Some people thought that the army painter mini didn't have zenithal highlight, which is not the case - all minis had it. The part from 2:08 to 2:17 is a clip from a different video where I basically test dollar store paints (you can also see that the helmet of the mini is different and I have a diferent haircut). Furthermore, at 1:56 there is white from the zenithal highlight where I paint the green, although most of the mini was already basecoated.
I guess the message is that a good painter can make any of these paints work to an acceptable level with varying degrees of effort. The real question should be which paints achieve a given level with the minimum effort and maximum pleasure. This is particularly important for beginner/novice painters looking to start their paint collection and trying to decide which brand/range to choose. For an experienced painter such as yourself mixing colours from single-pigment paints is part of your skillset but would be daunting for many. If the paints are difficult to work with then the experience is not fun and the user is likely to be unhappy with the result. In the end they are likely to give up. So, having answered the question of can any/all of these brands achieve acceptable results (yes!) this leads to the next question of how much effort/experience/skill does it require to get these results with each brand? Maybe an idea for your next video?
I started painting miniatures with a Reaper paint set. It was miserable. I was getting poor consistency, I was daunted with working with bad paints, it really pushed me away from painting. Then I started buying more and more Citadel paints and it made a world of difference.
@@Dragonfire-tn2jg covering in 1 coat isn't necessarily a good v bad paint thing. Different pigments are going to have different opacity. both scale 75 and pro acryl are top quality paints and both can have coverage issues at times with various paints.
I have tried them all. I prefer AK over Vallejo. The consistency of the paint texture is always spot on and the same for all their paints. Some Vallejo colors struggle with that and do not mix well or split easily on your wet palette. For Citadel paints you pay a premium for the worst container ever. Although their contrast paints are great for airbrushing.
In my experience, Army Painter has two caveats: 1. despite AP selling a wet palette now because it's an expected product, their paints are not formulated to work with a wet palette. They don't like too much extra moisture and break up. It's better to dampen your brush as needed for specific colors. 2. The binders in Army Painter must REALLY be shaken up well. There's a reason they started including steel mixing balls as standard. A lot of problems with AP come from them not actually being mixed well. In spite of the wet palette's popularity, I'm going to go against the grain and say: they aren't always all that. It's hard to control brush loading with a wet palette because the surface doesn't pull paint out of the brush easily. Controlling viscosity is also trickier with a lot of paints. Sometimes very annoying. The amount of dried paint lost on a dry palette isn't actually that much - paint is very thin. Just don't glop it onto the dry palette. Personally I've had great success with them and feel their color range is extremely well put together. There is more variety than most other brands, but not the excessive and unnecessary bloat in Citadel. AP doesn't invent new colors just to pump paint sales.
I know this is very late but I also started with army painter, and they have been the base for most of my armies. Plus the main reason I went with them is because finding Vallejo in the USA can be impossible and GW was super expensive. Recently however I’ve been using cuddle fish Color’s and have really enjoyed how their paints work and the Color’s available.
Just starting to get into this and watching a shit ton of videos. I've seen some people literally use a piece of tile as their palette and it seems to work really well!
What I've found is that certain paint brands make me want to never paint. Other paint brands make me enjoy painting. So for me, paint brand definitely matters. A combination of Pro Acryl, War Colors, various artist inks, some oil paint, and a touch of contrast here and there has been the perfect combo for me.
I tend to stick with Citadel, but mainly because I'm colour blind and GW's paint guide on each miniature's web page, plus the app. Although I don't stick rigidity to them, it does give me some reassurance when I get stuck.
I am definitely in the minority but I enjoy using Army Painter. I 3D print most of what I paint and use an airbrush to prime with. I have had problems with paints not covering well and so I had to adjust my priming colors to compensate. Also, I typically use one of their speed paints as a sort of “color adjustment filter” to tone my shadows. If that makes sense? I don’t know. Their stuff is cheap and works for me in the method that I like to work, which I suppose is less opacity, more blending and painted shadows and highlights.
I find dripping out excess medium more than army painter recommends then using a vortex mixer sorts them right out. It's a faf that you need to do that at all but for better prices I can live with it.
I like using them because they're easy for me to get at a reasonable price/ I don't really have any hobby stores near me and I've struggled ordering some of these brands online in the past, but Army painter sell on Amazon, so I can get a decent range of colours
@@Tipsythomas it is weird that you mention their price. In Germany, Vallejo and AK are either the same price or sometimes cheaper (depending on the web shop). So except for certain colours, there is zero reason to buy any of their colours. And with Vallejos game colour refresh (which from what I have used are actually really great now) you won't have any problem to find the more vibrant fantasy colours.
For acrylics, I prefer Vallejo over Army Painter by far. AK Interactive might we worth a try too. I've only tried their plain white paint, but that one was the best white I ever tried. However, I do love Army Painter speedpaints. These days I rarely paint with normal acryllic paints anymore
To me the take away is price and workability differentiate more than results. Army Painter can be a pain to use and Citadel's overpriced. Which makes them the ones to steer away from. All the paints can look right if you understand their properties (or aren't at a level where it matters.
Army Painter really seems to be a hit or miss. I got the 60 colours set for Christmas and almost all paints work just fine. I have to barely shake them to get them mixed, too. But then there's the two dark purples (Orc Blood and Alien Purple, I think) which just. Suck. Ass. You can shake off your damn arm and they just won't mix. The Dark Oak also is hard to mix, as well as one red tone I forgot the name of (it's really dark). But that's four paints out of 60. I can live with that.
@@gaolbreak1090 I got a big set as a present to and while i 100% agree. The light green just makes me cry but most of the colours are fine. Getting a pack of mixing balls helped a lot, but some paints are just horrible. I still greatly enjoy painting and as for a complete beginner its a fine set.
Army painter's main issue for me has always been consistency. Sometimes I get a bottle and its fine. Sometimes I get one and its shit. Sometimes two bottles of the supposedly same color are clearly different shades or have different levels of saturation. Their quality control is just shit. Compared to vallejo, AK, or Pro Acryl where ive never had an issue
Thank you for making this video. I took a long (15ish year) break in the Warhammer hobby and am just now getting back into things. I'm in need of all new paints and I thought before I bought anything I'd do a little research.
Great video mate, and I think this is actually really important one for those coming into the hobby. Once you figure out how a paint works you can make it work for you. Oh! and look ma! I am on a Zumikito video @11:37
I mainly paint with vallejo but also own citadel and army painter. The thing what actually matters is on what point of view you are. I felt more comfortable and more controlling using vallejo. But whenever I need to make a green or a glowing color, I always use my army painters and they've worked very well. Citadel is my easy escape because is the easiest to use. Like most videos use citadel paints so it's easier to identify rather than compare from citadel to your brand. Anyways, just use the ones that make you work easier and better.
Recently I picked up some artist paint at my local hobby store and really prefer that over any of the more mainstream miniature paints. I found that mixing worked way better (thanks to your 3 color challenge video), the paint flowed off the brush nice, and it was much more economical. I got a 75ml tube for the same price as a pot of Citadel paint so now my next project is to see if I can pre-thin these paints with some matte medium and transfer them into dropper bottles so I can create, in a fashion, my own range of colors by mixing various blends of cyan. magenta, yellow, black, and white.
I really like your style of creating videos. It’s super easy to follow along, it is fast paced with many cuts and the length is just about right. Keep doing what you are doing, it’s fantastic!
When I started miniature painting, Citadel was really the only game in town. I had painted models as a kid with enamels (Testors), but I hated them. I got used to the Citadel range, so I'm comfortable with them - except the dreaded White Paints. I suffered through those chalky, nasty pigments until I finally kept hearing that Pro Acryl was SOOOO much better. It is better. Not by miles, but by enough that I can use it with far more confidence than the Citadel ones. I think as long as you're getting results you're happy with, any brand will work... :)
Literally the same boat Im in right now. I'm a old washed up tattoo artist with too much time on his hands and decided to come back to the hobby. I knew citadel white was absolute garbage and was trying to find another paint brand that makes a decent white. The project I'm currently working on leans heavily on white and it's crucial I get the right one. Thanks for commenting!
