so where does everybody get their painting/sculpting tools from?
i've been looking like a mad man for some affordable starter sets on ebay without much luck so i was wondering what are the alternative to citadel colors and most importantly,where to buy them?

currently i live in a place where there are absolutely no hobby shops so my only chance is to buy online but gw prices are just outrageous and i don't really know where else to look at.

i'm in europe and as i was saying i'm interested in some starter sets at reasonable prices (dont have lots of time&space at the moment so i have no use for a wide range of tools) or at least something less expensive than the 3.00+ euro per bottle demanded by gw .

any input/suggestion is appreciated.

I get mine from Maelstrom Games and/or Wayland Games. Both pretty good discount online retailers based in the UK, both will sometimes take a long time for orders to get shipped, and both have a good range of different hobby brands of paint besides citadel. I've personally been going for vallejo.

thanks,i've been asking around and most people recommended me wayland and maelstrom too.

i pretty much made up my mind for vallejo colors, but i'd be curious to know if there also other decent alternatives.

Vallejo's Game Color line just about replicates the standard "Citadel" paints line. They don't have the same types of paints in Citadel's new range (base, shade, layer, technical...), but rather have a fairly consistent paint quality throughout (red tends to be slightly thicker, yellows slightly thinner, in my experience).

Vallejo also has a "model color" line that is geared towards historics. Where Game Color are bold, Model Color are more subdued and realistic. Model color has colors that aren't available in the Game Color line, so they're good on that front as well.

Another brand that is good is the Privateer Press Formula P3. The colors here are somewhere between the boldness of Game Color and the muted Model Color. The colors are also different from Game or Model color, offering up an even wider selection.

GW/Citadel/Game color is for high fantasy and the colors reflect that.
Model Color is for historical games and the colors reflect that.
Formula P3 is for low fantasy/steampunk and the colors reflect that.

My advice is to buy the colors you want. Some people prefer to buy starter sets and work from there.

Vallejo are an excellent choice, and there is no reason to stick only to their Game Colours range for fantasy figures. Model Colour gives you a more gritty, realistic feel while Game gives you a more pastel, cartoony look. I like using the Model Colour range for the more naturalistic look, my favourite colour is actually the US Army Olive Drab, which works nicely for clothing.

i was gonna get a fantasy set of 16 bottles,but in the end i got a cheaper gw starter set and i'm gonna stick to it until my skill improves.will definetly move to vallejo colors over time.

thanks a lot everybody for the input!