A Practical Guide to Paints for Warhammer Models

We wrote this from tabletop painting workflows that focus on infantry batches, character models, and terrain, with an eye on coverage, thinning, and cleanup.

Paint Type

Start with miniature-grade acrylics, not craft paint, because Warhammer details punish thick binders and coarse pigment. A good hobby acrylic lays down on a 28 mm shoulder pad without choking rivets, skulls, or panel lines.

Most guides recommend buying any acrylic paint and thinning it later. That is wrong because hobby acrylics are built for small-scale surfaces, while craft paint is built for broad coverage and heavier textures. The wrong line wastes time through extra coats, rough brush marks, and lost edge detail.

Speedpaint-style products belong in the same conversation, but not as a universal answer. They work on robes, fur, bone, and textured armor plates where the sculpt gives the paint places to settle. They fail on smooth tanks, polished helmets, and clean face masks, where the pigment pools into rings and stains the surface.

Metallics deserve their own slot in the budget. One strong silver or gunmetal covers weapons, exhausts, and trim across an army, and it does more work than a fourth blue or sixth green. The trade-off is simple, metallic flakes separate fast, so the bottle needs a full shake and a stir before almost every session.

Coverage and Control

Buy for coverage in one to two thin coats, not for the biggest color chart. That standard keeps the paint line useful on both infantry squads and character models without turning every basecoat into a chalky second pass.

Acrylics that cover in one thin coat over primer save time on rank-and-file troops. Acrylics that need three or four layers on a flat pauldron create dead zones where the paint drags, leaves ridges, and obscures sculpted detail. We want a paint that levels out before it dries, not a paint that forces us to scrub the same spot until the undercoat disappears.

Here is the practical rule: if a basecoat beads up, the paint is too wet. If it leaves texture like dry chalk or visible brush lanes, it is too thick. The sweet spot sits between those two failures, and that sweet spot matters more than brand loyalty.

Finish matters just as much as pigment. A matte or soft-satin finish reads cleanly under table light and gives washes and edge highlights a stable surface to work over. A glossy finish fights shading, and a dead-flat dusty finish hides your blends by scattering light in ugly ways.

Two common misconceptions need correcting here. First, thicker paint does not mean better coverage if it smears detail. Second, more opaque paint does not solve poor priming. A bad primer coat ruins the first layer no matter how expensive the bottle is.

Bottle Format and Workflow

Pick the container that matches how you paint, not how the box looks on a shelf. Dropper bottles suit repeatable mixes, batch painting, and palette work. Pots suit fast loading for quick touch-ups and drybrushing, but they waste paint faster and dry out if left open while you hunt for the next color.

For army painting, droppers win the long game. They make it easy to count drops, recreate mixes, and avoid flooding the palette with more paint than the squad needs. The trade-off is clogging, which appears when pigment dries in the nozzle and turns a tidy bottle into a maintenance task.

For character models, pots or jars feel faster in the moment. We can load a brush quickly and move from metallic to leather to flesh without squeezing out measured drops. The hidden cost shows up later, because pot paint evaporates around the rim and hardens faster when the session runs long.

This matters more than people think. A painter who works in 10-model batches wants repeatability and low waste. A painter who finishes one hero at a time wants faster access and less setup. The same paint line behaves differently depending on whether the bench sees 30 infantry or one centerpiece model.

The Real Decision Factor

Match the paint system to the army plan, not the hype around the label. That is the real decision factor for the best paints for Warhammer models.

If the project is a 10 to 20 model elite force, we would buy a strong acrylic core first, then add metallics and a wash. That setup supports clean layering on armor, skin, and trim without forcing every color through a shortcut system. The trade-off is speed, because this route asks for more brush time than a tint-only approach.

If the project is a horde army, we would buy a speedpaint-style line and a small set of high-opacity highlights. That combination handles skin, cloth, leather, and tabards fast, and it keeps the army on the table sooner. The drawback is control, because broad flat panels and smooth faces show pooling immediately.

If the project is display-grade characters or collector pieces, we would skip big box sets and buy fewer, better-matched acrylics plus a couple of specialty colors. That route pays off when blends need to stay clean across a cloak, a power weapon, or a face. The downside is obvious, it is slower and it asks for more mixing skill.

A secondhand paint lot looks tempting, but it is a mixed bag. Half-used bottles, dried caps, and unknown mixes eat the savings fast. The true cost shows up after the purchase, when we spend an evening reviving colors that should have gone onto the model instead.

What Happens After Year One

Paint choice changes once the army is halfway done. The first year is about buying the right palette. After that, it is about keeping colors consistent, replacing favorites, and avoiding surprise shifts in finish.

The long-term problem is not only drying. It is memory. Once a project stretches over months, we need to match old armor blue, old skin tone, and old highlight mixes exactly or the army starts to look patchy. A simple swatch card or written mix log solves that problem faster than trying to eyeball the bottle cap.

Lids and labels also become part of the buying decision. Pots that crust around the rim, dropper tips that clog, and labels that smear under paint water all slow the next session. A good paint line is one we can reopen cleanly after a week away from the desk.