I actually find Army Painter pretty good (but of course lags slightly behind AK and Vallejo). The trick is to add a metal ball bearing into the tube and also to squeeze out all the top liquid medium before shaking the paint (the medium is to prevent the paint from drying out). Thereafter, the coverage of the paint is just fine. Only problem I have is mixing Army Painter paints with other brands... it has problem in this area.
Army Painter Tip: Stainless Steel Ball Bearing + Mechanical Device. I use 1-2 balls per bottle, massage gun, fork attachment, bottle suspended with a rubber band so it can move in every axis. Turn the setting to hamstring master blaster for a little while and enjoy. This escalates the Warpaints line to the best it can be.
Thank you for making this video. I’m looking to create black Templars and Necron armies, and I’ve already bought a bunch of citadel paints. I’m just glad that at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what paints I get as they are all equally good in their own ways.
I have a wide variety of paint brands in my collection (Army Painter, Citadel, ProAcryl, , Vallejo, AK, Scale 75, still waiting for Duncan Rhodes) but have probably painted the most with Army Painter (as they are cheap and was what I primarily used when getting back into the hobby). I feel that you can go far with Army Painter but maybe there is a larger experiential component compared to "better" paints when getting there. Saying that, some of their colors just suck, there is no getting around that, and you have to go with an alternate line. It's the journey not the destination, right?
I recommend people use mixing balls for citadel paint pots or wherever you can. Made a world of difference tossed in one or two and makes the paints really nicely mixed even the lighter colors. Thinning is also something that takes a while to figure out the best way to describe it would be for the paint to be "springy" when mixed with whatever, spread it around and you want it to spring back just a bit.
Note on cost. you want to calculate that based on the quantity of pigment you are buying. With that metric the relative value of Kimera is a lot better than it first looks, but if you go that route, it's worth picking up some acrylic medium for when you don't need as much saturation.
About to get into the hobby for a 3rd time… and also having used almost all of them, I am leaning toward a mix of Vallejo and Citadel Paints. Mainly because if accessibility, familiarity, personal preference and $$$ Good video. Thank you for helping reignite my passion for the hobby an inch more than it was before!!!
As a novice painter, certain army painter colors have made me want to tear my hair out, while vallejo and pro-acryl make the experience really pleasant.
Hey Zumi, again, love the feedback - watching again, it appears all of the other miniatures, you started with a zenithal prime. With ours, around 2:13, I notice you are applying ours over a pure black primed miniature. Obviously, applying greens, yellows, and reds are always difficult however they are made especially difficult when applied over a black primer coat. Curious why ours weren't tested over a zenithal prime equally, or is there something we are missing?
Hey guys, the clip you are referencing is from a different video where I tested the cheapest paints that I could find (like from a dollar store) and those are not your paints that I am using there (you can also see that my haircut and beard there are different). Funnily enough, the squig miniature is perhaps the same (I think I changed the helmet though), because I had to strip it back then. Otherwise I used zenithal for each of the 7 minis, which you can see at the start of the video. Feel free to check the older video if you wanna confirm this. Thank you for the feedback though because I wrongly assumed it was quite obvious that it was a clip from an older vid 😶
@@Zumikito it’s easy to see why that may be confusing in the video. Thanks for the clarification. We’re happy to see that many of your viewers do enjoy our paints. And of course, our offer is open for you to reach out to help us continue to improve our products so that we can produce the best possible products for our gamers and honbyists out there.
As a beginner i felt thrown in to buying a starter paint kit from citadel with tools and paints. I ask a friend and he said don't buy army painter or what the name is. And another friend said stick with citadel and when I went to my local store where i buy most my Warhammer stuff different staff said different brands. One said stay with citadel or change to AK, and the other staff Member said buy Vallejo. Soo what I'm trying to say is as a beginner I would recommend to but some paints of each brand of a color scheme you like and test it. That's what i have learnt soo far that trying is the key to success. Citadel works for me at the moment and the only negative I can say about citadel are the price.Vallejo are soo nice and thier bright color is one of the best i have used. Peace from Sweden
I started with army painter and got super frustrated, first I thought it was me but after I tried some other brands I sold all of my AP-Paints, poor dude who bought them (warned him :D )
I really liked watching this video. I use army painter and have noticed exactly what you said when trying to use a wet pallet. however if I use a dry pallet the result is a little different. I think their medium is a little funky. I wonder how all of these would compare from a dry pallet experience. I also agree citadel paints are premium price for a not premium product but that's games workshop for you. I can't find the other paints you list anywhere near me. I also prefer droppers to pots, especially for mixing of paints
I use quite a few brands - Vallejo, Scale 75, GW, Reaper, P3, & AK Acrylic....Vallejo are hands down the best all round paint, the're just so consistent. 2nd place would go to Scale 75 but gel based paints do have a steep learning curve..Reaper are very thin paints that can be annoying to work with at times but if your patient you can get good results with them. If you like stippling then P3 is worth a shot. GW contrast paint is really good for the most part..........In conclusion - It's the same thing with brushes - try a few & see what works for you & your style of painting :-)
I started painting with Army Painter and still use it the most. I have also since gotten some Citadel and Vallejo paints and I must stay that, for the most part, there really is no difference. The major differences, from my experience, are in the white and purple shades. Citadel's white (Corax white) is atrocious, though I can make it work when I thin it down and use it for airbrushing. Meanwhile, Army Painter's purple colours tend to suck ass because, no matter how much you shake your arm off, the paint just won't mix properly. Other than that though, I have not yet encountered any major issue in any brand.
Glad I'm not the only one that struggled with purple (specifically Alien Purple). It was so bad, that it came out thick, wouldn't thin out, and when it was applied, the paint went on super duper glossy and even sticky to touch. Damn thing took two weeks to dry too.
@@valdnorc9xydr957 I had the same issues with AP reds. Another AP color that I could not use is Cultist Robes. In have never seen a green tone that works so bad.
Hi Zumikito, did you by any chance use the newest The Army Painter Warpaints which have two mixing balls added? They make mixing paint easier I feel. The older bottles do not have mixing balls in them. Also, is it not an unfair comparison to use The Army Painter colours over a black basecoat (2:25) and all other paints over a white basecoat? Or perhaps I just can't see a shot where you have the figure undercoated in white
hey hey, I agree that would be unfair, however, that did not happen! The clip you are referencing is from a different video where I paint with the cheapest paints that I could find. Even though I would argue that zenithal highlight shouldn't make such a huge difference, all of the minis were at the same starting point. Edit: nevermind, see the pinned comment, should explain it :)
I believe the best paint brand is the one you have the most fun working with. I started with the old Vallejo Game Color and I added the new game color, two of their Nocturnal sets, some AK 3rd Gen pastels and a bunch of Pro Acryl paints to it. If you get used to a specific paint of a brand and get it to behave the way you want it, your results will be similiar at some point. But I like to focus on my painting more than on taming the paint
After getting a lot of dried up or pourage like Citadel paints I switched to Army Painter which have been more consistent and cheaper. They have a few paints that don't mix well, but far more than Citadel. Plus their washes are really good.
I also primarily use Army Painter and I 100% agree. The vast majority of their paints are great and mix really well. The downside is that the ones who aren't great suck ass. There is no in-between. It's either fantastic or dogshit.
