I know Sorastro uses Citadel, but I've heard others say to shy away from that.

I've never painted before but I really want to start painting my IA, X-Wing, and Mice & Mystics miniatures.

My FLGS has a lot of Citadel for sale, so that would probably be easiest, but what does everyone else recommend/prefer?

I used Citadel about twenty years ago, but for some reason when I got into IA I went for a couple of Vallejo starter packs. The dropper bottles are really lovely. I've found some of their paints to lack vivid saturation. For example, I got their Red with my first pack and painted my RGs with it, only to learn that there was a Scarlet which is a bit closer to the movies. Even that isn't quite red enough. Whereas I recall Citadel's old Blood Red being incredibly, well, red.

So I guess Vallejo are more for the traditional models and toy soldiers crowd. I like that their colours don't have daft names =), and aside from having difficulty mixing a super vivid red or green, I've enjoyed painting with them very much, and have achieved good results despite not having picked up a brush in a couple of decades.

I've also gotten into Liquitex gesso as a primer and their matt and high gloss varnishes for finishing.

Vallejo, both model and game color lines are good. I also like the P3 line of paints if you don't want to go with dropper bottles. Vallejo surface primer is a good primer for brushing on. Testors spray gloss and lusterless flat are great varnishes. I typically use the gloss for the first layer and then a layer of lusterless flat. When you start seeing glossy spots on the model from handling them, you know it's time for another coat of lusterless flat.

Citadels are excellent paints, like, they feel good to paint with. But the reasons I use Vallejo instead are the price (you get more for less) and the dropper bottles. I vastly prefer Vallejo's Model Color range over their Game Colors. The latter are too thin and translucent and separate (=pigments separate from the medium) too easily, but their Model Colors are really good.

I did my first set of IA miniatures with Citadel, and they worked great. I traded them to my FLGS for the unpainted minis in their store copy so I could repaint them using Sorastro's videos, but I'm going to try Reaper this time, since the store just got a Reaper display.

My selections are limited here (Finland). I guess I could order some of the paints abroad but the local boardgame/hobby store has plenty of Army Painter and Citadel paints. So far I've only used Citadel paints (mostly because Sorastro is using them). I have Army Painter brush on varnish, primers and Anti-Shine Varnish. I've found them to be all fine except for the matt white primer.

I read some book about model painting and it recommended Vallejo and Reaper paints though it did mention that for bright colors and metallic colors Citadel paints are the best. But the book was about war figure (mostly historical figure) painting so I guess that's one reason. Citadel paints seem to be directed for fantasy miniatures.

I've primarily used Citadel for these minis, with a few Vallejo paints mixed in. I like the dropper bottles for measuring out mixes, but as far as paint quality, both are good. I think GW has come along nicely with their line these days, but it's **** expensive.

Formula P3 by Privateer Press.

Smooth.