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Well for all the complaining about GW they seem to have successfully brought a whole new way of painting to the mainstream with contrast paints and now more companies are trying to get a slice of the quick paint pie.
As someone who struggles to find time to paint I’m very interested in any methods that can give me good results quickly so I’m hoping what the dakka community can show me how they do it. I plan to start collecting contrast paints soon and check out some of the other brands but I’m well aware that you can just slap contrast paints on.
I’ve started by showing a method that I came up with using a grey primer and a few layers of intensity into get some decent colours and contrast and then some easy highlights. Of course tell me if you think it sucks
I don’t understand it but if you go green straight away you can see the grey primer a bit too much but the red base gives a more solid look when you apply the green. Intensity inks aren’t really designed as a contrast paint but the have similar uses. That’s all I can tell you, I think I discovered it by accident. I haven’t tried other colours under the green I’ve just gone with it as it works haha
OK, that is too good for me to share my speed painting examples, but one thing I did learn is to prime/basecoat in one go using the primary color the mini will be when done. Why paint over an area twice? This has saved me tons of time.
MDSW wrote: OK, that is too good for me to share my speed painting examples, but one thing I did learn is to prime/basecoat in one go using the primary color the mini will be when done. Why paint over an area twice? This has saved me tons of time.
Can you still use contrast paints etc if you prime in something like blue for ultramarines?
Most everything I do is speed painted, lol. I'm not big on display-painting. A lot of it is just a case of using contrast paints, but here's some more creative ideas...
My Tau AI was painted using a "sponge" in a stippling type way to build up highlights. It was sprayed wraithbone (or might have been zandri dust), washed heavily with AP strong tone, then I used a sponge to stipple my way up through zandri dist, wraithbone and off-white. It gives the transition from dark to light, but also a rough texture which can be cool for certain models.
My Lizardmen BB team was airbrushed bone, then blue leaving the faces, then purple on the spines, then used washes to do some shading and wet blended the washes on the model to keep the transitions established with the airbrush, super quick to do...
My Orc BB team was mostly done with inks and washes over a white primer (prior to GW releasing their contrasts), but for the armour I used Tamiya Clear Red and Clear Yellow straight from the pot with a hairy brush over metallics. If you try doing this on a flat surface it'll be hard to lay down smooth, but because the Orc armour plates have a bit of texture to them it works well and is super quick...
My Skaven BB team used inks back before contrasts were a thing and I think they came out okay...
Just playing around with techniques, this was done with oil paints, I painted bands of unthinned opaque oil paints and blended them using a soft filbert brush to create nice blends in just a few minutes. I didn't take a "before" picture, but the photoshopped image is effectively what it looked like with the oil paints prior to blending.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2022/08/10 15:25:48
MDSW wrote: OK, that is too good for me to share my speed painting examples, but one thing I did learn is to prime/basecoat in one go using the primary color the mini will be when done. Why paint over an area twice? This has saved me tons of time.
Can you still use contrast paints etc if you prime in something like blue for ultramarines?
You can use any color you like and my method was to airbrush on in flat enamel (Testors had any color you wanted) so it was a super durable base and any acrylic would stick to it, no problem. Here are some examples. The Elves were based in silver enamel (because so much armor) right on top of the plastic - subsequent acrylic paint stuch great. The ghouls I did in a washed-out flesh color.
* Drop of ink (and hobby paint) into a children's craft paint pot with flip-top lid, without mixing. The ink makes the paint flow better, and the paint makes it opaque. Dip the brush tip primarily in the ink or paint. The pot itself acts as a wet-palette, takes up less space than a wet-palette, and keeps the ink and paint wet. Also cheaper than hobby paint.
* Not just for speepainting, but wash your brush constantly, even if you're painting in the same color. The water on the brush helps thin the paint.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/08/19 19:50:40
MDSW wrote: OK, that is too good for me to share my speed painting examples, but one thing I did learn is to prime/basecoat in one go using the primary color the mini will be when done. Why paint over an area twice? This has saved me tons of time.
Because primers aren't base paints. This will constrict what you can do later with layers. It's fine if you don't want anything other than a basic flat colour, but not much else.
To the op, what's the rush? Why not take the time and put in the extra work? Not necessarily on everything, but surely some things are worth painting to a higher standard?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/08/19 21:07:33
MDSW wrote: OK, that is too good for me to share my speed painting examples, but one thing I did learn is to prime/basecoat in one go using the primary color the mini will be when done. Why paint over an area twice? This has saved me tons of time.
Because primers aren't base paints. This will constrict what you can do later with layers. It's fine if you don't want anything other than a basic flat colour, but not much else.
Yes, very true, but applying multiple layers on top of a base coat kind of defeats the purpose of speed painting. However, if you can do it fast, I do applaud you, as I agree this is what makes minis look fantastic.
Yes, very true, but applying multiple layers on top of a base coat kind of defeats the purpose of speed painting. However, if you can do it fast, I do applaud you, as I agree this is what makes minis look fantastic.
I mean, there's always two aspects to it.
The first is that the speed is relative. What one person might consider fast, another might consider slow.
