Paints Explained

Hey everyone, I apologise if its been asked before but I wondered if some people would help me with paints, obviously anyone whose read the rulebook will know which Citadel paints are for what, ie. bases, glosses ect. But I was wondering if someone could explain how some of the other brands work and I thought it'd be helpful to have a thread which did such

I've heard some good things about the Vallejo and P3 ranges, but what lines are best for what?

What do you use to basecoat and what do you use to paint more detail?

Finally whats your favourite brand?

Take a look through this post over at 40kforums, it pretty much sums up everything:
http://www.40kforums.com/vb/showthread.php/30424-What-paints-do-you-use

Personally, I've got some hexpots (and slightly newer round pots) of Citadel range (NOT new range), a few Reaper droppers, a bunch of Badger, Badger Spectra-tex, and Badger-Wicked airbrush paints, some Winsor-Newton tubes (thinned and put into 2oz bottles), 1 small can of latex interior paint (basecoat SW army), and Delco "Americana" craft paints. As long as it's thinned properly, the only factor on my line-up is usually coverage.

The paints are all generally the same. Go for the Citadel/Vallejo ranges for metallics, as they seem the best for that. But for general colors they're all approximately the same. Then it comes to price comparisons, availability, the type of container, etc. Pick your preference, and go with it!

I regularly attack my local hobby lobby for whatever paints I want. If the model ranges don't have the colors I'm looking for, I look elsewhere (hence the Americana Craft Paint, which works fine just doesn't cover to save a damn). Also keep in mind mixing is an option as well. I've got just as many bottles of paints that are custom mixed as I do original colors. And they're all water based (acrylics), so mixing between ranges isn't an issue.

Hope my opinion helps, and I hope you find the link I posted useful. Good luck

Citadel stuff is very good. (at least the old stuff is, I haven't tried their new range) Much better than cheapo acrylic. (and more colours)

However for metallic I generally use the best artists acrylic in tubes I can lay my hands upon. (The old citadel was bad...I have not tried the new)

My artist Father loves acrylic, even though he is very conservative in painting. He says you can use it both like watercolours or oils, depending on your mood.