Don't have Ardcoat? Get a free step-by-step guide using the paints you own.
Make a free guideLooking for a Ardcoat equivalent? Below are the closest cross-brand color matches to Ardcoat (Citadel Colour) in Army Painter Speedpaint, Vallejo Model Color, Army Painter Fanatic, Vallejo Diorama FX, Vallejo Xpress Color, AK Interactive Artist Dense Acrylic, Reaper MSP, AK Interactive 3rd Gen, Vallejo Game Color, Vallejo Metal Color, AK Interactive Diorama Series, Scale75 Scalecolor, Army Painter Colour Primer, Vallejo Game Color Effects, Monument Pro Acryl, Vallejo Hobby Spray, Vallejo Weathering Effects, Army Painter Warpaints, Army Painter Quickshade, Vallejo Model Wash, ranked by CIE76 deltaE color distance. Use them as substitutes, or generate a painting guide from the paints you actually own and let PaintGuide handle the matching and mixing for you.
Closest match in each brand
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Shade & highlight partners
Suggested shadow and highlight colors for Ardcoat, picked from the full catalog by color science — not paints you own. Shadows stay richer when they lean cool; pure black just flattens them. Highlights read best warmer and a touch softer than the base; pure white bleaches them out.
- Shade 2Paratrooper TanArmy Painter FanaticGreat match
- Shade 1Ancient WoodReaper MSPGreat match
- BaseArdcoatCitadel Colour
- Highlight 1Pastel VioletAK Interactive 3rd GenGreat match
- Highlight 2White PrimerVallejo Game ColorGreat match
Mix starting points — real pigment blends shift a little; adjust by eye.
Your paints, one journey — the blends between them live here.
Don't have Ardcoat? Paint with what you own.
PaintGuide builds a step-by-step guide for your miniature using only the paints in your collection — matching colors across brands and giving exact mixing recipes for anything you're missing.
Make a free guide with your paintsMatches are computed by converting each paint's color to CIELAB and measuring CIE76 deltaE distance. A “great match” (deltaE < 3) is very close to the eye; a “close match” is a usable substitute. Finish, opacity, and coverage still differ between brands, so test on primer when it matters.