Storage matters, too. Keep bottles upright, wipe the threads, and cap metallics tightly. Metallic separation and cap buildup are not minor annoyances, they are the reason a bottle that looked full at purchase feels half-dead six months later.

Explicit Failure Modes

The first thing that breaks is usually finish, not color.

• Chalky highlights happen when white or pale colors are forced on too dry. Thin the paint and build the highlight in two passes.
• Tide marks show up when a wash pools on a flat shoulder pad or tank panel. Pull the excess with a clean brush before it sets.
• Grainy texture comes from thick paint, bad primer, or paint that started drying on the brush.
• Shiny patches come from over-thinned color or uneven medium ratios. Recoat with a controlled layer.
• Clogged dropper tips and crusted pot rims stop a session faster than a bad color choice. Clean the container, or the whole line becomes harder to use.

Most buyers blame the paint brand first. That is the wrong order. Brush loading, thinning, and primer quality create more visible failures than the label on the bottle.

Who Should Skip This

Painters who want a one-step, all-in-one solution should skip speedpaint-only buying. That system handles a lot of troops, but it does not replace controlled acrylic layering on clean armor, faces, and vehicles.

Collectors who paint one miniature at a time should skip oversized starter sets. Those sets stack up duplicate greens, blues, and reds while leaving the real workhorses underrepresented. A smaller set of well-chosen singles gives more useful color per dollar in a slow project.

We also skip craft paint as a mainline choice for infantry. It works on terrain and rough basing, but it eats sharp detail on helmets, hands, and armor trim. The savings disappear the moment we spend extra time correcting texture and coverage.

Fast Buyer Checklist

• Buy a water-based acrylic core if the army includes armor, skin, and trim in equal measure.
• Add black, white, brown, flesh, and one metallic before chasing niche faction colors.
• Buy a speedpaint-style line if the army has 20 or more rank-and-file models.
• Buy oil or enamel weathering only after the base colors are already under control.
• Keep a wet palette, a medium, and a swatch card close to the paint rack.
• Skip any line that forces three or more coats on a primed 28 mm infantry model.

Mistakes That Cost You Later

The biggest mistake is buying a giant color set before buying the colors we actually use. Army projects eat blacks, whites, browns, metallics, and skin tones first. A rainbow box looks complete and still leaves us short on the paints that finish models.

The next mistake is using craft paint on detailed minis because the bottle is cheap. That choice works on terrain boards and scenic rocks, then falls apart on chainmail, armor trim, and facial detail.

Skipping primer creates another avoidable problem. Paint that grips bare plastic behaves differently from paint that sits on a primed surface, and the difference shows up in coverage, not in a product listing. A good primer turns the paint into a tool instead of a fight.

Mixing straight from the bottle without testing on the model wastes time later. The color that looks right in a cap can dry darker, flatter, or glossier on a miniature. We want a swatch card or spare base, not a surprise after three squad members are already painted.

The Practical Answer

We would build the paint rack around standard hobby acrylics first, speedpaint-style paints second, and metallics third. That order covers the widest range of Warhammer work without locking us into one finish or one workflow.

For infantry-heavy armies, the best paints for Warhammer models are the ones that cover fast, dry cleanly, and stay easy to remix. For heroes and display pieces, the best paints are the ones that layer smoothly and hold detail under close light. For weathered armies, the best paints include a small oil or enamel selection, but only after the base system is already dependable.

If we had to keep one setup on the bench, we would choose a compact acrylic core with black, white, brown, flesh, and metallics, then add specialty paints only when the army style demands them. That gives us the broadest use, the least waste, and the fewest dead bottles in the drawer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are craft paints okay for Warhammer models?

Craft paints work on terrain, rubble, and large basing. They fail as a main paint system for infantry and characters because they hide detail and need more correction on small surfaces.

How many paints do we actually need to start?

We would start with 12 to 24 colors at most, including black, white, brown, flesh, and one metallic. Fewer than that works for a monochrome force, and more than that turns into unused duplicates fast.

Do we need speedpaint-style paints right away?

We add them immediately for horde armies and skip them for small elite forces. They save time on textured surfaces, and they create visible pooling on smooth armor and faces.

Are dropper bottles better than pots?

Dropper bottles suit repeatable mixes and batch painting. Pots suit quick loading and touch-ups, but they waste more paint and dry out faster around the rim.

Should we buy metallics in the first round?

Yes. Metallics pull double duty on weapons, trim, vents, and mechanical details, and they cover more army surface than most specialty colors.

Do we need oils or enamels for a normal army?

No. Oils and enamels belong in weathering, streaking, and pin-wash work after the main acrylic layers are already in place. They add control, and they add cleanup time.

What matters more, brand or paint type?

Paint type matters first. Acrylic versus speedpaint versus oil decides the workflow, while brand decides the exact feel of coverage, mixing, and finish.

What ruins a paint job faster than bad color choice?

Poor thinning and bad primer ruin a paint job faster than the color list. Even a strong paint line looks rough if the surface is dusty, greasy, or overloaded.