Games Workshop "Base" paints review

The "Base" colors from Games Workshop are the new range that took over after the complete overhaul of the Games Workshop range of paints which included the excellent Foundation paint and the Citadel Washes.

The new range from GW includes glazes, drybrushing paints, texture paints and other stuff - but what interested me the most was the replacement for the Foundation paints. I had come to rely heavily on the foundation paints as their ability to cover black basecoat was superior to anything else I had in my paint collection. I often mixed the foundation paints with regular Vallejo paints to create shades and new colors as well.

Now, when I started painting the Dreadfleet stuff I soon realized I would need something to cover those large brightly colored areas such as the sails and didn't have anything for that job. I went and bought a couple of pots  thinking I had bought something worth the money.

But the Base colors are nowhere near the old Foundation paints formula in terms of ability to cover a surface in one or two thin layers. The Base colors are frankly speaking regular paint on par with what you would expect to get when you buy a bottle of paint from Vallejo or a pot from Formula P3. Seriously, what the hell...

To be more specific, the new Base colors are roughly half as good at covering a surface with one layer as the old Foundation paints were, so you can forget basecoating dark surfaces with these paints quickly and efficiently. I've still ended up using these crappy paints for my Dreadfleet project, but I'm not happy with their performance and would have been better of with something from Vallejo (which would also have been cheaper). The Base colors are not even good for drybrushing as they are too runny whereas the Foundation paints easily produced a very dry almost powdery drybrush result if you wanted to and were so thick very little paint was wasted.

A total dud, so my advice is to stay clear of these paints. Sadly the same probably goes for the new washes, though I have only had limited experience with them I can tell they don’t behave like the old Citadel Washes. I would instead advice going with the Warpaint “Inks”.

With the disappearance of Foundation paints and Citadel Washes there really is nothing left worth the money. Better washes and paints can be found from the competition at lower prices and increased amount of content per bottle/pot.