Which acrylic paints do you recommend?

[Greybird]

I know I'm late, but I just saw the thread. Hopefully the info is still useful.

I've painted with a huge range of colors over the years. First off, I've become and advocate of dropper bottles over pots. They last longer, they're less prone to accident, and I honestly don't like GW as a company.

My own collection spans a few different brands. The core of my collection is Vallejo, although I have a lot of Reaper and a few Army Painter thrown in, plus some odds and ends (like Green Stuff World's color shift paint.) The brands are mostly comparable. For washes I prefer Vallejo, although I also use the Army Painter Quick Shade washes (these are traditional dropper bottle washes, not the polyurethane dips.)

The one thing I will say when it comes to paint is that I have never used a metallic as good as Scale75's Alchemy sets. Their metallics are fantastic.

As an aside, for primers I'd recommend either Army Painter primer (if you prefer rattlecans) or Badger Stynlrez (for either brushing on or airbrush.)

[Ikoma]

Anyone on this list have any experiences with the new contrast paints?

[[red]]

I know I'm late, but I just saw the thread. Hopefully the info is still useful.

I've painted with a huge range of colors over the years. First off, I've become and advocate of dropper bottles over pots. They last longer, they're less prone to accident, and I honestly don't like GW as a company.

My own collection spans a few different brands. The core of my collection is Vallejo, although I have a lot of Reaper and a few Army Painter thrown in, plus some odds and ends (like Green Stuff World's color shift paint.) The brands are mostly comparable. For washes I prefer Vallejo, although I also use the Army Painter Quick Shade washes (these are traditional dropper bottle washes, not the polyurethane dips.)

The one thing I will say when it comes to paint is that I have never used a metallic as good as Scale75's Alchemy sets. Their metallics are fantastic.

As an aside, for primers I'd recommend either Army Painter primer (if you prefer rattlecans) or Badger Stynlrez (for either brushing on or airbrush.)

I hate to impose, but would you mind dropping a link to the type of dropper stuff that you use? I'm very painting illiterate and I plan on painting a small number of miniatures soon - about 10 - 14. My own paints are very dried out, so I need something new.

This is what I found for Vallajo: https://www.amazon.com/Vallejo-Wargames ... 5810&psc=1

[Greybird]

I hate to impose, but would you mind dropping a link to the type of dropper stuff that you use? I'm very painting illiterate and I plan on painting a small number of miniatures soon - about 10 - 14. My own paints are very dried out, so I need something new.

No imposition!

Here are the ones I've mentioned.

Reaper and Vallejo are my main go-to paints.

Reaper: https://www.reapermini.com/paints

Vallejo: https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/categor ... -color-en/ Vallejo has two important lines. Game Color has brighter colors, Model Color has more realistic tones. I use both, depending on the project.

Here is a link for the washes I prefer: https://www.amazon.com/Vallejo-Game-Col ... B0048Z3OOC

Here is Army Painter. I use a few of their paints and a couple of their washes. Most importantly, their spray primers are, in my experience, the best on the market. https://www.thearmypainter.com/

Badger Stynlrez. They're airbrush primers, but they are also top-notch as brush-on primers. A black/white/gray triple set will last for a long, long time. https://www.amazon.com/Badger-Air-Brush ... B00K3KGUME

Scale 75, the Alchemy sets (they are expensive, but the best metallics. To save money, get a few individual bottles.): https://scale75.com/en/65-scalecolor-range

Chameleon Colorshift Paints. These aren't really necessary for most people, but I mentioned them, so I'm linking them: http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/153-c ... lic-paints

Some general purchasing advice: Don't buy individual paints through Amazon. They carry most of them, but the companies all compensate for the free shipping by charging more per-bottle. Significantly more. Sometimes double. If you're wanting a selection and want to shop online, buy from a retailer that carries multiple products you want and pay shipping once rather than per-item (even with Prime.) It will save a ton of money. 20 bottles of paint from a hobby site @$4.00 plus $10 shipping = $90. 20 bottles on Amazon at $7 with free shipping = $140. My old site (The War Store) has become unreliable, and I've recently made the switch to Miniature Market ( https://www.miniaturemarket.com/accesso ... aints.html ) for paint shopping. They've been top notch.

[[red]]

I hate to impose, but would you mind dropping a link to the type of dropper stuff that you use? I'm very painting illiterate and I plan on painting a small number of miniatures soon - about 10 - 14. My own paints are very dried out, so I need something new.

No imposition!

Here are the ones I've mentioned.

Reaper and Vallejo are my main go-to paints.

Reaper: https://www.reapermini.com/paints

Vallejo: https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/categor ... -color-en/ Vallejo has two important lines. Game Color has brighter colors, Model Color has more realistic tones. I use both, depending on the project.

Here is a link for the washes I prefer: https://www.amazon.com/Vallejo-Game-Col ... B0048Z3OOC

Here is Army Painter. I use a few of their paints and a couple of their washes. Most importantly, their spray primers are, in my experience, the best on the market. https://www.thearmypainter.com/

Badger Stynlrez. They're airbrush primers, but they are also top-notch as brush-on primers. A black/white/gray triple set will last for a long, long time. https://www.amazon.com/Badger-Air-Brush ... B00K3KGUME

Scale 75, the Alchemy sets (they are expensive, but the best metallics. To save money, get a few individual bottles.): https://scale75.com/en/65-scalecolor-range

Chameleon Colorshift Paints. These aren't really necessary for most people, but I mentioned them, so I'm linking them: http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/153-c ... lic-paints

Some general purchasing advice: Don't buy individual paints through Amazon. They carry most of them, but the companies all compensate for the free shipping by charging more per-bottle. Significantly more. Sometimes double. If you're wanting a selection and want to shop online, buy from a retailer that carries multiple products you want and pay shipping once rather than per-item (even with Prime.) It will save a ton of money. 20 bottles of paint from a hobby site @$4.00 plus $10 shipping = $90. 20 bottles on Amazon at $7 with free shipping = $140. My old site (The War Store) has become unreliable, and I've recently made the switch to Miniature Market ( https://www.miniaturemarket.com/accesso ... aints.html ) for paint shopping. They've been top notch.

Thanks! That is very helpful!

[[red]]

Vallejo: https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/categor ... -color-en/ Vallejo has two important lines. Game Color has brighter colors, Model Color has more realistic tones. I use both, depending on the project.

I got the basic set from these guys. I'll see how that goes.

[[red]]

Update:

I picked up the wrong starter set from Vallejo and purchased a couple of single colors - I would have been better served purchasing the basic set, or the base set from Reaper, I think.

None-the-less, I got started on some figures and they are turning out quite nicely. I just need to keep convincing my wife that this is not so much a money sink, and yeah a file set is weird, and just a thing of primer for now, etc....

i should post pictures, but not quite sure how to host them anymore. Maybe I will upload a video to youtube and post it.

[Beeronious]

Scale 75, the Alchemy sets (they are expensive, but the best metallics. To save money, get a few individual bottles.): https://scale75.com/en/65-scalecolor-range

Scale 75 are slowly becoming my go to for acrylic paints. A majority of my set is Vallejo, but I have found the high pigment count means their paint is a dream to thin.

When it comes to metallics I have found myself steering away from acrylics altogether and I am mostly using AK Interactive's True Metal line of enamels.

For dark metal like robots (or battlemech parts) I generally base with their Gunmetal and highlight with Dark Aluminium. For lighter stuff, like a well polished sword I base in Steel and highlight in Silver.

I also really reccomend their enamel washes too.