Best Miniature Paints at Merlin's Miniatures in 2026 — Citadel, Army Painter, Two Thin Coats & Vallejo

Miniature paints for Warhammer and tabletop models from Citadel, Army Painter, Two Thin Coats and Vallejo

Miniature painting has moved far beyond choosing one brand and buying every colour it makes. Modern painters can choose between traditional acrylics, high-coverage base colours, transparent speed-paint systems, washes, metallics, technical effects, airbrush paints and complete sets — and Merlin's Miniatures carries several of the major ranges in one catalogue.

That makes the store useful not only for Warhammer players but also for historical wargamers, miniature collectors, diorama builders and painters who want to mix brands rather than commit to a single system.

Merlin's current paint catalogue includes Citadel, The Army Painter, Two Thin Coats, Vallejo, AK Quick Gen Color and specialist ranges alongside paints organised by colour and application type.

For a broader look at how painting fits into tabletop gaming, collecting and modelling, see our Tabletop, Miniatures & Collectibles — A Curated Approach to the Hobby.

Browse Citadel Paints at Merlin's Miniatures

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Why the Paint Brand Matters Less Than the Paint Type

Beginners often ask which miniature paint brand is best. That question sounds simple, but it can lead to unnecessary spending because different ranges are designed around different workflows.

A painter may prefer Citadel because an official Warhammer tutorial gives exact colour names, use Army Painter Speedpaint to complete large units quickly, keep a few Vallejo colours for specific tones and use Two Thin Coats for colours that suit a particular project.

There is no rule saying every bottle on the desk has to carry the same logo.

The more useful distinction is between paint types:

standard acrylic colours
base and high-coverage paints
layer and midtone colours
washes and shades
contrast and speed-paint systems
metallic paints
technical and texture effects
airbrush paints
weathering products

Our Complete Guide to Wargaming Miniatures & Hobby Supplies looks at paints as part of the wider miniature-building process.

Citadel Paints — The Straightest Route for Warhammer Painters

Citadel remains the easiest paint system to follow if you regularly use Games Workshop painting guides.

The important advantage is not that every Citadel colour is automatically better than every competing paint. It is compatibility with the enormous ecosystem of Warhammer instructions, videos and painting recipes that refer to Citadel colours by name.

Merlin's Miniatures currently lists hundreds of Citadel paint products across different colour families and paint types.

Explore Citadel Paints at Merlin's Miniatures

Citadel Base Paints

Base paints are intended to establish strong initial colour coverage. They are useful when working over primer and building the main colour areas before shading and highlighting.

This can make them particularly convenient for army painting, where consistency across many miniatures matters more than elaborate colour mixing on every model.

Browse Citadel Base Paints

The Army Painter — A Very Broad Alternative

The Army Painter range has become much broader than the basic starter palettes many hobbyists associate with the brand.

Merlin's Miniatures currently lists more than 200 products in the Army Painter collection, covering Warpaints Fanatic acrylics, washes, metallics, effects, paint sets, Speedpaint and airbrush colours.

That makes the range particularly useful for painters who want to build a large working palette without relying entirely on Games Workshop colour naming.

Explore The Army Painter Range

Army Painter Speedpaint — When Painting Speed Matters

Transparent speed-paint systems are designed around a different workflow from conventional acrylic layering.

Applied over a light or zenithal undercoat, the paint flows into recesses while remaining lighter over raised areas. That can create shading and colour variation in fewer stages.

This makes Speedpaint especially attractive for:

large Warhammer armies
historical infantry
board-game miniatures
players who want tabletop-ready forces quickly
painters who enjoy underpainting and slap-chop techniques

It is not a replacement for every conventional acrylic technique. It is another tool.

Browse Army Painter Speedpaint at Merlin's Miniatures

Two Thin Coats — Duncan Rhodes' Paint System

Two Thin Coats is closely associated with miniature painter Duncan Rhodes and is designed around the traditional base, midtone and highlight approach familiar to many Warhammer painters.

The Merlin's Miniatures collection includes individual colours as well as larger sets, making it possible either to test a few shades or move more substantially into the system.

This range makes particular sense for painters who like controlled layering and do not want their workflow built primarily around one-coat transparent paints.

Explore Two Thin Coats Paints

Vallejo — Useful Far Beyond Warhammer

Vallejo occupies a particularly useful position because its paint ecosystem crosses miniature gaming, military modelling, aircraft, armour, historical figures and general scale modelling.

The current Merlin's catalogue includes hundreds of Vallejo products covering multiple colour families and specialist applications.

This makes Vallejo particularly attractive if your hobby crosses between Warhammer and conventional scale models.

A modeller might use the same workbench for a Space Marine one day and a 1:35 tank the next. A broad paint system makes that crossover much easier.

Browse Vallejo Paints & Hobby Supplies

AK Quick Gen Color — Another Speed-Paint Route

AK Quick Gen Color gives painters another option in the fast-painting category.

The important point is that transparent one-coat systems are no longer one-brand products. Painters can compare how different formulations flow, stain, pool and behave over different primers.

