Paint brands, along with if is airbrushing cheating, are some of the most heated hobby subjects. Come see how to tell if you’re are buying the right paint?
Back at Adepticon 2014, I have witnessed drunk hobbyists start a brawl over one of them arguing that P3 was garbage. Because I’m all about having a fun time when I paint and getting results, I don’t understand this worship one hate all attitude. And my advice is, don’t be a paint snob.
What’s that you ask?
The paint snob worships one brand of paint or company, and will defend it to the grave. Being a little extreme, the snob usually also hates every other brands and companies out there. Only the sith deal in extremes. The Sith and those freakin’ paint snobs.
Don’t be a paint snob!
The only reason I would ever use only one brand of paint or not use another line entirely is to get laid is if I was in some sort of get endless supply of paints for free if you only use our products sponsorship type of deal. Sidebar : If you have a line of paint and are interested in throwing an endless supply of your awesome products at me, go for it.
Alright, back to the main feature, folks.
Being a snob and limiting yourself to only one brand of paint means that you miss out on some of the great features that different brands have to offer and you are stuck with all the shortcomings of your brand of choice. And there are some, regardless of which you use.
P3 is my favorite example of why being a paint snob sucks when it comes to colors. P3 offers some of the highest quality in terms of paints, but their range lacks earthy colors for the most part. « I only use P3, and can’t paint a realistic looking tree. » Bob Ross would roll over in his grave if he could hear you, paint snob!
Before I get into the thick of things and offer you some things to consider and differentiate between all the brands ( the bigger ones ), I’ll tell you a little bit about the stuff I use on the daily.
Because I paint so much, I buy 4-5 of every color I use so I don’t run out. That’s the entire acrylic range I use.
I paint mostly with Games Workshop paints, albeit only about 40 colors out of the 100+ they have. I also use their shades and some technicals. I use The Army painter shaker cans and Quickshade like nobody’s business, and the Anti-Shine is the only varnish I’ve used since it came out. I have 6 or 7 P3 colors and about the same in Vallejo Model Colors.
This is what works for me, and with a little trial and error ( and help from the following list), you should find what works best for you from all the choices available.
As such, here’s a quick guide on the pros and cons of each brand and why you should get them.
Games Workshop / Citadel is pretty balanced in terms of paint. They get a lot of flakk online mainly because of the previous itterations of their pots which were horrible. Their new line offers a user friendly approach for the 3-step painting approach. The cost is pretty average if you stay away from their fancy exotic technical whatevers. They also make the best washes out there.
Vallejo is the brand that offers the widest color selection out there. They cater to the needs of every type of painter, offering GW equivalents, military colors and airbrush specific paints. They come in the dropper bottles, which some painters love ( I don’t find much use to the dropper bottles personnaly). Their military range offer some of the nicest greys and greens to get nice earthy colors. However, they don’t have a lot of interesting flashy colors in any of their range.
Along with GW, Vallejo the brand that can serve as the bulk of your paint collection. The only reason I use the Citadel is because it’s the range my local game store carries and it’s easier to get.
Army Painter is most known and loved for making affordable and diverse colored primers. Their paint range is similar to Vallejo in quality, but is limited to 50 colors or so. What they lack in size they make up in usefuleness as their colors match those of their primers, making it easy to do touch ups if you use the colored primers. They offer the same with their washes which match their quickshade tones. Their best product is by far the Anti-Shine Varnish, which I’ve used for the last 8 years or so and never fuzzz or misbehave.
P3 is Warmahordes range of paint, and they are considered to be the highest quality from all hobby lines. Their paints are easy to work with as they cover well and are easy to thin down and use with your airbrush. Their only short coming is in the color range. While they offer unique exotic and vibrant colors, their selection of earthy colors is lacking. Sanguine Base, Coal Black and Arcane Blue are some of the must-haves from this line.
Minitaire and Stynylrez are Badger’s Airbrush paints and airbrush primers. I’ve you’ve attended Adepticon in the past few years, you have some of their samples lying around. The primers have the unique advangtage of coming in pint sized jugs, which is the thing I like the most about them. As for the paints, the main caveat of airbrush ready lines is that touch ups are painful, as you either have to brush on your super thin paint or find an equivalent somewhere else.
The Secret Weapon line is the newest addition to the paint game. Despite the secret weapon washes being available- and quite good – for a while, they are out with a brand new paint line. So far it’s pretty limited in terms of color selection, as it’s focus is on technical application. For example, instead of having a generic black, they have a tire black, which is black that when thinned down turns a greenish rubber tire color. The 1st batch of 20 something colors is mostly aimed for rust effects and metallics. Their biggest asset is the price, which is quite resonable compared to their GW and Vallejo equivalent for their technical paints. These make for a nice addition to their pigments and washes.
Now, about those brushes…
Until next time,
