Review: Green Stuff World Maxx Formula

A while ago, fellow paint nerd P. Knightwind hosted a big paint ranking on Instagram, and I could hardly believe the results. Apparently, one of the best red paints came from the Green Stuff World’s Maxx Formula line. Makes Green Stuff World the sleeper hit paint range that nobody talks about? For this video review, I got my hands on the entire Green Stuff World paint catalogue – and I must say, the answer isn’t that simple.

Please note: In the past, there have been some (in my opinion justified) shitstorms around Green Stuff World. In the interest of journalistic neutrality, I treat all manufacturers equally. However, I feel the need to point this out and leave it up to you to judge.

Green Stuff World is mostly known for their accessories and effect paints. In this video I’ll be focusing on the Maxx Formula range, which is Green Stuff World’s second generation of acrylic paints. But at the end of the video, I’ll also share my thoughts on some of their other ranges, like the Heavy Opaque paints, their metallics, and washes:

Maxx Formula: an overview

The Maxx Formula range has only 104 colours, which are available individually or in a variety of paint sets. There are two large sets with 48 colours, as well as numerous themed sets of eight colours each. The paints come in standard-size dropper bottles, containing 17ml of paint and a metal mixing ball. So far, so familiar, nothing to nitpick here, except that the black caps seem to be made from fairly cheap plastic. They often seem to shed little bits when opening the bottles for the first time, which is a bit annoying.

Really the best red paints?

Now let’s test the actual paint and find out whether the reds are really as good as my buddy from Instagram claims. I have GSW Red Truth from P. Knightwind’s aka resin_poisoning’s comparison and put it on the palette. The consistency surprised me at first. It’s very homogeneous but quite thin. It reminds me a bit of pre-thinned airbrush paints like Vallejo Game Air. I prefer when the paint is not too thick, but combined with the moisture of my wet palette, it’s actually a bit too thin for my liking. As you can always thin down a thick paint, but thickening up thin paint is much harder. Let’s not be too biased, though, and see how the paint performs on a model. I’ve got one of my little Stahly test models here, primed in grey.

Thanks to its thin consistency, the paint flows nicely from the brush and applies extremely smoothly, almost like airbrushed. However, because the paint is so fluid, the pigments tend to gather in the recesses, a bit like a wash. It’s not much of an issue with darker, more muted colours, as you can see later in the video, but with lighter paints you need to be more careful. Like red, yellow and bone, which naturally don’t cover that well. Next, I tried a lighter red, GSW Hellfire Red, and I needed about five coats to get an even coverage.

Smooth, but bubbles

I’ve noticed that a lot of colours have a tendency to leave small bubbles on the model if you don’t take your time applying even layers. Similar to Vallejo Game and Model Colour (see my Model Color review here). On the flip side, the paints are brilliant for airbrushing and require very little thinning.

Thanks to their thin consistency and vibrant pigmentation, they also dilute well. For shading, I thinned GSW Sangria Red into a glaze using water and a drop of Contrast Medium. It performed beautifully, great for blending and feathering. That’s partly because the drying time gives you a fairly generous working window, slightly longer than what you get with Citadel Colour or Warpaints Fanatic, but not as long as say Two Thin Coats.

A limited colour range

As you can see in the video, GSW Sangria Red has a cooler undertone. Which brings me to a slightly more subjective point. With 104 colours, the Maxx Formula range is relatively small and doesn’t offer quite as much variety as some competing paint ranges. Still, I find a lot of the colours a bit uninspiring. That said, there’s a bit of everything, and there are no major gaps in the palette. Except, for example, a rich dark red that is warmer than the rather magenta GSW Sangria Red.

And speaking about the colour palette, a word of warning: the official product images are sometimes way off from how the colours look in real life. Especially the depiction in this printed pamphlet. Most colours are too dark, and many look more muddy or brownish than they actually are. And the comparison chart you can download from Green Stuff World’s website is a complete disaster, the suggested matches don’t match at all.

You know I’m a complete paint nerd, so I had to make a better swatch for the Maxx Formula range. Thanks to my years of experience as a graphic designer and my colour-calibrated workflow, my hand-painted swatches are the closest thing to actually holding the real paints in your hands:

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 Pro Acryl, AK 3rd Gen, Vallejo Game & Model Color, Citadel Colour, and more – all cross-compatible with each other so you can compare colours across different brands. Check out my shop for details.

The edge highlight test

So next comes the edge highlights test, using GSW Ember Orange. I usually prefer a slightly thicker consistency for highlighting, but it still goes on nicely thanks to the excellent flow properties. The consistency just takes a bit of getting used to. The same is true for drybrushing, as the consistency is so thin I’d recommend letting the paint dry a little on a dry palette first.

The armour is now done, and I have to say, I really like the different shades of red, they’re vibrant and highly pigmented. I can definitely see why GSW Red Truth scored so highly with my mate on Instagram. Another plus is that Maxx Formula paints are very stable on a wet palette and don’t separate, even after sitting out for a while.

The more muted colours’ covering power

Now I’m moving on to the face to try out some of the browns and skin tones. And I have to say, the covering power is surprisingly good for these muted colours. Despite the thin consistency, two or at most three coats are enough for an even basecoat. Makes me wonder how much better the coverage would be if Green Stuff World had made the paints just a little thicker. Also, when it came to picking out the extremely fine strands of hair, I really wished for a bit more body, as I felt the paint was a little hard to control.

A look at the other Green Stuff World ranges

There are, of course, the many effect paints. There is everything from colour shift metallics to blood effects, inks, varnishes and more. These would warrant a video or post on their own, so let me know in the comments which Green Stuff World paints or products you’d like me to cover in more detail.

Opaque Colors

The Opaque range adds another 24 colours and is meant to offer more covering power. The consistency is very similar to Maxx Formula paints, so the extra covering power mainly comes from a higher amount of opaque pigments and fillers. As you can see in this comparison of reds, this makes the colours duller and more pastel. Quite similar to what the Warpaints Fanatic range does, but with a smoother, thinner consistency. These days, most modern hobby paints boast good coverage, so the Heavy Opaque paints aren’t that much of a stand out for me. But for what they are, they do the job fine and add more colour variety.

I reviewed these in more detail a while ago, check the review here.

Metallic paints

The Metal Colors have a slightly thicker consistency than Maxx Formula and require a lot of shaking. Also, on a wet palette, they tend to separate quite quickly. Apart from that, they’re not too bad, except for the golds, which I just couldn’t get to work. And the metallics also have the issue of leaving small bubbles.

Wash Inks

Green Stuff World also makes washes. Their behaviour reminds me a bit of the current generation of Citadel Shade paints. They have a high surface tension and find their way quickly into the recesses. The result is really smooth, but sometimes it happens that if too much wash pools in one area, it can crack as it dries, leaving a broken texture. Some of the Dipping Inks have the same issue, probably due to a shared base medium.

Value

On Green Stuff World’s site, a single bottle of Maxx Formula costs less than €3, and they’re almost always discounted by around 10%. Add in the quite frequent special promotions with an extra 15% or so off, and you can get 17ml of paint for under €2.50. That makes Green Stuff World one of the most affordable miniature paint ranges, at least in Europe.

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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.