This is useful because a painter may prefer one manufacturer's standard acrylics and another manufacturer's transparent colours.

Explore AK Quick Gen Color

Metallic Paints — One Category Worth Mixing Brands For

Metallics are one of the clearest examples of why staying completely loyal to one paint brand is unnecessary.

Silver, steel, iron, gold, brass and copper paints can differ noticeably in flake size, opacity, brightness and finish.

Merlin's metallic collection brings together products from several brands, which is useful when comparing colours for:

Space Marine armour trim
Adeptus Mechanicus machinery
Necron bodies
Imperial weapons
historical armour
fantasy weapons and plate armour
steampunk miniatures

Browse Metallic Miniature Paints

Painting by Colour Instead of Brand

One of the more useful features of the Merlin's catalogue is the ability to browse paints by colour rather than manufacturer.

If you need a particular green, grey, brown, white or gold, comparing several brands side by side can make more sense than opening each manufacturer separately.

For example, the green category currently combines shades from Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter, Two Thin Coats and other ranges.

Browse Green Miniature Paints

Browse Grey Miniature Paints

Browse Brown Miniature Paints

Browse White Miniature Paints

Browse Gold Miniature Paints

What Should a Beginner Actually Buy?

A beginner does not need fifty colours.

A practical first selection is usually:

a main faction colour
a darker shade or wash
a lighter highlight colour
black
white or off-white
a metallic
a flesh tone if required
a neutral brown or grey

Add more colours when the models actually require them.

This is much more efficient than buying a huge paint collection before knowing what you enjoy painting.

If you are starting Warhammer from zero, our Best Warhammer 40,000 Starter Sets in 2026 guide also shows which entry options already include basic painting supplies and which assume that you already have your hobby equipment.

Our How Much Does It Really Cost to Start Warhammer in 2026? guide makes the same point: the hobby becomes expensive much faster when people buy everything at once rather than expanding gradually.

When a Paint Set Makes Sense

Paint sets are useful when the colours have been selected around a coherent purpose.

Good examples include:

starter colour sets
historical army palettes
metallic collections
speed-paint sets
faction-oriented colours
complete working palettes for painters starting from zero

The Army Painter catalogue, for example, contains both small themed sets and very large collections.

A complete mega set can make sense for someone painting constantly across multiple systems. It makes far less sense for a beginner painting one ten-model squad.

Brushes Matter as Much as the Paint

Expensive paint cannot compensate for a brush that is unsuitable for the job.

Merlin's currently carries a substantial brush catalogue from several manufacturers, including brushes for conventional painting, detail work, drybrushing and weathering.

You do not need dozens of brushes. A small working selection is enough:

one dependable general-purpose brush
one smaller detail brush
one older or tougher brush for rough work
one drybrush if the technique is part of your workflow

Browse Miniature Painting Brushes

Wet Palettes and Paint Control

A wet palette can extend working time and make conventional acrylics easier to thin and mix consistently.

This becomes especially useful when painting several miniatures in the same colour scheme because a mixed colour can remain workable for longer than it would on a dry plastic palette.

Explore Wet & Dry Palettes

Painting an Army vs Painting a Display Miniature

The right paint workflow also depends on the size of the project.

A single character can justify slower layering, glazing and careful transitions. A full army often benefits from repeatable base colours, washes, drybrushing or speed-paint techniques that can be applied consistently across many models.

If you are painting an army built from one boxed force, our Warhammer 40,000 Combat Patrol buyer's guide gives useful context on the size and painting workload of several current factions.

Citadel vs Army Painter vs Two Thin Coats vs Vallejo

There is no universal winner.

Choose Citadel if following Games Workshop recipes and tutorials is important.

Choose Army Painter if you want a broad ecosystem including conventional acrylics, Speedpaint, effects and large sets.

Choose Two Thin Coats if you prefer a traditional layering-oriented miniature painting workflow.

Choose Vallejo if your hobby crosses heavily into military modelling, historical subjects and scale models as well as tabletop miniatures.

Or simply mix them.

Don't Ignore the Paints You Already Own

One of the easiest ways to waste money in miniature painting is to assume that a new project requires a new paint ecosystem.

If an existing green, brown or metallic already produces the result you want, there is no reason to replace it because a tutorial names another manufacturer's equivalent.

Spend where the new product solves an actual problem: better coverage, a missing tone, a useful effect or faster workflow.

For readers comparing more specialist paint systems, our Pro Acryl Paints Buyer's Guide provides another useful point of comparison.

Final Verdict

Merlin's Miniatures is interesting as a paint retailer because the catalogue does not force painters into one ecosystem.

Citadel provides the direct Warhammer route, Army Painter offers an enormous general-purpose range and Speedpaint system, Two Thin Coats targets the traditional miniature-layering workflow, and Vallejo bridges tabletop and conventional scale modelling.

The best approach is not to ask which brand is objectively superior.

Ask which paint solves the next job on the model.

Explore Citadel Paints at Merlin's Miniatures

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Looking for paints, weathering products, brushes, airbrushing equipment and other modelling supplies? The Scale & Motion Plus catalogue organises hobby products by category.

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