Paints and Washes for Miniatures

I originally wrote this article back in the late 90's. Subsequently, manufacturers have changed and there have been tons of advances in the types of tools and paints available. Some of the changes are quite extraordinary and exciting.

Paints

As you can see, there are a ton of paint lines and every painter has their own preference for paints. I used to paint exclusively with Floquil/Polly S but I think they have since gone out of business. Now I paint mostly with Citadel colors with selected bottles from Vallejo and Liquitex. Regardless, you should try out a couple of brands, maybe at your local game store and figure out which brands work best for the way you paint. By the way, people choose paints for the oddest reasons. One of the reasons I stuck with Polly S for so long is because I straighten the tips of my brushes in my mouth, and Polly S doesn't taste bad. I think some of the other brands have since changed their formulations.

Here's a quick run down of some of the more common brands you'll see people use. There are a number of other manufacturers not listed here who specialize in colors for historical miniatures.

Manufacturer	Line	Size	Container	Colors in Range	Product Page	Color Chart
Citadel	Citadel Colour	12 ml	Pot	41	[Link]	None
Citadel	Foundation	12 ml	Pot	18	[Link]	None
Citadel	Washes	12 ml	Pot	8	[Link]	None
Citadel	Metallic	12 ml	Pot	7	[Link]	None
Vallejo	Game Color	17 ml	Dropper	72	[Link]	[Link]
Vallejo	Model Color	17 ml	Dropper	208	[Link]	[Link]
Reaper	Master Series	24 ml	Pot	211	[Link]	[Link]
Reaper	Pro Paints	24 ml	Pot	108	[Link]	None
Rackham	Rackham Color	20 ml	Pot	50	[Link]	None
Wargames Foundry	Foundry Paint System	20 ml	Pot	179	[Link]	None
Privateer Press	Formula P3	18 ml	Pot	60?	None	None
Privateer Press	Washes	18 ml	Pot	Unknown	None	None
Liquitex	Soft Body	2 oz	Bottle	Unknown	None	None

If you're overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices, the fine lads at Dakka Dakka have assembled a Paint Range Compatibility Chart, which should help you see what paints are comparable across ranges.

I probably have the most experience with the Citadel Colour line of paints because I've been using them for so long, but I've been taking notes about some of the other brands and lines and what they have to offer. In some cases, I've just presented the company write ups.

Citadel Foundation Paints

Product Page

Specially formulated to complement the existing Citadel Colour and Citadel Washes ranges, the Foundation Paints have been designed to provide great coverage, creating a solid block of colour with one application over any undercoat.

The Citadel Foundation Paint Set contains all 18 of the Foundation Paints in the current range. This includes a 12ml pot of: Astronomicon Grey, Adeptus Battlegrey, Fenris Grey, Necron Abyss, Mordian Blue, Hormagaunt Purple, Mechrite Red, Macharius Solar Orange, Iyanden Darksun, Tausept Ochre, Tallarn Flesh, Calthan Brown, Gretchin Green, Knarloc Green, Orkhide Shade, Charadon Granite, Khemri Brown and Dheneb Stone.

These paints cover quite nicely, particularly over black. I haven't used a ton of the paints, but so far, they look promising.

Citadel Washes

Product Page

The Citadel Washes have been specifically developed for use on Citadel miniatures and are designed to compliment the Citadel Colour and Foundation Paint ranges. The unique flow properties of these washes means they are easy to control and will naturally run into recesses, shading your models.

The Citadel Wash Set contains all eight of the Citadel Washes in the current range. This includes a 12ml pot of: Asurmen Blue, Baal Red, Badab Black, Devlan Mud, Leviathan Purple, Ogryn Flesh, Gryphonne Sepia and Thraka Green.

So far, I've only used the Badab Black and the Devlan Mud. Both work pretty nicely out of the box, but I think I can get the same results out of my Liquitex Paynes Grey. The Devlan Mud in particular was very nice to use as a lining color. It flows very nicely and dries to a nice brown color. On a convenience basis, being able to use a wash straight out of the pot, that will perform consistantly every time, it super.

Wargames Foundry

Not only does Wargames Foundry have a wide range of colors, they sell them in 3-color sets. Each set provides a main color and the matching shade and highlight color. This is done so that you can shade and highlight straight out of the bottle without the need to blend and mix colors.

I have not actually tried any of the Wargames Foundry colors

Privateer Press Formula P3

I've only used a small number of P3 paints and they've worked just fine. One of the nice things about the P3 line, particularly for new painters, is that they've created 6-paint sets, one for each major Hordes and Warmachine faction, plus two others. This takes all of the guess work out of what paints you should buy.

Washes

My old standby for is Liquitex. I really only use 3 colors; Paynes Gray, Raw Umber, and Raw Sienna. I use these three colors as a wash layer on just about everything, including terrain. Liquitex paints can be found in any decent art store for less than $4.00. They not only give me the shading I want, but you can't beat a 2 oz (72 ml) bottle. To put this in context, the Citadel Wash comes in a 12 ml bottle. They will dry a little glossy, so you'll have to hit the miniature with a layer of matte sealer or dullcote after you're done.

Specialty Colors

Lastly, there are a number of specialty paints. Gunze Sangyo makes a line of transluscent paints (aqueous hobby color) which are really nice for painting glass, crystal balls, or cockpit windows. The effect is that the paints look shiny and wet when they're dry. My Skaven poison wind globes are done with these colors. They come in all colors though I usually stick to the blue and grey.

Primer

I won't really address this. I discuss them more in the Priming article. But do keep in mind that if you're looking to speed up your painting, then finding the right primer can make a huge difference in the amount of basecoating you need to do.

Notes

Last updated	6/23/08
Author	Michael Kan
Pre-requisites	None
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