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How much paint do you need for miniatures?
Millilitres and paint pots for your army — from model count, size and number of colors, with cost estimate.
Quick answer
Army painting is a volume game measured in millilitres, not litres. A basic tabletop scheme on 28 mm infantry — primer, base coat, wash, highlight — uses roughly 1–1.5 ml of paint per model in total across all layers (you do not use a full ml of each colour). 10 models at 1.2 ml each → about 12 ml of paint consumed, but you buy one 18 ml pot per distinct colour (primer + 3 colours = 4 pots). At €4.50 per Citadel-style pot that is €18 for the squad, not counting brushes or thinner.
Paint needed (total)
12 ml
- Pots to buy
- 4
- Paint cost
- 6.00
Estimate for tabletop miniatures with primer, base coat and one highlight per color — about 1–1.5 ml per 28 mm infantry for a basic scheme, more for vehicles. Citadel-style 18 ml pots are the reference; contrast/speed paints stretch further. Buy one pot per distinct color you cannot mix from primaries.
How it works
Formula for shopping: pots to buy = number of distinct colours (including primer); ml used ≈ models × ml per model where ml per model is ~1.2 for infantry, ~2 for vehicles, ~3.5 for large monsters. Contrast paints and speed paints stretch further — budget half the ml if you use a one-coat system. Buy standard 18 ml acrylics unless you are batch-painting a single army colour, then consider 60 ml dropper bottles for bases and metallics.
The millilitres above assume the paint is thinned, and thinning is not optional. Straight from the pot, acrylic goes on thick enough to fill the panel lines and soften the detail the model was sculpted for — two or three thinned coats cover better than one heavy one and keep the edges crisp. The other thing that decides real cost per model is the container: paint in screw-top pots skins and dries out long before it is used up, so a half-finished pot is often a wasted pot, while dropper bottles reach the bottom. Buy fewer colours in bottles rather than many in pots.
Frequently asked questions
How many paint pots for a Warhammer squad of 10?+
Plan 4–5 pots for a typical scheme: 1 primer (spray or brush-on), 1 base colour, 1 wash/shade, 1 highlight, optional 1 metallic for weapons. You will not empty any pot on one squad — the calculator counts pots to own, not ml consumed per session.
Is 18 ml or 12 ml the standard pot size?+
Games Workshop pots are 18 ml (Citadel Layer/Base); Army Painter and Vallejo Game Color are often 18 ml dropper bottles; Vallejo Model Color is 17 ml. Enter your actual pot size if you use a different line — the cost scales linearly.
Do I need separate primer?+
Yes for plastic/resin miniatures — primer gives paint something to grip. Spray primer is fastest for batches; brush-on primer counts as one of your colour pots. Metal models may need a different primer than plastic.
How much paint for one large vehicle?+
Budget 2–3 ml of paint layers for a tank or large kit, and 3–4 distinct colours minimum (primer, base, wash, detail). One 18 ml pot per colour still applies — you will have plenty left for other models.
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