Started to put together a simple table about the most frequently used paints.
Not complete yet, any input or suggestion is welcomed

That would depend on what you are building.Armor,ships,cars,planes ??

A good starting point is the paint call outs in the kit instructions,or perhaps locating a build log of what you are building and following their recommendations.

A small note: Tamiya acryls are actually lacquer based. Thinning them, with water only is not recommended.

I have to say I didn't understand your question initially,the chart didn't show thru,so I wasn't clear what you were asking.

I thought they were the same as regular acrylics with alchahol replacing the water.

Two brands that are overlooked, but have excellent armour colours are:

Colourcoats by WEM (not sure of the current correct name)
Xtracolour from Hannants.

Hi Anthony,

You right, I uploaded the table in a rush not explaining what shall be the objective of it..
I wanted to create a summary of the characteristics of the paint available for modelers. Clarifying some misconception, like all acrylic paints are water based, or non toxic. This table shall be a summary what I have found in various articles and comments. Not being a expert in paint chemistry, the information might need to be adjusted and in some areas deeper explanation is needed.

Some background about paints:
The components of a paint
1./ Pigments. In simply terms this is the color. Source of pigments could be clay, talc, silica, Zinc oxide etc

2./ Binder. The essential part of any paint, bind pigments together. A binder without a pigment is a varnish. The classification of the paint refers to the type of binder used. Acrylic resin, linsed oil, Polyurethane resin are the ones widely used in model paints.

3./ Solvent. The binder and pigment paste requires some liquid to have the desired consistency. Typical solvents are Petroleum based /mineral spirits/, Turpentine, Water, Alcohol, Cellulose /Lacquer/

4./ Other ingredients, like retarder, glaze medium etc

An example of the complexity: Vallejo paints and Tamiya Acrylic range both having Acrylic polymer resin as a binder. Therefore both of them advertised as an acrylic. But the Binder is dissolved in water concerning Vallejo paints, while Tamiya is using alcohol for solvent. To make it even more complicated Acrylic resin is a general name of any plastic resin, having many variations and different types. The Acrylic resin used by Tamiya /and Gunze/ is a versatile one, working well with Alcohol based solvents and with Lacquer solvents /like Mr Color Leveling thinner/ as well.

Hi Graham,

So far I have included those brands, I have some experience with.
Happy to extend the list, but need some help with specs of the paint you mentioned.
It seems that the paint recipe is a sensitive information, know-how, Difficult to find any details about what these companies using as binder, solvent.

an example of different varnish mixes
- transparent, colorless binder /like acrylic polymer/ as the main component
- colorless pigment
The mixing ration of the binder with pigment determines the glossiness of the coat. Having mainly resin in the mixture resulting in a gloss surface. Adding more pigments /like Tamiya matte agent/ to the mixture will change the surface of the coat, giving a matte finish.
The pigment changing the amount of reflected light from the surface.

You left off Colourcoats by Sovereign Hobbies - (ex White Ensign Paints). White Ensign when they first started with all paints - Armor, Aircraft and Ship, the received input and assistance from the Imperial War Museum in England on correct colors, tints and hues for all their paints so all colors are really true to history. When Sovereign Hobbies purchased the rights to the paints from White Ensign the retained the same manufacturer that White Ensign used. You might email them on their website for more info. They do recommend using Lacquer Thinner for airbrushing and not paint thinner.

some update
marked with ?, where I am not sure about the info

IIRC Colourcoats being enamels are oil based, being enamels.