Currently 77 percent of my 144 paints are AP (going to drop a bit as I'm buying a bunch of Vallejo paints in bulk to fill out some color gaps) and honestly they perform as good as Citadel...better actually. Citadel Scale75 metalics always separate on my damned palette. AP: 3 seconds of shaking, add to palette= good for entire session AND won't be separated by next day. My scale75 Speed Metal however will buy a runny puddle after an hour and then evaporate to sludge. Never expect citadel to be mixed for more than 2 hours
Within fine art circles paints that contain more than one pigment are referred to as "convenience colours". The idea being that the manufacturer has mixed two or more pigments together for convenience of their customers who were going to mix a similar colour from the individual pigment paints anyway. Paints from hobby paint ranges consist primarily of paints that would be referred to as convenience colours, if they were marketed and sold as fine art paint. The keyword here is convenience. When someone sells you a convenience you give them your money, for the promise that they will save you either/or time and effort. Had you timed yourself while painting using each of the different paint brands then I think that would've given a much closer objectively true answer to the specific question of which brand is best at layering that particular squig rider in that particular colour scheme. From how fiddly the paint is on the palette to how many coats are required to achieve similar results to whether you have to stop at some point and apply a hairdryer in order to keep working; all these things add up across an entire length of the job. I think it is a mistake to fixate on the monetary cost of individual pots of paint, while neglecting to compare them in what they will cost you in terms of time you will need to sink in.
I'll be honest I like this, personally I learned about a year ago that skill matters more and that some brands have stand out paints. I've used Army Painter, Citadel, Vallejo model and game colour, some pro acryl, green stuff world and P3. I pick up the paints I like, the bulks Vallejo but I've had some issues with the metallics. I really like P3 metallics and like the reds/greens. Pro acryl I adore the rich gold and will not be using any other bright yellow gold. Now weirdly I've had excellent luck with Army Painter theirs a couple browns, Grey's, a nice off-white with amazing coverage, the blues and metallics have always worked amazingly well for me and are regularly used, I like the finish and colour.
I've had fair enough luck with some colours too (the reds mainly lol). But a lot of other paints just separate for me and its really annoying and watery :(
Im a actually making the switch to army painter for most my paints, the dropper bottles are convenient and i feel like i get my moneys worth with them, i paint a lot so i end up blowing through citadel pots and the only thing i think ill use citadel for is their technical lines of paint.
The main issues with Citadel paints seem to be 1) the price, 2) metallics are sub-par compared to other brands, and 3) the whites, and any bright colours using the white pigment, are frequently chalky and often you can end up buying a botched pot that needs replacing. The quality of their pure white (White Scar) and off-whites (bone colours and all greys) are all really middling because of this, and it even extends to bright yellows, pinks, and especially, green. Oh, and 4) the pots themselves. I've lost a lot of paint unnecessarily because the seal on the Citadel pot became blocked by paint which subsequently dried.
4.55 a pot is too much for you? If you buy 9 the 10th is free and if you make that a 7.80 one, your other pots are basically 3.70. How is that expensive?
@@travisd2895 Citadel paints are widely considered more expensive than other ranges. Nearly every UA-camr says the same, so it's not exactly an uncommon opinion. It adds up.
I really like army painter speed paints, just started painting again, you can thicken them into regular white and black paints easily, they act as pseudo washes as well. For a cheap paint set, cheap brushes a black and white acrylic and a light primer you can really get a solid looking mini. I'd recommend getting some contrast paints of the colours you will use to most for easy color matching as well. I found the speed paint metallic paints weren't great though.
It matters a lot to beginners. Some are easier to use. It doesn’t matter so much to experts who can achieve amazing things by substituting skill for poor paint quality. Great video and great topic
I have most of these paints. What i really like just for being different is "warcolours". They are not for everthing but i ending up using them a lot a love how they paint and how the finished models look.
I second warcolours! For me warcolours is very much like a more saturated scale color paint. In my experience they behave quite similar, but while scale color has very nice washed out colors warcolours are bright and vibrant. I personally use paint from different brands for different purposes: citadel base and vallejo extra opaque for base coating; citadel layer and vallejo game / model range for layering, war colours and scale 75 and pro acryl for the final details and blending. This method works for me.
Warcolours are excellent. Especially the classic '88 line in the traditional paint pot that lasts forever. Their reds and metalics are especially good. For blues I prefer Coat D'Arms, but for reds I really love Warcolours.
AP paints aren't consistent enough as base paints, but good enough for layering and highlighting. For new painters on a budget, i would suggest to invest in a few base paints from expensive brands and to complete with AP.
I Would like your opinion which of these would work to paint the face of a doll, if any? Needs to be flexible, durable and able to take knocks, baths, hairdryers...kids play tough
You are correct, brands don't matter. Painters will always find what works best for their style. I think you proved that because all of these squigs are awesome but you had to adapt to each brand. Excellent video my man.
This is a great video and every newbie painter really should take the time to watch it. Having recently tried Army Painter I can get results, but I didn't enjoy painting with them.
I use Schmincke, a German Usually Fine Arts Brand, because they have two great lines of acrylic paint of which I only use Cyan, Magenta, Yellow aswell as black because of the pigmentation and a different brand of white and got decent results out of it
I get it. This is a year old, but the new line of Army Painter does'nt suck quite as hard as it used to. Also, on a lark I bought some Apple Barrel matte black to just try it out... from now on, this is my go to basecoat. Properly thinned its AWESOME. I am so PISSED that i spent so much on "Good" paints all these years. Never be afraid to try something different now and then.
I use Citadel mostly because its much more accessible to me and I don't want to waste too much time faff around on the web trying to find cheaper brands. Living in the UK, the price tag isn't as bad as other places who have to get the stuff imported.
yeah i have that same issue with citadel light paints as well. i shake my pot of corax white every day even if im not using it so it doesn't separate and dry into a wired black grey mix like it has every other time.
This video needs an update soon. We had new Army Painter, new Vallejo coming out, Two thin coats is getting wide enough to consider. I'd love to hear how these new paints all compare. Personally I refreshed my paint racks with new AP and I'm very pleased with them so far. They are not perfect - many of the paints feel a bit dull as white was clearly added for opacity. And many of the "triads" lack darker tones - they are all on the bright side. But those paints they do have - are a big upgrade compared to my old citadel.
Your madd skillz made every squig look amazing. The paint job you did using Army Painter made me feel slightly better for having so many Army Painter Warpaints.
People underestimate Citadel because they’ve always underestimated Citadel. You’re initial comments on Citadel in the video are exactly why. It’s got a premium price for Vallejo quality. It’s very thick but you need less so the smaller amount, if you take care of it, lasts longer than a 17 ml bottle would. The pots just make it hard to take care of it and repotting them into droppers wastes more than you lose with drying. But people have always dumped on Citadel paint. Even the original range that everyone is so nostalgic for they dumped on when it was available and it was expensive then too. It’s good. I still prefer Scale75 Scalecolor and Fantasy & Games. Using the Inktensity with them helps with that ultra matte finish.
Comparing with the time it takes to paint the minis, I can not see how cost can be an issue. I got a starter pack of Army Painter last year (about 10 bottlets) and so far only the black and the metal are almost depleted (after about 80 miniatures). I will now buy a black, metal, gold and a priming spray and be done for another year. That's about $50 per year, no big deal. How many bottles do you guys buy per year, roughly ?
Sorry for the disturb, but I want to start painting miniatures I've already watched the video and I'm wondering which ones are best for a beginner like me who doesn't want to spend too much, which brand would you recommend?
Thanks for clarifying the army painter paints, I felt some were “glassy” or as you said “buttery”. There was a zombicide army painter set and it was pretty much unusable. I stick with Citadel, no issues with them at all.
I found with army painter the bottles really need shaken to ensure the medium is well mixed otherwise it gets the awful thinned down. theyre also really really moisture absorbant so wet palettes need moisture control
Came across this video recently, whilst I am considering getting back into the hobby. In the past I always used Citadel and army painter. Still have them, so I may just add some AK to my collection.
I’ve got a Vallejo set in my basket, but thought I’d check out whether I was making the right decision or not first, just getting back into miniatures and I used to use Citadel years ago because that was the only Available option to me… except for humbro 😬 but as you mentioned the lighter Citadel paints were fairly chalky and I regularly ran into issues with them and I’m also not a fan of the pots. This video really helped me with my decision to go with Vallejo, so thank you very much 😁
Have you tried Reaper at all? I mainly use Citadel for ease of finding painting resources, but their white is so awful I've used Reaper pure white & reaper ghost white instead. I've found them to be excellent.
