Thinning down the fanatic line makes even more bang for your buck if you don't like the consistency, but that along with the color range and availability make them my main paints on my table.
So much of this. Alot of people don't think about it but if you are an "army painter" as in paint to play 40k AoS WH ect. Being able to always get hold of all the specific paint you use and have so many shades all always available is amazing.❤
I feel like Army Painter brute forced the win in this competition. They are easy to use, easier to get a hold of, cheap and plentiful. All perfect for first time painters, which I think is the main takeaway from this video. Great presentation!
I have moved to only using Pro Acryl paints.. Would of loved to see what you thought of the Rogue Hobbies set that was recently released.. Should be right up your ally for what you look for in paints, INCLUDING COLOURS.
As my old Vallejo and Army Painter paints fall one by one due to age or simply using it all up I've been replacing with Pro Acryl and AP:F and I'm perfectly happy to keep doing so. They are both easy to get at my FLGS and work very well. It is nice to see your ratings for these others and it's interesting to see someone who likes TTC paints so much as I have been very underwhelmed by the ones I've tried. Thanks for the great vids.
@@Akhaandir I really like Game Color (Glacier Blue is one of my favorite paints ever), but they are just a lot harder to get where I live than PA and AP:F.
@@Akhaandirthe new MC is lovely. I still prefer pro acryl personally because I don't have to think about thinning it to just paint. But it's a dream compared to the old formula as the consistency between colors is much better than original MC. And color selection has never been an issue with MC. I think it's the sleeper hit for paint lines since they seem to invest heavily in a couple big painters and not really intelligently market to the smaller influencers who seem to be really good at selling paint oddly enough. I've actually never seen an industry that influencers were more influential in purchasing. Vallejo needs to hire some new marketing people.
Agreed! Pro Acryl are my favorites now, and they have replaced my Vallejo and few citadel paints... but not my citadel washes, I cant seem to give them up. lol. I played with a few of the Two Thin Coats triads and like them to, but Pro Acryl is my goto. I have never really use the Warpaints line of paints, except when I first started painting and we had a few in the classes the local hobby shop put on.. I may grab a few Warpaint Fanatics and give them a whirl on a few minis.
It's hard for me to justify the larger sets of Fanatic paints with all the paints I currently own. But they are now selling individual Triads, so I'm getting a few of them each month to keep things in my hobby budget. I'm getting my first couple sets in a few days and I'm stoked to try them!
I buy every other color in a triad. Colors can be wet blended or glazed down so it really nullifies any reason for the in between colors unless you don’t want to go that route. It’ll save you a good amount of money and won’t eat up as much room on your shelves.
Pro Acryl are my favorites now, and they have replaced my Vallejo and few citadel paints... but not my citadel washes, I cant seem to give them up. lol. I played with a few of the Two Thin Coats triads and like them to, but Pro Acryl is my goto.
I respect you being objective with the ratings, admitting that while the fanatics aren't subjectively your preferred due to consistency, while still giving an objective rating is nice to see. I myself have fallen in love with the Fanatics paints, I like the thicker consistency personally. A little more control in how thin or thick I want it is worth doing a little extra thinning to me. Can't argue that TTC is a great range though, just wish it was more available. I've taken to using Fanatics as my work horse but using some more vibrant paints from other ranges as final touches to pick them up a bit so to speak. Great pair of videos, thank you.
I love the Fanatics, literally my new go to paint. I'm working on getting more humidity in my painting space because all paints tend to dry quickly when you are where I am... I would also love to try two thin coats when I have some more time and money to devote to testing and making my own video on them. I will ALWAYS appreciate the fact that you never say anything is "bad", but that it doesn't fit your painting style! Thanks for another great one Lyla!
Both videos have been great. I picked up the Atom Smartpaints set after the first video and I love them! They’re so vivid and the coverage is great! I used them to highlight some areas around a plasma gun and it really out glowed the effect I did on another model with Fanatics. With that said, Fanatics are great paints, the colors are good, the range is top notch, they can be thinned to perfection and I’ve found glazing with them to be easier than with any other paints. ProAcryl and AK are still my go to’s, but I find myself using Fanatics more and more. I just ordered the full range of Two Thin Coats, as I’ve been flirting with buying them for a while and this video really convinced me to dive in.
So far I really like the army painters paints a big factor to me is availability. When you need them you need them when you run out a local store having them is great not praying you can order them. Yes I get maybe at the local store it's a little more money but and it shipping and handling and time for delivery it was worth it. Wish I had the full line maybe 1 day I would be as great a painter as you! Love the video and I love color too.
Loved the 2 videos...... But VERY limited. You asked: Vallejo, AK, Citadel, Reaper Master Series, Scale 75, Pro Acryl, Privateer, Green Stuff World... Just to mention a few major to medium paint lines.
WEll, Lyla, as always I love your take on these paints. I bought the proAcryl line from monument an recently bought the three new additional set's they are offering. I'm still totally in love with them. The War Gamer Fantatic line is prolly what I'll get next when I ge tthe chance, but just now I'm pretty happy with the Pro Acryl line. Yet another Great video!!
