Advice about using old paints

[MyGeekyPersona]

Fellow hobbyists, I'd like some advise about using old paints. 

 

A few years ago I had an abortive attempt to get back into painting and modelling during which time I bought a number of now out of production Citadel paints - things like the foundation set, the washes set and few dozen of the old black flip top paints, the era of ice blue, snakebite leather, mithril silver etc.  I've recently retrieved these paints from storage and most of them look like they can be used as is, or with a little work (a good shake with medium/water).

 

I'm wondering if it's worth starting a new project with these paints?  It'd be helpful financially if I didn't need to buy all new paints, but I'm concerned that I'd be storing up problems for the future when it comes to matching paints for colour schemes after paints run out etc. Dare I say it, I don't want to paint myself into a corner ?

 

How did everyone who was painting during the transition from the old to new citadel range manage this? Are there some paints which have near perfect matches with the new range, and some that can't be replicated without careful mixing? Obviously, I'd like to avoid using the latter!

 

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks,

MGP

[RuneBrush]

When the latest range came out, I put a bit of cash in and made sure that I either had the new paint or enough of the old one to do everything I wanted to.  Odd character models you can "get by" being a shade or two out, but rank and file you're going to struggle more.  

Quite a lot of the older paint ranges can still be purchased with a decent colour match from other companies.  Cote du Arms produce many paints from the old round flip top era and quite a few of the hex flip/****** and bullet flip can be found under Vallejo Game Color.

One thing I will say is that the latest Citadel paints are actually a vast improvement on the old ones on the whole.  I still miss Chaos Black (no other manufacturer I've tried have come close).  But the finish and consistency is better.

[VBS]

You can use this:

 

Had the impression that the crossover between the two ranges isn't exactly the same (though I couldn't really test yet), so I prefer not mixing (my old pots were mostly dried anyway... 10 years in the garage ). Fact that my old projects are all finished and that I'll start completely new ones help, don't feel the need to find the perfect match on a half painted mini (which is something I'd try to avoid).

 

[RuneBrush]

1 minute ago, VBS said:

Had the impression that the crossover between the two ranges isn't exactly the same (though I could really test yet), so I prefer not mixing (my old pots were mostly dried anyway... 10 years in the garage ). Fact that my old projects are all finished and that I'll start completely new ones help, don't feel the need to find the perfect match on a half painted mini.

I'd say that only 25% are an exact match, with the others varying by a little bit and a lot.  Charadon Granite and Hawk Turquoise are quite a bit different to the point of not being the same   Tin Bitz/Warplock are very much identical.

But it's still a handy guide for starting off!

[VBS]

13 minutes ago, RuneBrush said:

I'd say that only 25% are an exact match, with the others varying by a little bit and a lot.  Charadon Granite and Hawk Turquoise are quite a bit different to the point of not being the same   Tin Bitz/Warplock are very much identical.

But it's still a handy guide for starting off!

Ah well, good to know that most don't match. It's the impression I had while comparing the pots 

I imagine it must have been awful to  have a whole amount of the old range with a bunch of half finished projects and suddenly it all changes and can't find the proper colour!

[MyGeekyPersona]

@RuneBrush @VBS thanks for your replies. It's good to know that the accuracy of matches is largely a case by case basis - I'll plan accordingly. 

 

I think that I'll happily use old paints for which variation is expected, e.g. skin tones, leather, fur, and basing foliage. For more uniform parts of my army, e.g. Heraldry, and coloured armour I'll buy paints from the new range (and/or a new supplier).

 

@RuneBrush - thanks for the tip re tin bitz - I'm aiming for a dark dark bronze armour for  most of my chaos warriors and it's good to know that I'll be able to start with what I already own and move to warplock bronze later. 

 

Thanks again,

MGP

[Greyshadow]

I was painting an army during the transition but it wasn't as big an issue as I thought it would be. After a wash of Devlan Mud/Agrax Earthshade or Nuln Oil/old equivalent you can barely tell the deference between the old paints and the new a lot  of the time. I still use Dheneb Stone in place of Rakarth Flesh and they are quite different for example. 

I'd download the new painting app tomorrow and use the citadel paint chart to identify the new equivalents of the old paints and mark them as in your collection on the app. Before you start a new army, work out on a case by case basis if you need to replace your old paint with the new. If I was starting a new Stormcast army where uniformity is important, I might replace some  and relegate the old ones to the spares box. If I was doing Freeguild Guard I would probably use the old as some slight variation in the uniforms would be realistic, even modern day military uniforms have some variation.

The old paints are not bad at all. I think it is better to phase them out rather than chuck 'em.

[Routasydän]

On 12.9.2017 at 1:39 PM, RuneBrush said:

I still miss Chaos Black

Me too, you could always count on it to cover everything with one layer, now you need like 4 layers with abaddon black to get even coat

[BunkhouseBuster]

If the paints are old and look separated or drying out some, you can try to recover them.  I have yet to try it myself, but I have seen others save their paints by getting a small clamp and attaching it to a jigsaw via the blade attachment.  Clamp the paints in, and give it a good run on the saw.  Viola!  Instant paint shaker!  You may want to add water if the paints look dried out, but acrylic medium or flow improver can help as well.

The thing I miss the most about the old GW paints is that they each had a unique smell to each of them.  I still remember the old Devlan Mud, Boltgun Metal, and Tallarn Flesh as I opened up those pots.  The new paints are all consistent in that regard, for what that's worth.  But I did enjoy the variety at the time.  Good times, good times...