I've found Reaper to be between Army Painter and Vallejo in terms of quality. Some of their paints are really good, others are hot garbage. They do have good whites though, can confirm.
I use Reaper because it’s one of the few brands commonly used for miniature painting readily available in my city, the others being Citadel and Army Painter. I quite like Reaper due to the range of colors available and their triad system making it easy to find which paints work well together. In my experience their paints are pretty translucent, requiring ~3 coats on average to paint a solid, opaque layer. But, they’re very usable straight out of the bottle and require very little thinning, if any at all. I use their pure black and pure white as my go to black and white and both are excellent.
I've had success with dollar store paints, art store paints, Citadel/Vallejo paints. Less so with Army Painter. However, I keep coming back to P3 paints.
Amazing video !! This video highlights clearly that paints and alot of brands have their own benefits and short comings. All these models look fantastic !
I have a large brand new set of Vallejo game colour that was gifted to me to help me get started. It’s not clear from your video whether game colour is just as good as the reviewed model colour. Could you give me your opinion on game colour please?
I've found the opposite to yourself with AK & Pro Acryl, I really don't get on with their paints. By contrast, my go to are S75 & GSW. I do quite like Citadel, but they don't supply in dropper bottles, so that's a deal breaker for me. I think this just demonstrates that the important thing with paint is finding a brand/range that works for you, rather than trying to buy 'the best'.
Glad to see you used the same model each time. I seen people do... whatever kind of test and use something like a troll and a character in armor. Which obviously have different colors and textures.
for €189.00 which is 312aud its 2 sheet and 3 sheet plywood with a wash over it, with the basic shapes have the bench set and on the go set for less then 70aud if i want to put in a light 75
Ok I think we need to solve some problems here first Kimera: in kimera paints the coverage is spectacular and zumikito said that some are transparent that's the case with all pigment usually hobby companies mix in white to make it opaque so u can do that as well and to decrease saturation mix a touch of a complimentary colour. Scale 75 artist: like all heavy body paints this is extremely thick and will feel like u need more water than usual which is what zumikito did but with more than two years of experience it's best to just spread them properly without water or with a very small amount and they can be used as layers just adding more water.
Yes, "Pro Acryl Magenta" is wha normally is "Light Magenta" that is Magenta mixed with white pigment to make it more opaque. Magenta pigment is semi-transparent and "miniature paints" companies often add a little bit of white/gray to increase opacity.
well i usually use Army painter over GW paints (Citadel). they are good and i have the small pots GW paints come in, where the paints in the small bottles you can easy shake and drip paints into a pallet. Citadel paints main problem is that they are prone to dry out easy both in the pots and when painting, and ofc they are really pricy.
Agree with your comment about Army Painter colours- I use mainly Vallejo and some Ammo Mig colours- but my Army Painter starter set is nearly not useable for me - the colours are behaving strange - even if you shake them with a Vortex style mixer. And GW I refuse due to their abnormal prices and the strange pots
One brand that you missed here and that i would like to see get more attention is Cuttlefish Colors. Mainly available in the US and Canada. The more I paint with this brand the more i like it. Nice video overall, keep up the good work.
For someone like me just getting started in painting miniatures, your content is superb. However, before I can paint anything, the model must be assembled and glued together. I'm building a Tau Fire Warrior right now. But gluing the arms onto the torso while they are holding a rifle is quite a daunting task. One shoulder just will not line up to the torso, making the figure look like he has a painful shoulder separation. The armor piece will hide most of this, but is there a better way?? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.
This shouldn't be the case. Each left arm should match its corresponding right arm. Have you made sure you've removed the correct pair of arms from the sprue?
@@jammywesty91 Yes, I made sure of that. Problem is, if the right arm is not glued on at the right angle, then the left arm must be brought down to meet it so the hand can grip the underside of the rifle. And that's what causes the gap at the shoulder. Like I mentioned, the armor piece on the left arm should cover this up. First model. To be expected. I guess it's just trial and error, really.
To be specific, adding white or black to a color is not the way you want to desaturate it. To desaturate a color you need to add a small amount of its complementary color, so to desaturate red you need to add the tiniest bit of green. This keeps the hue roughly the same but moves the color closer to a brown just ever so slightly.
For a long time GW and Vallejo was both made in the same factory, Army Painter was probably made in the same factory also, not sure if it's the same now. Hell as a 13 or 14 year old that started painting in 1997, I started out using Folk Art paints cause of the price compared to GW, Reaper or Vallejo. Using Folk Art paints made me a better painter and achieved some great looking paint jobs using them also. I mainly use Reaper paints now with a few from GW *mainly their metallics* and a few AP
I've got quite a few different brands on my rack as I tend to buy my paints based on painting tutorials as I'm still fleshing out my collection so brand has been kind of irrelevant for me. I definitely agree that the citadel stuff is over priced but that being said the ability to go and actually try out the paints in the store has been really nice because I can work out what I like and don't like without having to waste money finding out myself
I've been wanting to try AK Interactive ever since you recommended AK's white in your ranking vid. It must be great bc it's always sold out. Great vid btw.
Ive been a diehard Citadel user mostly out of ignorance for year, but then i tried Coat D'Arms Lupin Grey (for drybrushing on black and navy blue) and Vallejo model colour black for basecoats. Your video has helped open my eyes a little, i feel a little dumb for paying so much for citadel when Vallejo was one of the better brands i tried. Thanks for the video! Also, aside from Gloomspite Gitz, what else do you enjoy painting :)?
Vallejo and Kimera are my favorites, though I do have some GW and scale color as well and they work fine. I also got the Golden SoFlats and damn, those are so good.
I bought the big army painter kit, I enjoy it cause it gives me a ton of colors, I've noticed some are better than others but they look goo with enough time.
So what would your take on using paint brands for the airbrush be? Because I'd assume there would be no actual competition besides saturation and finish, and so it's really just whatever you have access to and price range.
Some people thought that the army painter mini didn't have zenithal highlight, which is not the case - all minis had it. The part from 2:08 to 2:17 is a clip from a different video where I basically test dollar store paints (you can also see that the helmet of the mini is different and I have a diferent haircut). Furthermore, at 1:56 there is white from the zenithal highlight where I paint the green, although most of the mini was already basecoated.
Zumikito, don’t you think Army Painter pit you against every other mini painter UA-camr in order to promote themselves?
Where is that video of using cheap grade school paints?
Do you have any thoughts on cuttlefish paints from Creature Caster?
I guess the message is that a good painter can make any of these paints work to an acceptable level with varying degrees of effort. The real question should be which paints achieve a given level with the minimum effort and maximum pleasure. This is particularly important for beginner/novice painters looking to start their paint collection and trying to decide which brand/range to choose. For an experienced painter such as yourself mixing colours from single-pigment paints is part of your skillset but would be daunting for many. If the paints are difficult to work with then the experience is not fun and the user is likely to be unhappy with the result. In the end they are likely to give up. So, having answered the question of can any/all of these brands achieve acceptable results (yes!) this leads to the next question of how much effort/experience/skill does it require to get these results with each brand? Maybe an idea for your next video?
Agree 100% i use paints that will cover in 1 coat not 2 or 10.
I started painting miniatures with a Reaper paint set. It was miserable. I was getting poor consistency, I was daunted with working with bad paints, it really pushed me away from painting. Then I started buying more and more Citadel paints and it made a world of difference.
I believe it is answered in the video. Least effort and most pleasure are from AK and Vallejo.
Agree 100%
@@Dragonfire-tn2jg covering in 1 coat isn't necessarily a good v bad paint thing. Different pigments are going to have different opacity. both scale 75 and pro acryl are top quality paints and both can have coverage issues at times with various paints.
I have tried them all. I prefer AK over Vallejo. The consistency of the paint texture is always spot on and the same for all their paints. Some Vallejo colors struggle with that and do not mix well or split easily on your wet palette. For Citadel paints you pay a premium for the worst container ever. Although their contrast paints are great for airbrushing.
