How to cut down on the number of paints used.

[INKS]

Hi Everyone,

I have another thread where I am looking to build and paint a Canis Rex - I found a great guide, one I think I can follow but I need like 100 dollars worth of paint. I thought to myself. Well... that is a lot and I am sure I can cut that down some. It's hard for me to know which colors to cut and sacrifice. At some point, sure I'll have all those paints, but I am starting over from nothing. So buying 100+ dollars worth of paint then stops me from buying models.

 

So I thought to myself, well you also like Custodes, that seems like less paint. Lets do that. So I did what I always do. I made about 200 army lists. Focused in on one or two that I can build towards (this is going to change anyways by the time I am done and ready to play a game but regardless I like to plan). I watched 7-8 painting videos. I have found that either people use too few colors for my liking and just do simple gold, wash, gold. Or they get too complicated, I am not sure I would even notice the little differences anyway. I mean to models do look so much better, but I don't know that I have that skill to actually pull it off, but I will try.

 

I found a video I really like. I adjusted a few colors... (I did not like how he did the swords / weapons) It's still almost 200 dollars worth of paint... so worse than Canis. LOL.

 

I am going to list the paints I am looking at below. It might be a little hard without total context as to which paints are used and where but hopefully that isn't too large an issue and if so then please ask. There are like 3 different reds for example I am sure I could cut one of them... I won't list prices here because we all live in different parts of the world. When I do talk about dollars above, that is my currency and yours might be cheaper or more expensive. So don't worry about that so much as trying to eliminate some of the colors, or help me to do so. Because honestly I don't know what to cut and where.

 

Black Primer - Vallejo
Rich Gold - Pro Acryl
Seraphin Sepia - Citadel
Heavy Metal Scale 75
Coal black - Pro Acryl
Mahogany - Pro Acryl
Burnt Red - Pro Acryl
Dark Aluminum - Vallejo
Black Wash - Pro Acryl
Agrax Earth Shade - Citadel
Petroleum Gray - Scale 75
Rainy Gray - Scale 75
Walnut - Scale 75
Thar Brown - Scale 75
Bold Pyrrole Red - Pro Acryl
Aldebaran Red - Scale 75
Magic Blue - Vallejo Game Color
Bold Titanium White - Pro Acryl
Vallejo Gloss Varnish
Purple - Pro Acryl
Plum - Pro Acryl
Blue Black - Pro Acryl
Dark Blue Grey - Pro Acryl
Polyurethane Ultra Matte Varnish - Vallejo
Cadmium Red - AK
Reikland Fleshshade - Citadel
Caspian Blue - Scale 75
Bering Blue - Scale 75
 

 

For the record, this does not include the base. That is a whole other issue that I've not decided on yet.

This also doesn't include brushes or tools which I also need to buy. But again, my problem and one you can't overcome. I have settled on 3-4 brushes that I need so that isn't so bad.

[Grotsmasha]

I guess the easiest way to cut down on the number of paints to buy, would be to become comfortable with mixing paints. Buy the mid-tones, and add white/black to them (side note, I've found using Done Yellow to lighten my paints to work well as replacement for whites)

There will be some specific colours that will just need to be bought still 

 

In the list above, for example, you could drop Agrax Earthshade, and replace it by mixing Riekland Fleshshade with the Black Wash. Likewise, you could also drop Seraphim Sepia and dilute the Reikland 50/50 with water or medium.

[INKS]

So I found a video that had a more reasonable paint selection. I fully understand there are some key highlights that will just be missing but I think in the end it still works out fairly well. I also think this is good practice on mixing a little. I am not great at mixing but the above comment from @Grotsmashais a pretty good example on how to get some of the results I want with the paints below. There is probably a better choice than Iron Hands Steel for example, but it's a fairly cheap paint and should give me the tone I am looking for. The video went right with Retributor Primer, but I think going black, then gold, then Reikland will give me better results. I guess we'll see. This list cuts the cost by 50%. So it's still 100 dollars for me, which isn't super ideal but it's way more manageable than it was before. I can live with that I think. If you have more suggestions, please let me know. There might be some other colors from some other ranges that might be cheaper by a few dollars here or there. But I feel pretty good about the Pro Acryl line and Scale 75. Nothing wrong with Citadel. I will use them if it's cheaper but often it isn't here. I am sure there is an argument to be made about contrast paints, which I have mostly replaced with the Pro Acryl line, but I'll only know that once I get painting and see how it all works for myself. 

