Army Painter Part 2 - Paints and Starter Set

For the second part of the review I will be looking at the starter paint set.

The set itself comprises of 8 paints in the Vallejo style dropper bottles, which I find the best shape as you can more accurately control how much paint you use.

There is also a bottle of Quickshade Ink and as you would expect a brush to get you started.

You will find a guide inside the box which is an ideal component for anybody starting out. It provides a details on the different products and examples of how to use things, like the Quickshade.

The are paint charts to cover shading and highlighting al in a glossy brochure style information booklet.

For the purpose of testing I have solely used everything the set provides, including the brush and although the below colour scheme is unusual, it does allow me to test all the items on one figure.

I have covered each section in the colours without any mixing, shading or highlighting to assess how the coverage is. Each of the paints were thinned to 50/50 water and paint, with three layers making the coverage.

So the coverage, spot on.The paints were a wonderful consistency after a good shake of the bottle. The only trouble I had was with the yellow, it took a lot of shaking to mix up, something I have discovered on a few other brands like Vallejo.

The colours have plenty of pigment, like GW paints and as you can see I have a very solid colour. 

Then there is the red, Pure Red, wow, what a vibrant shade of red it is. Without doubt this is the most vibrant red I have ever used.

The green is also quiet a unique shade of green, Greenskin, another plus point.

I have had many discussions around Army Painter metallics and how good they are so I was interested and eager to try.

Here you see I used Plate Mail Metal. Even with thinning there was no separation of pigment that can create that unwanted look of individual shiny parts of the pigment spoiling a pure finish. This finish was pure and even as you can see on the sword.

The brush was ideal for a starter and has a surprisingly good tip, if you look closely I comfortably managed pupils and outlines for the eyes.

Have basecoated everything I tried out the Quickshade Ink.

I gave the whole figure a good coating and left it to dry.

This dried as quick as a wash. I have reworked the sword slightly to remove that blotch spot of ink on the above photo.

The Quickshade has once again brought out the detail, but with one other advantage to the dipping variation of the Quickshade, it dries matt. It will also mix with any of the other paints.

I have two packs of grass tufts to use and these will be tried out on some of the figures I am working on. The swamp tufts are similar to other companies but the Tundra Tufts are unique to me as I have not seen other like this. No doubt I may be corrected on this.

In review I would state that the set is well thought out and provides the equipment and detail that any starter would be delighted with the result that can be achieved.

Astor the paints then I thin these are good enough to be used at any level. I will definately be using these on a regular basis. The high pigment count make these an ideal choice for a vibrant finish.