Agreed with everything. I actually also like some Army Painters (for example their skin tones) but you have to shake them like crazy.. ;-)
Try Liquitex inks with the airbrush.
Agree
In my experience, Army Painter has two caveats: 1. despite AP selling a wet palette now because it's an expected product, their paints are not formulated to work with a wet palette. They don't like too much extra moisture and break up. It's better to dampen your brush as needed for specific colors. 2. The binders in Army Painter must REALLY be shaken up well. There's a reason they started including steel mixing balls as standard. A lot of problems with AP come from them not actually being mixed well.
In spite of the wet palette's popularity, I'm going to go against the grain and say: they aren't always all that. It's hard to control brush loading with a wet palette because the surface doesn't pull paint out of the brush easily. Controlling viscosity is also trickier with a lot of paints. Sometimes very annoying. The amount of dried paint lost on a dry palette isn't actually that much - paint is very thin. Just don't glop it onto the dry palette.
Personally I've had great success with them and feel their color range is extremely well put together. There is more variety than most other brands, but not the excessive and unnecessary bloat in Citadel. AP doesn't invent new colors just to pump paint sales.
I know this is very late but I also started with army painter, and they have been the base for most of my armies. Plus the main reason I went with them is because finding Vallejo in the USA can be impossible and GW was super expensive. Recently however I’ve been using cuddle fish Color’s and have really enjoyed how their paints work and the Color’s available.
I have the same experience. Just shake alot. Especially the red paints.
Just starting to get into this and watching a shit ton of videos. I've seen some people literally use a piece of tile as their palette and it seems to work really well!
What I've found is that certain paint brands make me want to never paint. Other paint brands make me enjoy painting. So for me, paint brand definitely matters.
A combination of Pro Acryl, War Colors, various artist inks, some oil paint, and a touch of contrast here and there has been the perfect combo for me.
I tend to stick with Citadel, but mainly because I'm colour blind and GW's paint guide on each miniature's web page, plus the app.
Although I don't stick rigidity to them, it does give me some reassurance when I get stuck.
I am definitely in the minority but I enjoy using Army Painter. I 3D print most of what I paint and use an airbrush to prime with. I have had problems with paints not covering well and so I had to adjust my priming colors to compensate.
Also, I typically use one of their speed paints as a sort of “color adjustment filter” to tone my shadows. If that makes sense? I don’t know. Their stuff is cheap and works for me in the method that I like to work, which I suppose is less opacity, more blending and painted shadows and highlights.
I find dripping out excess medium more than army painter recommends then using a vortex mixer sorts them right out. It's a faf that you need to do that at all but for better prices I can live with it.
I like using them because they're easy for me to get at a reasonable price/ I don't really have any hobby stores near me and I've struggled ordering some of these brands online in the past, but Army painter sell on Amazon, so I can get a decent range of colours
@@Tipsythomas it is weird that you mention their price. In Germany, Vallejo and AK are either the same price or sometimes cheaper (depending on the web shop). So except for certain colours, there is zero reason to buy any of their colours. And with Vallejos game colour refresh (which from what I have used are actually really great now) you won't have any problem to find the more vibrant fantasy colours.
For acrylics, I prefer Vallejo over Army Painter by far. AK Interactive might we worth a try too. I've only tried their plain white paint, but that one was the best white I ever tried.
However, I do love Army Painter speedpaints. These days I rarely paint with normal acryllic paints anymore
To me the take away is price and workability differentiate more than results. Army Painter can be a pain to use and Citadel's overpriced. Which makes them the ones to steer away from.
All the paints can look right if you understand their properties (or aren't at a level where it matters.
Army Painter really seems to be a hit or miss. I got the 60 colours set for Christmas and almost all paints work just fine. I have to barely shake them to get them mixed, too. But then there's the two dark purples (Orc Blood and Alien Purple, I think) which just. Suck. Ass. You can shake off your damn arm and they just won't mix. The Dark Oak also is hard to mix, as well as one red tone I forgot the name of (it's really dark). But that's four paints out of 60. I can live with that.
@@gaolbreak1090 I got a big set as a present to and while i 100% agree. The light green just makes me cry but most of the colours are fine. Getting a pack of mixing balls helped a lot, but some paints are just horrible. I still greatly enjoy painting and as for a complete beginner its a fine set.
Army painter's main issue for me has always been consistency. Sometimes I get a bottle and its fine. Sometimes I get one and its shit. Sometimes two bottles of the supposedly same color are clearly different shades or have different levels of saturation. Their quality control is just shit. Compared to vallejo, AK, or Pro Acryl where ive never had an issue
Thank you for making this video. I took a long (15ish year) break in the Warhammer hobby and am just now getting back into things. I'm in need of all new paints and I thought before I bought anything I'd do a little research.
Great video mate, and I think this is actually really important one for those coming into the hobby. Once you figure out how a paint works you can make it work for you.
Oh! and look ma! I am on a Zumikito video @11:37
I mainly paint with vallejo but also own citadel and army painter. The thing what actually matters is on what point of view you are. I felt more comfortable and more controlling using vallejo. But whenever I need to make a green or a glowing color, I always use my army painters and they've worked very well. Citadel is my easy escape because is the easiest to use. Like most videos use citadel paints so it's easier to identify rather than compare from citadel to your brand. Anyways, just use the ones that make you work easier and better.
Recently I picked up some artist paint at my local hobby store and really prefer that over any of the more mainstream miniature paints. I found that mixing worked way better (thanks to your 3 color challenge video), the paint flowed off the brush nice, and it was much more economical. I got a 75ml tube for the same price as a pot of Citadel paint so now my next project is to see if I can pre-thin these paints with some matte medium and transfer them into dropper bottles so I can create, in a fashion, my own range of colors by mixing various blends of cyan. magenta, yellow, black, and white.
I really like your style of creating videos. It’s super easy to follow along, it is fast paced with many cuts and the length is just about right. Keep doing what you are doing, it’s fantastic!
When I started miniature painting, Citadel was really the only game in town. I had painted models as a kid with enamels (Testors), but I hated them. I got used to the Citadel range, so I'm comfortable with them - except the dreaded White Paints. I suffered through those chalky, nasty pigments until I finally kept hearing that Pro Acryl was SOOOO much better. It is better. Not by miles, but by enough that I can use it with far more confidence than the Citadel ones.
I think as long as you're getting results you're happy with, any brand will work... :)
Literally the same boat Im in right now. I'm a old washed up tattoo artist with too much time on his hands and decided to come back to the hobby. I knew citadel white was absolute garbage and was trying to find another paint brand that makes a decent white. The project I'm currently working on leans heavily on white and it's crucial I get the right one. Thanks for commenting!
I actually find Army Painter pretty good (but of course lags slightly behind AK and Vallejo). The trick is to add a metal ball bearing into the tube and also to squeeze out all the top liquid medium before shaking the paint (the medium is to prevent the paint from drying out).
Thereafter, the coverage of the paint is just fine.
Only problem I have is mixing Army Painter paints with other brands... it has problem in this area.
Army Painter Tip: Stainless Steel Ball Bearing + Mechanical Device.
I use 1-2 balls per bottle, massage gun, fork attachment, bottle suspended with a rubber band so it can move in every axis.
Turn the setting to hamstring master blaster for a little while and enjoy.
This escalates the Warpaints line to the best it can be.
Thank you for making this video. I’m looking to create black Templars and Necron armies, and I’ve already bought a bunch of citadel paints. I’m just glad that at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what paints I get as they are all equally good in their own ways.
Literally what I'm doing right now and trying to find a good white😂😂😂
I have a wide variety of paint brands in my collection (Army Painter, Citadel, ProAcryl, , Vallejo, AK, Scale 75, still waiting for Duncan Rhodes) but have probably painted the most with Army Painter (as they are cheap and was what I primarily used when getting back into the hobby). I feel that you can go far with Army Painter but maybe there is a larger experiential component compared to "better" paints when getting there. Saying that, some of their colors just suck, there is no getting around that, and you have to go with an alternate line. It's the journey not the destination, right?
