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I would assume you'd edge highlight it.

Yeah, I want to use these as the base/wash/initial highlight.
Other work over the top as normal.


Still hoping for a box set soon..

My printer has been buzzing to get appropriate storage receptacles made

Another Angel Giraldez video, this time doing a side by side comparison of Xpress and Contrast paints:



The first comparison was a bit misleading, as he chose Doomfire Magenta which is one of those Contrast paints which don't have a lot of contrast to them.

That seams like a fair comparison. The FB video I watched he called out that the contrasts paints that had too much pigment so they didn't actually work as contrasts. That is a complaint with some contrast colors and the Vallejo stuff doesn't have that problem (at least what he was showing).

Honest review and actually painting minis so we can see results side by side.

 Monkeysloth wrote:
That seams like a fair comparison. The FB video I watched he called out that the contrasts paints that had too much pigment so they didn't actually work as contrasts. That is a complaint with some contrast colors and the Vallejo stuff doesn't have that problem (at least what he was showing).

But if you didn't like the GW stuff out of the pot, you could just thin it with contrast medium, so you had the option of heavy coat with more saturation or thinned.

To be honest, in most of the comparison pics, I preferred the GW result. I don't like the white primer showing through too much, it makes the model look pale and desaturated and it stands out as an ink/contrast/wash/etc over white paint job. The Vallejo feels like it needs 1.5 coats, 2 coats would probably be too much but 1 coat not quite enough.

The bit that interests me is if the slower drying time makes it easier to avoid coffee staining, better for small details, and better blending on large flat surfaces. For all my gripes with Army Painter Speed Paints, that's their strength.

I'd love to see a video where one of these painters tries adjusting the pigment saturation of Xpress Colors using ink and/or medium. Much like adding contrast medium to GW's gives the option of stronger/weaker coats, in theory ink should be able to punch up the dial on Vallejo's.

Fire_Forever wrote:
I'd love to see a video where one of these painters tries adjusting the pigment saturation of Xpress Colors using ink and/or medium. Much like adding contrast medium to GW's gives the option of stronger/weaker coats, in theory ink should be able to punch up the dial on Vallejo's.

Maybe, that could be interesting. It'd be very colour dependent though, certain colours it'd be hard to impossible to find an ink that would achieve the desired results.

I’m just unsure which to go for now.
Very much don’t want to go with Contrast just on the price.

I want one that is going to be done after one coat (That will of course look good with any highlights and layers over if I’m doing that).

If it’s Army Painter I can go ahead and buy the full set now.
If it’s Xpress obviously I’d have to wait for a box, which is fine.
But I’m just not sure now.
Army Painter have this drying time/reactivating thing.
Xpress has The is one coat enough.

So complicated..

Danny76 wrote:
I’m just unsure which to go for now.
Very much don’t want to go with Contrast just on the price.

I want one that is going to be done after one coat (That will of course look good with any highlights and layers over if I’m doing that).

If it’s Army Painter I can go ahead and buy the full set now.
If it’s Xpress obviously I’d have to wait for a box, which is fine.
But I’m just not sure now.
Army Painter have this drying time/reactivating thing.
Xpress has The is one coat enough.

So complicated..

There's also Greenstuffworld, which might be the cheapest but comes in very large bottles. It appears to be closest to contrast I think. It's Greenstuffworld, though.

Brand wise I’d rather go with one of the others.
Haven’t seen any reviews of the GSW ones to be fair.
Needs to be Firestorm games stocked product too as I have the voucher to use.

While I've been happy with the finish from Speedpaints, for my money, sometimes needing an extra coat is much less of a hassle than having paints randomly reactivate when you paint over them.

I've got the GSW ones. The ones I've used so far are thinner than Contrast but they don't reactivate. I find them useful in the toolkit alongside my Contrasts (and I sometimes mix the two as well)

Stahly has done a review of them.
https://taleofpainters.com/2022/08/review-green-stuff-world-dipping-inks-the-60ml-contrast-killer/

> I'd love to see a video where one of these painters tries adjusting the pigment saturation of Xpress Colors using ink and/or medium.

But... if you're going to do something beyond painting bottle-strength, aren't you now entering hobby painting territory? I don't add medium or mix paints, since I'm going for an advanced tabletop paint job that requires less skill.

> So complicated..

My decision's easy. Ignore them all. (:

Colored primers then a wash. Skipping the spray-priming step saves me some inconvenience, and colored primers are less expensive per ounce than hobby paints. USA Supply has sales, up to 2-for-1. Then I use a wash. I still use hobby paints for details, eyes, etc. If you *really* want to be on the cheap, there's underpainting with craft paints, whose lids can also be used as wet palettes. Good, fast, and cheap…pick two. Or one and two-halves.

 ced1106 wrote:
> I'd love to see a video where one of these painters tries adjusting the pigment saturation of Xpress Colors using ink and/or medium.

But... if you're going to do something beyond painting bottle-strength, aren't you now entering hobby painting territory? I don't add medium or mix paints, since I'm going for an advanced tabletop paint job that requires less skill.

> So complicated..

I dont know about you but if adding a drop of water or medium to paints or xpress will make my life easier and paint faster, its actually a lot less complicated and requires minimal skill set.
I think Xpress can tap into both types of painters but I still always be the traditional painter that uses normal acrylics.

It’s never going to replace my normal painting, but I think it will be a good alternate/additional method.
I think just getting some stuff done that way, or partly using it in some of the models will get more models done than if I just used layers, washes and highlights etc.

