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Hi fellas!

So, I'm off to Osaka at long last, and drop into my nearest local wargaming shop. While we in the land of the rising sun get a bit of a kicking on the GW £-to-￥ rates in terms of minis, their paints are, for some frankly incomprehensible reason are (mostly. MOSTLY... *glares at the technical and contrast range* ) actually okay prices. I might just pick up one set, but I've got a bit of a shopping list for paints, not just because I've got a couple of new projects on the go.

So, I was wondering. We're a few months down the line, now. The hype has more or less died off, and some folks genuinely seem to have done some cool-ass stuff with their contrast paints. There's also not a few examples of slightly less amazing work, but, heck, we all started somewhere.

I'd love to hear where people who've tried it stand? I'm tempted to grab some - honestly, my main interest is doing up some red (maybe metallic?) contrast custodes, but if it's decent, maybe using it for another project?

Thanks for stopping by!

I've integrated a few of the contrast paints into my usual painting habit and things like leather and bone have become almost contrast only. I use wyldwood for pouches and leather and give them some highlights after and for bone, skeleton horde over zandri dust or similar gets some great effects.

Something to note is that I don't use contrast paints for their intended one thick coat purpose, but just find the heavy pigment much nicer to work with than normal paint sometimes.

I haven't tried them all, but I've not used one that I out and out dislike, so positive from me.

Very good experiences of them here.

They're effectively heavy body inks/glazes. Treat them as such and you'll do well. One thick coat results in a 'dip like' finish, but a little more work getting it to settle in the right places and you can get some very nice effects going.

I've been painting my gloomspite gitz using only contrast and it's been a surprisingly liberating process.

Would they look better if I went in with a drybrush or highlight afterwards? yeah of course. but I kind of hate painting and being able to power through these models in half the time than my classic method tau is a really nice change of pace.

I've been using blood angels red, on a razorback and an honour guard squad they actually came out well, the tank was layered after the initial contrast application to make it look better

The new citadel paint app is actually very good, it has tabletop and parade quality finishes

Contrast is a solid tool. It isnt the solution to every problem, but it provides options, and in many cases can save a lot of time and labor in conjunction with "traditional" paints.

Most of my models done since their release have used contrast for at least one or two components.

Okay, sounds pretty good thus far! So mostly they're a time saving thing?

How have people found the pots of base? What's the consistency like?

And has anyone used the contrast medium? One of my concerns is that contrast seems to have a slightly gritty finish - have people found this to be the case, or have I only been looking at poor examples? Also, how have you all found the darker colours? Cheers!

The medium looks good, maybe because the way it dries makes it look gritty

 posermcbogus wrote:
Okay, sounds pretty good thus far! So mostly they're a time saving thing?

How have people found the pots of base? What's the consistency like?

And has anyone used the contrast medium? One of my concerns is that contrast seems to have a slightly gritty finish - have people found this to be the case, or have I only been looking at poor examples? Also, how have you all found the darker colours? Cheers!

I'd always loved Drukhari as a faction, but I just didn't have hands steady enough to highlight such tiny models.

Then came Contrast. The new paints work really well with my new Kabalites, being very suited to high detail models with relatively few large, flat, surfaces. So for me, it isn't really about time saving, but more that they allow me to be able to paint models to a good standard, that I couldn't before.

I found the Wraithbone pot a bit thick, but I added some Medium to it and it is great for fixing any mistakes.

You really need to shake the Contrast paints well before use, and in my experience, they mix 'oddly' with water. I would definately recommend the Medium, and there are some interesting vids on YouTube about effects that can be achieved by thinning Contrast paint.

Incidentally, Contrast paints also work really well for tinting clear canopies, they appaer to have exactly the right balance of pigment and viscosity; no more mixing ink with Ardcoat for me.

I agree with most of the comments made above.

Two points in addition:

1) DO NOT leave the paint in these gakky pots. The pots are bad design, too tall and way too easily flipped when the top is up. That's your dollars making a nice stain on the table.
Buy some 20ml dropper bottles from Amazon, find or print a funnel in the right size and shift the paint to a useable container.

2) The paint isn't supposed to be diluted with water, so putting an appropriate number of drops down on plastic is a good idea.

Just got some and they are just another tool in the box. I actually think that inks can do many jobs better. The contrasts are a bit thicker and easier to direct, but harder to dilute and get the exact colour you want.

Edit

The white one has potential though, these are basically just white paint, contrast white, drybrush white, and the effect is much better than I expected

 posermcbogus wrote:
Hi fellas!

So, I'm off to Osaka at long last, and drop into my nearest local wargaming shop. While we in the land of the rising sun get a bit of a kicking on the GW £-to-￥ rates in terms of minis, their paints are, for some frankly incomprehensible reason are (mostly. MOSTLY... *glares at the technical and contrast range* ) actually okay prices. I might just pick up one set, but I've got a bit of a shopping list for paints, not just because I've got a couple of new projects on the go.

So, I was wondering. We're a few months down the line, now. The hype has more or less died off, and some folks genuinely seem to have done some cool-ass stuff with their contrast paints. There's also not a few examples of slightly less amazing work, but, heck, we all started somewhere.

I'd love to hear where people who've tried it stand? I'm tempted to grab some - honestly, my main interest is doing up some red (maybe metallic?) contrast custodes, but if it's decent, maybe using it for another project?

Thanks for stopping by!

Blood Angels red and has good coverage. If you want, spray your custodes gold, then apply the red carefully to avoid the raised detail. This cloak is Blood Angels Red over Grey Seer with minor Wild Rider Red highlights. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48749379863_57829a1c52.jpg I find that contrast paints often need a few highlights to pop a bit more, and you should use Contrast Medium to reduce its tendency to mottle on a surface. Better for cloth than flat armors.

I’ve been playing with them over metallics, and I love them.

They look like coloured metals, instead of painted metals. Hard to explain, but it’s a lot of fun.

I am also in the camp of another tool in the box. They look great as “natural” materials like cloth, skin, fur... but I still prefer metallic paints for metals... though Contrast looks good over top of metals, so there is that.

I haven’t tried them as manufactured materials, like painting SM armour or anything like that.

My general experience is that they look better, the more the surface is textured, or situations where natural imperfection (like skin or fur) is good.