 

Black Primer - Vallejo
Rich Gold - Pro Acryl
Heavy Metal - Scale 75
Coal Black - Pro Acryl
Mahogany - Pro Acryl
Bold Pyrrole Red - Pro Acryl
Iron Hands Steel - Citadel
Bold Titanium White - Pro Acryl
Reikland Fleshshade - Citadel
Rainy Gray - Scale 75
Caspian Blue - Scale 75
Bering Blue - Scale 75
Cadmium Red - AK
Vallejo Gloss Varnish
Polyurethane Ultra Matte Varnish - Vallejo

 

Thank you for reading and any input.

EDIT: I still have no idea how to base them. Or rather, how I want to base them. I am still looking for something that grabs my attention.

Edited July 27 by INKS

[Cleon]

Buying paints for one model is always going to look painful. I hate to think how much it would cost me to do an extra unit in any of my armies if I had to completely refresh my paint collection. That looks a pretty decent list for an ornate model that size to be honest.

[INKS]

7 minutes ago, Cleon said:

Buying paints for one model is always going to look painful. I hate to think how much it would cost me to do an extra unit in any of my armies if I had to completely refresh my paint collection. That looks a pretty decent list for an ornate model that size to be honest.

I guess the good news is that these are for Cutodes, so I'll use them for all of the Custodes I do. The list for Canis Rex is in another thread and while they share some colors, Some of those colors would just be for him an not the other knights. - Some of the colors like the metal and blacks would transfer over to other knights.

[TheArtilleryman]

For Custodes, would it make sense to build out from the Age of Sigmar paint set? You get 13 paints for under £30 (less if buying from a 3rd party site). Not sure what it would be in dollars. Also you get the extra tools (starter brush for base coating?):
 

 

That one above is the current one but you can still get the older version from Amazon and other places, which has slightly different colours and might be preferable to you considering your list?

 

 

I might be a bit of a Philistine for suggesting all Citadel but they’ve always worked for me and I’ve not tried any other range in nearly 30 years. I guess it’s just what I’m used to and it’s a lot easier to get hold of them than other ranges. Just an idea to maybe save you some money; if there are particular colours you want to add you could then do that on top, but the cost ought to come down a lot then if you were to use these as a base to work from.

Edited July 27 by TheArtilleryman

[LameBeard]

5 hours ago, INKS said:

So I found a video that had a more reasonable paint selection. I fully understand there are some key highlights that will just be missing but I think in the end it still works out fairly well. I also think this is good practice on mixing a little. I am not great at mixing but the above comment from @Grotsmashais a pretty good example on how to get some of the results I want with the paints below. There is probably a better choice than Iron Hands Steel for example, but it's a fairly cheap paint and should give me the tone I am looking for. The video went right with Retributor Primer, but I think going black, then gold, then Reikland will give me better results. I guess we'll see. This list cuts the cost by 50%. So it's still 100 dollars for me, which isn't super ideal but it's way more manageable than it was before. I can live with that I think. If you have more suggestions, please let me know. There might be some other colors from some other ranges that might be cheaper by a few dollars here or there. But I feel pretty good about the Pro Acryl line and Scale 75. Nothing wrong with Citadel. I will use them if it's cheaper but often it isn't here. I am sure there is an argument to be made about contrast paints, which I have mostly replaced with the Pro Acryl line, but I'll only know that once I get painting and see how it all works for myself. 

 

Black Primer - Vallejo
Rich Gold - Pro Acryl
Heavy Metal - Scale 75
Coal Black - Pro Acryl
Mahogany - Pro Acryl
Bold Pyrrole Red - Pro Acryl
Iron Hands Steel - Citadel
Bold Titanium White - Pro Acryl
Reikland Fleshshade - Citadel
Rainy Gray - Scale 75
Caspian Blue - Scale 75
Bering Blue - Scale 75
Cadmium Red - AK
Vallejo Gloss Varnish
Polyurethane Ultra Matte Varnish - Vallejo

 

Thank you for reading and any input.

