In this review, we’re taking a look at the new paint sets from the guys at Squidmar, each containing a mix of 12 of the new Vallejo Game and Model Colors. The curated colour palette is tailored to Emil and Lukas’ tutorial videos, and in addition to the paints, you get an exclusive hard plastic miniature with each set. Can these sets take your painting skills to the next level, or are they just an influencer cash grab?

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The Squidmar Vallejo paint sets review

The team behind the highly popular YouTube channel Squidmar has released three paint sets in collaboration with Spanish paint maker Vallejo. Each of the three sets (Essential PaintsDark Future, and Fantasy Paint Set) has 12 carefully selected Vallejo Game and Model Colors, each containing 18ml of paint, as well as an exclusive hard plastic miniature. The sets are priced around €39 in Europe and are available now from vallejo-farben.de or Squidmar’s Harder & Steinbeeck shop. Compared to the individual price of €3 per paint (= €36 for 12), you get the miniature almost for free.

Vallejo Squidmar paint sets Essential Paints, Dark Future, Fantasy unboxing and review
These items were kindly provided by Fantasy-In / vallejo-farben.de. Thoughts and opinions are our own.

Vallejo Game and Model Color

The paints included in these sets are a selection from the 2021 and 2024 updated Vallejo Game Color and Model Color ranges. The updated Game and Model Colors have a completely new formula, with many colours slightly altered from their previous versions. I personally really enjoy the new Vallejo formula, which offers excellent coverage, smooth brushability, and a matte finish. Since we’ve extensively reviewed the new Vallejo Game Color range (here) and the updated Vallejo Model Color range (here), this review will focus on the added value of the sets, rather than paint properties.

At Spiel 2024 in Essen (Germany), I briefly spoke with Emil from Squidmar about their choice to partner with Vallejo. He shared that Vallejo’s consistent performance and quality made them the best choice for them. Vallejo Game and Model Colors have also made it into my personal top list of miniature paints, which you can check out here.

The Squidmar colour palette

  • The Essential Paint Set includes various beige, brown, and skin tones, alongside black and white. You’ll also receive a dwarf warrior.
  • The Fantasy Paint Set contains warm yellows, oranges, and reds, as well as green, gold, and dark bronze, plus a female orc warrior.
  • The Dark Future Set includes yellow, magenta, blue, turquoise, and silver, and comes with a female elf warrior.

The 36 colours, divided across the three sets, were carefully selected over several months by Emil and Lukas from Squidmar. The idea is for fans to easily replicate Emil and Lukas’ style. On their second channel, Squiddly Bits, Squidmar has started to release tutorials specifically tailored to these sets. The QR codes on the boxes link to a website where you can access the tutorials. All videos are freely available on YouTube, too, like this one:

For your reference, I’ve created a hand-painted swatch for all 36 included Vallejo Game and Model Colours:

Hand-painted colour swatch for Squidmar's Vallejo paint sets

Patreon bonus content: An uncompressed, higher resolution version of this swatch can be downloaded here.

As you can see, Emil and Lukas put the focus on warmer tones. Most noticeable is that there’s not a single genuine shade of blue.

In one of their videos, the two mentioned that they had worked together with Vallejo to optimise the formulations of some of the colours in their set. Unfortunately, they couldn’t tell me which colours they had changed, but I’ve tried all the colours in the set and compared them to the versions in my archive. VGC Scorpy Green and VGC Cayman Green from Squidmar’s set were both noticeably lighter than the older versions in my possession, and the finish of VGC Red Gore had a slightly more satin feel. Personally, I’m a fan of consistency and don’t like it when paint manufacturers secretly change their formulas. But keep in mind my observations are based on a sample size of only n = 2, so they might not be entirely conclusive. If you’ve noticed any colour changes in the new Vallejo Game and Model Colours recently, please feel free to comment. For reference, you can find complete swatches of the Vallejo ranges on my Patreon:

Stahly's hand-painted Vallejo Game Color swatch banner

This hand-painted swatch is available in my Patreon shop for a small donation (or by becoming an Autarch tier member). I also have swatches for Citadel Colour, AK 3rd Gen, Warpaints Fanatic, and Two Thin Coats – all cross-compatible with each other so you can compare colours across different brands. Check out my shop for details.

Vallejo Model Color swatch Patreon banner V1.0

This hand-painted swatch is available in my Patreon shop for a small donation (or by becoming an Autarch tier member). I also have swatches for Vallejo Game Color, Citadel Colour, AK 3rd Gen, Warpaints Fanatic, and Two Thin Coats – all cross-compatible with each other so you can compare colours across different brands. Check out my shop for details.

A closer look at the miniatures

The three included miniatures are brand new sculpts designed in collaboration with the Squidmar team. Both the dwarf, ork warrior, and elf warrior come with a scenic base and are made from hard plastic, similar to what you would find from Games Workshop. The sprues are made in Poland. The casting quality is very crisp and on par with Warhammer models, with only minimal flash. The models are also cleverly broken down into individual parts, minimizing the need for visible glue lines and seams. Very impressive.

Squidmar's miniatures sprues from the Vallejo paint sets review

Please note: At the time of writing this review, Squidmar have released only one tutorial for the models in their paint sets, namely the ork warrior. Hopefully, tutorials for the other miniatures will follow.

How to get Vallejo

You can find the latest hobby products at our 🇬🇧/🇪🇺 partner stores Wayland GamesElement Games, and Firestorm Games, at 🇩🇪 Taschengelddieb and PK-Pro, and at 🇺🇸 Noble Knight Games with a welcome discount of up to 10–15% over RRP. Using our links helps to support Tale of Painters at no additional cost to you, so thank you very much for using them!

So far, the Squidmar sets are available via vallejo-farben.de or Squidmar’s Harder & Steinbeeck shop.

I hope you found this review helpful, feel free to leave a reaction or comment below, or post your questions here or discuss on our Discord channel.

8.5
Score

Pros

  • 12 high-quality paints per set
  • Curated to match Squidmar's video tutorials
  • Fantastic hard-plastic miniature in each set

Cons

  • Palette is biased in favour of warm tones and contains no true blue
  • Apparently Squidmar changed the formulation of some colours such as Scorpy and Cayman Green

Final Verdict

The Squidmar guys have teamed up with Vallejo to create three very solid paint sets that come with an almost free, beautifully designed miniature. The fact that the colours have been chosen to match their YouTube tutorials is a nice bonus. For complete beginners I would recommend proper starter sets, as the focus on warm colours in Squidmar's sets requires supplementing them with some extra blue and cool tones.