It is interesting to see the different paints, I do miss Vallejo's new range a bit for balance. Also I think that availability skewed the results too much. It doesn't say much if it's a good paint or not.
I appreciate the level detail of analysis in your testing videos. I'm Finally moving away from Citadel after my first year of painting, AP Fanatic and Pro acryl will most likely be my main. I love vibrant paints as well, I will for sure add some Vallejo into the mix as I build out my paints to replace my GW paints, I just gotta make sure my Blood Angels colors can find the right replacements
Yeah, I’ve been using Two-thin coats almost exclusively when I paint acrylics. They are just a solid and consistent experience using them. Their triad may not be as spelt out for you, but if you keep them together, I still find them pretty easy to figure out which is what. Can’t wait for wave 3.
Aw shit! Are you/were you in the military? I recognize those shirts! Good breakdown also. Surprised you didn’t do a Pro Acryl breakdown, most mini-painters seem to love them, I definitely do.
Great two part video! I’m in the market for a new range and would love TTC (they should use that acronym for everything) but the availability!!!! I need to try Fanatic paints. I don’t mind thinning them down. Thanks for sharing your time with us!
I am a big Pro-Acryl fan and also like AK 3rd gen and the new Vallejo Game Color. The paint I was really curious about was the atom smart paint. I think it could really complement the paints I already have…
Lethal Shadows had a paint range come out in spring 2024. I picked up a couple of their paints on a lark at Pax East. And I haven’t made a decision yet and I have some issues with the nozzles on the bottles.
I think my feelings match your results for the most part. Personally I would go with two thin coats for myself, but the new army painter paints are so easily available, have a large range and generally easy to get started with that they feel like they might be the “best” for most people, especially less experienced painters or people who paint as a means to an end to get painted models for a game on the table, but they’re not that into painting as a hobby.
Awesome videos! Thanks for making them. As someone who has gotten back into the hobby recently, I've ended up gravitating towards army painter (speed paints & fanatic) along with Pro Acryl, some 2 thin coats and some citadel paints simply because of what's available at my FLGS. I've been happy messing around with all of these as I learn things and try to get better. Was even thinking of backing the Kymera Velvet Kickstarter to give those a try. It's crazy to me how much I've spent on paints vs how little so far I've spent on minis. But I really like all the different ranges and colors and it scratches an itch I think lol. And it's always funny to look at all this and compare them to my Ral Partha paints from 20+ years ago ;)
Always appreciate your reviews since I don't feel like your opinion is purchased. 😀. Meows and hugs to you and the kitties. 😺 They need an emoji that looks like Mochi. Have a great day.
After 2024 adepticon gave away all my paints and switched to proacryl. I mostly mix my colors so I reduced the bottle count significantly. Im slowly transitioning to using more inks as well.
I like the rating system in conjunction with your opinions about what works for you. Not everything works for everybody, but having a combination of some objective information to compare straight across, in addition to being able to see what you've done, and why you like (or don't) rolls up into a nice package deal. 5 out of 5 ;-) Sort of related: I'm curious if you've tried the AK 3rd gen paints (Intense, Wargame, or Fantasy might be appropriate for the stuff I see you painting). I like them for brush painting with various kinds of scale models.
@@Night_Bacon I guess so, but I've also heard about cancelled kickstarters & then appear in with something else. So I'm not sure what's happening with them. A lot of places seem to have them out of stock too.
My lfgs is able to get army painter, so the finatic is an easy choice for my paint paints. Since using them, I have only reached for other ranges for a vibrant red, dark black/brown, and a dark grey.
I suspect that the desaturated nature of the Fanatic paints is not so much to support the triads but because they wanted to be able to claim the giant increase in pigment/opacity without mentioning that most of that is due to adding white pigment.
I think Army Painter is the definitive starter line. Appropriate price point, standard colors, and the triad system. Makes it much less intimidating for people who don't know what they really want from painting yet.
Army painter has been my go to brand for a long time mostly just because color range is great, they are easy to find for very cheap, coverage is good enough, and availability is very high. I’d love to test out more brands, but don’t really have interest in paying a ton in shipping or having to track down what is and isn’t in stock.
I started using Army Painter when I got into Warhammer and painting miniatures a year ago. Staying with the company when needed additional colors for r new projects I bought the complete $800 set to get the ones I needed. To me they spay well, brush so much better than Citadel or Warpaints 1.0 and are easier to get than anything but citadel. So I’ve got a giant rack of army painter fanatic and a rack of a few Citadel & ProAcryl paints.
Late to the party here, but I've been bouncing between the Two Thin Coats and Warpainter Fanatics for a little bit for my MCP and Shatterpoint minis. Although I guess I'm kinda lucky my go to shop tries the keep the TTC in stock from what you said in the last video 😅
I think desaturation is ok in a grimdark world when you choose it, not if the paints force it. Glowing lenses, plasma guns, bright reds in blanchitsu, not everything has to be desaturated and IMHO the warpaint fanatics are a crippled color range due to the ton of white in them.
