If you've spent any time looking into the best model paints in the UK, you'll know the internet is full of contradictory opinions. Everyone's got a favourite, and everyone thinks theirs is right. So let's be honest: there's no single "best" paint. There's the best paint for what you're doing. Here's how I'd break it down.
First, Acrylic vs Enamel
Before we get into brands, you need to understand the chemistry.
Acrylics (Vallejo, Tamiya, Citadel) are water-based, dry relatively quickly, clean up with water (or IPA), and are the dominant choice for most modellers today. They're safer to use indoors, lower fume risk, and work well for both brush painting and airbrushing.
Enamels (Humbrol, MIG) are solvent-based. They take longer to dry, require thinners for clean-up, and have stronger fumes — but they blend beautifully, self-level exceptionally well when brush painting, and are incredibly forgiving over longer work sessions. Oil and enamel washes are still widely considered the best tool for shading and weathering.
Most serious modellers use both. The question is what to reach for first.
Humbrol — The Classic British Choice
Humbrol is the paint most of us grew up with, and it's earned its place on the shelf. These are enamels, and they do what enamels do best: blend smoothly, self-level, and forgive minor brush strokes as they cure.
Best for: Brush painting, historical aircraft and military colours (the Humbrol range covers almost every official colour reference), beginners who want forgiving coverage.
Watch out for: Drying time — you need patience. They can take 24 hours to fully cure, and if you handle a model too soon, you'll leave fingerprints. Keep the lid tight between coats; enamel skins over quickly in the tin.
Verdict: Still brilliant. Unfairly overlooked by modellers who've jumped straight to acrylics without trying them.
Tamiya — The Workhorse
Tamiya's acrylic range is what I'd recommend to most people starting out. It's consistent, it thins predictably, it's widely available, and the colour matching for their own kits is obviously spot-on.
Best for: General purpose painting, airbrushing (Tamiya thins down incredibly cleanly with their own X-20A thinner or IPA), brush painting with thin coats.
Watch out for: Straight from the pot, Tamiya acrylics can be too thick for clean brush work. Always thin them — start at around 30% thinner and adjust. Their pot colours can also look slightly different to the sprayed result, so test first.
Tamiya's Panel Line Accent Colours deserve a special mention. These aren't full paints — they're pre-thinned washes for recessed panel lines. They're easy to apply, easy to remove (with Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color Remover or lighter fluid), and they make a dramatic difference to finished models with minimal effort. Genuinely one of the best beginner products in the hobby.
Verdict: My everyday acrylic. Consistent, reliable, brilliant for airbrushing.
Vallejo — The Enthusiast's Choice
Vallejo is the paint modellers tend to graduate to. The Model Color range is vast — hundreds of colours — and the dropper bottles are excellent for consistent mixing and waste reduction. The paint quality is superb.
Best for: Experienced brush painters, anyone doing large paint sessions or working with MIG products, figure painting (Vallejo's Model Color and Game Color ranges are outstanding for flesh tones and blending), detailed colour matching.
Watch out for: Vallejo can be trickier to thin correctly for airbrushing — it tends to tip-dry more readily than Tamiya without the right flow improver added. It also doesn't stick as well to bare plastic without a primer, more so than other brands.
Verdict: Exceptional paint. Probably the best range available once you know what you're doing. The dropper bottles alone are worth it — you'll never go back to pots.
MIG Productions — For Weathering
Strictly speaking, MIG Productions focuses on weathering products: filters, washes, pigments, streaking effects. If you're into realistic weathering on military vehicles or aircraft, MIG is essential. Their enamel-based products work beautifully over acrylic base coats (let the acrylics cure properly first), and the results speak for themselves.
The Honest Summary
- Start with: Tamiya acrylics for general painting, Humbrol for brush painting and classic military colours
- Graduate to: Vallejo Model Color for expanded palette and better dropper consistency
- Add for weathering: Tamiya Panel Line Accents early on, MIG when you're ready to weather properly
We stock all of these brands — Vallejo, Tamiya, Humbrol, MIG, Citadel — with one of the largest paint ranges in the UK. Browse our full model paints range and get the right colours for your next build.