Sorry for the noob question, but I come from the painting world of Warhammer and I've always used Citadel paints. I find they have a great selection of colors, metalic paints, and easy to use primers and that their paints seem to apply nicer than Tamiya (which seems like the main hobby store paint), but I find it to spread on a little thin. The only real problem with citadel is they all have stupid names that don't relate to anything...

That being said, there are far more experienced painters on this board and I wanted to get an understanding of what are the best paints available? Should I just learn to use Tamiya paints? Why do they always seem too thin...? There must a be a reason these are the most popular paints in all the hobby stores.

Hi, I assume you are talking about the tamiya acrylic paints? I think they are more suitable for airbrushing than hand painting with a brush, where they tend to clump, or need a couple of coats. I use citadel paints for detail and touch up work, just can't beat their Bolt Gun for tracks etc.

Have a nice day,
Mike

Hi

I use Citadel metalics for worn metal and their brown based inks (if the new line still carries them) and washes for, well, washes.

HTH

Tom

Citadel's range is excellent. I took a 16 year hiatus, focusing on Citadel miniatures. I never had any problems with the paint clumping and the washes are great.

Citadel paints are a good basic range and at our club we have a figure painter who doesn't use anything else and has won many accolades at shows, his most recent being best figure in its class at Modelworld, Telford, UK. He thins his paint down quite a lot and does multiple layers to achieve a really smooth finish with flawless transitions.

All the best,

Paul

True, Tamiya acrylics are a pain to paint with a brush. Though I haven't tried them (yet) with an airbrush, I've heard they perform very well with them.

I have to agree about the metallics - fantastic stuff! Good selection of shades and the metallic flake size is pleasantly small. Not flakey like some metallics can be.

The Citadel washes are also very nice, even though most of that range finds use in fantasy subjects. But the more down to earth shades I've found extremely useful. I'd recommend 'nuln oil' (very dark brown or "scale black"), 'agrax earthshade' (brownish/earthish shade), and 'seraphim sepia' (warm lighter brown).

I've heard Vallejo and Army Painter paint ranges have very similar washes as well, for a bit more affordable prices.

As for the inks, Citadel range hasn't had them for years. Can't say I really miss them, as they were rather densely pigmented and dried very fast, making it tricky to get even coats. The current washes are much more useful, IMO.

Although Citadels are nice paints (though pricey), the Color range is more suitable for fantasy subjects.
For military subjects, I'd have a try with Vallejo Mode Color, if you can get them. Very broad range, with the major military areas covered (e.g. US, RAF, Luftwaffe, etc.). But stick with the Citadel metallics. I've tried a couple of the Model Color ones and found them rather large-pigmented for my taste. The Model Air metallics are a different story, but they're suited primarily for airbrush application.

I use Citadel /GWS paints all the time for hand-brushing, and have done so for years.

(Tamiya's paints are, IMO, really only suitable for airbrushing.)

With the Citadel paints, I use all of their flesh colors, all of their metallics, several of their browns (BTW: Snake Bite Leather and Bestial Brown are excellent raw and burnt sienna colors), their reds, yellows and blues.

I've only used a couple of the paints in their "new" line (since the older colors have all be discontinued AFAIK) and my LHS only carries the new paints now. These "new" paints seem to work just as well.

I also thin them down considerably (as I do Vallejo and Reaper) and apply thin multiple coats for most jobs.

I've found the thinner solution that I use with Vallejo paints works just fine with Citadel paints.

I use 50:50 water and Vallejo Model Color Thinner + ~5% by volume each Vallejo Matt Medium and an artist acrylic retarder. I keep this thinning mixture ready made in a squeeze bottle on my workbench. However, for the longest time, I just used ordinary water to thin my Citadel / GWS paints.

HTH,

Interesting stuff, I didn't realize so many people were on board with citadel paints. But it sounds like if I want to get the best look for my models in going to have to look at thinning these or get at new set like Vallejo to compliment my existing paints. Thanks for all the advice!

S;
I have been using Tamiya and citadel paints for over twenty years, and have used them both for hand brush painting. I find both to have their strengths and weaknesses. Both dry quickly but both can also be easily moved with the application of a second or third coat. Citadel tend to work well when properly thinned with water, Tamiya better with windex. If you can get past the names of the citadel paints and focus on the actual colors offered they have a great range that comes in many shades. They used to offer some great inks and washes, but I have not seen what they have recently. I have used both to paint space marines, elder and other armies, with good results, but I also used my Tamiya paints on those as well often mixing both paints onto one model in different areas.

This all being said, if you have a ready supply of one or the other that you have been using and it works for you, go with that. There are many here who would say that Vallejo model paints are the best out there, but what feels best in your hand is often the way to go. If you have the resources to buy other paints and experiment, do so. Always good to build your repitiore and knowledge base. Cheers.

Citadel paints are my go to paints for metalic hand painting and dry brushing. Never tried to air brush them as I've standardized on Tamiya and Model Master acrylics for that.

Joel

Hey S,

I'm with the consensus here. Citadel are great paints, but I usually keep them for handbrushing metallics and their vibrant reds or yellows to highlight cockpit/interior switches.

Chaos Black is probably the best acryllic matt black out there, and you can get it in aerosol form that lasts for months.

A great effect for engines and guns is to prime the engine, spray it with chaos black and them dry-brush it with Mithril silver. Use a dark brown wash to dirty up the engine.


Citadel washes are also excellent, especially on armour and figures. Forget about the 'fantasy'names, just shake them and go by sight. I great exhaust effect is mixing the dark brown and black wash and lightly airbrush them on, in a few layers.

Citadel and Vallejo paints work quite well together, citadel paints can be thinned and airbrushed with water.

Tamiya paints are great to airbrush, but make sure that you use a sealant (Future, Purity Sealant etc etc)before you use another brand or wash on them...

Always test first on an old model or piece of plastic first.

Eoin

Now how did I manage to forget that, good that you mentioned it!
I use the washes for airbrushing exhaust stains as well, usually airbrushing a couple of different washes to get a varying or layered effect. When airbrushing, the washes usually work well straight from the bottle, but can sometimes benefit from a bit of thinning (especially if the bottle isn't brand new and has thickened). Don't go overboard though, as you want to be able to slowly build up the effect without runs or getting too much coverage too fast.

The metallics airbrush pretty well too, except I found them a little tricky at first, as the pigment flakes want to settle to the bottom (and to the airbrush nozzle) when thinned with only water. Adding a bit of Future seems to help keeping the thinned paint together better.

All good info! I went out and grabbed some Vallejo to compare to citadel. I find they spread nicely, just like citadel but seem to have better realistic colors, after a little thinning.

I also picked up a Mig wash to see how it coats the tamiya sprays and it looks great. I've been scouring these forums for paint advice and tips and I'm starting to learn some real tricks.

Next step is using the pigments for sand effects! Thanks again