Vallejo Xpress Color

They arrived to town and I took the plunge and got them as a late Xmas present. I bought all the colours available, 20 for 60 €. 

 

Things I don't like from them:

-They only have two browns, one for leather and another for wood, and I missed at least a beige or a light brown; I also missed a medium grey. Moreover, the their black colour, Black Lotus, has a bluish finish I don't quite like much. 

-The paint is a bit reactive and when you varnish the miniature some colour is lost, but I've read somewhere that can be solved by letting them dry overnight, I'll try it next time. 

-It does bubbles and you have to be careful not to let them dry.

-The new bottles are thinner than original ones and it's difficult to squeeze the right amount of paint out of them. If you are not careful, you'll get more than you need.

However, believe or not, I'm quite excited about them as it takes me three times more to paint a miniature in the traditional manner than with Xpress colors and getting similar results. They are also very cheap when compared to Contrasts from GW. The paints are easy to control and move on the surface and they allow thinning and mixing. Hues are rich and appropriate for Fantasy, Sci-fi and also ancient or Napoleonic armies. Actually, I'm waiting for the arrival of two DBA armies, Republican Romans and Gauls, and I think I'll paint them with these paints. I just wish there were also a range for muted colours for WWII and modern military uniforms and vehicles.

I tested these paints with 1/72 medieval peasants from Zvezda. They turned out very colourful, more than they should be, but I wanted to test all colours. The only ones I didn't dare to on them use were Deep Purple and Gloomy Violet as they were too much for these poor peasants.

As commented above, you can observe how some colour has gone after varnish, especially on reds, blues and greens. Metallic parts are Black Lotus with Natural Steel drybrushed on.

 

And here there is a comparison between a Zvezda peasant painted with Xpress on the left, and an Emhar Anglo-Saxon painted with base colour, wash and two lights. Although the figure on the right is not very good painted, you can see there is no big difference in the final result, especially if you look at them from distance.