I just recently got The Army Painter Mega Set and the Speedpaint Most Wanted set. I’m very happy with both. I finally grew up and got rid of all my Testors paints. 🤓
Would you consider using different paints for different parts of the project? Best example that comes to mind is a set of paints that are much better for freehand?
Got the army painter fanatic starter set and the metallic starter set , both are great apart from the red in the starter set, bought the rogue hobbies pro-acryl set today and cant wait to try them out. That said my go to paints are AK interactive 3rd generation they are tops for me.
Fanatic isn't in triads though or if they were it's not anymore they're actually in hexads. There are six paints To each grouping. As far as thickness goes... I kind of agree I have a tendency to not really thin my paint other than what the wet palette does. However I also have to agree with other painters... You can make paint thinner but you can't make it thicker. My current preference in paint lines appears to be pro acryl, AK interactive, and actually these new AP fanatic paints might be a third now. I also have a ton of scale 75 and war colours. If I like fanatic I don't know why I don't like wore colors more. It's got the same I need to be thinned problem and it was doing five colors with sensible names a long time ago. Scale 75 and warcolor fails at availability in the US though. War colours even more so. Like a two out of five and a one out of. I don't currently see a need to acquire two thin coats.
Still need part 3 with older paints, like Vallefo or AK. ;) How would you rate Vallejo Game Colors? Im starting in the hobby and Im wondering if I should choose bottles from AP or Vallejo GC...
I was putting mixer balls in some paints and not watching the visuals much, so I was confused at the different ratings at first. The category divider was only visual text. Side note: Another small plus for Army Painter: They include 2 mixing balls so it's convenient even if the cost difference is minor.
I have 2 sets of paint, each for a specific purpose. I use the OG Army painter paints to paint my wargaming miniatures which I use the Vallejo model air to paint scale military models. I would like to try AK interactive as they make paints for both side on my hobby interest.
I really like Scale 75's Scalecolor Smooth tube paints. They thin well on the wet palette and react well to flow aids as well. I also use their Scalecolor Inks for highlights, and thinned for washes. I'd be interested if anyone else has tried them.
Huh? I somehow lost track of time. So, yes, I'm missing Vallejo in this listing. But: I have absolutly no idea, when the new Game Colour Formula was introduced into the market. I just have so many Bottles from the old Line, that I'm just replacing the first ones right now. (And I'm still buying the old Colours, when I see them and know, that I might have some use for them.) And the new Model Colour Line is just hitting the shelfes right now at the Moment. (On the other hand: I heard somewhere, that Vallejo might not be as easy to get in the States as it is here in Germany, where reagularly any small online-store sells them.) On the other hand: Since I have a lot of old Vallejo-Paints and have to find out how good specific colours can be repalced (I still stick to that company, because I prever them), I have a little bit of a problem with a side Project: I'm working on a small Warhammer Fantasy Vintage Woodelf Army with 90ies Sculpts. Since I don't know, how the new colours behave with their old counterparts, TAPs Fanatic Paint Range gets a chance on that Project.
Something to note about Army Painter Fanatic paints, which I think could affect the rating, is that they pretty much seem to be designed to be used in tandem with the speedpaints. AP confirmed that they added white pigment to each colour for opacity, explaining the slightly desaturated look. But if you want vibrancy you can easily glaze over with any of their Speedpaints. it's not really a new approach, painters have been using inks to boost saturation for ages. But it does feel like you get the most bang for your buck if you completely buy into AP's ranges.
White pigment is basis for most paints in this business - Pro Acryl, AK or Citadel are doing the same thing. Pure pigmented paints are usually artist ranges in tubes. Difference is Army Painter decided to make it primary ingredient in all their paints due to coverage being their main priority. Reality is that you need to buy additional paint and Speedpaint Medium to obtain vibrant colour, plus it's additional work. You could just grab TTC, S75 or AK red and have vibrancy from the start. So yeah, rating should go down a little for that, because Fanatics aren't really meant for you if you like vibrancy or very dark colours (watching my Huldra Blue right now, mmm...).
Definitely go with army painter, the value, availability, and selection make them the easy choice. The paints go twice as far as most other paints as I thin them as well. I will still have my favorites from other lines but army painter is the quick and easy go to. For a line that a year ago I would have said is just trash they have come a very long way. Thank you for your review as always your videos bring the pertinent information with a openess that is enjoyable.
I paint a lot of slaves to darkness and the colder desaturated tones work extremely well for my painting style. I will definitely look into the cuttlefish line of acrylics for that reason.
I'm convinced Army Painter intentionally & excessively extended their 'triad' to six colours just to try and make people buy more stuff. If they ever release the conversion chart they say they are making for the old to new colours, I'll just be replacing the old colours. Otherwise I'll just switch to ProAcryl or similar. I'd love to see someone do a video culling the new Fanatic range down to a minimum 'true triad'.
