8 replies to this topic

[Sarnath]

So Im ready to move away from the Citadel range and I got my aim set for either Vallejo or Army Painter. Whats your thoughts on the two? Ive never used any of them so I got 0 experience there. And if the choice is Vallejo I understand they have primarily two color lines to confuse me further. Game and Model, whats the difference? Game is for models that will get used? Like touched, moved etc? And model is for stuff thats going in a cabinet?

 

Im entertaining the idea of buying one of these big sets with 50+ colors - dont want to make the wrong choice!

 

Any and all help appreciated!

[Badfang Brassaxe]

The Vallejo Game colours I've got have names like Moon Yellow, Gory Red, Plague Brown, Goblin Green, Magic Blue, Tinny Tin etc, the Model (Air) colours I've got have names like Cam Dark Green, Mud Brown, Rust, Chrome, Turn Signal Red, Artic Blue, Olive Grey, German Green etc. Got lots more but the colour code printing on the bottles is a zogger for wearing off

Anyways, get the distinct impression that Game paint is D&D/Fantasy based whereas Model is Historical Military/Civilian based so, unless you're doing BloodAxes, you're probs better off with Game paints 

As for the paints themselves - they do separate into pigment and medium over time, most can be recombined with a good shaking but the eye-dropper nozzles can be popped out to enable stirring with a bit of sprue, haven't had any dry out completely yet and haven't particularly noticed either being worn off from the figures I've used them on ('though I do always varnish them after the paints have settled down - ie dried) 

 

Can't comment on the Army Painter paints - no-one round here sells them.

[Sarnath]

yeah, i dug a little bit further and it does seem that "game Color" is for us wargamers. Im very interested in Vallejos big 72-pack  

[skarnir]

yeah, i dug a little bit further and it does seem that "game Color" is for us wargamers. Im very interested in Vallejos big 72-pack

 

I have been toying with the Idea of switching to Vallejo paint lines myself lately.

 

There are several reasons for this, some of which badfang has already mentioned.

 

Top of the list is dropper bottles, lets be honest gw's paint pots are designed to dry out, dropper

bottles are not only better for preventing drying but also better on paint quantity control for mixing.

 

While you could transfer GW paints to dropper bottles I find their price extortionate enough without adding more cost.

 

Their game colour line as Badfang has already said is aim towards a more fantasy and sci-fi colour scheme, While traditionally Velljo has been the staple of scale model builders with more natural and muted tones typically found among actual historical and contemporary military vehicles (great for the blood axes)

 

they also have some very interesting metal colours such as chrome etc and various weathering kits.

 

Hell I'm starting to wonder why I have not bought more of the stuff already!

[Badfang Brassaxe]

It's been quite a while since I bought mine but it did seem (from memory) as though there was a substantial saving to be had by buying the big sets (though they may have been in a sale) - on the other hand, probably worth having a good look at what paints you're getting and working out how likely you are to be using them. Also I'd suggest that you spray the inside cover of the plastic lid with white primer and use a felt tip pen to record the paint codes of any paint you're using regularly - with a lot of handling/shaking the paint codes do tend to wear off making replacement a bit of a problem

[Sarnath]

I transfered all my Citadel Colors to dropper bottles but some of my paints became destroyed in the process. I used something called flow-aid, now I dont know if the flow-aid is the problem or if my Citadel colors were old but now when the paint sits still in the dropper bottle say a day I can clearly see a black line separating the paint and something far more liquid at the top - this in itself is not a big deal I just shake it up, but it has a black color. So the first few drops I get out are all colored somewhat black. And also a few of the dropper bottles I bought at broken droppers so the color is pushing out from the entire head of the bottle... This made me quite irritated and I now decided that I will get the Vallejo 72-color box. But im going to hold out until Black Friday to see if I might be able to find a deal somewhere, I mean the big box is still something like 200 USD and then add shipping to that, in Sweden the box sits at around 250-300 USD but not that many stores carries it, so to find a good deal I will have to look outside of this country

[armored walker]

I have tried both Army painter and Vallejo, and Vallejo wins hands down. Army painters  paints leave a very thick, shiny layer, no matter how much you dilute with water - like the pigment bitz are bigger, plasticky things. I think they're meant for 1:72 scale things and smaller, one quick layer and an equally quick shade (interestingly, Army Painter makes "Quickshade" for just that purpose). Vallejo's paints are equal or better than GW's, just GW metallics and washes are better IMO. The current GW bottles are horrible, drop bottles are far superior. Vallejo Game Colour colours are related to GW colours as they are bright and saturated, Model Colours are more realistic. Model colours might suit your painting style, Sarnath, as you paint over white. They are very popular with the "french school" painters, who also paint over white and use wet palette.

 

If you have problems with paint separating in drop bottles, you could use shaker balls = little stainless steel balls in the bottles, like in a spray can. Some places sell these online (Green Stuff World I thinks??), but I got mine from an old bicycle's ball bearings and some leftover bits I looted from work - just make sure that they's stainless, regular steel ones will rust.

 

I heard good things about Privateer P3 paints also, but have not tried them meself.

 

Btw, both my local independent game shops have had some problems getting Vallejo paints, one of them has even dropped Vallejo due that. Production trouble at Vallejo end, perhaps?

[Magus Gar Kan]

P3 are good... but their color range is rather specific, Vallejo is probably the best overall though I would also reccomend Reaper if your style involves a lot of wet pallet painting and blending.

[Goreshrek]

I used the Vallejo Model color and Game color metallics in place of the GW paints, especially boltgun and Tin Bitz (now warplock bronze). The eye dropper means it will last forever. They match up very well to the GW metallics.