Pros and cons of P3 paints?

[evil tendencies]

Hey all, I need some help. I\'ve got a lot of people asking me recently about how P3 paints stack up to GW and Vallejo paints. I\'m very familiar with GW and Vallejo, but I\'m only passing familiar with the P3 line - I haven\'t used it on many projects, and I\'ve only used it over black primer. I\'m not rolling in the dough right now, so I don\'t really have the ability to try out a significant portion of the range.

Is there someone that could tell me about it\'s technical qualities and their experiences with it? Or, barring that, can you point me to a site I can send people to?

 

[generulpoleaxe]

Originally posted by evil tendencies
Hey all, I need some help. I\'ve got a lot of people asking me recently about how P3 paints stack up to GW and Vallejo paints. I\'m very familiar with GW and Vallejo, but I\'m only passing familiar with the P3 line - I haven\'t used it on many projects, and I\'ve only used it over black primer. I\'m not rolling in the dough right now, so I don\'t really have the ability to try out a significant portion of the range.

Is there someone that could tell me about it\'s technical qualities and their experiences with it? Or, barring that, can you point me to a site I can send people to?

pm jah, he uses loads of p3\'s range.

 

[uberdark]

i use all three ranges...so i feel i can help you on this ....hopefully....

lol

p3 is a great set for painting... they dry well, mix well and work great for basing over black. the reds are on par with vallejo....unlike citadels, which has a lot of opacity issues. i particularly like their whites and yellow whites which allow for easier blends, than gw. there inks are decent....not the best....and to be honest nothing holds a torch to gw\'s inks and washes.... the metallics all suck.... i have met few ppl who actually like these. the best metallics are still gw and p3 metallics are not worth the hassle, they almost always separate and take a good 2 minutes of shaking to get the consistency straight. then when you blend with them(the metallics) it sometimes takes paint off from the previous layer. so those are a big heck no from me. the armor wash is also a good wash though. much like badab black and devlan mud mixed together. so there is that. all three ranges are pretty equal in what they have available. they all three mix fairly well together and allow for a wide range of colors.

i hope this helps.

 

[jahminis]

well, to start, i\'ve been usin\' P3 since \'06...
i have yet to replace a pot, except for black and white...
they last long, since they use the old, tight, flip tops...

i am a fan of the metals, but not to the exclusion of GW metals...
blighted gold, pig iron, and radiant platinum, are my faves...
i base all my steel with pig iron, and wash with armor wash, then go from there...
i like to mix armor wash and flesh wash (which is really purple), maybe throw in some vallejo smoke...

the only issue that i have with P3 is that they don\'t have some of the colours that i really like from GW, like space wolves grey...

my basic philosophy is not to turn down any manufacturers\' product if it works well, or doesn\'t exist in a specific paint line...

i choose P3 over GW because they go on better (for the most part), last longer, and have more interestin\' tonal variations in the standard colours...

cheers
jah

 

[evil tendencies]

awesome, thanks guys.

 

[mattsterbenz]

I can\'t add much to what the others said, so I\'ll just list some of my favorite colors from the range, mainly because these colors compliment the GW range so well.

-Trollblood Base
-Trollblood Highlight
-Coal Black
-Sanguine Base
-Rucksack Tan
-Sulfuric Yellow
-All of the other greenish brown/ muted colors. These are great for military jobs.

These are the P3 colors that I\'ve used as GW replacements, because the pigment is far better.

-Hammerfall Khaki (Kommando Khaki)
-Morrow White (Skull White)
-Menoth White Base (Bleached Bone)
-Khador Red Base (Blood Red)




-Matt

 

[Trevor]

What Uberdark said.

For metals, vallejo AIR are the dogs bollocks, simple pure awesome. Failing that the GW are next best.

 

[ScottRadom]

I like some of their colors for shading and stuff, like Bloodstone and Coal Black, but for the most part I find them not as good at coverage as GW, and most of them seem to really have that kind of resiny/waxy sort of gloss finish when they dry. Not a big deal as I matte coat my finished models but I don\'t really like working with them for that reason.

Having said that, it\'s rare I pick up a bottle that isn\'t Vallejo Model Color or especially the Vallejo Air metals.