I’m thinking about investing in a new set of paints. What would you chose between Ak 3rd gen and fanatic? Unfortunately once the fanatic full set goes out of stock they’re not bringing it back.
For the easy to make colors, they are about the same, other than fanatic being far more dense, so you better thin everything far more than AK. But when you have to choose vibrancy over coverage, Army painter chose coverage, leading to basically zero pure pigments in those colors, and far more muted results. Just look at that pure red. I'd not buy full sets of anything though, including AK. Go compare their Cadmium Red with their Medium Orange. Do you REALLY think you need both colors? Then compare Luminous green and laser yellow. Two pairs, all great paints, yet nobody needs to own both.
Two Thin Coats, Pro Acryl and new Vallejo are the best acrylic paints for me. GW has the best washes and technical colours. The Army Painter has the best perks around the paint (practical naming, triad on bottle, the tri-shaded logo of every speedpaint). I think more companies need to follow this steps 🤔
I would like to see how to new Vallejo game color holds up against Army Painter fanatic. Getting a hold of the Vallejo new game color as an American fells like trying to find big foot 😅. It doesn't exist unless i pay for shipping that cost more than the paint itself 😐.
the biggest selling point of the Army Painter Fanatics is the Triad color system. They are good paints on top of that. very beginner friendly. Your WAY past that with a lot more skill and practice in picking what colors you love. It makes sense you'd go for what you did, all why recommending (numerically at least) the Army painter stuff.
Since you mentioned that you are getting rid of some paint brands, could you do a video giving advice on how to get rid of paints? I have been donating some to other people that I know, but is there a better way to donate them or sell them?
olreit! lettuce go! Hope ultracryl will be in the next video of this series ;-) Very measured comments. All these paints are pretty good, some will suit your taste/expectations more, others less.
I love them.... but the availability around me is 0/10, as no local store has them, and the range width is.... still pretty weak outside of 350 million tans, although the Rogue Hobbies and Flameon series at least helped with the reds and oranges. The bottles are also a real hit or miss. They are also not remotely new. So your definition of check here is ludicrous.
Oh heck yeah, two-parter that actually delivers part two within days. Wicked!
Yes!
Thinning down the fanatic line makes even more bang for your buck if you don't like the consistency, but that along with the color range and availability make them my main paints on my table.
I agree, this is my new go to set. I bought the 90 piece Mega set and have been very happy with it
So much of this. Alot of people don't think about it but if you are an "army painter" as in paint to play 40k AoS WH ect. Being able to always get hold of all the specific paint you use and have so many shades all always available is amazing.❤
I feel like Army Painter brute forced the win in this competition. They are easy to use, easier to get a hold of, cheap and plentiful. All perfect for first time painters, which I think is the main takeaway from this video. Great presentation!
The rating system catapulting Warpaints ahead of "better" ranges like TTC really speaks to the importance of availability
I went for the complete Two Thin Coats range and figured I could fill in any colour gaps with army painter :)
I have moved to only using Pro Acryl paints.. Would of loved to see what you thought of the Rogue Hobbies set that was recently released.. Should be right up your ally for what you look for in paints, INCLUDING COLOURS.
Glad to catch Part 2 here. This makes me look forward to the Army Painter Fanatic Starter set that I've been saving to open on my birthday next month!
As my old Vallejo and Army Painter paints fall one by one due to age or simply using it all up I've been replacing with Pro Acryl and AP:F and I'm perfectly happy to keep doing so. They are both easy to get at my FLGS and work very well. It is nice to see your ratings for these others and it's interesting to see someone who likes TTC paints so much as I have been very underwhelmed by the ones I've tried.
Thanks for the great vids.
Model colour is being replaced by a new formulation similar to the new Game Colour paints as well, if you used the old model colour
@@Akhaandir I really like Game Color (Glacier Blue is one of my favorite paints ever), but they are just a lot harder to get where I live than PA and AP:F.
@@Akhaandirthe new MC is lovely. I still prefer pro acryl personally because I don't have to think about thinning it to just paint. But it's a dream compared to the old formula as the consistency between colors is much better than original MC. And color selection has never been an issue with MC. I think it's the sleeper hit for paint lines since they seem to invest heavily in a couple big painters and not really intelligently market to the smaller influencers who seem to be really good at selling paint oddly enough. I've actually never seen an industry that influencers were more influential in purchasing. Vallejo needs to hire some new marketing people.
@@pluralofsheep yah im slowly replacing all my old MC with the new formulation for those very reasons
Agreed! Pro Acryl are my favorites now, and they have replaced my Vallejo and few citadel paints... but not my citadel washes, I cant seem to give them up. lol. I played with a few of the Two Thin Coats triads and like them to, but Pro Acryl is my goto. I have never really use the Warpaints line of paints, except when I first started painting and we had a few in the classes the local hobby shop put on.. I may grab a few Warpaint Fanatics and give them a whirl on a few minis.