EDIT: I still have no idea how to base them. Or rather, how I want to base them. I am still looking for something that grabs my attention.

Echoing what the others said, lots of good ideas above.

 

I think it’s pretty impressive you’ve got the list down like this.  If you really want to push harder you ought to be able to mix a grey from black, white and a hint of blue if it’s “rainy”? Mixing is easy on one model but you do end up using more paint, and getting the same mix next time can be tricky (write it down!).

 

I have seen a clever and super-quick basing technique where the basing material (sand, gravel, dust whatever) is not painted but “tinted” with a wash and the original colour allowed to show through. You could try that, starting with Reikland and darkening it up a bit with what else you’ve got.

[TheArtilleryman]

Ooh and just as I post this, there’s a new one out for the new edition:

 

https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/age-of-sigmar-paints-and-tools-gb-es-eu-ie-au-nz-us-ww-2024?queryID=6ce99910a0980c909236313c085c2260

[Bung]

You learn mixing paints and just use the Zorn Palette with 4 colours

-Titanium White

-Cadmium Red

-Yellow Ochre

-Ivory Black

 

https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2021/02/02/colour-mixing-exploring-the-zorn-palette/

[INKS]

4 hours ago, TheArtilleryman said:

Ooh and just as I post this, there’s a new one out for the new edition:

 

https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/age-of-sigmar-paints-and-tools-gb-es-eu-ie-au-nz-us-ww-2024?queryID=6ce99910a0980c909236313c085c2260

Thanks, I'll play around with this set to see if it saves me some money. The colors aren't exactly what I am looking for but about 6 or 7 of them are kinda close. Probably close if I can mix some paint.

3 hours ago, Bung said:

You learn mixing paints and just use the Zorn Palette with 4 colours

-Titanium White

-Cadmium Red

-Yellow Ochre

-Ivory Black

 

https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2021/02/02/colour-mixing-exploring-the-zorn-palette/

Super helpful, really. Some of it might be beyond my skill level a little and I don't know if I can get the same consistency of colors all the time. Like mixing 2:1 for example. If you have a dropper bottle it's not so bad maybe? maybe that is the key for me. I am a little worried about wasting paint or having the models all look a little different because I didn't mix it right. but i suppose that is a good skill to learn

 

6 hours ago, LameBeard said:

Echoing what the others said, lots of good ideas above.

 

I think it’s pretty impressive you’ve got the list down like this.  If you really want to push harder you ought to be able to mix a grey from black, white and a hint of blue if it’s “rainy”? Mixing is easy on one model but you do end up using more paint, and getting the same mix next time can be tricky (write it down!).

 

I have seen a clever and super-quick basing technique where the basing material (sand, gravel, dust whatever) is not painted but “tinted” with a wash and the original colour allowed to show through. You could try that, starting with Reikland and darkening it up a bit with what else you’ve got.

Yeah I am not sure on the bases other than I want to stay away from yellowish, drab colors. I need to just sit down and look at basing ideas. I don't know that I want to do marble - which is popular, or if I want to do something else.

 

EDIT: All of this did give me some ideas to look for paint sets which does save some money. While the colors aren't exactly what I am looking for, some of them are close and I think with a little work I can make those colors work as I need them to.

Edited July 27 by INKS

[Firedrake Cordova]

You could make the highlight colours by adding either a light yellow (e.g. Vallejo Ice Yellow) or ivory - that should give you a lighter "value" whilst retaining saturation.

 

You could also make the shades by mixing a dark colour - typically a blue (e.g. Vallejo Deep Sea Blue), but also possibly a dark red, purple, or brown - to give you a darker colour.

 

This kind of mirrors how highlights and shadow appear in real life - highlights tend to be "warmer" and shadows "cooler" in terms of tone.

[INKS]

44 minutes ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

You could make the highlight colours by adding either a light yellow (e.g. Vallejo Ice Yellow) or ivory - that should give you a lighter "value" whilst retaining saturation.

 

You could also make the shades by mixing a dark colour - typically a blue (e.g. Vallejo Deep Sea Blue), but also possibly a dark red, purple, or brown - to give you a darker colour.

 

This kind of mirrors how highlights and shadow appear in real life - highlights tend to be "warmer" and shadows "cooler" in terms of tone.

This is great. a good idea. thank you