Where to buy painting supplies?

[dfunkateer]

Yo,

I'm about to take the bold leap back from virtual BB to table top play against real people and everything, which requires me to buy paints, tools and brushes (and possibly green stuff too).

The last time I bought such things I was about 12 so a few (ahem) years have passed and it appears the Grandma Wendy ain't necessarily the best (or cheapest) place to buy such things from.

Can anyone please give me a few suggestions of where to get good value/good quality supplies from and also recommend any good brands to look for or avoid? Just so that you know, I'm in the UK.

Many thanks,

Dfunk.

ps I did a search for this topic first but couldn't find a thread on it. Please don't throw things at me if the thread already exists.

[fitch-face]

+1 on this, it's been 7 years since I painted a model and back then I was abominable and only ever used Granny Wendy's stuff so advice would be great.
Thanks for starting the thread, dfunkateer.

[el Superbeasto]

There's been a similar thread here:
http://talkfantasyfootball.org/viewtopi ... 23&t=32846

and here:
http://talkfantasyfootball.org/viewtopi ... 23&t=35581

I've commented on both so you can read my oppinion there, but to summarize:

Maelstromgames is a great place to get your fix! And as Magictobe says; it's free postage (for orders above £10).

I have only good things to say about Formula P3. The paint is smooth, good for blending and has good coverage. Simply love'em to bits!
http://www.maelstromgames.co.uk/index.p ... p3&sou=cat

If you like the old Citadel paints, you can also try Coat d'Arms. They are the old manufactures of Citadel paints and all their colours are therefore directly comparable to Citadel colours. It's a good solid product (though I still prefer P3).
http://www.maelstromgames.co.uk/index.p ... da&sou=cat

I don't have a lot of experience with Vallejo, but the ones I've used have been with mixed success. Some were top notch while others were pretty lousy.
If you like the drop bottles, I can recommend Reaper Paints. They can be a bit hard to find in Europe, though, but they are nice to work with. -And if you're lazy when it comes to mixing your paint (like me), Reaper Paints can be the answer to your prayers as they come in "triads"; shadow, base and highlight.
http://www.reapermini.com/Paints/corecolors

Hope this helps!

PS: Good choice staying away from Grannys paints. Not only is she evil - her paints sucks!

[burgun824]

Hell, I use watered down acrylic paint from the local craft store. Apple Barrel paints by Plaid. They aren't great but they do the trick for a really low cost. I spent a little extra for Citadel washes because they are hands down the best.

If you want to try the dipping method I would highly recommend The Army Painter. A full range of everything you need at a reasonable price.

Other paint brands that I've heard highly recommended are Vallejo and Reaper.

I hope that's enough to get you started. Good luck.

[Da Crusha]

recently Ive been to several painting seminars and the majority of the instructors highly recommend reaper master series paints. they also recommend the squeeze bottles over the dipping bottles to preserve quality and recommend transferring them into squeeze bottles if you particularly like a paint. also the multiple golden deamon award winner swears by P3 paints.

[el Superbeasto]

recently Ive been to several painting seminars and the majority of the instructors highly recommend reaper master series paints. they also recommend the squeeze bottles over the dipping bottles to preserve quality and recommend transferring them into squeeze bottles if you particularly like a paint. also the multiple golden deamon award winner swears by P3 paints.

Regarding bottle types, I have some of the old Citadel "dipping bottles" that are around 20 years old, and the paint is still crisp and clear. I guess it depends a lot on how you use them. If you're the type who like to leave them open for long periods while you paint, they'll probably not last as long. However - don't! Buy or make yourself a wet palette (like this one: http://www.maelstromgames.co.uk/index.p ... al_101_000). It's such a much more pleasant experience to paint with and you only need to open your paint bottle for a few seconds at a time.

Finally, if you're looking for brushes as well, I can recommend the ones from Coat d'Arms:
http://www.maelstromgames.co.uk/index.p ... ob-cda-ptg
They are synthetic but they spread the paint really nicely, they are cheap and they keep their shape way better than the other brushes I've had. I prefer the "superstar" version which is your standard round handle brush. The "professional" version has a triangular handle. It's just a matter of preference. The brush itself is the same.

[spubbbba]

Everything el Superbeasto has said is great advice and I agree with virtually everything.

As you are in the Uk maelstrom games are a great place to get supplies from as they have a good selection and are very competitive on price. If you are going to order online I’d suggest picking just 1 supplier as it is very hard to tell the colours apart based on the pictures, but there was a link somewhere that matched the colours up across the ranges.

One thing I would as is how experienced you are at painting? If you are going to be painting straight out of the pot with minimal mixing then the flip tops are much better and less wasteful. However if you are going to be doing lots of mixing and blending then a wet palette is great and the droppers may be more useful.

Personally I am a massive fan of the flip pots, I have some that are over 20 years old and still going strong. I dislike the Vallejo game colour as I found them to be too weak, the model colour is better but still requires a lot of shaking to get decent coverage.

One thing I would say is that I strongly disagree that GW paints are bad, the new range is a big improvement. All the paint suppliers have their own strengths and weaknesses so much of it is down to personal taste or a case of using a variety of suppliers. However as with most things GW are the most expensive, if you like their old stuff then go for Coat D arms as it is basically the same. Their hobby supplies are a complete rip of though so avoid.

[el Superbeasto]

One thing I would say is that I strongly disagree that GW paints are bad, the new range is a big improvement.

I'll admit I haven't tried their new range. (Simply couldn't arsed paying for them "just to try'em out" when I have plenty of wonderful P3 and Reaper paints. )

However if you are going to be doing lots of mixing and blending then a wet palette is great and the droppers may be more useful.

Even though most of my bottles are flip pots and I do very little mixing (compared to others), I'm really really happy about my wet palette. I only bought it recently but the paint is so much nicer to work with when lying on a moist surface. Also, it's much easier to keep the right amount of paint in your brush and to avoid it drying out and making the brush hair all stiff while working. Finally, the amount of mixing I do has greatly improved (in both quality and quantity) since getting my wet palette.

[Da Crusha]

Ive never had a problem with my old flipp lid GW paints either. the screw on lid ones were just terrible though, I dont think any of those have have survived the years in my collection, most of the time I opened them up and they were dry as crayons.

as far as brushes go, the Raphael Kolinsky brushes and Devinci (I think) are supposed to be the best. the Raphael brushes are made from the hairs of female syberian weasels. Lazlo Jakusovsky, the painter that does the Hot lead videos and was one of my seminar instructors, said if you take care of the brush it should maintain its point for a many many years. he said he has had his raphael brush for 18 years. Ive been told they are the only brush you will ever need. I have 2 myself and they are great. I think they cost 15 USD or so each.