It's hard for me to justify the larger sets of Fanatic paints with all the paints I currently own. But they are now selling individual Triads, so I'm getting a few of them each month to keep things in my hobby budget. I'm getting my first couple sets in a few days and I'm stoked to try them!
I buy every other color in a triad. Colors can be wet blended or glazed down so it really nullifies any reason for the in between colors unless you don’t want to go that route. It’ll save you a good amount of money and won’t eat up as much room on your shelves.
Pro Acryl are my favorites now, and they have replaced my Vallejo and few citadel paints... but not my citadel washes, I cant seem to give them up. lol. I played with a few of the Two Thin Coats triads and like them to, but Pro Acryl is my goto.
I respect you being objective with the ratings, admitting that while the fanatics aren't subjectively your preferred due to consistency, while still giving an objective rating is nice to see.
I myself have fallen in love with the Fanatics paints, I like the thicker consistency personally. A little more control in how thin or thick I want it is worth doing a little extra thinning to me.
Can't argue that TTC is a great range though, just wish it was more available. I've taken to using Fanatics as my work horse but using some more vibrant paints from other ranges as final touches to pick them up a bit so to speak.
Great pair of videos, thank you.
Can we get a review with other older paints? Vallejo, AK, citidel, etc? I love these videos
I love the Fanatics, literally my new go to paint. I'm working on getting more humidity in my painting space because all paints tend to dry quickly when you are where I am... I would also love to try two thin coats when I have some more time and money to devote to testing and making my own video on them.
I will ALWAYS appreciate the fact that you never say anything is "bad", but that it doesn't fit your painting style!
Thanks for another great one Lyla!
Both videos have been great. I picked up the Atom Smartpaints set after the first video and I love them! They’re so vivid and the coverage is great! I used them to highlight some areas around a plasma gun and it really out glowed the effect I did on another model with Fanatics. With that said, Fanatics are great paints, the colors are good, the range is top notch, they can be thinned to perfection and I’ve found glazing with them to be easier than with any other paints. ProAcryl and AK are still my go to’s, but I find myself using Fanatics more and more. I just ordered the full range of Two Thin Coats, as I’ve been flirting with buying them for a while and this video really convinced me to dive in.
So far I really like the army painters paints a big factor to me is availability. When you need them you need them when you run out a local store having them is great not praying you can order them. Yes I get maybe at the local store it's a little more money but and it shipping and handling and time for delivery it was worth it. Wish I had the full line maybe 1 day I would be as great a painter as you! Love the video and I love color too.
Loved the 2 videos...... But VERY limited. You asked: Vallejo, AK, Citadel, Reaper Master Series, Scale 75, Pro Acryl, Privateer, Green Stuff World... Just to mention a few major to medium paint lines.
But it's not about any brand, just the brands that came out in the last year.
I ordered the Atom paints after watching part one. I wanted some 2 thin coat paints, but yea, like you said, a pain to get. I appreciate the reviews.
WEll, Lyla, as always I love your take on these paints. I bought the proAcryl line from monument an recently bought the three new additional set's they are offering. I'm still totally in love with them. The War Gamer Fantatic line is prolly what I'll get next when I ge tthe chance, but just now I'm pretty happy with the Pro Acryl line.
Yet another Great video!!
It is interesting to see the different paints, I do miss Vallejo's new range a bit for balance. Also I think that availability skewed the results too much. It doesn't say much if it's a good paint or not.
I'd rather a paint be too thick than too thin. You can always thin it down, but it's much more difficult to thicken paint
Yay part 2!! Loved these videos, I'm curious to get my hands on big child creatives now, thank you!!
Two Thin Coats for the win, I'm definitely hype for the remaining waves to be released for sure
I appreciate the level detail of analysis in your testing videos. I'm Finally moving away from Citadel after my first year of painting, AP Fanatic and Pro acryl will most likely be my main. I love vibrant paints as well, I will for sure add some Vallejo into the mix as I build out my paints to replace my GW paints, I just gotta make sure my Blood Angels colors can find the right replacements
I got in on the two thin coats wave 3 kickstarter. Great paints at a grteat price.
Yeah, I’ve been using Two-thin coats almost exclusively when I paint acrylics. They are just a solid and consistent experience using them.
Their triad may not be as spelt out for you, but if you keep them together, I still find them pretty easy to figure out which is what.
Can’t wait for wave 3.
I just watched your video and then I bought some paints. You are very influential.
I really liked your video series and I love your videos in general. Great work! I liked your grading system as well.
Aw shit! Are you/were you in the military? I recognize those shirts! Good breakdown also. Surprised you didn’t do a Pro Acryl breakdown, most mini-painters seem to love them, I definitely do.
Great two part video! I’m in the market for a new range and would love TTC (they should use that acronym for everything) but the availability!!!! I need to try Fanatic paints. I don’t mind thinning them down.
Thanks for sharing your time with us!
