Review - Monument Hobbies Paints

Recently I purchased the "Base Set" of the Pro Acryl Paints from Monument Hobbies. This set includes all 24 of their original non-metallic paints.

The paints come in 22ml plastic bottles and contain glass agitators. The bottles are very well designed having a non-clog twist top design so you can easily add single drops to your palette.

They are advertised as "premium high-density pigment in superior acrylic mediums. They provide great coverage right out of the bottle, thin evenly to achieve any level of transparency, and dry to a beautiful matte finish".

My experience over the past couple of years has led to increasing dissatisfaction with Citadel Paints. I've found that the saturation generally is quite patchy meaning that even for base colours you require 2-3 coats. The pots they come are not conducive to longevity, leading me to transfer mine into dropper bottles and adding an agitator. They do have the advantage of breadth of range meaning you can typically find the shade you want. However, even with the range advantage, I made the decision to not replace my existing Citadel Paints as I use them up.

So on that basis I was keen to see how the Pro Acryl were. 

I tried them out over the weekend and can confirm that they are highly saturated. The colours give great coverage straight from the bottle but can be thinned to provide glazes. If you like saturated paints then these really are as good as I have used....similar to Scale 75 and Khymera but more vibrant.

The 22ml bottle with no-clog twist tops

The set represents very good value for money. In the USA it retails for $85 (but is currently out of stock). I purchased mine for GBP 77 from Element Games which landed here in NZ equates to NZ$165. That works out at just under $7 per bottle (by comparison: GW's Citadel Base Paints are NZ$7.50 per 12ml pot - and their paint posts are shite). So good value for money, relative.

Paints included -

• Bold Titanium White
• Coal Black
• Bold Pyrrole Red
• Green
• Blue
• Golden Yellow
• Orange
• Burnt Red
• Mahogany
• Purple
• Magenta
• Sky Blue
• Faded Ultramarine
• Dark Grey Blue
• Bright Warm Grey
• Dark Warm Grey
• Golden Brown
• Light Umber
• Dark Umber
• Camo Green
• Jade
• Bright Ivory
• Ivory
• Tan Flesh

Here is the set all snug in my HobbyZone rack

This base set has sufficient breadth to become my mainstay paint range. In part this is because you can easily dispense the paint one drop art a time - meaning you can mix and record any specific paint recipes you require.

I see the set as complementing the two sets of metallics I use - Scale 75 Metal Alchemy for Golds/Copper and Vallejo Metal Colour for Steel/Silver.