Golden, especially the So Flat range are my go to. Some people complain about the price, but it is actually great value for the ml.
Yes. they are amazing. Never worked with better reds and orange.
I recommend people use mixing balls for citadel paint pots or wherever you can. Made a world of difference tossed in one or two and makes the paints really nicely mixed even the lighter colors. Thinning is also something that takes a while to figure out the best way to describe it would be for the paint to be "springy" when mixed with whatever, spread it around and you want it to spring back just a bit.
Note on cost. you want to calculate that based on the quantity of pigment you are buying. With that metric the relative value of Kimera is a lot better than it first looks, but if you go that route, it's worth picking up some acrylic medium for when you don't need as much saturation.
I love pure pigmented paints for a reason: easier to mute them than to resaturate them.
Never thought about using ak interactive! I'll give them a try.
Thanks for the video!
Only two paints I want to use now after having tried pretty much all of them, AK interactive 3rd gen and scale 75 artist heavy acrylics.
About to get into the hobby for a 3rd time… and also having used almost all of them, I am leaning toward a mix of Vallejo and Citadel Paints. Mainly because if accessibility, familiarity, personal preference and $$$
Good video. Thank you for helping reignite my passion for the hobby an inch more than it was before!!!
As a novice painter, certain army painter colors have made me want to tear my hair out, while vallejo and pro-acryl make the experience really pleasant.
I have similar issues with GW and even scale75
Army painter greens almost made me quit the hobby
Hey Zumi, again, love the feedback - watching again, it appears all of the other miniatures, you started with a zenithal prime. With ours, around 2:13, I notice you are applying ours over a pure black primed miniature. Obviously, applying greens, yellows, and reds are always difficult however they are made especially difficult when applied over a black primer coat. Curious why ours weren't tested over a zenithal prime equally, or is there something we are missing?
Hey guys, the clip you are referencing is from a different video where I tested the cheapest paints that I could find (like from a dollar store) and those are not your paints that I am using there (you can also see that my haircut and beard there are different). Funnily enough, the squig miniature is perhaps the same (I think I changed the helmet though), because I had to strip it back then. Otherwise I used zenithal for each of the 7 minis, which you can see at the start of the video. Feel free to check the older video if you wanna confirm this. Thank you for the feedback though because I wrongly assumed it was quite obvious that it was a clip from an older vid 😶
@@Zumikito it’s easy to see why that may be confusing in the video. Thanks for the clarification. We’re happy to see that many of your viewers do enjoy our paints. And of course, our offer is open for you to reach out to help us continue to improve our products so that we can produce the best possible products for our gamers and honbyists out there.
I have already sent you an email earlier this week!
@@Zumikito great! I’ll await our mail team to send it over.
As a beginner i felt thrown in to buying a starter paint kit from citadel with tools and paints. I ask a friend and he said don't buy army painter or what the name is. And another friend said stick with citadel and when I went to my local store where i buy most my Warhammer stuff different staff said different brands. One said stay with citadel or change to AK, and the other staff Member said buy Vallejo. Soo what I'm trying to say is as a beginner I would recommend to but some paints of each brand of a color scheme you like and test it. That's what i have learnt soo far that trying is the key to success. Citadel works for me at the moment and the only negative I can say about citadel are the price.Vallejo are soo nice and thier bright color is one of the best i have used. Peace from Sweden
I started with army painter and got super frustrated, first I thought it was me but after I tried some other brands I sold all of my AP-Paints, poor dude who bought them (warned him :D )
Different brands require different approaches. All comes down to personal preference. I started with caliart craft paints.
I really liked watching this video. I use army painter and have noticed exactly what you said when trying to use a wet pallet. however if I use a dry pallet the result is a little different. I think their medium is a little funky. I wonder how all of these would compare from a dry pallet experience. I also agree citadel paints are premium price for a not premium product but that's games workshop for you. I can't find the other paints you list anywhere near me. I also prefer droppers to pots, especially for mixing of paints
I use quite a few brands - Vallejo, Scale 75, GW, Reaper, P3, & AK Acrylic....Vallejo are hands down the best all round paint, the're just so consistent. 2nd place would go to Scale 75 but gel based paints do have a steep learning curve..Reaper are very thin paints that can be annoying to work with at times but if your patient you can get good results with them. If you like stippling then P3 is worth a shot. GW contrast paint is really good for the most part..........In conclusion - It's the same thing with brushes - try a few & see what works for you & your style of painting :-)
I started painting with Army Painter and still use it the most. I have also since gotten some Citadel and Vallejo paints and I must stay that, for the most part, there really is no difference.
The major differences, from my experience, are in the white and purple shades. Citadel's white (Corax white) is atrocious, though I can make it work when I thin it down and use it for airbrushing. Meanwhile, Army Painter's purple colours tend to suck ass because, no matter how much you shake your arm off, the paint just won't mix properly. Other than that though, I have not yet encountered any major issue in any brand.
Glad I'm not the only one that struggled with purple (specifically Alien Purple). It was so bad, that it came out thick, wouldn't thin out, and when it was applied, the paint went on super duper glossy and even sticky to touch. Damn thing took two weeks to dry too.
Only had that issue with Faerez purple (from the underdark set)
@@valdnorc9xydr957 I had the same issues with AP reds. Another AP color that I could not use is Cultist Robes. In have never seen a green tone that works so bad.
Hi Zumikito, did you by any chance use the newest The Army Painter Warpaints which have two mixing balls added? They make mixing paint easier I feel. The older bottles do not have mixing balls in them.
Also, is it not an unfair comparison to use The Army Painter colours over a black basecoat (2:25) and all other paints over a white basecoat? Or perhaps I just can't see a shot where you have the figure undercoated in white
The others very distinctly have a zenithal priming. The Army Painter one definitely did not and that will absolutely skew.
hey hey, I agree that would be unfair, however, that did not happen! The clip you are referencing is from a different video where I paint with the cheapest paints that I could find. Even though I would argue that zenithal highlight shouldn't make such a huge difference, all of the minis were at the same starting point.
Edit: nevermind, see the pinned comment, should explain it :)
@@Chazori ah ok, found what you guys mean, see the pinned comment - all of the minis had zenithal
I believe the best paint brand is the one you have the most fun working with. I started with the old Vallejo Game Color and I added the new game color, two of their Nocturnal sets, some AK 3rd Gen pastels and a bunch of Pro Acryl paints to it. If you get used to a specific paint of a brand and get it to behave the way you want it, your results will be similiar at some point. But I like to focus on my painting more than on taming the paint
After getting a lot of dried up or pourage like Citadel paints I switched to Army Painter which have been more consistent and cheaper. They have a few paints that don't mix well, but far more than Citadel. Plus their washes are really good.
I also primarily use Army Painter and I 100% agree. The vast majority of their paints are great and mix really well. The downside is that the ones who aren't great suck ass. There is no in-between. It's either fantastic or dogshit.
Currently 77 percent of my 144 paints are AP (going to drop a bit as I'm buying a bunch of Vallejo paints in bulk to fill out some color gaps) and honestly they perform as good as Citadel...better actually. Citadel Scale75 metalics always separate on my damned palette. AP: 3 seconds of shaking, add to palette= good for entire session AND won't be separated by next day. My scale75 Speed Metal however will buy a runny puddle after an hour and then evaporate to sludge. Never expect citadel to be mixed for more than 2 hours
Within fine art circles paints that contain more than one pigment are referred to as "convenience colours". The idea being that the manufacturer has mixed two or more pigments together for convenience of their customers who were going to mix a similar colour from the individual pigment paints anyway. Paints from hobby paint ranges consist primarily of paints that would be referred to as convenience colours, if they were marketed and sold as fine art paint.
The keyword here is convenience. When someone sells you a convenience you give them your money, for the promise that they will save you either/or time and effort. Had you timed yourself while painting using each of the different paint brands then I think that would've given a much closer objectively true answer to the specific question of which brand is best at layering that particular squig rider in that particular colour scheme.