AP or the new vallejo lines you really cant go wrong. Throw in a few of your favorite ProAcryl and citadel paints and thats all you will ever need.
I am a big Pro-Acryl fan and also like AK 3rd gen and the new Vallejo Game Color. The paint I was really curious about was the atom smart paint. I think it could really complement the paints I already have…
Lethal Shadows had a paint range come out in spring 2024. I picked up a couple of their paints on a lark at Pax East. And I haven’t made a decision yet and I have some issues with the nozzles on the bottles.
I think my feelings match your results for the most part. Personally I would go with two thin coats for myself, but the new army painter paints are so easily available, have a large range and generally easy to get started with that they feel like they might be the “best” for most people, especially less experienced painters or people who paint as a means to an end to get painted models for a game on the table, but they’re not that into painting as a hobby.
Awesome videos! Thanks for making them. As someone who has gotten back into the hobby recently, I've ended up gravitating towards army painter (speed paints & fanatic) along with Pro Acryl, some 2 thin coats and some citadel paints simply because of what's available at my FLGS. I've been happy messing around with all of these as I learn things and try to get better. Was even thinking of backing the Kymera Velvet Kickstarter to give those a try. It's crazy to me how much I've spent on paints vs how little so far I've spent on minis. But I really like all the different ranges and colors and it scratches an itch I think lol. And it's always funny to look at all this and compare them to my Ral Partha paints from 20+ years ago ;)
Always appreciate your reviews since I don't feel like your opinion is purchased. 😀. Meows and hugs to you and the kitties. 😺 They need an emoji that looks like Mochi. Have a great day.
How do these compare to existing (not new) mini paints, and do you have a comparison/rating video of old paints?
Thank You Lyla!
After 2024 adepticon gave away all my paints and switched to proacryl. I mostly mix my colors so I reduced the bottle count significantly. Im slowly transitioning to using more inks as well.
I like the rating system in conjunction with your opinions about what works for you. Not everything works for everybody, but having a combination of some objective information to compare straight across, in addition to being able to see what you've done, and why you like (or don't) rolls up into a nice package deal. 5 out of 5 ;-)
Sort of related: I'm curious if you've tried the AK 3rd gen paints (Intense, Wargame, or Fantasy might be appropriate for the stuff I see you painting). I like them for brush painting with various kinds of scale models.
Great 2 part series! thank you!
AK, Pro Acryl & Vallejo are my go to now. I use Scale 75, but they are falling behind now & will be replaced eventually, or just keep the metallics.
Guessing that’s what the new Scale75 kickstarter is about, producing a contemporary acrylic series in line with their competitors
@@Night_Bacon I guess so, but I've also heard about cancelled kickstarters & then appear in with something else. So I'm not sure what's happening with them. A lot of places seem to have them out of stock too.
My lfgs is able to get army painter, so the finatic is an easy choice for my paint paints. Since using them, I have only reached for other ranges for a vibrant red, dark black/brown, and a dark grey.
I suspect that the desaturated nature of the Fanatic paints is not so much to support the triads but because they wanted to be able to claim the giant increase in pigment/opacity without mentioning that most of that is due to adding white pigment.
A great way to make a decision is to make up a rubric/flip a coin, then listen to your heart about what you really want.
I think Army Painter is the definitive starter line. Appropriate price point, standard colors, and the triad system. Makes it much less intimidating for people who don't know what they really want from painting yet.
Army painter has been my go to brand for a long time mostly just because color range is great, they are easy to find for very cheap, coverage is good enough, and availability is very high. I’d love to test out more brands, but don’t really have interest in paying a ton in shipping or having to track down what is and isn’t in stock.
Do you have ratings for Pro Acryl (With the signature and fluorescents added), AK Gen 3, and the other top paints for comparison?
I started using Army Painter when I got into Warhammer and painting miniatures a year ago. Staying with the company when needed additional colors for r new projects I bought the complete $800 set to get the ones I needed. To me they spay well, brush so much better than Citadel or Warpaints 1.0 and are easier to get than anything but citadel. So I’ve got a giant rack of army painter fanatic and a rack of a few Citadel & ProAcryl paints.
I’d like to try the two thin coats range but I have so much paint already ha ha
Late to the party here, but I've been bouncing between the Two Thin Coats and Warpainter Fanatics for a little bit for my MCP and Shatterpoint minis. Although I guess I'm kinda lucky my go to shop tries the keep the TTC in stock from what you said in the last video 😅
Could you please review widely available paints, as well (Vallejo, Citadel, Scale 75)? Would love to hear your opinion on these!
I love my fanatic paints. Desaturation is not a problem in the grimdark universe. That megabox seemed too much a good deal to pass up.
I think desaturation is ok in a grimdark world when you choose it, not if the paints force it. Glowing lenses, plasma guns, bright reds in blanchitsu, not everything has to be desaturated and IMHO the warpaint fanatics are a crippled color range due to the ton of white in them.
I have Pro Acryl now, and I'm more than happy with that product, but if I restarted from the ground up, I'd go with Army Painter Fanatic.
