Best Paints in your honest opinion

[NightFallArts]

In my opinion the GW metallics are by far the best in the industry...
I currently use Vajello and P3 which i tend to use often, some great colors in that line...
I tried reaper master and was never a fan of the paint.

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR SELECTION

 

[Einion]

In my opinion the GW metallics are by far the best in the industry...

Alclad II, nuff said

Seriously though, have you tried the VAC metallics? Not all great colours but the best of them are brilliant (no pun intended). Also the alcohol-based ones Vallejo also make are well worth trying for some things.

Einion

 

[Torn blue sky]

In my opinion the GW metallics are by far the best in the industry...
I currently use Vajello and P3 which i tend to use often, some great colors in that line...
I tried reaper master and was never a fan of the paint.

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR SELECTION

NEIN! Renaissance Inks have THE finest grain metallics I have ever seen. Stunning quality.

ED: Shame they only have 2 metallics now...bollocks. Worth it though.

 

[dokks]

Reaper Master Series are far and away the best paints I've used in my 14 + years of painting.

 

[bsop]

I use Vallejo game, model and GW. Like em all for certain things, as its been said a few times already. GW Metals are very nice, Vallejo has better yellows than GW as well as a glaze and thinner medium. Vallejo is also cheaper for more paint, though i have noticed the consistency of the paint form pot to pot varies much more than GW. Either way, I thin down the paints as it is, and have had no real problems with either.

 

[Jbickley00]

Currently I use Golden Artist Color acrylics, both fluid and heavy body. They are, in my opinion unequaled in terms of quality.

 

[Bohemond]

Best paints is Reaper Pro Paints at the moment

 

[Einion]

Currently I use Golden Artist Color acrylics, both fluid and heavy body. They are, in my opinion unequaled in terms of quality.

Their fluids are really nice (if pricey) but their heavy-body colours, not so much. You might want to check out some of the competition - I've compared 'em to everything I can get my hands on easily and can honestly say they're not stellar.

Einion

 

[bane3d]

VMC and even Talens Acrylic paints are very good Imho. GW paints are nice, but P3 (not completely matt paints) and VMC got better pigments...Really depends on personal choice & paint style. :nobrushlick:

 

[CarbonCopy]

I've been painting, off & on, for over 20 years and have used many, many paint brands and types in that timeframe. I've come to learn that there are as many there are as many preferences to paint as there are painters. You'll notice that painters can have completely different points of view as to what a good paint is or is not.

I've seen amazing work done with paints that most others consider garbage. I've also seen incredibly poor work done with supposedly amazing paint (even by the same painter).

Some of my preferred paint brands are extremely cheap "craft" paints, Liquitex and Delta Ceramcoat, because I prefer the transparency and/or matte finnish. In my case, it's about the amount of control I get because I know HOW to control them.

Everyone has a different opinion. It helps very little to say a paint is "best" without qualifying why. That said, I'd follow Einion input very closely as he nearly always qualify's why a product is good or not. He consistently has some of the most informed opinions and advice -- even if I don't agree with him on some of the finer points on what makes a quality airbrush (but he sure does produce amazing work with his).

 

[Assemblymaster]

I have the large Vallejo game color set (rather new and pricey case) and I love it so far, but have only tried a few of the colors as of yet, so verdict is still out. I have alot of the model colors and they were hand selected for the color choices I wanted at the time. They are very nice as well.
I have piles of Games workshop paints that go back to the old plastic flip top bottles and about 40 bottles of Ral Partha paints from the late 80's that still work great...their days are numbered, I know. (long OOP)
I have ceramcoat and such that are cheap and let my son use those, but I have snuck and used them from time to time, and they were ok...a bit grainy for my likes as the micro grains of plastic are too large for miniatures in my opinion.

As many have posted - Use what you like and find appealing to your painting style and what makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Oddly- so many other factors affect how your paints flow and look. How do you base? Do you use Kolinsky Sable brushes, etc...

 

[Jbickley00]

@ Einion
I have tried everything from Sennelier, W&N, Liqutex, Blick and Lascaux. I like the lascaux a lot, but they don't have the range of the Goldens. Liquitex are pretty good (they have a flesh color that I use quite often in painting 6mm stuff) but their organic pigments (the thalos) are little more matte than I like, or at least they seem that way to me. If you are used to painting with Gamer Paints, then I'd recommend the Liquitex soft body acrylics, or the Lascaux Studio paints. My impression thus far has been that golden are the best, hands down.

Now that being said, I don't really use the heavy bodies in their natural state (except for cadmuim red) as I tend to mix them with fluid medium, since I like the flow. I have used the aribrush mediums to get washes, but I like the glazing liquid better. I have not really done an apples to apples comparison between golden heavy body and other heavybodies in a pure state. I can tell that the liquitex tends to be weaker in pigmentation, but if you are not thinning your paints then it may not matter. I doubt in terms of pigment strength, the other premuim brands are significantly different, but Golden offers a lot of help, and that is what drew me to them in the first place.

