How to avoid accidentally buying duplicate paints without realising it

Why you end up buying so many duplicates without meaning to

The first reason is brand fragmentation. Citadel / Warhammer Colour, Vallejo Model Color, Army Painter — each range has its own names, its own codes, its own logic. 'Evil Sunz Scarlet', 'Scarlet Red' (Vallejo 70.817), 'Pure Red' (Army Painter): three names, three different packaging designs, but shades close enough that the result on a miniature is practically identical. It is even clearer with blues: Macragge Blue (Citadel) and Vallejo Ultramarine Blue (70.839) have a Delta-E of around 4 — a difference that is nearly invisible once applied.

The second reason is YouTube tutorial culture. Every creator uses the paints they have to hand. If you follow three different Space Marines tutorials, you may end up with three different reds recommended, none of them appearing to be a duplicate because they have distinct names. You have not bought duplicates — you have bought 'the tutorial paints'.

The third reason is range evolution and memory fatigue. Older Citadel paints had completely different names — Mechrite Red became Mephiston Red, Liche Purple became Xereus Purple. If you have a few pots from before the 2012 big rename, or even pots from before the 2026 Warhammer Colour rebrand, you may no longer know exactly what you own. Without an inventory, memory fills the gaps with certainties that are often wrong.

The most common duplicate families

Dark reds — this is probably the most affected family. Mephiston Red, Evil Sunz Scarlet, and Wild Rider Red already make a hard-to-distinguish trio within a Citadel collection. Add a Vallejo Scarlet (70.817) or an Army Painter Pure Red, and you have four or five reds, at least two of which are interchangeable on a miniature. To see exactly how similar they are, the Mephiston Red equivalents page gives precise Delta-E scores.

Blacks and very dark greys — Abaddon Black and Vallejo Black (70.950) have a Delta-E below 1. That is literally the same perceptible colour. Yet it is not uncommon to have both on a shelf. The same applies to Chaos Black (the old name) that some people still own. The Abaddon Black equivalents page quickly shows how many blacks are redundant.

Beiges, bones, and parchments — Zandri Dust, Ushabti Bone, and Screaming Skull cover three different brightness levels within the Citadel range. But up against a Vallejo Khaki (70.988) or an Army Painter Skeleton Bone, confusion is common. These shades look slightly different in the pot, then give nearly identical results as a base coat on neutral surfaces. The Zandri Dust equivalents page illustrates this well.

Metallics — Leadbelcher and Vallejo Gunmetal (70.863) are often bought as duplicates by painters using both brands. At arm's length on a miniature, the difference is zero. The same applies to Ironbreaker and Stormhost Silver: two pots for what looks like the same result depending on the base colour.

Technical paints and washes — Nuln Oil gets rebought because the pot looks empty when product remains at the bottom. Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil are sometimes bought together when only one gets used in practice. Contrast and Speedpaint paints are also affected: Blood Angels Red Contrast and Flesh Tearers Red Contrast overlap in use for the majority of hobbyists.

Why paint names tell you nothing about the actual colour

Paint names are marketing, not colour descriptions. 'Macragge Blue' evokes a planet from the Warhammer 40K universe, not a precise shade. 'Kantor Blue' and 'Macragge Blue' sound similar — yet one is a very dark Layer, the other a standard Base. In the pot, they look clearly different. Thinned on a black or grey surface, they can give nearly identical results depending on technique and application thickness.

Promotional photos make the problem worse. They are taken on a white background with a thick coat applied directly — the most saturated result possible. On a miniature with a dark grey undercoat, the same paint will look much more muted. That is why you buy a pot 'that looks brighter' and end up with the same result as the one you already had.

Contrast and Speedpaint paints add another layer of complexity. Their behaviour depends heavily on the undercoat and application thickness. Blood Angels Red Contrast on Wraithbone gives a very different result from the same paint on White Scar. If you do not note these parameters, you may buy a second 'similar' pot trying to reproduce a result you were already getting with another one.

How to tell whether two paints are actually different

Before buying, four criteria are enough to know whether a paint really adds something new. Saturation: is one more vivid, more intense than the other? Colour temperature: is one warmer (orange-leaning) or cooler (blue-leaning)? Finish: matte, satin, gloss? Opacity: does it cover in one coat or two? If two paints answer these four questions the same way for your actual use, they are interchangeable.

There is a scientific measure to quantify this difference: Delta-E (CIEDE2000). It is a score expressing the perceptible distance between two colours. A Delta-E below 2 means the difference is invisible to the naked eye under normal conditions. Between 2 and 5, the difference is subtle — often undetectable on a miniature at typical scale. Above 10, the two colours are clearly distinct. This is the score the ChromaStack conversion chart uses for its cross-brand equivalents.

If you already own both pots, the most reliable test is still the brush. Apply both to the same surface — a blister pack, a piece of card, a test miniature — under the same conditions. Often the 'new' paint gives exactly the same result. And if it does, you know your next shopping list can safely leave it out.

Practical habits to stop buying the same paint twice

The first habit is to check equivalents before any purchase. Before adding a pot to your cart, a quick search for that colour's equivalents tells you whether you already own something close in another brand. This is especially useful when you mix Citadel and Vallejo — a guide like managing your Warhammer paint collection helps structure this approach.

The second is a minimal inventory — not necessarily Excel. A Notes app on your phone with the names and brands of the pots you actively use is enough to avoid 80% of duplicates. The golden rule: update this list on the day of purchase, not the next day. An unboxed, unrecorded pot is a potential duplicate three months from now.

The third is to organise by colour family rather than by brand. Group all your reds together, whether they are Citadel, Vallejo, or Army Painter. When you can already see three reds in the same drawer, it becomes much harder to justify buying a fourth 'slightly different' one.

The fourth is to write down your recipes concretely. 'Space Marines red: Mephiston Red base + Evil Sunz Scarlet layer + Wild Rider Red highlight' — once you write that, you immediately see which pots you actually use. Any other reds sitting around without a place in an active recipe are probably duplicates or orphan purchases.

Finally, the wishlist before the impulse buy. Add the pot to a wish list, then come back to it 48 hours later. The question to ask: 'Do I already have an equivalent in my collection?' Often the answer is yes, and the purchase does not happen.

A tool to compare before buying

That is precisely the problem ChromaStack was built to solve. When you look for Citadel paint equivalents in other brands, or want to know whether that Vallejo you are considering is really different from what you already own, the tool gives you an answer based on colorimetric measurements — not impressions.

The Delta-E equivalents search gives you a concrete score. You immediately see whether two paints are at ΔE < 3 (practically identical on a miniature) or ΔE > 8 (clearly distinct to the naked eye). Before a purchase, in a few seconds, you can confirm whether that pot is genuinely useful or whether it doubles something you already have. The Warhammer paint conversion chart covers the main correspondences between Citadel, Vallejo, and Army Painter.

To go further in managing your collection — seeing which paints you own per army, spotting shared references across projects — ChromaStack's collection tool handles this without a spreadsheet to maintain. The principle is simple: you build the paint list for your active armies, and the tool automatically deduplicates references that appear in multiple projects.