I think reactivation is the decider.
So either Xpress box coming, or the non reactivating Army Painter Box arrives.
That is what I will go for.

I am glad that I invested into Contrast paints and spend a good while learning to use them effectively. They haven't just made the painting faster, I'm also enjoying the process a lot more than previously and the quality of my painting has improved as well.

Xpress paints look like a first alternative I could consider but given that I already have a full line of Contrast paints and I prefer to use them straight from the pot rather than palette, I don't see many reasons to invest into them. If I preferred dropper bottles and didn't have full range already, I would probably choose Xpress paints.

OK guys I just made an account to make this post to give my 2 cents. I had been lurking this thread for months after first hearing of vallejos contrast competitor..

I got lucky and was shopping online in my PJs like everyone in december. I decided to google a specific color "vallejo black lotus" to see if I could find a hit in the USA yet. (I kind of knew there wouldnt be because I already talked to 3 USA vallejo distributors who basically said they were delayed quite a bit) Lo and behold, google shopping results gave me a hit on ebay. Polish seller that ships internationally. Got the entire 24 range for 80euro. I was over the moon. They took 30 days. I was drooling.

AAAAANDDDD they are amazing and everything I hoped for. My only negative.... is that I want more colors!

It wont let me put pics in my first post on here so I will follow up




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I had printed a commando kill team for my buddy, so I gifted him the ork skin color, I figured I would replace mine when they are more readily available. He loved it. This is just over zenithal primecoat. The other colors here are citadel contrast but the green is vallejo xpress color ork skin.




I already had a home for them waiting.


And here is my use. Remember I had to wait a month, so I started my thousand sons before they came. The blue/green and gold you see in this album is citadel, but all of the purples, reds, bone, anything else is all xpress paint.


I used to hate painting robes/cloaks. This is one coat. The final pictures you see in this album have a wash of druchii violet shade over them.
and they dry very matte, which I love
https://imgur.com/a/atNC7wq


If anyone has questions Im happy to answer to the best of my ability!

Anyone know of any uk stores with the new game colour / xpress in stock?

gilljoy wrote:
Anyone know of any uk stores with the new game colour / xpress in stock?

https://www.hobbyworkshop.co.uk/vallejo-xpress-colours-bundle.html

this looks like a really good price too

DJpattiecake wrote:

gilljoy wrote:
Anyone know of any uk stores with the new game colour / xpress in stock?

https://www.hobbyworkshop.co.uk/vallejo-xpress-colours-bundle.html

this looks like a really good price too

That would appear to be exactly the same price as buying all 24 individually from The Outpost.

 Mr_Rose wrote:

DJpattiecake wrote:

gilljoy wrote:
Anyone know of any uk stores with the new game colour / xpress in stock?

https://www.hobbyworkshop.co.uk/vallejo-xpress-colours-bundle.html

this looks like a really good price too

That would appear to be exactly the same price as buying all 24 individually from The Outpost.

they asked for in stock

https://www.mightylancergames.co.uk/collections/vallejo

A video by Broadsword Wargaming comparing the Xpress Color, Contrast, Speed Paints and Dipping Inks.

I watched part of it this morning before heading out to work. Good concept but the main problem is that all of the ranges have their better and worse paints within them, and both GW and GSW (and presumably AP and VA as well) have different versions of each colour - they used the crappy GSW red for example so some paints from the various ranges - with issues like poor coverage (too light, too blotchy, different colour) got used at times.

I heard today that there's a big chunk of the year Vallejo is making stuff like auto and house paint. Is it going to be the case that if you don't manage to get a first wave of Xpress you are going to be waiting 9 months? I know my local Hobby Town's Vallejo rack has been empty for months.

 Azazelx wrote:
I watched part of it this morning before heading out to work. Good concept but the main problem is that all of the ranges have their better and worse paints within them, and both GW and GSW (and presumably AP and VA as well) have different versions of each colour - they used the crappy GSW red for example so some paints from the various ranges - with issues like poor coverage (too light, too blotchy, different colour) got used at times.

Yeah, some of the comparisons are equally weird... like, why are you comparing the Speed Paint Zealot Yellow with those other three, when you have much more similar hues in at least two of the other lines (Iyanden Yellow for Contrasts, Nuclear Yellow for Xpress) which are much more orange-y and contrast-y? Doesn't make much sense con compare oranges to apples, IMHO.


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 legionaires wrote:
I heard today that there's a big chunk of the year Vallejo is making stuff like auto and house paint. Is it going to be the case that if you don't manage to get a first wave of Xpress you are going to be waiting 9 months? I know my local Hobby Town's Vallejo rack has been empty for months.

Never found that to be the case, but I'm from Spain.

 Azazelx wrote:
I watched part of it this morning before heading out to work. Good concept but the main problem is that all of the ranges have their better and worse paints within them, and both GW and GSW (and presumably AP and VA as well) have different versions of each colour - they used the crappy GSW red for example so some paints from the various ranges - with issues like poor coverage (too light, too blotchy, different colour) got used at times.

Agreed, it was a good idea but poorly implemented.

I did pick up one good thing from the video though, Greenstuffworld's Nude Skin looks like a fantastic pre-shade for laying down yellow. A thinned-down layer of GW's Imperial Fist Contrast would look great over it.

I'm still waiting to get my hands on them. They haven't popped up at any of my regular gaming shops either online or brick and mortar here in Oz. I stopped asking the guy at the local store when he thinks he might get some because he kept saying that he had no idea when they'd arrive.