Hi, I’m back. I’m not gonna frontload this post with a big explanation of why I was basically gone from everything hobby related beyond occasional bouts on Discord for about two years, but if you want the explanation, there’s a PS at the bottom of this post.

Before I get into this review, I need to explain why I went to the bother of buying a whole out of production paint range to begin with. So, in 2019, Games Workshop switched the manufacturing of Citadel paint from HMG (a UK-based paint manufacturer who actually made their original 80s and 90s lines of Citadel paint) to in-house. Naturally, they changed the formula quite significantly but didn’t bother informing the public. They added white, grey or black pigment to almost every paint in the range, and also changed the finish to be more matte. Thanks to the added pigment, many paints now have significantly better coverage and many painters prefer the matte-er finish, making most hobbyists happy about the change (if they even noticed it). I’m not one of them. The main reason Citadel is my most-used paint range (despite the fact I own paints from every brand on the market except AK Interactive) is due to the satin finish and vibrant colours. I hate matte paints due to the fact they will always be chalkier, less durable, and less smooth then satin paint, and my clean ‘Eavy Metal adjacent painting style relies heavily on silky-smooth paint. And the greyed out pigment gets rid of the vibrancy I loved so much.

An easy way to tell pre-reformulation Citadel from the current stuff is by the logo. Up to 2018, Citadel had a squarish shield shaped logo. After the 2019 reformulation, the logo was changed to a small paint splatter and was called Citadel COLOUR.

So, I went about trying to obtain as much of the pre-reformulated range as possible, scouring game stores and buying stuff off Ebay. While doing all this, I realized something. HMG also made Privateer Press’s Formula P3 paint range. Since Citadel was made by the same company, surely they must be similar? A bit of consultation with a pigment expert I know (hi Drez), and it turns out that I’m right, Formula P3 should be basically identical to pre-reformulation HMG-made Citadel. So, I bought a bunch of paints to test it out.

Bad news, Formula P3 paints are almost identical to Citadel, but there’s one big issue:

They’re better.

Everything great about Citadel is there in these paints. The smoothness, eggshell (in between satin and matte) finish, and vibrancy. But there are two major differences that make Formula P3 paints Citadel, but better.

1: They thin down (with just water) like a dream. No separation like with nearly every paint range, including Citadel. I’m not certain, but I’m pretty sure this is due to there being a lot more medium/binder and less fillers in these paints, as it’s the lack of binder that causes many paint ranges to separate when heavily watered down; There’s just not enough binder to hold it all together when that much water is added in. Thinning down well is something that’s one of the biggest requirements of my painting style due to heavy use of glazes and very thin paint to build up subtle blends, and it’s the one thing all my paints have always struggled with. So this feature alone makes this range better then nearly every other for me.

Thinned P3 on the left, thinned Citadel on the right. Citadel is totally separated and the picture doesn’t even get across the texture and brush strokes. Meanwhile, P3 is completely unseparated, silky smooth, and far more opaque.

2: They’re more pigmented. The coverage of the lighter colours in particular is ridiculous, Hammerfall Khaki (which is identical to Citadel Karak Stone) can cover black in just two thin coats. Citadel still has colours that can just never be beaten by any range (their reds in particular), but P3 flattens almost their entire Layer range in terms of opacity. Also, THEIR LIGHTER COLOURS AREN’T CHALKY!

The difference in coverage is pretty extreme.

Aside from these two differences, P3 feels, acts, and looks basically identical to (pre-reformulation) Citadel. Colours are different of course (though I have found quite a few paints that are exact colour-matches to Citadel), but identical colours wasn’t my main objective in finding a way to replace all my old Citadel paints. Honestly, for a review, there isn’t much more to say. P3 is identical to Citadel in every other way, and we all know what Citadel paints are like.

TL;DR: Formula P3 paints are just Citadel, but with less filler and correspondingly more pigment and medium which makes them smoother, more opaque, and thin down far better.

Now, I know Formula P3 paints are out of production now, but they’re still relatively easy to find as most game store who sold them still have them in stock, as they were never the most popular of paint ranges to begin with. So, if any stores near you have them, I encourage you to pick a few up and give them a shot. Depending on your painting style, they will either impress you or completely blow your mind.

I’m gonna do at least one more post on these paints, probably in the form of a painting guide with details and tips on using them. Keep an eye out for that.

Leave a comment if you’ve got any questions, share the post if you want, and join the Discord server if you haven’t already, we’ve got a lot of pro painters, paint experts, and even content creators of some fame in there: https://discord.gg/jZVegD3fUR

PS: Explanation of where I’ve been.
About two years ago, I fell out of hobbying almost completely. I stopped playing D&D, I barely painted minis, I faded into the background on all online hobby communities I was in, and generally thought I was done with the hobby. My D&D books were used to prop up an old tv, my paint station got covered in dust, all my other games and stuff got thrown into a closet and I got busy with life.
And then, about 8 months ago, I got injured. A few people will know, I am in fact a champion competitive athlete (dancer). So my life ground to a complete halt. I got bored, and had a lot of time to have a good hard think. And I realized, fun isn’t just jumping up and down and lifting heavy circles for a living. I hadn’t really had fun for almost two years.
I cleaned off my paint station, pulled my books out from under the tv, and turned the worst time of my life into the best I’d had in years. I ran a full D&D campaign, painted nearly every day, wrote tons of lore, adventures, and bullshit, and remembered what fun is. I read books for the first time in years. I redownloaded the entire history of the Forgotten Realms back into my brain. It was great.
My injuries have been getting better for the past few months, and I’ve been getting back into my sport. But my hobbying hasn’t slowed down one notch, and it won’t. You need some fun in life as well as work, even if you love that work. And I managed to maintain both my job and my hobby for years before that. I can do it again.