Don’t miss our thoughts on the best miniature paints out there now that a bottle from GW is almost $5, as we compare the major paint companies side by side.
Games Workshop increased the prices of their paints across the board for individual purchase. It’s not as bad as it could have been with only increasing 30 cents more, but that makes them nearly $5, which seems to be a hot button number with a ton of hobbyists.
If you are ready to try other brands that have better bottles and different colors to choose from, check out our comparisons below:
If you thought GW paint was expensive enough as it is, or just don’t like the way their paints are bottled, there are still some great brands out there like Army Painter, Scale75, Turbodork, Pro Acryl, and Vallejo to name a few.
Please keep in mind these are only the paints we have experience working with and by no means a complete list of all the acrylics out there. Here at Spikey Bits we are never going to give you advice on something we have not used and tested ourselves.
Comparing The Quantity/Price:
- Citadel GW Paint: 12ml bottle for $4.25 –Will be $4.50 in February
- Vallejo Paint: 17ml dropper bottle for $3.29 (varies- price is for game, and air colors)
- Pro Acryl: 17ml dropper bottle for $3.75
- Turbodork (Speciality Metal Colorshift Paint) 20ml dropper bottle for $6.00
- Scale 75 Paint: 17ml dropper bottle for $3.69
- Army Painter Paint: 18ml dropper bottle for $2.99
- Secret Weapon Miniatures Acrylics: (Weathering & Effects Paint) 18ml dropper bottle for $4.99
- P3 Paint (Privateer Press) 20ml dropper bottle for $4.00
Breaking Down the Price Per ML
- Citadel GW: 38 Cents/ML (most expensive)
- Vallejo: 19 Cents/ML
- Pro Acryl: 22 Cents/ML
- Turbodork: 30 Cents/ML
- Scale 75: 23 Cents/ML
- Army Painter: 16 Cents/ML (least expensive)
- Secret Weapon Miniatures Acrylics: 24 Cents/ML
- P3 Paint (Privateer Press) 20 Cents/ML
Looking at the breakdown, GW actually has the most expensive paint per ML across the board. Plus, they don’t come in the dropper bottles that all the other brands use. (These just help prevent your paints drying out and keep messes down to a minimum).
12ml bottle of Army Painter (Left- from D&D paint set) vs. a 12ml bottle of GW paint right.
12ml bottle of Army Painter (Left- from D&D paint set) vs. a 18ml bottle of Army Painter off the shelf, right.
Pro & Cons of Each Line:
- Citadel GW: Widely available at the most game and GW stores worldwide. Constant consistency across all batches.
- Vallejo: Widely available at game stores worldwide. High consistency across all batches.
- Pro Acryl: Available web only, one of the best bottle designs out there.
- Turbodork: Available web only, quick shipping in America
- Scale 75: Available mostly web only, quick shipping in America. Matte paint is one of the most realistic out there.
- Army Painter: Available at more and more game stores worldwide. Constant consistency across all batches, and color match primers/ paint bottle system saves hours of time hobbying.
- Secret Weapon Miniatures Acrylics: Available mostly web only, quick shipping in America. Special effects/ weathering paints are some of the best available Acrylics, with no messy clean up like with oil-based ones.
- P3 Paint (Privateer Press) Available at game stores worldwide. High consistency across all batches, rumored to have been developed by hobby guru Mike McVey of McVey studios.
So it looks like Army Painter has by far, the lowest price of paint per ML out of the other brands, and compared to GW you get 50% more paint, for almost 50% less!
Maybe now is the time you want to try and expand your paint horizons? If so you can check out a more in-depth review of some of Army Painter’s paint bundles including bases and washes.
Vallejo and Turbodork end up costing more but you’re getting a lot more paint as well. Army Painter is insanely reasonable at almost half the cost of GW’s paint for 50% more paint!
In-Depth Paint Conversion Charts
Now that we’ve looked at alternative brands to GW, we have to look at which paints will give us the closest match. This shows the comparison of GW paints to Vallejo, P3, and Army Painter.
When you do switch to a new paint brand, don’t guess. It’ll save you the frustration and hair-pulling. Find out exactly what matches up to the other paints or find the next best thing. The model you paint should last for years. Don’t let some impatience ruin your miniature.
Legend:
The number at the end of the description of every matched color is the delta (the mathematical distance between the colors). A delta of less than 3 (green blocks) represents a very close match, nearly visually indistinguishable.
A delta of less than 7 (yellow blocks) is usually pretty close and can safely be used as a substitute. The middle square is the color of the control paint( first column), and the surrounding border is the color of the matching paint.
If You’re a Diehard Citadel Fan
If you are one of the people that like to stick to their guns, GW has plenty of painting guides to help you create the exact look of what you’re wanting. You can even download the Citadel paint app to have everything at your fingertips. It might be worth your while to check out some of their online charts as well.
Other Paint Reference Charts
Other paint manufacturers take pride in their products and have similar guides:
At the end of the day, use whatever keeps your hobby muscles strong. Everybody has their own preferences. Some people prefer cheap, some people prefer the more expensive thing. But remember, a higher cost doesn’t always mean it’s better.
Oh and just for funsies, we did the math what a gallon of GW paint would cost you. At 3785 ML per Gallon, you would pay $1438.30 for one gallon of paint from Games Workshop!
It doesn’t take much to see there are HUGE margins bottling batches of acrylic paint!
What is your go-to paint for miniatures? Do you do everything by a manual brush or airbrush? Have you moved on to paints in dropper bottles? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
