Another core feature you'll notice as you navigate the paint comparison chart and paint range sections are colour matches. These come in two forms, "Manufacturer Alternatives" and "MiniPainters Closest Matches".

Manufacturer Alternatives

As I'm sure you've already guessed, all of the Manufacturer Alternatives listed are published by manufacturers. Many paint manufacturers will do this to encourage people who may be familiar with a competitor's paint range to try their paints.

You might have noticed that these are referred to as "Alternatives" rather than "Matches". This is because they are often not intended to be an exact match, more of a similar paint you can in theory use instead of the one you're used to. This makes total sense, but doesn't quite cut it if you've painted half your army with a specific green and suddenly it's gone out of production!

MiniPainters Closest Matches

MiniPainters Closest Matches are a little different. Using a colour matching algorithm, the MiniPainters system analyses the swatches available and generates a percentage match. The closest matches are then presented to you.

Where this becomes really useful is when manufacturers do not publish alternatives between ranges. MiniPainters is able to offer some alternatives for you!

A note on accuracy

It's worth noting that the MiniPainters system is not perfect. It's a computer algorithm, and as such, it can only match what it can see. This means that the accuracy of the matches can vary depending on the quality of the swatches available. Over time this algorithm will improve as I populate the site with more accurate swatches.

Hopefully in the meantime it is still useful for you to find alternatives between ranges that previously have not been published.