces - the expense of this hobby is rather excessive! Now I do what I can to make it more affordable I.e: where possible shopping on eBay/3rd party sites got minatures. 

But what cheaper brands of paint will do the job just as good? 

Any advice would be awesome.

Thank you in advance! 

[Vaux]

Vallejo, Reaper, Armypainter, P3 just to name a few. All those companies produce high quality colors of which most are cheaper than the GW ones.

[ChaosUnited]

Thank you very much! I will check them out asap!

[TheOtherJosh]

The one exception is the new GW Metallics. They are better than anything metallic that I've seen.

(Retribuitor Armor Gold; Skullcrusher Brass; Liberator Gold; Stormhost Silver; Fulgerite Copper)

[Vaux]

Sorry to say but secret weapon and vallejo have way better metallic colors (dont forget, vallejo e.g. does also have their luiquid metallic line).

[Aegisgrimm]

I prefer the metals from ArmyPainter, they go on sweet and smooth.  I have to admit, though, that Retributor Armor is the best gold I have ever painted with in 20 years.  I have always hated earlier GW golds, and really don't care for the ArmyPainter one, either.

[Duck1986]

I'm using Army Painter and loving it. Got the starter set for £20 and it's all I need. Full sized pots also unlike GW starter set. 

Only tip id say is shake them for far longer than you think you need to. They get thin and runny otherwise, but when you mix them up properly its a win! 

The Metalics aren't bad in my opinion, I painted up some retributors yesterday and it took a couple of layers but under a wash it looks awesome. 

[TheOtherJosh]

Something key to remember.

 

If you're not going to use a color, then getting it in a "starter kit" won't make you use it. So, only buy the colors you need.

 

The best way to manage your paint costs is to take care of your paints and only buy what you need. (Whatever brand you decide to get)

 

Use a wet palette. (It keeps your paint from drying out on the palette. So you have less paint waste...)

 

Remember to thin your paints. (Don't paint straight out of the paint pot.)

 

Close the lid on your paint pot after putting your paint on the palette. (To keep it from drying out.)

 

Don't put out lots of paint onto the palette. Just put out what you're going to use for the next couple figures.

 

Put together a "painting notebook" to make notes of your color schemes. Otherwise whether you're both mixing your own blends, or using a vendors specific colors ... you won't remember how you got the color scheme.

 

Get a good brush (or a couple good brushes). And take care of them. (They're more expensive than paints ...)

 

I'm personally not a big fan of paint on primer. But primer costs can be pretty brutal. Use a good quality rattle-can primer (I'm personally a fan of the GW versions, ymmv) and consider that you can rattlecan Prime in your basecoat color ... which makes it faster to get stuff on the table and puts basecoat and primer in one step to bundle the costs. (Most of the paint vendors have colored primers.)

 

Consider that If you're buying your models online, then buying your paint at your local hobby store is a way to support them. (I paint and build down at the local store, using their hobbying space ... and picking up paint from there makes it more likely they'll be around for me to game at in in the future. Support your local hobby store.)

 

Paints can last a very long time (I have some paints that have been in my paint collection for 10 years) if they start getting thick put a drop or two of distilled water in them. (Especially important to use distilled or filtered if you have high mineral content in your water.)

 

And remember to seal the cap on the paint pot prior to putting it away to avoid spilling the paint. Spilling paint or letting it dry out is the fastest way to go through paint quickly.

 

 

[Mune]

17 hours ago, TheOtherJosh said:

The one exception is the new GW Metallics. They are better than anything metallic that I've seen.

(Retribuitor Armor Gold; Skullcrusher Brass; Liberator Gold; Stormhost Silver; Fulgerite Copper)

Try scale 75.

Then cry, because u've spend your money on the gw metallic paints.

[TheOtherJosh]

Try scale 75.
Then cry, because u've spend your money on the gw metallic paints. [emoji6]

If you have easy access to them. Sure. Otherwise it isn't really an option.