From how fiddly the paint is on the palette to how many coats are required to achieve similar results to whether you have to stop at some point and apply a hairdryer in order to keep working; all these things add up across an entire length of the job. I think it is a mistake to fixate on the monetary cost of individual pots of paint, while neglecting to compare them in what they will cost you in terms of time you will need to sink in.
I'll be honest I like this, personally I learned about a year ago that skill matters more and that some brands have stand out paints. I've used Army Painter, Citadel, Vallejo model and game colour, some pro acryl, green stuff world and P3.
I pick up the paints I like, the bulks Vallejo but I've had some issues with the metallics. I really like P3 metallics and like the reds/greens. Pro acryl I adore the rich gold and will not be using any other bright yellow gold.
Now weirdly I've had excellent luck with Army Painter theirs a couple browns, Grey's, a nice off-white with amazing coverage, the blues and metallics have always worked amazingly well for me and are regularly used, I like the finish and colour.
I've had fair enough luck with some colours too (the reds mainly lol). But a lot of other paints just separate for me and its really annoying and watery :(
Im a actually making the switch to army painter for most my paints, the dropper bottles are convenient and i feel like i get my moneys worth with them, i paint a lot so i end up blowing through citadel pots and the only thing i think ill use citadel for is their technical lines of paint.
Thank you for this video. As a noob in painting, this helped me very much in different ways.
The main issues with Citadel paints seem to be 1) the price, 2) metallics are sub-par compared to other brands, and 3) the whites, and any bright colours using the white pigment, are frequently chalky and often you can end up buying a botched pot that needs replacing. The quality of their pure white (White Scar) and off-whites (bone colours and all greys) are all really middling because of this, and it even extends to bright yellows, pinks, and especially, green. Oh, and 4) the pots themselves. I've lost a lot of paint unnecessarily because the seal on the Citadel pot became blocked by paint which subsequently dried.
4.55 a pot is too much for you? If you buy 9 the 10th is free and if you make that a 7.80 one, your other pots are basically 3.70. How is that expensive?
@@travisd2895 Citadel paints are widely considered more expensive than other ranges. Nearly every UA-camr says the same, so it's not exactly an uncommon opinion. It adds up.
I really like army painter speed paints, just started painting again, you can thicken them into regular white and black paints easily, they act as pseudo washes as well. For a cheap paint set, cheap brushes a black and white acrylic and a light primer you can really get a solid looking mini. I'd recommend getting some contrast paints of the colours you will use to most for easy color matching as well. I found the speed paint metallic paints weren't great though.
It matters a lot to beginners. Some are easier to use. It doesn’t matter so much to experts who can achieve amazing things by substituting skill for poor paint quality. Great video and great topic
I have most of these paints. What i really like just for being different is "warcolours". They are not for everthing but i ending up using them a lot a love how they paint and how the finished models look.
I second warcolours! For me warcolours is very much like a more saturated scale color paint. In my experience they behave quite similar, but while scale color has very nice washed out colors warcolours are bright and vibrant.
I personally use paint from different brands for different purposes: citadel base and vallejo extra opaque for base coating; citadel layer and vallejo game / model range for layering, war colours and scale 75 and pro acryl for the final details and blending. This method works for me.
Warcolours are excellent. Especially the classic '88 line in the traditional paint pot that lasts forever. Their reds and metalics are especially good. For blues I prefer Coat D'Arms, but for reds I really love Warcolours.
AP paints aren't consistent enough as base paints, but good enough for layering and highlighting. For new painters on a budget, i would suggest to invest in a few base paints from expensive brands and to complete with AP.
AP works fine as base paints, except for purple. Stay away from AP purple. Especially the dark shades.
I’m a new painter and not very good so any information that will make painting a little bit better is a very good thing. Great vid. Love the minis
I Would like your opinion which of these would work to paint the face of a doll, if any? Needs to be flexible, durable and able to take knocks, baths, hairdryers...kids play tough
You are correct, brands don't matter. Painters will always find what works best for their style. I think you proved that because all of these squigs are awesome but you had to adapt to each brand. Excellent video my man.
This is a great video and every newbie painter really should take the time to watch it. Having recently tried Army Painter I can get results, but I didn't enjoy painting with them.
Yeah same, I used their speed paint and loved it, bought regular paints and I couldn't get the results I wanted.
When you first open Army Painter, squeeze the excess medium out then shake. The excess is there to extend shelf life.
I use Schmincke, a German Usually Fine Arts Brand, because they have two great lines of acrylic paint of which I only use Cyan, Magenta, Yellow aswell as black because of the pigmentation and a different brand of white and got decent results out of it
Good clip. I am an intermediate painter and will now by buying velajo instead of citadel. Cheers
I get it. This is a year old, but the new line of Army Painter does'nt suck quite as hard as it used to. Also, on a lark I bought some Apple Barrel matte black to just try it out... from now on, this is my go to basecoat. Properly thinned its AWESOME. I am so PISSED that i spent so much on "Good" paints all these years. Never be afraid to try something different now and then.
I use Citadel mostly because its much more accessible to me and I don't want to waste too much time faff around on the web trying to find cheaper brands. Living in the UK, the price tag isn't as bad as other places who have to get the stuff imported.
yeah i have that same issue with citadel light paints as well. i shake my pot of corax white every day even if im not using it so it doesn't separate and dry into a wired black grey mix like it has every other time.
Mine completely dried up after one use
It became something straight out of the drybrush citadel range
if you add a little lahmian medium, it'll help massively
@@bearsaroundhere that makes sense, gonna give that a try
This video needs an update soon.
We had new Army Painter, new Vallejo coming out, Two thin coats is getting wide enough to consider.
I'd love to hear how these new paints all compare.
Personally I refreshed my paint racks with new AP and I'm very pleased with them so far. They are not perfect - many of the paints feel a bit dull as white was clearly added for opacity. And many of the "triads" lack darker tones - they are all on the bright side.
But those paints they do have - are a big upgrade compared to my old citadel.
Your madd skillz made every squig look amazing. The paint job you did using Army Painter made me feel slightly better for having so many Army Painter Warpaints.
People underestimate Citadel because they’ve always underestimated Citadel. You’re initial comments on Citadel in the video are exactly why. It’s got a premium price for Vallejo quality. It’s very thick but you need less so the smaller amount, if you take care of it, lasts longer than a 17 ml bottle would. The pots just make it hard to take care of it and repotting them into droppers wastes more than you lose with drying. But people have always dumped on Citadel paint. Even the original range that everyone is so nostalgic for they dumped on when it was available and it was expensive then too. It’s good. I still prefer Scale75 Scalecolor and Fantasy & Games. Using the Inktensity with them helps with that ultra matte finish.
Comparing with the time it takes to paint the minis, I can not see how cost can be an issue. I got a starter pack of Army Painter last year (about 10 bottlets) and so far only the black and the metal are almost depleted (after about 80 miniatures). I will now buy a black, metal, gold and a priming spray and be done for another year. That's about $50 per year, no big deal. How many bottles do you guys buy per year, roughly ?
This was interesting and I’m thinking of switching over to Vallejo game color. Dropper bottles and those colors are like old citadel colors
Cool video! Love the NMM you do on their armor
Sorry for the disturb, but I want to start painting miniatures I've already watched the video and I'm wondering which ones are best for a beginner like me who doesn't want to spend too much, which brand would you recommend?
Thanks for clarifying the army painter paints, I felt some were “glassy” or as you said “buttery”.
There was a zombicide army painter set and it was pretty much unusable. I stick with Citadel, no issues with them at all.
I found with army painter the bottles really need shaken to ensure the medium is well mixed otherwise it gets the awful thinned down. theyre also really really moisture absorbant so wet palettes need moisture control
0:19 - AK INTERACTIVE
1:39 - ARMY PAINTER
3:29 - CITADEL
5:28 - KIMERA
6:58 - VALLEJO
7:48 - SCALE75
9:29 - PRO ACRYL
Great video. Time just flies by, no fighting to stay awake or open up another tab.
