Paints

Paints, not surprisingly, play a huge role in painting miniatures. You have many options, and your final decision will be a personal one, dictated by your goals, location, budget, and personal preferences.  However there a few guidelines which should be helpful to nearly everyone.

First, the "best" paints are those you can get your hands on.  

If your friendly local gaming store has a big selection of Citadel paints, then consider using Citadel. You are more likely to get your projects done if you can drop by the store and pick up a color you need, rather than waiting days or weeks for it to be shipped to you.

Likewise, if your budget wouldn't allow for the purchase of a large selection of game store specialty paints, then less expensive craft store paints are way better than no paints at all.  This is especially true if you are just getting started.

This principle is much more important than any of the information that follows below. Whatever paint you can get your hands on, grab it and just get started.

With that principle firmly in mind, here is one man's opinion on some of the more widely available pant options:

Craft / Big Box Store Paints

These paints are much less expensive than hobby paints. I primary use them for terrain, structures and other large projects which tend to have less detail, however they can be used for miniatures as well.

The reason they are less expensive is that the pigment used in them is less finely ground than the pigment in specialty paints. These paints tend to be thicker out of a container, and can be more difficult to get good color coverage on the miniature. However these factors can be compensated for by simply mixing the paint with a little extra water and putting on a few extra coats. Just be patient and wait for each coat to completely dry before putting on the next one. Just adding more wet paint on top of wet paint isn't going to give you the results you are after.

With some patience and practice you'll get really solid results with these paints, and you'll save a bundle as well.

Citadel 

One of the most popular lines of paint is the Citadel paint line from Games Workshop.

I'm on record as not being the biggest fan of Citadel. However, I'll be the first to admit that my reasons are mostly personal, rather than the paint itself.

First of all, I prefer dropper bottles over paint pots. I dislike paint pots because they are designed with the intent that you will use the paint right out of the pot. However using them that way leaves the pot open to the air while you are painting, allowing the paint to thicken. Despite the design of the pots, I do not know anyone who uses the paint right out of the container. Most people are going to scoop the paint out of the pot and put it into a palette to adjust its thickness, which defeats the purpose of the pot. Paints that come in dropper bottles are much easier to use than scooping.

I am also disenchanted with Citadel because they have a long history of going back and forth between outsourcing their paint manufacturing to subcontractors, switching those subcontractors or making it themselves. Invariably the formulation and color of the paint alters during these changes, making it frustrating to achieve consistent results over time.

Citadel also has a history of changing the names of their paints. This makes it confusing to use articles and videos which reference Citadel paints. For example, an article from a few years ago might tell you to use “Ice Blue.” You will now need to go find a compatibility chart to learn that the closest currently available color is “Lothern Blue.” A cynical person might suspect these changes are due to the fact that “Ice” cannot be trademarked while “Lothern” can. But would Games Workshop really use these kind of strong arm legal tactics to avoid competing on more important things like price and quality?

My lawyers have advised that I not speculate further.

All that being said, the reason I explain this is just to state why I, personally, don’t use much Citadel. It has a lot more to do with historical events, my impression of them, and fear that history will repeat itself, rather than anything to do with the paint that is sitting on store shelves right now.

But does that matter to you? Is Citadel good paint? Absolutely. If Citadel is easiest for you to get, then it is what you should use.

Vallejo 

I am a fan of Vallejo paints. They make excellent paint, it is widely available at many game and hobby stores, and the paints have been very stable and consistent over the years. This is due to the fact that Vallejo is a big player in this market, and they control a larger portion of their supply chain than smaller manufacturers. Also, Vallejo only makes paint. They do one thing and they do it very well. This is a strength, because they do not depend on miniature or gaming lines to keep them in business. If the old gods return and swallow Games Workshop, and a meteor hits Reaper, Vallejo will still be there, selling paint for whatever miniature lines arise from the ashes.

Vallejo has several different paint lines. The two which are most important to us are the Model Color and Game Color lines. The Model Color line is developed for painting military and historical models, while the Game Color line is developed for science fiction and fantasy. On balance, the Game Color line will have brighter colors, while the Model Color line is more “real world.” In practice, both lines are excellent and painters freely use both and mix them to achieve the results they want.

Reaper

Despite my fantastic experience with Vallejo, I also have a lot of Reaper paint. Partially this is due to the respect I have for them as a company, and the contributions they make to the hobby. However, just as importantly, their paint line was developed by some well known miniature painters, they make their own paints rather than subcontracting them, and their paints are mixed in small batches and hand tested by those painters. Their dropper bottles have agitators in them which means a little less bottle shaking, and the paint has some flow aid already added which can be useful in some situations.

Finally, Reaper has fantastic customer service, and some great online tools for paint selection. For example, Reaper groups paints into “triads” which is a group of three colors. You can order a triad and know that you have a set of three colors that will go well together for a particular purpose. If you look at Reaper as a whole, it is difficult to not want to support the scrappy little guy who is doing such a great job in so many areas.

P3 / Coat d’arms

P3 paints are widely available in many local gaming stores. Unfortunately, I do not have any experience with them. Privateer Press subcontracts the manufacturing of their paints to a company named HMG Paints. HMG has a long history in the industry and actually manufactured Citadel’s paints until 1997. The P3 paints seem to have a loyal following. I just don’t have any experience with them and can’t comment one way or another.

As an aside, if you painted with those older Citadel paints and liked them, HMG has re released them in the Coat d’arms paints line. They are the same formulation as the original Citadel paints under new names.



This post was adapted from an article originally published on the Mad Adventurer's Society.