What Is The Best Paint Brand for Warhammer?

We are comparing paint brands like Citadel from Games Workshop, Vallejo, Ak Interactive and many more in an experiment. What is the ultimate paint brand for miniature painting?

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I use wet palette from Redgrass games:

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I am painting miniatures for warhammer 40k, age of sigmar, marvel crisis protocol, D&D and much more! Whether it is superhero miniatures, heroic characters or space marines, I will paint them! If you are looking for some sweet miniature painting tutorials or warhammer hobby content in general, this is the right channel for you!

[Zumikito]

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.

[spacedock]

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?

[sanlitun]

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.

[NatesMiniatures]

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

[bluedotdinosaur]

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.

[Weltrath]

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.

[mikejohansson]

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!

[wssayer]

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.

[JoeFlamenco]

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.

[McWerp]

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.

[jacobrekos]

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.

[maldo_minis]

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.

[TheArmyPainter]

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?

[Willyamm]

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.

[alternate]

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

[ravensoulmetal]

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.

[JosephSaintClair]

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!!!

[thattabletopguy]

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.

[MiniQuest]

Never thought about using ak interactive! I'll give them a try.

Thanks for the video!

[TheDough]

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