For example, I just blasted through about 3500 points of Horus Heresy in 4 weeks (28 days exactly) from plastic to fully-painted. For me, that's incredibly fast and so I consider that speed-painting. Others might think that incredibly slow, and for them it wouldn't qualify as speedy unless they got it all done in a weekend.
The second is the overall quality of finish at the end. Sure, you could slap a contrast wash on primer and call it painted, and it's also fast. But for myself, I would not at all be happy with that level of finish, so for me, speed-painting still needs to achieve a certain level of finish at the end that you could look at it and say "yea, that's good enough".
Insofar as my contribution to the discussion, honestly? Get real good at basic techniques, and don't be afraid to cheat. High-contrast highlighting, focused single light source so you don't have to do much to backs of models (really just focus all the effort on face/head, shoulders, and upper torso), use things like the airbrush, oil paints, chip weathering/battle damage, weathering powders, etc.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/08/20 04:05:03
MDSW wrote: OK, that is too good for me to share my speed painting examples, but one thing I did learn is to prime/basecoat in one go using the primary color the mini will be when done. Why paint over an area twice? This has saved me tons of time.
Because primers aren't base paints. This will constrict what you can do later with layers. It's fine if you don't want anything other than a basic flat colour, but not much else.
To the op, what's the rush? Why not take the time and put in the extra work? Not necessarily on everything, but surely some things are worth painting to a higher standard?
I don’t get a lot of time to paint beside we have a little boy. But I also really like the effect that contrast/speed paints deliver in terms of contrast and highlight. I find the highlighting to be more subtle which I prefer over intense edge highlighting.
Of course it depends on the individual paint and how you use it
Automatically Appended Next Post: I should also point out that the red layer, then green layers are both inks so it doesn’t take long at all, you just have to watch out for excess pooling and inks take longer to dry properly
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/08/20 05:48:36
MDSW wrote: OK, that is too good for me to share my speed painting examples, but one thing I did learn is to prime/basecoat in one go using the primary color the mini will be when done. Why paint over an area twice? This has saved me tons of time.
Because primers aren't base paints. This will constrict what you can do later with layers. It's fine if you don't want anything other than a basic flat colour, but not much else.
I'm curious in what ways using a base paint as a primer constricts what you can do with later layers?
From my experience, primers are primarily useful for the strength of adhesion, and even then the benefit can be minimal depending on the product being used.
Some of the best painted models I've seen were done without any primer at all. I remember a few years back a skink that from memory got 2nd at a golden daemon contest was painted by a guy who didn't use primer, his argument being that he wanted as few coats of paint between the plastic and the final layer.
To the op, what's the rush? Why not take the time and put in the extra work? Not necessarily on everything, but surely some things are worth painting to a higher standard?
I'm not the OP, but for me it's just an issue of time and energy I have to spend on hobby stuff. If I'm going to spend 10 hours in a month hobbying, do I want 2 well painted miniatures, or 2 full painted regiments that can be used to play an actual game. One of my favourite projects is my Nights Watch ASOIF models, I can paint a full regiment in a day. Prime, 2 to 3 layers of drybrush browns on the leathers, 3 layers drybrushed grey on the cloaks, pick out a couple of details (faces, hair, metals) and throw a wash or contrast paint over those details, done, ready to hit the gaming table.
It's also an issue of priorities. A badly painted army may look a bit meh, but the difference between a mediocre army and a good army when it's on the tabletop is a lot smaller than the difference in time effort.
Also there's painting for real life vs painting for pictures. What looks good in a photo blown up to 10 inches tall on a computer monitor is different to what looks good on a 1 inch tall model in person rarely viewed from less than 2 or 3 feet away.
Yes, very true, but applying multiple layers on top of a base coat kind of defeats the purpose of speed painting. However, if you can do it fast, I do applaud you, as I agree this is what makes minis look fantastic.
I mean, there's always two aspects to it.
The first is that the speed is relative. What one person might consider fast, another might consider slow.
For example, I just blasted through about 3500 points of Horus Heresy in 4 weeks (28 days exactly) from plastic to fully-painted. For me, that's incredibly fast and so I consider that speed-painting. Others might think that incredibly slow, and for them it wouldn't qualify as speedy unless they got it all done in a weekend.
I think it more comes down to how many hours you're spending on each model on average.
If you took 28 days (as in, full time, 8+ hours a day) to paint 3500 points, that doesn't sound terribly speedy to me, but if you're just working on it a few hours a day after work and a few hours on the weekend, that sounds pretty quick to me.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/08/20 07:21:05
Because if you use a coloured primer because you don't want to use a basecoat, then youre going to have a very difficult time doing any layering, unless you have a paint that is the same as or incredibly similar to the primer, or you're not going to get the same tones.
Edit..I just reread and see you're talking about base paints as a primer, whereas I'm talking about the opposite. They aren't the same thing, and you're right, using basecoats sans primer is fine.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/08/20 18:50:34
1. Use the biggest brush you can use for the area you're painting, and get away from using round pointy brushes, flats and filberts produce smoother coats more quickly when you're simply trying to lay down paint quickly. Rounded non-pointy brushes can also be good in some situations.
