My name is Philip Zwart, I am the founder of Supernova Studio. I am a hobby painter and scale modeller from Durban in South Africa. I have been building and painting scale models on and off since I was about 10 years old. More recently I started playing modern board games and found that many of these games included fantastic tabletop miniatures that just demand to be painted. 

Like many hobbyists I started off painting my scale models with enamel paints. These are awful to paint with, they are not easy to apply, they take ages to dry and clean up is difficult. Much later when I decided to try airbrushing I graduated to solvent based acrylic paints. These are great for airbrushing but a nightmare to use with a brush, however clean up is a breeze compared to the enamel paints and they dry really fast making painting a much more pleasant experience. 

It was when I started painting finely detailed tabletop miniatures that I needed to move to paints fit for this purpose. Like many others I bought what was readily available at hobby and board gaming  stores locally. They have a large range of colours and are designed to go on with a brush and you can get them anywhere. As my painting skills developed I realised that the quality of the paint one uses does make a difference. I had some issues with the paints I was using, firstly with the pots they come in, they are absolutely awful to use. They don't seal properly, they leak and your paints dry out. I also found that the some of the paints don't thin very well, the pigments not being as finely ground as they could be.

So I started looking around for advice from the pros that post tutorials on the internet. Most of them recommend Vallejo paints, however, these were not readily available in South Africa. I managed to find some retailers with very limited inventories and tried some and loved them. I then bought a set of 72 Game Color paints from Amazon, it cost a small fortune to ship, but once I started using those I was hooked. I love the dropper bottles, you can use exactly the quantity you need, no mess no waste, just easy. The bottles have screw on caps that seal and protect the paints so they last for many years. I found the consistency of the paints to be great and the pigment is extremely fine. 

So that got me thinking, there must be many more hobby painters in SA who want to use the very best acrylic hobby paints on the market and so Supernova Studio was born. We import directly from Vallejo and our other suppliers so that we can keep our prices competitive. We buy in bulk and hold stock here so there is no delay on your order, and we sell online so you can shop anytime you want. We carry the entire Vallejo range, over 2000 individual products so that you will find whatever you need and we get it to you fast.

Our business has grown rapidly to include several other high quality brands. Applying the philosophy of selling the products that we love, we hope you will love them too.

So go ahead, try Vallejo and add some colour to your world!

Newsletter

Be the first to hear about new products, sales and special offers unique to our subscribers!