Came across this video recently, whilst I am considering getting back into the hobby. In the past I always used Citadel and army painter. Still have them, so I may just add some AK to my collection.
I’ve got a Vallejo set in my basket, but thought I’d check out whether I was making the right decision or not first, just getting back into miniatures and I used to use Citadel years ago because that was the only Available option to me… except for humbro 😬 but as you mentioned the lighter Citadel paints were fairly chalky and I regularly ran into issues with them and I’m also not a fan of the pots.
This video really helped me with my decision to go with Vallejo, so thank you very much 😁
Have you tried Reaper at all? I mainly use Citadel for ease of finding painting resources, but their white is so awful I've used Reaper pure white & reaper ghost white instead. I've found them to be excellent.
I've found Reaper to be between Army Painter and Vallejo in terms of quality. Some of their paints are really good, others are hot garbage. They do have good whites though, can confirm.
I think Reaper is not easy to find in Europe.
Reaper is becoming my favorite, even over Vallejo
Reaper flesh tones are top tier, imo.
I use Reaper because it’s one of the few brands commonly used for miniature painting readily available in my city, the others being Citadel and Army Painter. I quite like Reaper due to the range of colors available and their triad system making it easy to find which paints work well together. In my experience their paints are pretty translucent, requiring ~3 coats on average to paint a solid, opaque layer. But, they’re very usable straight out of the bottle and require very little thinning, if any at all. I use their pure black and pure white as my go to black and white and both are excellent.
I've had success with dollar store paints, art store paints, Citadel/Vallejo paints. Less so with Army Painter. However, I keep coming back to P3 paints.
Amazing video !! This video highlights clearly that paints and alot of brands have their own benefits and short comings. All these models look fantastic !
I have a large brand new set of Vallejo game colour that was gifted to me to help me get started. It’s not clear from your video whether game colour is just as good as the reviewed model colour. Could you give me your opinion on game colour please?
AK 3rd Gen Acrylic 'Intense White' is the best white paint I've ever used
I've found the opposite to yourself with AK & Pro Acryl, I really don't get on with their paints. By contrast, my go to are S75 & GSW. I do quite like Citadel, but they don't supply in dropper bottles, so that's a deal breaker for me.
I think this just demonstrates that the important thing with paint is finding a brand/range that works for you, rather than trying to buy 'the best'.
Glad to see you used the same model each time. I seen people do... whatever kind of test and use something like a troll and a character in armor. Which obviously have different colors and textures.
Thanks for this video! I loved the side by side look. I always enjoy your videos, but super love this one!
for €189.00 which is 312aud its 2 sheet and 3 sheet plywood with a wash over it, with the basic shapes have the bench set and on the go set for less then 70aud if i want to put in a light 75
Ok I think we need to solve some problems here first
Kimera: in kimera paints the coverage is spectacular and zumikito said that some are transparent that's the case with all pigment usually hobby companies mix in white to make it opaque so u can do that as well and to decrease saturation mix a touch of a complimentary colour.
Scale 75 artist: like all heavy body paints this is extremely thick and will feel like u need more water than usual which is what zumikito did but with more than two years of experience it's best to just spread them properly without water or with a very small amount and they can be used as layers just adding more water.
Yes, "Pro Acryl Magenta" is wha normally is "Light Magenta" that is Magenta mixed with white pigment to make it more opaque. Magenta pigment is semi-transparent and "miniature paints" companies often add a little bit of white/gray to increase opacity.
I absolutely love the new AK paints!
What is the best paint and why is it Coat D'Arms and Warcolours Classic 88'?
Maybe Army Painter will “challenge” you to paint golden daemon level with there paints. Tanned flesh is probably the best paint the make.
I love their skin tones, especially Tanned flesh and Barbarian flesh, although otherwise I mostly use Vallejo and AK these days...
I'd love to see some converted squig hoppers with grots on. Great experiment...as a newbie I have about 100+ citadel paints.
AK is great. Awesome for brush and airbrush. Great coverage and very vivid.
well i usually use Army painter over GW paints (Citadel).
they are good and i have the small pots GW paints come in, where the paints in the small bottles you can easy shake and drip paints into a pallet.
Citadel paints main problem is that they are prone to dry out easy both in the pots and when painting, and ofc they are really pricy.
Vallejo ever since I started. love the feel and look of the paints.
Have you ever tried Reaper Master Series paints? I'm curious what you think about them.
Agree with your comment about Army Painter colours- I use mainly Vallejo and some Ammo Mig colours- but my Army Painter starter set is nearly not useable for me - the colours are behaving strange - even if you shake them with a Vortex style mixer. And GW I refuse due to their abnormal prices and the strange pots
Great video. Excellent for anyone new. I think its easier to learn if you commit to only 1 or 2 brands.
One brand that you missed here and that i would like to see get more attention is Cuttlefish Colors. Mainly available in the US and Canada. The more I paint with this brand the more i like it. Nice video overall, keep up the good work.
For someone like me just getting started in painting miniatures, your content is superb. However, before I can paint anything, the model must be assembled and glued together. I'm building a Tau Fire Warrior right now. But gluing the arms onto the torso while they are holding a rifle is quite a daunting task. One shoulder just will not line up to the torso, making the figure look like he has a painful shoulder separation. The armor piece will hide most of this, but is there a better way?? Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.
I usually dry fit everything beforhand, do it should fit just fine. Try zo wiggle it a bit to find the right angle
This shouldn't be the case. Each left arm should match its corresponding right arm. Have you made sure you've removed the correct pair of arms from the sprue?
@@jammywesty91 Yes, I made sure of that. Problem is, if the right arm is not glued on at the right angle, then the left arm must be brought down to meet it so the hand can grip the underside of the rifle. And that's what causes the gap at the shoulder. Like I mentioned, the armor piece on the left arm should cover this up. First model. To be expected.
I guess it's just trial and error, really.
To be specific, adding white or black to a color is not the way you want to desaturate it. To desaturate a color you need to add a small amount of its complementary color, so to desaturate red you need to add the tiniest bit of green. This keeps the hue roughly the same but moves the color closer to a brown just ever so slightly.
For a long time GW and Vallejo was both made in the same factory, Army Painter was probably made in the same factory also, not sure if it's the same now. Hell as a 13 or 14 year old that started painting in 1997, I started out using Folk Art paints cause of the price compared to GW, Reaper or Vallejo. Using Folk Art paints made me a better painter and achieved some great looking paint jobs using them also. I mainly use Reaper paints now with a few from GW *mainly their metallics* and a few AP
I've got quite a few different brands on my rack as I tend to buy my paints based on painting tutorials as I'm still fleshing out my collection so brand has been kind of irrelevant for me.
I definitely agree that the citadel stuff is over priced but that being said the ability to go and actually try out the paints in the store has been really nice because I can work out what I like and don't like without having to waste money finding out myself
I’m moving from modern ships to 40k miniatures. Is Tamyia paint something I can use?
I've been wanting to try AK Interactive ever since you recommended AK's white in your ranking vid. It must be great bc it's always sold out. Great vid btw.
Ive been a diehard Citadel user mostly out of ignorance for year, but then i tried Coat D'Arms Lupin Grey (for drybrushing on black and navy blue) and Vallejo model colour black for basecoats. Your video has helped open my eyes a little, i feel a little dumb for paying so much for citadel when Vallejo was one of the better brands i tried. Thanks for the video!
Also, aside from Gloomspite Gitz, what else do you enjoy painting :)?
Great video mate
Vallejo and Kimera are my favorites, though I do have some GW and scale color as well and they work fine. I also got the Golden SoFlats and damn, those are so good.
I bought the big army painter kit, I enjoy it cause it gives me a ton of colors, I've noticed some are better than others but they look goo with enough time.
So what would your take on using paint brands for the airbrush be?
Because I'd assume there would be no actual competition besides saturation and finish, and so it's really just whatever you have access to and price range.
For me I use citadel because it’s more convenient to get where I live. However if you want to slap on less coats. Vallejo 10/10 would recommend.😊