I plan on trying to get my hands on some TTC paints, but also try some either pro acryl or AK paints...
I just recently got The Army Painter Mega Set and the Speedpaint Most Wanted set. I’m very happy with both. I finally grew up and got rid of all my Testors paints. 🤓
What about ProAcryl? I'm not surprised that Army Painter got good marks. They seem to have really refined their medium and pigment quantity.
Would you consider using different paints for different parts of the project? Best example that comes to mind is a set of paints that are much better for freehand?
Got the army painter fanatic starter set and the metallic starter set , both are great apart from the red in the starter set, bought the rogue hobbies pro-acryl set today and cant wait to try them out. That said my go to paints are AK interactive 3rd generation they are tops for me.
Fanatic isn't in triads though or if they were it's not anymore they're actually in hexads. There are six paints To each grouping.
As far as thickness goes... I kind of agree I have a tendency to not really thin my paint other than what the wet palette does. However I also have to agree with other painters... You can make paint thinner but you can't make it thicker.
My current preference in paint lines appears to be pro acryl, AK interactive, and actually these new AP fanatic paints might be a third now. I also have a ton of scale 75 and war colours. If I like fanatic I don't know why I don't like wore colors more. It's got the same I need to be thinned problem and it was doing five colors with sensible names a long time ago. Scale 75 and warcolor fails at availability in the US though. War colours even more so. Like a two out of five and a one out of.
I don't currently see a need to acquire two thin coats.
Still need part 3 with older paints, like Vallefo or AK. ;)
How would you rate Vallejo Game Colors? Im starting in the hobby and Im wondering if I should choose bottles from AP or Vallejo GC...
If / when you're done with these test, do a "summary / verdict" video where you include other famous brands like AK, Pro Acryl and Duncan etc. too?
I was putting mixer balls in some paints and not watching the visuals much, so I was confused at the different ratings at first. The category divider was only visual text.
Side note: Another small plus for Army Painter: They include 2 mixing balls so it's convenient even if the cost difference is minor.
I have 2 sets of paint, each for a specific purpose. I use the OG Army painter paints to paint my wargaming miniatures which I use the Vallejo model air to paint scale military models. I would like to try AK interactive as they make paints for both side on my hobby interest.
Had to do a double take when you announced the first paints. I did not expect to hear "Cuddlefith" instead of Cuttlefish xD
Would you mind sharing which sets you paid for vs sets that were sent to you to review or you were paid to review?
I really like Scale 75's Scalecolor Smooth tube paints. They thin well on the wet palette and react well to flow aids as well. I also use their Scalecolor Inks for highlights, and thinned for washes. I'd be interested if anyone else has tried them.
Hi! What do you think about Vallejo? They have also a new range and increased from 17 ml to 18 ml in the bottle … ok, they rise the price too.
Huh? I somehow lost track of time. So, yes, I'm missing Vallejo in this listing. But: I have absolutly no idea, when the new Game Colour Formula was introduced into the market. I just have so many Bottles from the old Line, that I'm just replacing the first ones right now. (And I'm still buying the old Colours, when I see them and know, that I might have some use for them.)
And the new Model Colour Line is just hitting the shelfes right now at the Moment. (On the other hand: I heard somewhere, that Vallejo might not be as easy to get in the States as it is here in Germany, where reagularly any small online-store sells them.)
On the other hand: Since I have a lot of old Vallejo-Paints and have to find out how good specific colours can be repalced (I still stick to that company, because I prever them), I have a little bit of a problem with a side Project: I'm working on a small Warhammer Fantasy Vintage Woodelf Army with 90ies Sculpts. Since I don't know, how the new colours behave with their old counterparts, TAPs Fanatic Paint Range gets a chance on that Project.
Something to note about Army Painter Fanatic paints, which I think could affect the rating, is that they pretty much seem to be designed to be used in tandem with the speedpaints. AP confirmed that they added white pigment to each colour for opacity, explaining the slightly desaturated look. But if you want vibrancy you can easily glaze over with any of their Speedpaints.
it's not really a new approach, painters have been using inks to boost saturation for ages. But it does feel like you get the most bang for your buck if you completely buy into AP's ranges.
White pigment is basis for most paints in this business - Pro Acryl, AK or Citadel are doing the same thing. Pure pigmented paints are usually artist ranges in tubes. Difference is Army Painter decided to make it primary ingredient in all their paints due to coverage being their main priority. Reality is that you need to buy additional paint and Speedpaint Medium to obtain vibrant colour, plus it's additional work. You could just grab TTC, S75 or AK red and have vibrancy from the start. So yeah, rating should go down a little for that, because Fanatics aren't really meant for you if you like vibrancy or very dark colours (watching my Huldra Blue right now, mmm...).
you missed the new Vallejo GameColor, and yes i would consider them a new paint range
Definitely go with army painter, the value, availability, and selection make them the easy choice. The paints go twice as far as most other paints as I thin them as well. I will still have my favorites from other lines but army painter is the quick and easy go to. For a line that a year ago I would have said is just trash they have come a very long way.
