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I've decided to try assembling and painting some plastic models. I'd like to get some 40k stuff, even though it's overpriced I don't really intend to play the game. First, though, I'm going to practice on stuff that doesn't cost as much.

What kind of paint should I get? Is it worth it to buy citadel paint, or does citadel paint cost more than some other company's plastic paint that would work just as well?

One item I came across is this. This includes primer, etc, a brush, and 5 space marines.

Its price on amazon goes up and down, but at a store in my town it's about $40. That seems really high to me, but then again so does everything else 40k related. Is it a reasonable deal, or am I better off with something else? The same store also sells containers of citadel paint for $4 each.

GW paints are quite pricey, but they do come in a nice range of vibrant colours that more Serious Business model paints might not. Their inks and washes are pretty good as well.

Other than those, I've had good* results with Vallejo paints, they do both Serious Business model paints and a bit more colourful stuff as well. They are, or were last I looked, a bit cheaper than GW paints as well.



* Secretly terrible, but that's more to do with my skill than the quality of the matierials)

You might want to look at Reaper paints as well. Good selection of color. Vallejo was mentioned as well, though I find them better for less wild color schemes (camouflage, utility, drab environments and gear, etc) whereas Reaper and Citadel are better for flashier work (demon wings and laser swords and whatnot).

Edit: For cheap models to practice painting, I recommend Reaper stuff. They're generic (i.e., suited to pretty much any setting you can imagine), better priced, and have some really nice models. The Bones line in particular are cheap and easy to paint.

for undercoating - use car primer. (check it's primer and not just paint though).

for USA check out P3 paints too, but even GW paints will last you a good long while if you thin them (and you should)

Allow me to echo the Vallejo recommendation from my Battletech days. You may need to dilute the paint a touch, as Vallejo tends to be a bit thick and may obscure some details if you don't, but it's good stuff.

You should dilute any acrylic paint anyway. Thin and more coats is better than glopping it on with a trowel.

GW paint is very nice, but the problem is that it can get pretty expensive*. I am not familiar with Vallejo or Reaper. I recommend using Testors acrylic paint. It is very cheap, and you can find boxes of it for specific types of models (such as a military box with camouflage colors etc). I have a ~3500 point Tyranid army and a ~1500 point Chaos Space Marine army. I recommend using Krylon spray paint for your base coat if you are planning to paint a large group of models quickly. If you want to put lots of detail into your models, I would use a primer, as acrylic paint tends to chip off of 40k models when they are transported. To hold your models together, I recommend Testors plastic cement for plastic and Amazing Goop for anything metal. You will want to have toothpicks or something to apply the Goop, as you don't want to use too much.

*This is 40k we are talking about so things get pretty expensive either way.

Citadel's paints are the same as other manufacturers - IIRC the reason they did their 'new relaunch' not too long ago is that their deal with the manufacturer expired and their lawyers discovered that the other mob actually retained the naming rights to their paints, so they had to rename them all.

I personally use P3, and Army Builder for undercoat sprays. Undercoat sprays can be very hit and miss, a lot of people have recommended hardware store sprays to me but I've never had good results from them.

How about trying stuff from Tamiya or Gunze? I use them for my model kit building.

I try to use P3 paints for my stuff, though GW is easier to get here...