Paint comparisons?

[Soulsmith]

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone had anything comparing the different paint brands? I may try out some non citadel, but I do a lot of painting in store so maybe not. Good to know anyway!

[HeadHunter]

I did an article on this in my blog last year.  Personally I use GW and P3 paints and I honestly prefer the formulation of the P3 line.  Their metallics are miles better, all the paints have liquid pigment so they thin better and are easier to use for glazes and washes.

The one thing Citadel has done well is the new multi-part system - Base, shade, layer, dry, edge etc.  The paints are formulated to work best for their preferred application and I'd say generally they're more suitable for the beginning painter - but you can get better results with P3 too.

Have a look at the article: http://the-sage-brush.blogspot.com/2015/01/choosing-and-using-right-paints-part-two.html

[Durant]

Also citadel Washes are superb 

try p3 vallejo nad non work so well

 

[RuneBrush]

Paint brands are very much down to personal preference and different people have very differing opinions   Some paints lend themselves to wet palettes more than others (Scale75 springs to mind).

My main preference is Citadel, with paints and washes across their range.  I do quite a bit of airbrushing so have a growing selection of Vallejo Model Air and also quite a few Vallejo Metal Color (which are the best metallics I've ever used).  A few specific P3 paints and Scale75's flesh colours and that's pretty much my lot.  The only range I can say I've never got on with was Vallejo Game and some Vallejo Model Color.

GW's range was very much designed to remove the need for mixing paints to get a specific colour, which is why there are as many of them as there are.  It's great for speed, but less so for your wallet!

[BloodBeast]

I use P3 paints with GW washes and textured basing paints. I'm really satisfied with their colour range. I bought them as they seemed more price efficient, here in Aus they're slightly cheaper for a larger pot compared to the GW range. 

 

The only issue with them is that their shade colours are designed to be mixed with a base colour to make a shade. The P3 system isn't as straight forward as GWs.

 

if you're using P3 I'd recommend checking out the Privateer Press YouTube videos and painting guides. They really help get a handle on using their colour range effectively.

 

 

 

[Mossback]

I'm mostly using the Citadel paints, as I started out with them, but also use some Vallejo and Army Painter ones. I like the Army painter inks after watching Ben Komets' video tutorials on Youtube and like some of the Vallejo dark blues and purples as they seem more vibrant that the Citadel ones. I prefer the dropper bottles of the other brands over Citadel as mixing colors is more consistent and you don't have your paint pot dry out or get the paint scum around the top of the pot. I've even put my Lahmian Medium in a dropper bottle so I'm not having to dip a brush into the pot when using it. Some paints work well, like the dry brush ones, out of a pot, but I think the dropper bottles are just easier to use.

[HeadHunter]

8 hours ago, BloodBeast said:

The only issue with them is that their shade colours are designed to be mixed with a base colour to make a shade.

Now that is something I never realized!  It would explain why I was never able to get the same results, using the same colors, as they did.

I'll check out their tutorials.  I like the way P3 paints flow, and thin, but I have to say that Citadel paints give better coverage.  Ironically, I use Citadel colors to paint my Khador 'Jacks, and P3 colors on some of my Space Marines!

[EDIT: Are you talking about the ones that Dallas does?  Honestly, he's a very amateurish painter and even if his videos are geared towards beginners, he's sloppy. He loads up way too much paint, gets it under the ferrule of the brush, doesn't thin the paint so you can see brush marks, and his brushwork is simply sloppy.  I'm hoping they have some better examples, maybe videos Meg did while she was there or something.]

[MKragh]

Last year I bought the complete range of Reaper paints and they are fantastic. I still use the Citadel shades as Reaper only have a few washes, and I use Citadel metallics as they can be thinned with water.

Most of the Reaper paints are organised in triades, where you use a base colour, then shade with a darker version and use a highlight. The colours in the triades are closer together than Citadel so it is easier to get good blending, but it does mean you have to add one more highlight if you want that high contrast 'pop'. 

They come in dropper bottles which is nice and with a few exceptions are thinner and more consistent in their consistency. An added bonus is that the Pure Black in the range dries matt as opposed to the Citadel black which always gets a bit shiny.

Two things to note is that the Reaper range hasn't got as many of the very vibrant / saturated colours as you see in Citadel and Game colour. I don't miss them but that depends on your paint style. Also, as the paints are thinner they are not ideal for drybrushing (you can do it), so if that is something you do a lot you might be better off with Citadel. 

I do still use Citadel for terrain, mainly because that tends to use up paint fast and Reaper paints are not as easy to find as Citadel.

I have not yet tried P3 or Scale75, so I don't know how they compare to those brands. 

[BloodBeast]

18 hours ago, HeadHunter said:

Now that is something I never realized!  It would explain why I was never able to get the same results, using the same colors, as they did.

[EDIT: Are you talking about the ones that Dallas does?  Honestly, he's a very amateurish painter and even if his videos are geared towards beginners, he's sloppy. He loads up way too much paint, gets it under the ferrule of the brush, doesn't thin the paint so you can see brush marks, and his brushwork is simply sloppy.  I'm hoping they have some better examples, maybe videos Meg did while she was there or something.]

Yeah it wasn't until I started lurking the PP forums and checking out their painting guides in the army books that I realised they're mostly designed for mixing and two brush wet blending.

 

I only watched the Dallas videos today and was wildly unimpressed. I was confused and was talking bout the Studio McVey blending vids, they're great.

[HeadHunter]

Oh, absolutely.  The McVeys were the forefront of the GW Studios in the early-mid '90s.  I'll look up the videos.