2.This one will give some people a heart attack I know.... but don't over-thin your paints. A lot of the time you'll see people saying to thin your paints and post a picture like this one:
But that's not so much an issue with thick paint, it's an issue with thick layers. If you don't let the thick paint settle in the crevices, then you can get away which much thicker paint and less coats of paint. This also works with the idea of using the correct brush and stroke style for the area you're painting.
A lot of the time with detail work on speed painted models I just use paint straight from the pot, and applying basecoats with a filbert I don't thin paint much if at all, often using a stabbing motion to make sure paint isn't settling in the recesses in a way that would obscure details.
I'm not saying don't thin your paints, just saying don't overthin if your goal is to paint quickly, and don't spend a lot of time fiddling around on your palette.
3. Learn how not to be a perfectionist, not every mistake needs to be fixed and especially if you're painting a big army it's unlikely that anyone will notice that Night Goblin number 78 has slightly messier edge highlights than Night Goblin 64 though 77.
queen_annes_revenge wrote: Because if you use a coloured primer because you don't want to use a basecoat, then youre going to have a very difficult time doing any layering, unless you have a paint that is the same as or incredibly similar to the primer, or you're not going to get the same tones.
Edit..I just reread and see you're talking about base paints as a primer, whereas I'm talking about the opposite. They aren't the same thing, and you're right, using basecoats sans primer is fine.
Ah okay, so you were just talking about coloured base paint being a different tone to the paint you're laying on top of it due to a mismatch between the coloured primer and the paint you're going to lay on top of it?
Yeah, that can be a problem at times depending on which paint you're using.
Though re-basecoating a model when it already has a coloured primer can be a quick task, use a big arse brush like a flat or a filbert, thin your base colour down and just give it a quick thin coat. In GW videos when they spray a model with a coloured primer and then re-base it with the potted version of the same paint for some reason they always use a small-ish round brush which would take ages and leaves a streaky finish.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/08/21 04:17:48
I heard dipping was a bit of a fad but clearly has merit. The new GSW dipping inks are being discussed and demonstrated in use like contrast paints but I did see one video where a mini was dipped in the dipping ink and it did look pretty good if you want an all over base coat with contrast
mrFickle wrote: I heard dipping was a bit of a fad but clearly has merit. The new GSW dipping inks are being discussed and demonstrated in use like contrast paints but I did see one video where a mini was dipped in the dipping ink and it did look pretty good if you want an all over base coat with contrast
Dipping was a fad with the GW crowd that emerged when Army painter started selling their own "Quickshade" product, but it has a history going way back before that with historical gamers and polyurethe-based wood stain products such as the Minwax Polyshades that I use. I think it faded away a bit when Army painter started doing more traditional methods though they apparently still support the dip also.
https://www.thearmypainter.com/basic-painting/dip/how-to-use-quickshade-dip/
Then GW Contrast paints -which almost function like colored dips- took a big bite out of the quick-paint market.
All this to say, there are definitely more modern methods that produce better results -and it's not ideal for figures with broad flat surfaces- but there's still nothing faster than dipping for getting figures to the tabletop with at least the appearance of shading and highlight.
I've never tried it, but perhaps a method that starts with contrasts and ends with a dip might work well? A problem with contrasts and also army painter speed paints is they are very monotone, yes you get shading in terms of a variation in "value", but not in "hue", so the models can end up looking very plain.
Another speed paint method that I've been liking is to do a "value sketch" with black and white (which could just be spray can black then spray can white from above then a drybrush white to pick out the edges). Then with a value sketch in place, use Contrast paints to give them colour. Goobertown did a good video on it when he was reviewing the AP Speedpaints, also seen Marco Frisoni use the technique but Marco being Marco he uses it to create a very high standard that's well beyond my abilities.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/09/02 13:42:49
As much as I like dipping I think it would mess up a contrast paints paintjob.
Both methods are designed to add shade, but the dip would probably darken all the good contrast you get with contrast paints.
Dip is a thick sticky liquid that ideally goes over bright (brighter than usual) flat block colors and then as it settles it creates the shading effect on surfaces, darkens the crevasses and even gives a bit of highlight as it ends up thinner on edges and high points.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2022/09/02 16:02:20
Eilif wrote: As much as I like dipping I think it would mess up a contrast paints paintjob.
Both methods are designed to add shade, but the dip would probably darken all the good contrast you get with contrast paints.
Dip is a thick sticky liquid that ideally goes over bright (brighter than usual) flat block colors and then as it settles it creates the shading effect on surfaces, darkens the crevasses and even gives a bit of highlight as it ends up thinner on edges and high points.
Yeah, I guess I was thinking some of the brighter contrast paints to use as a base.
I think where a dip wins over a contrast is that it, err, creates more contrast It doesn't just create shade, it shades with a different hue that gives some chromatic interest while tying the different parts of the model together.
Heresy World Eaters/Emperors Children 
It doesn't just create shade, it shades with a different hue that gives some chromatic interest while tying the different parts of the model together.