Citadel paint--good/ bad?

Disco58 · Post by **Disco58** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 12:33 am

To get away from the "detail crazies" of WWII and modern USN aircraft I decided to venture into figures and some Warhammer 40K kits. They also have their share of details, but I know of no one who's piloted a Tau gunship. I do, however, know a few who have stick time in Hellcats, Corsairs and Tomcats, so those models I damn well better get right. But I digress.... I normally use Testors acrylics, but the Citadel line has some pretty wild color names (snot green, vomit brown, scab red to name a few) so I grabbed a few just for grins. Has anyone used them and what's your take? Are they good, bad, anything odd I need to know? Thinning ratios the same as everyone else's? Unfortunately they're not as readily available as I'd like; the hobby shop I bought them in is 60 miles away in IA City, IA, and it's a little hard to justify when gas is $3/gal again.

Mangamax · Post by **Mangamax** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 1:17 am

I've been using pretty much them and nothing else for the last 12 years.
Partly because they're readily available and always in stock, partly that they cover well and thin well.
The only places they fall down on are that they're a satin finish (great for skin, less for armour - but a squirt of matt varnish solves that) and the grey range leaves a lot to be desired.

Post by **TER-OR** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 11:52 am

Citadel, Reaper, Valejo, and some tohers are good for minis.
Here's a great bit of information about painting minis...

http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft
Lots of great stuff, just look at the categories to decide where to start.

Especially this:
http://www.reapermini.com/TheCraft/15

SpaceDuck · Post by **SpaceDuck** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:12 pm

When I started doin the minifigs I eventually bought the entire 'boxed set' of Citadels. Nowadays that comes in a lil attache case affair which reflects the price!

I loved em on the lil figs and even broke them out for other modeling but I gotta wonder about their shelf life? Most all of them went bad in around two, maybe three years (bottle design?) while I've had enamels on the shelf that rival the age of my teenage sons?

But I loved em and if I had alot of extra cash I'd buy the full set again.

tonyG2 · Post by **tonyG2** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:37 pm

I've some very old bottles of Citadel paint - the plastic flip tops - still in use after god knows how many years. Just keep the seals clean.

SpaceDuck · Post by **SpaceDuck** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 1:09 pm

tonyG2 wrote:I've some very old bottles of Citadel paint - the plastic flip tops - still in use after god knows how many years. Just keep the seals clean.

Hmmm,
Didn't work for me?

I figured Seals should be clean from frequent dips in the ocean whereas the Penguins somethimes grow lazy and stay ashore?

What?

Jagdson · Post by **Jagdson** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 10:33 pm

The newer Citadel bottles definitely go bad faster than the old flip-tops. I completely stopped buying them.

Reaper paints, now, are good stuff. 'Pretty good leveling, nice colors (I really like their metallics), and fast-drying. Shelf life seems to be akin to the Citadel paints of old, at the least. I've got a bottle with a cracked lid and it's still good after two years.