To find a close match for a paint, you should start from the paint you already know, not the color you think you need. Look the specific color up, compare the ranked matches by similarity percentage, and then confirm the top result shares the same finish type before you buy. A mismatch in finish is one reason a digitally close candidate can disappoint on your model.
Step 1: identify the exact paint
Get the specific name off the pot, not a rough description. "A dark red" could mean a dozen different paints across twelve brands, but "Mephiston Red" points to exactly one color with a known hex value. If you are matching from memory or a photo, try to narrow it down using the range it came from first: base, layer, wash, contrast, and so on, since that alone rules out most of the catalog.
Step 2: run it through a matching tool, not a static chart
A printed chart is frozen at the moment it was made and cannot account for later range changes. When you enter a paint, you get a ranked list of candidates from covered brands, each with a percentage score rather than just a single guess.
Step 3: read the percentage, don't just take the top result
| Similarity range | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| 90 to 100 | Close stored digital coordinates; still verify finish and test actual paint |
| 75 to 89 | Stored digital references are farther apart; test the actual paint |
| Below 75 | Stored digital references are farther apart again; do not infer the physical result |
At any score, look at the next candidates and test the actual paint before relying on a substitution. These percentages rank approximate stored digital references; they do not establish how physical paints will look side by side.
Step 4: confirm the finish type
A base, layer, wash, contrast paint, and metallic all behave differently regardless of how close their stored digital colors are. Do not treat a cross-finish match as a direct substitute. If you need an opaque base and the closest digital candidate is a wash, that tells you the color family, not necessarily the product to buy. You should check the finish listed on the paint's page before ordering.
Step 5: test before you commit to a full model
Paint a spare model, a test card, or an inconspicuous part of the miniature first. Acrylics often dry darker than they look wet, and different brands' mediums may dry to slightly different sheens. A match that looks perfect in the pot can read differently once cured over your primer.
A worked example
Say you are out of Citadel's Mephiston Red mid-project and need something close from whatever you have on the shelf. The converter ranks Pro Acryl's Bold Pyrrole Red at roughly 91 percent similarity, with both classed as base colors. That makes it a candidate for a test patch, not proof that it drops straight into an existing paint job. You should compare the actual dried paints before deciding whether to substitute or adjust a mixture.
What to do when nothing matches well
Occasionally the closest available match in your other brands sits well below 70 percent. When that happens, you can treat the result as a mixing base rather than a direct substitute: start with the closest option, then adjust with white, black, or a nearby hue until it reads correctly next to the rest of your scheme. It is also worth checking whether the paint you are trying to replace has since been reformulated or renamed, since some older Citadel and Vallejo paints occasionally shifted color slightly when a range was refreshed.
FAQ
What is the fastest way to match a paint color?
Look the paint up in a converter that already has the whole catalog loaded, rather than scrolling a printed chart by eye. It returns a ranked, scored list instantly.
Should I match by name or by looking at the swatch?
Match by the specific paint name whenever you have it. Two paints can look identical on a screen swatch and still be different colors once mixed, so the name is more reliable than a visual guess.
Can I match a discontinued paint?
Often, yes, as long as the discontinued paint's color data is still in the catalog. The match works from the recorded color, not from whether the paint is still in production.
Do I need to match washes and contrast paints the same way?
The color math still applies, but treat the result with more caution. Washes and one-coat paints depend heavily on their medium, so a color match is a starting point, not a guarantee of matching behavior.