Starting with the hobby - where to get paints

[Janus71]

Hi all,

I'd like to start for the first time playing miniature wargames, but I have some difficulties. My first question may seem a pretty obvious one: where do you people buy your paints?

I live in a small 'town' (at least that's what they call it here), and I have only found an arts shop that sells a few acrylics at a slightly higher price than Vallejo's (2.50/2.60€ for 15ml).

I've also tried looking on the web (ebay and such), but:
1- I'd be limited by what I can find, rather than what I'd need
2- I wouldn't get to see the real colours before buying them

What are your suggestions then? How did you start back in the day? I would really appreciate any input!

[Belgian]

Welcome on LAF, I buy most of my paints online but often toy and hobby shops also carry paint ranges. Could you share your location, it might help you to find some sources.

I use a collection of paints being GW, Vallejo, the privateer press paint range and most likely some others.

[Janus71]

I buy most of my paints online but often toy and hobby shops also carry paint ranges.

Yeah, I haven't tried those yet. But I was under the impression they would have lower quality materials…

Could you share your location

Sure, I live in a small (rural) town in the north west of France .

[Charlie_]

2- I wouldn't get to see the real colours before buying them

Yes, that always remains a problem, for me at least! You'll never really get a true idea of what a colour is truly like unless you have it in front of you. Websites will show the colour it is supposed to be, but more often than not it is way off.

I had quite a lot of frustration a while back trying to find a replacement for a discontinued GW colour. It was just a certain shade of brown, but ALL the paints which were SUPPOSED to be an exact copy were way off... Ultimately I ended up with loads of different shades of brown, and still not the one I was looking for (I have since given up the quest, and have adapted to another colour!)

What sort of thing are you planning to paint? Some things will require a lot of bright colours, whereas others will use just various shades of browns, greys etc.

You might find yourself buying lots of colours you don't ever need, and if money is tight you might want to avoid that, which can be done with a bit of forethought and planning.

You are really spoilt for choice for places to get paints online. Just search for your chosen brand....

I use Games Workshop (Citadel) and Vallejo. Do a search for either and I'm sure you'll find no end of online suppliers. GW paints are in flip-top pots, whereas Vallejo are in dropper bottles, both of which have pros and cons (I'm still not sure which I prefer myself).

[mrtn]

Yeah, I haven't tried those yet. But I was under the impression they would have lower quality materials…

Hobby and train stores often have the Vallejo Model Color range which is one of the best, at least if you want to paint drab stuff (like WWII uniforms). Not as well stocked if you want to paint pink tentacles though.
There are loads of great French painters, so I'm sure you ought to be able to find paints in "local" online stores.

[Elbows]

Janus, while not paint-related I put up this blog post a few months ago - may be helpful for additional tools.

http://myminiaturemischief.blogspot.com/2016/06/getting-started-tools.html

[Janus71]

What sort of thing are you planning to paint?

I'm still unsure about that… I'm currently leaning towards the French Indian War, but just a month ago it was Old West…

If I was to actually start, I'd try to avoid GW. Back in the day (a long long time ago) they had a nasty habit of drying up in months. I'd rather give a try with Vallejo and Andrea's Colour paints.

Hobby and train stores

Good point. Can't seem to find any around here, but will keep looking  .

http://myminiaturemischief.blogspot.com/2016/06/getting-started-tools.html

Thanks, it may come in handy 

[Elbows]

Another consideration is to google the actual Vallejo colour (or whatever brand you're looking at).  Often you can find miniatures painted with the colour so you can get a better idea.  That's a huge pain in the butt if you want to buy 30 paints at once though.

[Belgian]

Just remember this very useful page showing the Vallejo paints handpainted on paper so you can really judge the colors as they would look like out of the bottle.

http://napoleonicwargamingadventures.blogspot.be/p/vallejo-paint-chart-triads.html?m=1