What's the best way to buy Citadel / Games Workshop paints?

[hadley]

I'm ready to jump in to painting customs but I need supplies. There are (seemingly expensive) Warhammer branded starter sets on amazon that come with Warhammer figurines for practice, and a Citadel branded set. Are these the best ways to get started? The paint colors all have silly names that don't describe their hues at all. For example, Caliban green or Kalabite green?

It's really intimidating to get into this and all the guides I've seen, even the FAQ thread here, seems to assume a lot of knowledge. I need someone to explain to me like I'm five years old what I need o get and what the best way to get it is. Thanks!

[masterenglish]

Here is Citadels latest color chart, its a conversion chart, with the retired colors listed in the black bar on the top. I would call your local comic or hobby shops to see if they carry any, otherwise you can go online and find them. Personally I wouldn't buy the entire set, I usually just pick and choose whatever colors I actually need.
CitadelPaintConversionChart.jpg

[motumulder]

If your starting from scratch it can be a big investment but you can make it a bit easier in the way you buy your colors.

So when starting from scratch I advise buying the primary colours (yellow, blue, red) black and white and a good base coat(maybe a coating spray to protect your work). With the primary colours you will be able to mix every color you want. (take a look at a color chart with the primary, secundary and tertiary colors for mixing colors, ask mum/dad to make you a print of a chart). If you take this route, make sure you take true blue, red and yellow. If you'd take a light blue it's gonna be hard to make a dark green. Adding black would flatten the color so the green wouldn't be a "nice" green.
The black and white you can use for darkening and lighting up colors or use as the are.
The base coat you use before you put on a color so it sticks better.
The paintjar goes a long way so you can do mutiple customs with the same jar so your collection will gro if you stick with it.

A little tip when mixing, make enough of it cause it can be a struggle to make some more when coming in short for the part you want painted. If you got some extra little paintjars, use them to mix the color in so you can put it away and use it when you got chiping, or paint rubs, touch ups.

After those 5 colours you can go wild and when you got some extra bucks you can go look for metalics and all the weird colors they have.

It could be a wise thing to go and check if there is a store that sells the paints. Price wise it might not differ a lot but ( but it saves shipping that's usualy 2,3 colors if you think of it)you will have the color in hand and maybe you can make a deal with the owner. Also they should be able to help you when you need help in picking the right paint for the right job.

Last, I think. Paints have pigment in them. That's what gives them the color, it's hard to explain but in short. The more pigment, the better the color will transfer on to your custom. So you should need less coats of paint to have a clean finish with an even color over the painted surface. But both Citadel and gameshop paints are good for customizing, personaly I got a mix match of both of them cause I like some colors from Citadel and some from gameshop over the other one but that's all taste and what fits your style best I think.

Hope this helps a bit and I wish you a lot of fun customizing!

[hadley]

Thanks guys! This is a HUGE help!!

[Lazer Force Zodac]

luckily there's a store here in nyc where i buy them in person. i use them on all my customs.

[Nemisythe]

Are these the best paints for customs as I have no clue and would love to dabble in this as I still want to repaint my Mighty Spector...

[BadVermin]

Are these the best paints for customs as I have no clue and would love to dabble in this as I still want to repaint my Mighty Spector...

I personally prefer Cartoon Colour Cel-Vinyl Acrylic, the Four Horsemen use it on all their prototypes and is IMO the best paint available anywhere. I believe it's also the paint used on the Filmation programs.

A set of eight* 2 oz. bottles runs about $40.

*Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Mud Grey (Brown), Violet, Black and White

[Sky Breaker]

Cidatel paints are overpriced. Sure they have a huge color spectrum, but they are specialty, and for the amount of paint that you get, and the average price of $4 per container, its really not worth it.

For my customs I buy $2 Folkart and Americana paints. You can even get them on sale for $1 sometimes. They go on smoothly and don't rub off too easily. I recommend a good spray on matte base coat. I got a great can for $10. Roughly enough for 3 figures and it makes the priming very quick and easy. I found 'water based acrylic model paint', and for some reason they were $5 a piece. I stuck with my $2 bottles and the results were great.

Be sure to ask around, and get a few opinions. People don't always know what they're talking about, even if they can convince you otherwise. I was told by the "paint expert" at my local craft store that the spray on primer I got was no good for plastic. It won't work. Well, it worked perfectly.

Rafael-Carreras-****s-Fernando-Torres-Toy-With-Me-Lucas-Ent-Gay-Porn-XXX.jpg
or you can simply get a guy to paint you back with his hot stream of He-Man juice

[hadley]

I appreciate everyone's input very much!

[snakeeyes0217]

Family owned local hobby stores (model kit, model train, RC car, gaming) are the best as they usually offer a variety of paint brands. When I'm matching colors, I'll bring parts with me and can then compare it to all of the various brands offered to find the best match. Personally, I use a combination of Vallejo, Reaper, and Games Workshop paints.

[Xepherus3]

Citadel paints can be expensive, but they do last awhile. I also use Tamiya paints. They have better metallic paints than Citadel does. I buy off of eBay, Amazon.com, and in person at my local Hobby Town store. I spend about $3 a bottle on Citadel and Tamiya. Good luck

[skeletorous]

I personally prefer Cartoon Colour Cel-Vinyl Acrylic, the Four Horsemen use it on all their prototypes and is IMO the best paint available anywhere. I believe it's also the paint used on the Filmation programs.

A set of eight* 2 oz. bottles runs about $40.

*Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Mud Grey (Brown), Violet, Black and White

I like and use citidel paints but love to know where to buy Cartoon Colour Cel-Vinyl Acrylic. Im in the Uk so can they be bought over here? If so same brand or are there others in the UK?