Okay, here is the deal. I live in a small town with nobody around that sells Vallejo paint. Nearest hobby shop is more than 30 minutes away and all they sell is Testors. I am wanting to place an order online and get a good assortment of colors to start with. Being new to model building, I don't know where to start. My plan for now is to start with tanks and trucks. I searched for a thread like this but my searching skills must stink. I found a military color set on Amazon that had 72 colors in it and some brushes but it seemed a little pricey considering somebody shared a link where I can get individual bottles cheaper. What colors does everyone here recommend as must have colors? Maybe I can build a list that way. Thanks.

Jeff,Welcome to the site.It's a great place to be.
As one Jeff to another,here's what I ended up doing.I am in the same boat as you,the nearest hobby shop to me is about 1 1/2 hours away,and they really don't carry much.When I got back into this about a year ago,I had nothing left from the old days,and had to start fresh.
I don't think there is any such thing as a hard and fast paint list.
No matter what colors you get,there always seems to be one that you don't have once you get your kit
I do all my shopping on the internet,and did not want to pay twice for shipping,you know,get the kit,look at the recomended colors,then order again.
Here's what I came up with.

Deside what kit you want and from who you are going to order.Make sure they sell paint also.Once you get that done,Look up the kit on the makers website,Dragon,Tamiya,whatever.Lots of times they will have a recomended color list for that model.Get just the colors you need for that kit.That way you have the colors you need for that kit with no extras.
When you get ready to build your next kit,see whats needed,look at your list from the kit before and order what you don't have.
If you do this with every kit you build,you will find that you buy less and less paint as you go along,and colors on the shelf that you use, and not ones that sit and dry out because you don't use them.
It works for Me Hopes this helps.Jeff T.

We'll call this the Jeff Thread.

Well Jeff, (that is Tnfishdaddy) do you have any Hobby Lobby's around you? Once in a while they have sales on modeling supplies that would be a great basis for starting out and I STILL use Testors bottled paint for those brushed projects. They are cheap, easy to use and last, PLUS they come in themed sets so you can target your purchases.

If you do order on-line, make the shipping cost count. Keep in mind that it will be a ground package as they cannot air freight that stuff any longer.

One you roll through a few builds your paint count will grow so it will kinda take on a new life that way.

Good to have you aboard and experience some fun!








~ Jeff

I have a brother named Jeff, if that counts for anything.

Some manufacturers, such as Vallejo, offer sets of paints that have all the colors needed for a given vehicle, such as German armor. A good basic color list would be olive drab, dark yellow, red brown, olive green, dark grey, NATO black, gloss black, white, dirty white/buff/concrete, silver, brass, aluminum, steel, gunmetal, red, clear red, clear green, khaki or tan. If you are doing modern vehicles, NATO brown and green, clear orange, armor sand, light gray also, just for starters. If you have a specific model kit in mind, look for a review and see if the paint guide is listed for the kit, or see if there is a build log as many point out what colors they use. Also, if you want to try washes or other effects, pick up some artists oil paints-raw umber, burnt sienna, paynes grey and yellow ochre make a good starting selection. If you also want to add some dust or dirt for weathering effects, you can get some basic artists chalk pastels. If you have an artist supply store you could find the oil paints and pastels there, along with a good selection of brushes that you can handle.

Paint type may be important depending upon how you are going to paint, either by hand brush or air brush. If you hand brush, Vallejo, Testors new line of acrylics and Pollyscale (only available in their Railroad line now) are generally good and all clean up with water. I don't know much about enamels as the odor is too much for the house.

Type "brush painting" in the search bar at the top as there are several discussions on the subject that should come up. Good luck and let us know how the shopping went.

For me Model Master makes the best, Acrylic and Enamel, I hate the little Testors paints. Tamiyas are good too. Never tried Vallejo but soon will as they seem a lot easier to thin and work with than any other paint brand.

I might be the exception here but I have found that Tamiya works well for me for hand brushing (so long as you can control the consistency, i.e. thin is a bit) and airbrushing (same). My usual repertoire includes the following:
Flats: Black, white, buff, olive drab, red brown, desert yellow, several grey's, and the whole lot of the NATO colours. I also go with red, green, blue, yellow and orange, to use as mixers or for lights and things. The gloss/clear colours of the same are also a must. Having said that there is a colour chart somewhere online that gives your the corresponding colours for Vallejo and others too. Hope this helps. Cheers.