Warhammer Colour (formerly Citadel), Vallejo, The Army Painter, Scale75, P3 and other brands all use their own names and formulas, so there is no single official chart. The good news is that there are free tools that do the hard work for you.
1. Use a Paint Matching Tool
The Paint Rack is one of the most useful free tools for comparing colours across brands. It lets you:
- pick a colour from one brand
- see the closest matches in other brands
- compare tone, value and hue side by side
How to use it:
- Select the brand you already have, for example Citadel.
- Click the colour you want to match.
- Choose the brand you want to switch to.
- Look through the closest matches.
2. Paint Apps on Your Phone
Paint library apps let you browse brands, search by colour family, save your favourite comparisons and keep track of the paints you already own, so you don’t buy the same pot twice.
3. Community Charts
Many hobbyists have put together charts comparing skin tones, metallics and other colours across brands. Search for something like “Citadel to Vallejo colour chart” to find them.
A Word of Advice
Matches are close, not identical. Paints from different brands can dry with a slightly different finish or coverage, so test a new paint on a spare model before using it on a unit you have already started.
New to the different types of paint? Read Choosing the Right Paint.