In my expereince the Golden Heavy Bodies are stellar, thats why I keep coming back to them I might be a bit of a fan boy but in 20 years I have spent thousands on new brands of paints, trying every new system, and ultimately, Golden is where I started and where I am back to. But I am curious as to why you did not like them, and what you would reccomend?

Your minis are awesome, by the way.

 

[Einion]

...I am curious as to why you did not like them, and what you would reccomend?

Okay, my reservations are based on using them for paintings, not for miniatures: the variable finish (from very matt to pretty glossy, depending on colour); the natural earth colours that should be semitransparent but are opaque; and that they're not particularly heavy-bodied, despite the name The consistency can also vary a surprising amount, even in the small selection I have it goes from pretty viscous (Titanium White and Mars Black) to middling (Neutral Grey 5) to sloppy (Ultramarine Violet); this even shows up on their hand-painted colour charts so it's clear it's not just from a small sample group. Last but not least, the price brackets (nine series?!) and the overall price for the pigmentation level.

The old W&N Finity line was equal to Golden's HB overall, better in certain ways (particularly the uniform finish, which I think is very important), D-R Crylas are good too but Tri-Art or Richeson (basically the same paint) are probably my favourites currently. The Blick artists' acrylics - used to be made for them by Golden BTW - are probably are the best-value acrylics on the market currently and I think they hold their own against most of the brand names in a lot of ways.

I can tell that the liquitex tends to be weaker in pigmentation...

That sounds about right, especially now that they're no longer an independent maker.

...Golden offers a lot of help, and that is what drew me to them in the first place.

Their great in that respect, their website is chock-full of useful info and they're also very good about answering technical questions.

Your minis are awesome, by the way.

Ta! Mostly painted with artists' acrylics.

Einion

 

[Jbickley00]

I guess for me, I usually want a thinner mix, so I am always using the HB colors (and the fluids) with mediums and glazing liquid, which sort of normalizes finish and fluidity. I liked the old finity line, but that seems to have evaporated. I did not know that about the blick paint. For minis painters getting into this..I'd definitely stick with the fluids at first...they have greatly expanded this range and most every color is represented. I buy things hodge-podge and on sale, and some of my HB colors were cheaper than the fluids. I should mention that artists colors can be more transparent than "Gamer Paints," and require a little different approach. Thanks for the info, Einion.

 

[Einion]

I liked the old finity line, but that seems to have evaporated.

The W&N artists' acrylics were relaunched and rebranded recently, and they dumped the Finity name. One of the things that got lost along the way was the uniform finish...
...despite this being highlighted as a good feature in their product literature! :disdain:

Einion

 

[bronzeback40]

It depends on your paint style.

If you're going for getting the job done in three or four coats, you want to go Privateer press' P3 line. Their liquid primer and lots of it means you'll get excellent (almost too much) coverage at anything less than 1:10 paint:water. The colors are fairly varied, my only complaint is that the browns are all abit too similar for my tastes. Also, their metallics are infamous for not getting "it" right. For the same reasons, they make great washes (add a bit of Matte medium)

If you don't mind doing ten to twelve layers for most work, go with Reaper master series paints (RMS). They have a bit less coverage than the P3's, so they thin down with a lot less fiddling. Also, the color range is ridiculously large; almost too much to keep track of, but they have what you need (and then some). Also, they make nice paint-on primers if you're into that sort of thing.

My long time (pre-RMS) favorite would be Vallejo Game Color. Nice selection of colors, excellent metallics, not too fiddly on thinning (like RMS). If you have used GW paints in the past, they have a very similar color selection, only with better paints. (Check out their website for VGC=GW chart.)

My current selection looks like this:

VGC 5 metallics, 4 tones
RMS 7 tones, 2 primers
P3 24 tones
various Liquitex additives

I plan on moving more towards RMS and VGC and using the p3's as more of a basecoat (did i mention they have ridiculous coverage?) and washing. I have also read many recommendations for Vallejo'd Model Color line for metallics, although i have no direct experience.

 

[Aliengod3]

I get the best coverage and control with GW paints but I really like reaper.

 

[USACelt]

I use mostly craft paints. The best brand I've found is Liquitex. It has the best pigments and density. I've tried P3, the stuff is too thin, will never cover the base coat, even straight from the bottle. I just wish Liquitex had more colors.

 

[airhead]

A very good painter once told me that if you can base coat in one layer, your paint is too thick.

 

[Wigdog]

I tend to use Vallejo and Reaper dropper bottles and really like the Citadel metallics.