Thank you for your review as always your videos bring the pertinent information with a openess that is enjoyable.
I paint a lot of slaves to darkness and the colder desaturated tones work extremely well for my painting style. I will definitely look into the cuttlefish line of acrylics for that reason.
You'll have to add Mindwork Studio paints to the list in the near future 😉
I can't wait!!!!!!
And I really like to see the difference with the golden …. (As far I know, they came out the same factory😉)
Great video!
If I could get the two things coats line easily, I would definitely buy them. Until I can, it’s AP fanatics and proacryl. 👍👍
I'm convinced Army Painter intentionally & excessively extended their 'triad' to six colours just to try and make people buy more stuff.
If they ever release the conversion chart they say they are making for the old to new colours, I'll just be replacing the old colours.
Otherwise I'll just switch to ProAcryl or similar.
I'd love to see someone do a video culling the new Fanatic range down to a minimum 'true triad'.
If I take the plunge and buy some Discworld miniatures, I'll go for Ammo or Vallejo. I like and have used both brands before.
Aren't the thinner paints actually more expensive due to the thicker paints getting thinned during use?
Will Reaper MSP/Bones make it in part 3? Pretty please?
If you can, check the TTCombat paint. I would like to know what you think about them.
I’m thinking about investing in a new set of paints. What would you chose between Ak 3rd gen and fanatic? Unfortunately once the fanatic full set goes out of stock they’re not bringing it back.
For the easy to make colors, they are about the same, other than fanatic being far more dense, so you better thin everything far more than AK. But when you have to choose vibrancy over coverage, Army painter chose coverage, leading to basically zero pure pigments in those colors, and far more muted results. Just look at that pure red.
I'd not buy full sets of anything though, including AK. Go compare their Cadmium Red with their Medium Orange. Do you REALLY think you need both colors? Then compare Luminous green and laser yellow. Two pairs, all great paints, yet nobody needs to own both.
What about Vallejo and Citadel?
Two Thin Coats, Pro Acryl and new Vallejo are the best acrylic paints for me.
GW has the best washes and technical colours.
The Army Painter has the best perks around the paint (practical naming, triad on bottle, the tri-shaded logo of every speedpaint). I think more companies need to follow this steps 🤔
I would like to see how to new Vallejo game color holds up against Army Painter fanatic. Getting a hold of the Vallejo new game color as an American fells like trying to find big foot 😅. It doesn't exist unless i pay for shipping that cost more than the paint itself 😐.
the biggest selling point of the Army Painter Fanatics is the Triad color system. They are good paints on top of that. very beginner friendly. Your WAY past that with a lot more skill and practice in picking what colors you love. It makes sense you'd go for what you did, all why recommending (numerically at least) the Army painter stuff.
Are you doing the new sets from Monument Hobbies?
Thanks so much for doing this! Really helps!!!
Since you mentioned that you are getting rid of some paint brands, could you do a video giving advice on how to get rid of paints? I have been donating some to other people that I know, but is there a better way to donate them or sell them?
How do you like Monument Hobbies ProAcryl paints?
I think it is strange you wouldn't consider Reaper Paints. Their range is HUGE... But opacity can be a challenge.
Ignoring availability aspect, where does ten01 Ultracryl fit in the list ? The paint brand you did a review of during its Kickstarter?
Will you be doing a paintbrush episode?
"Canadian Winter" white ...lol
I like Two Thin Coats I just wish it was cheaper. I am leaning toward Army Painter but I do like paint vibrancy. Ugh decisions.
Are you a veteran? That T-Shirt is giving me Iraq 2004-2006 vibes. Great 2 part video series.
Isn’t cuttlefish the company that monument worked with prior to becoming monument?
olreit! lettuce go! Hope ultracryl will be in the next video of this series ;-) Very measured comments. All these paints are pretty good, some will suit your taste/expectations more, others less.
Since there is not timeline for them to be released, I thought it wouldn't be fair to talk about them!
@@LylaMev That could be a case for honorable mentions or sth ;-) but since they're in development, I think you're right.
Buy AK interactive. Liked them so much =, bought the whole range whitin 6 months. SELL; scale75. Like Ike ultra Matt, but ak is so much smoother
No Monument Hobbies paints? New - check, Pigment dense - check, vibrant colors - check, availability - check, no clog large bottles - check
That’s a fairly old video where she basically swapped mostly to PA. You can also see them in the background
I love them.... but the availability around me is 0/10, as no local store has them, and the range width is.... still pretty weak outside of 350 million tans, although the Rogue Hobbies and Flameon series at least helped with the reds and oranges. The bottles are also a real hit or miss. They are also not remotely new.
So your definition of check here is ludicrous.
why no monument hobbies?
And why they should be included? They're not new range of paints.
@PrzybyszzMatplanety oh that makes sense. I didnt realize it was new ranges only