Miniature paint color statistics.
What 2,585 measured hobby paint colors across 12 brands actually look like as a population: which color families dominate, how finishes split, and how often a paint truly exists in more than one brand. Every number on this page is computed from our own catalog.
Last updated: August 18, 2026
01 · Key statistics
The headline numbers
Each line below stands on its own and is free to cite with a link back to this page. Sample size for every figure: 2,585 paints, 12 brands, 23 ranges.
- Brown is the most common color family: 12.8% of the 2,585 miniature paints in the Basecoat Lab database (330 paints).
- 3.0% of the 2,585 miniature paints in the Basecoat Lab database are in the pink family (78 paints).
- Purple is the rarest chromatic color family, at 2.7% of the database (69 paints).
- 8.4% of the 2,585 miniature paints in the Basecoat Lab database are metallics: 113 golds and 104 silvers.
- 79.3% of the 2,585 miniature paints in the Basecoat Lab database are standard opaque acrylics; 9.4% are washes, shades, or contrast-style paints.
- 47.8% of the 2,585 miniature paints in the Basecoat Lab database have a warm undertone, versus 33.5% cool and 18.7% neutral.
- 41.0% of the 2,585 miniature paints in the Basecoat Lab database are dark or very dark in tone; only 10.3% are very light.
- 33.4% of the 2,585 miniature paints in the Basecoat Lab database are muted in saturation, and 29.8% are vivid.
- 16.7% of the 2,585 miniature paints in the Basecoat Lab database have a near-identical match (95%+ similarity) in at least one other brand.
- 55.1% of the 2,585 miniature paints in the Basecoat Lab database have a 90%+ color match in another brand.
- 19.0% of the 2,585 miniature paints in the Basecoat Lab database (492 paints) have no close same-finish match in any other brand.
- 9.1% of the 2,585 miniature paints in the Basecoat Lab database (236 paints) are classified as hard to match across brands.
- AK Interactive is the largest brand in the Basecoat Lab database, with 477 paints (18.5% of the catalog).
02 · Color families
Every paint by color family
Families are assigned from each paint's measured color value, not from its marketing name, so a "sea green" that measures teal counts as teal.
03 · Brands
Catalog size by brand
Counts cover the current catalogs we track, from AK Interactive at 477 colors down to Green Stuff World at 104.
04 · Finish types
How finishes split
Finish matters as much as color: a metallic and a flat paint can share a hex value and still behave nothing alike on the model. The catalog splits into four finish classes.
05 · About this data
Methodology
Every statistic on this page is computed directly from the Basecoat Lab data spine: a catalog of 2,585 paints across 12 brands and 23 ranges, each with a measured swatch color, plus 22,900 cross-brand color-match pairs computed with the CIEDE2000 color-distance formula. Nothing here is survey data, sales data, or an estimate; the shares describe the composition of current manufacturer catalogs as we track them.
Color families, undertones, lightness and saturation bands are derived from each paint's measured color value in Lab color space. Cross-brand match figures ("has a 95%+ twin") come from the same pair table that powers the paint converter. For the full method, including where the swatch colors come from and what the similarity percentage does and does not promise, see how Basecoat Lab works.
This report is refreshed when the catalog is rebuilt, and the figures above reflect the database as of August 18, 2026. You are welcome to cite any statistic with attribution to Basecoat Lab and a link to this page.
06 · Use the data
Explore the catalog behind the numbers
The same database drives our reference charts and conversion tools:
Or start with a practical guide:
07 · History
Report history
- Aug 2026First edition of this report: 2,585 paints across 12 brands and 23 ranges, with 22,900 computed cross-brand match pairs.
This page keeps the same URL every year; each refresh updates the figures above and adds an entry here, so older citations always land on the current numbers.