Converting a Citadel paint to its Vallejo equivalent starts with color, but color alone will mislead you. Two paints can sit almost on top of each other in a color-distance measurement and still behave nothing alike on the model, because one is an opaque base and the other is a wash or a metallic. The match math tells you which colors are close. The finish type tells you whether the swap will actually paint the same way. This guide explains how the matches on this site are calculated, what the similarity percentage really means, and when you should trust it, question it, or ignore it.
What the percentage means
The similarity percentage on every match comes from a color-distance calculation between the two paints' measured colors. Specifically, each paint's swatch color is converted into a color space built around human vision, and the distance between two paints is computed with the same formula the printing and textile industries use to decide whether two colors look the same to a person. A short distance scores a high percentage. A match in the mid nineties will look like the same color at arm's length. A match around eighty will read as the same family with a visible difference side by side. Below about seventy you are looking at a cousin, not a twin, and you should treat it as a starting point for mixing rather than a swap.
It does not, on its own, mean the paints are interchangeable in use. Coverage, thickness out of the pot, and how the paint behaves through a wet palette are not in the math, because no public data measures them consistently across brands.
Where finish type changes the answer
A metallic and a flat brown can score as a close color match and still be useless as a swap, because a color measurement cannot see shine, transparency, or how a paint settles into recesses. That is why every match on this site is grouped by finish class first, and any cross-finish match is flagged rather than presented as a drop-in replacement.
The classes that matter when converting Citadel to Vallejo:
| Citadel type | What it is | Sensible Vallejo counterpart |
|---|---|---|
| Base | High-opacity foundation color | Model Color, applied in two thin coats |
| Layer | Thinner highlight color | Model Color or Game Color |
| Shade | Transparent wash for recesses | A wash-type paint, never an opaque |
| Contrast | One-coat paint that shades itself | Only another one-coat style paint behaves alike |
| Technical | Textures and effects | Usually no true equivalent, check the specific effect |
If the converter shows you a flagged cross-finish match, read it as "this is the closest color that exists in that brand," not "buy this instead."
How to actually use a conversion
Look the paint up with the converter or open the full Citadel to Vallejo chart. Take the top same-finish match, then check the swatches side by side on the paint's own page before buying. If the best same-finish match sits below the mid seventies, plan on mixing: buy the match plus a small amount of white or the nearest darker shade, and adjust on the model. Priming and undercoat color shift the final result more than a five-point similarity difference ever will.
It is also worth knowing what you are converting between. The two ranges are built differently, and the Citadel vs Vallejo comparison covers where each one is strongest, including why many painters keep Citadel shades in the rack even after switching their base colors to Vallejo.
FAQ
Is there a perfect one-to-one Citadel to Vallejo chart?
No single chart is perfect, because the two ranges were mixed independently. The closest-match approach gets you a working starting point, then you adjust on the model.
Why does my converted paint look different once it dries?
Acrylics dry darker than they look wet, and the two brands' mediums dry at slightly different rates and sheens. Judge a conversion after the paint has fully dried over your actual primer, not in the pot.
Do I need to convert washes and contrast paints too?
Washes and one-coat paints are the hardest category to convert because their behavior depends on medium, not pigment. Color matches for them are shown, but test on a spare model first.
Are the community conversion charts wrong?
The well-known community charts are good work and mostly agree with the math here. Where they differ, it is usually because a chart matched paints by role in a scheme rather than by measured color. Both answers can be right for different questions.