Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi guys,

I got that new Battle Sanctum terrain, because I absolutely could not resist that beautiful piece of Sister statuary that comes with it.

I had hoped to paint it with contrast, but I have not messed with it much. I have the yellow and brown ones. In my extremely limited experimenting with it, I found it comes out really strong from the bottle.

So - I built the statue and primed it while. I plan to use a blend of the brown one and the yellow (edit: Iyanden Yellow and Skeleton Horde). What do I use to dilute these? Should I be diluting them at all? Should I be "priming" the white-primed statue with a gloss coat or something to make it flow better?

Thanks!

I use the contrast medium. Works really well.

Edit I wouldn't use a gloss undercoat as it will likely bead up and run off. I'd stick with a matt primer.

When GW released the Contrast line they advised you to use one single, thick coat, but you'll find that this results in a rather blotchy, uneven finish on anything that isn't heavily textured.

For the Sisters statue (I forget the actual name) you'll get a much better finish by thinning the paint first (with contrast medium ideally), and giving it a couple of thin coats.

Edit: Yeah, steer clear of glossy primers. Also, you can safely ignore the need to use Wraithbone or Grey Seer (unless you are actively looking for a warmer or cooler tone), matte white works just fine

Contrast is not so great on large surfaces like terrain and tanks. The paints work much better on the contrast specific primer as well.

Use lahmian medium to thin them out, thinning with water won´t work very well.

 Illumini wrote:
The paints work much better on the contrast specific primer

I disagree with this part of your post.

Contrast paints work just as well on other companies matte white primers.

Wraithbone & Grey seer are technically not primers in the classic sense of the word, in that they do not have strong adherence and can be rubbed off too easy.

Edit: each to his own, YMMV of course

Thanks for the tips. Gonna mess with it now on a (matte) primer surface.

 Undead_Love-Machine wrote:

 Illumini wrote:
The paints work much better on the contrast specific primer

I disagree with this part of your post.

Contrast paints work just as well on other companies matte white primers.

Wraithbone & Grey seer are technically not primers in the classic sense of the word, in that they do not have strong adherence and can be rubbed off too easy.

Edit: each to his own, YMMV of course

That's interesting. I've not had any issues with Wrathbone rubbing off, and I found it smoother than other primers that I've used. Not so say that your observation is incorrect, and I did have a problem with one can that had been damaged during delivery and was producing a somewhat grainy coat.

 Undead_Love-Machine wrote:

 Illumini wrote:
The paints work much better on the contrast specific primer

I disagree with this part of your post.
Contrast paints work just as well on other companies matte white primers.
Wraithbone & Grey seer are technically not primers in the classic sense of the word, in that they do not have strong adherence and can be rubbed off too easy.
Edit: each to his own, YMMV of course

I actually had a bad experience using a different primer, unfortunately. It was a matte white one though (which I've successfully used on miniatures before without contrast paints), but the contrast paint didn't spread out as it should have. And it was dilluted with Medium.

As long as its a matt primer/ spray that has a gritty texture it will work, gloss will bead off and pool where you dont want it to go

I've only used Apothecary White from the contrast line, but I had good coverage and flow characteristics over Painter's Touch 2x Paint & Primer for a fraction of the cost of Wraithbone spray.

 Tim 121RVC wrote:

 Undead_Love-Machine wrote:

 Illumini wrote:
The paints work much better on the contrast specific primer

I disagree with this part of your post.
Contrast paints work just as well on other companies matte white primers.
Wraithbone & Grey seer are technically not primers in the classic sense of the word, in that they do not have strong adherence and can be rubbed off too easy.
Edit: each to his own, YMMV of course

I actually had a bad experience using a different primer, unfortunately. It was a matte white one though (which I've successfully used on miniatures before without contrast paints), but the contrast paint didn't spread out as it should have. And it was dilluted with Medium.

Whenever I use a regular brush to apply Contrast paint (or any other paint) to a model, I want the paint to go where I put it, not "spread out" into other areas.

It sounds to me that you have been using Contrast almost as an applied "dip", rather than how you would use a regular paint.

I've painted a couple of units with contrasts now and found if I handle the miniatures before I varnish them the contrast wears off super quick.

I haven't used Purity Seal or whatever on many of my normal paint-painted mini's but it seems the contrasts need the extra protection. Am I doing it wrong?

Kayback wrote:
I've painted a couple of units with contrasts now and found if I handle the miniatures before I varnish them the contrast wears off super quick.

Yes. GW said that back when they released the Contrast paints:

A dried layer of Contrast is much thinner than normal paint – a layer is about a tenth of the thickness of a Base paint. This means you’ll find it easier to preserve the fine detail of your model even when you’re laying on your Contrast thickly

Of course, paint is one thing, but protecting it is another – just how do you keep Contrast safe from frequent handling? Well, good news! We’ve also designed two new varnishes – a new version of gloss varnish ’Ardcoat, and Stormshield, a matt varnish that’ll help protect your paintwork if you expect your models to be in heavy use.

 Ghaz wrote:

Kayback wrote:
I've painted a couple of units with contrasts now and found if I handle the miniatures before I varnish them the contrast wears off super quick.

Yes. GW said that back when they released the Contrast paints:

A dried layer of Contrast is much thinner than normal paint – a layer is about a tenth of the thickness of a Base paint. This means you’ll find it easier to preserve the fine detail of your model even when you’re laying on your Contrast thickly

Of course, paint is one thing, but protecting it is another – just how do you keep Contrast safe from frequent handling? Well, good news! We’ve also designed two new varnishes – a new version of gloss varnish ’Ardcoat, and Stormshield, a matt varnish that’ll help protect your paintwork if you expect your models to be in heavy use.

Doh I even remember reading that back when they were launched. Old age I guess.

Thanks for the reminder.

Oof, this is kinda hard to work with on a larger model. It's much too dark direct from the bottle, so I diluted it with airbrush medium (I don't have lahmian medium but I bet it's close) and it runs pretty thin.

Still kind of interesting to play with it, and while I didn't get exactly the effect I was looking for, it wasn't terrible either.

Contrast medium works differently to lahmian medium. Might be worth using an airbrush to apply to such large surfaces.

 Ouze wrote:
Oof, this is kinda hard to work with on a larger model. It's much too dark direct from the bottle, so I diluted it with airbrush medium (I don't have lahmian medium but I bet it's close) and it runs pretty thin.

You'll want to use Contrast medium if you want to preserve what makes Contrast paints different from other paints.

ok, thanks for the tip. I'll pick some of that up.

edit: oh, I just realized you think I'm painting that giant ass building in the battle sanctum set with contrast! No, just the statue. Which I've now finished, so moot point.

Frankly, I use craft store paint for giant pieces of terrain like that. Good ol' American brand tubes, $2 a bottle.