Paint stock

I forgot....I am shooting model master acrylics.....I really like acrylics.

When I order on line, I try to order different things that I need for a current or future project to keep shipping costs down, not just two or three bottles of paint. Some online shops have free shipping for sales on lets say $100. For the major part, I buy my paints from the lhs as I need them. I don't see the need to buy a large quantity if you don't need them, then you end up with waste. If you have a Hobby Lobby near you, you can print out one of their 40% coupons and go that route. Down side to this is that's good for one item only.

Need more information, like what do you like to build. Auto requires a different palette than armor, which needs a different one that aircraft. There are specific palettes within genres specific to theater of operations, or nation, as well.

There are crossover colors, of course, but if you only build modern US jets, Panzer Grey isn't going to be very useful!

I take it you live in the country, or in a small town without a hobby shop.  Then it becomes tough.  There are SO many colors that, as you say, it would cost a fortune to stock up.

If you have a Michaels craft store in the area, they carry Testors enamels- not a super selection, but enough that I get by with that for many models.

You need to learn how to mix paint. If you can do that, you can get by with a lot fewer colors. You need at least white, black, and some primary colors.  You might want gloss and flats in each, though you can get by with gloss and dullcoat after decaling.  They make flat finish polyurethane that you can get in any hardware or paint store if there is no local place to buy dullcoat.

Go to a library if your area has one and pick up some books on beginning oil (or acrlyic) art painting.  Most of these books have a section on mixing paints.  Then buy a color wheel or color chart from an art supply place on internet.

One of the big paint buying problems these days is that model building is becoming less popular with kids, so the big chain big box stores like K-Mart, Target, and Wal-Mart no longer carry model kits and the paints for it. So learning to paint by mixing your own colors is becoming a more and more useful skill.

LOL I have a friend who has probably a couple hundred different bottles/jars of paint...all makes and colors yet he still admires my paint schemes using just a fraction of the number he has.

Learn how to TLAR, That Is About Right mixing, then you can use a few basic colors to replicate those you want without having to buy a new color/bottle each time.