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Hidalgo's video is the first I've seen mentioning that they have a tendency to reactivate with water and that has completely changed my idea of what I might use them for (and maybe it's ironic that that's what convinced me to get some but it's good to see them as different from contrast paints as Scale 75's instant color range rather than as any sort of competition or alternative.)

I can see Speedpaints being useful for what they are intended but for me who prefers to use Contrast paints and Shades straight from the pot, paint over them and use brush-on varnish, they don't tick any boxes.

Also they could be used like an enamel wash since you can easy remove parts by reactivating it.

Being able to paint my way around a large model and join up the last brush stroke with the first without a tide line in between does seem like a massive upside, that is the single weakest point of Contrast.

 NAVARRO wrote:
Also they could be used like an enamel wash since you can easy remove parts by reactivating it.

Thats a good point there that I hadn't considered I could see some use that way possibly hmm....

Or you could shoot it with a matte cover spray and it won't reactivate.

I guess it depends how much time you want to spend really.

Angela has another one up, this time using the speedpaint over existing colours. It seems to make the red nicer:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Angela has another one up, this time using the speedpaint over existing colours. It seems to make the red nicer:

At that point you'll probably get just as much bang for your buck using a traditional wash / shade / ink because she's only really using it to darken the crevices.

I might get a few of these to use for speed-painting the A Song of Ice and Fire starter. No advanced techniques for me I'm afraid (I know which way around to hold the brush and that's it!) but if these are just a layer, highlight and varnish then that's fine by me.

 Pacific wrote:
I might get a few of these to use for speed-painting the A Song of Ice and Fire starter. No advanced techniques for me I'm afraid (I know which way around to hold the brush and that's it!) but if these are just a layer, highlight and varnish then that's fine by me.

Looking at Goober's 2nd video, I think a good way to use these is to prime a dark colour (black, dark brown, etc), drybrush with a light colour (white, light grey) and then apply the speed paint.

If won't take a hell of a lot longer than just prime white then speedpaint, but it looks to add a lot of depth. This is the video I'm talking about...




Of course your traditional contrasts can be painted the same way also.

Thanks a lot for that video AllSeeingSkink, that was super useful! And has completely sold me on getting some of these. It almost feels like cheating actually! But, I think for larger groups of miniatures, that would otherwise take many months to paint, this surely has to be the best option.

Interesting seeing comments about the varnishing. I am honestly amazed anyone has miniatures for tabletop gaming and does not varnish them, regardless of paint used (unless enamels have been used or something?!) Especially once the miniature starts to get a bit older, or you have that heavy-handed friend that always breaks anything they touch, then its quite noticeable how the paint will start to fade - for me they are an absolute essential.

 stahly wrote:

angel of death 007 wrote:

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Thanks for that review, Stahly!
It's great to have that detailed testing on the reactivation aspect.

I will second this, i was completely sold on Speedpaints from the reviews I saw. Now I am definately second guessing it. The problem I have with contrast is often times I have to go and touch up spots which sounds really hard if they bleed through. My question might be for edge highlighting or drybrushing over the Speedpaint. Is the bleed through still an issue?

Edge highlights and drybrushing should be fine, the reactivation only becomes noticeable when you want to paint over a "larger" area.

That is good to know. I might pick up a few colors and give them a go. What are your most recommended colors if you already got quite a lot of contrast.

Are these actually out yet in the US?

 Pacific wrote:
Thanks a lot for that video AllSeeingSkink, that was super useful! And has completely sold me on getting some of these. It almost feels like cheating actually! But, I think for larger groups of miniatures, that would otherwise take many months to paint, this surely has to be the best option.

Interesting seeing comments about the varnishing. I am honestly amazed anyone has miniatures for tabletop gaming and does not varnish them, regardless of paint used (unless enamels have been used or something?!) Especially once the miniature starts to get a bit older, or you have that heavy-handed friend that always breaks anything they touch, then its quite noticeable how the paint will start to fade - for me they are an absolute essential.

The issue really isn't about varnishing our tabletop miniatures - it's about needing to varnish them partway through the painting process - or before you can touch up where you accidentally slopped paint on an area and don't want it reactivating when you planned to go over it with white/yellow/etc before you can move on. Also, the fact that varnish can apparently reactivate the stuff....

if the varnish reactivates it, this would be bad

the others are not an issue straight away as:

need to varnish for advanced techniques is already a thing with certain colours and if you are going to buy them to use them that way you know this in advanced (like no one is complaining that he needs to varnish before using an oil-wash)

in the other case, this colour is meant to be the only layer or the top layer, not a base for something else

or before you can touch up where you accidentally slopped paint on an area and don't want it reactivating when you planned to go over it with white/yellow/etc before you can move on

well in this case, you take some water and remove the speed paint before you advance and not just paint over it or varnish before you move on


I for now will get some of those or maybe the starter set as I see some possibilities to use them for my models
looks like to be the best method to have large areas of bronce or golden armour, and I want to try them for weathering instead of oil-washes or chipping

 Pacific wrote:

Interesting seeing comments about the varnishing. I am honestly amazed anyone has miniatures for tabletop gaming and does not varnish them, regardless of paint used (unless enamels have been used or something?!) Especially once the miniature starts to get a bit older, or you have that heavy-handed friend that always breaks anything they touch, then its quite noticeable how the paint will start to fade - for me they are an absolute essential.

I've never varnished gaming minatures, as I don't like the way it affects the highlights. Unless you're storing them in direct sunlight, fading shouldn't be an issue. Chipping or rubbing can be a bigger problem, particularly for miniatures basecoated with brush-on paints rather than sprays, but tends to be a bigger problem with metal models, and even there it's minimal if you actually look after your minis.

They look awesome. Painting is honestly my least favorite part of the hobby. Being able to get a whole army table top ready quickly is a huge selling point, and the cost compared to contrast makes it even sweeter.

insaniak wrote:

 Pacific wrote:

Interesting seeing comments about the varnishing. I am honestly amazed anyone has miniatures for tabletop gaming and does not varnish them, regardless of paint used (unless enamels have been used or something?!) Especially once the miniature starts to get a bit older, or you have that heavy-handed friend that always breaks anything they touch, then its quite noticeable how the paint will start to fade - for me they are an absolute essential.

I've never varnished gaming minatures, as I don't like the way it affects the highlights. Unless you're storing them in direct sunlight, fading shouldn't be an issue. Chipping or rubbing can be a bigger problem, particularly for miniatures basecoated with brush-on paints rather than sprays, but tends to be a bigger problem with metal models, and even there it's minimal if you actually look after your minis.

I think the key point is there the 'look after your minis bit'. I quite often paint stuff that is used by friends (who haven't spent the many hours painting and so are perhaps less careful). One in particular moves the minis around like he is hauling the gear stick on a 12-wheeler he is so heavy handed, so that means a lot more pinning and varnishing for me unfortunately. I usually use a satin or gloss followed by a matt to bring it back down. Definitely agree it can impact the look of the mini though, I can understand why a lot of competition painters don't varnish.

Azazelx wrote:

 Pacific wrote:
Thanks a lot for that video AllSeeingSkink, that was super useful! And has completely sold me on getting some of these. It almost feels like cheating actually! But, I think for larger groups of miniatures, that would otherwise take many months to paint, this surely has to be the best option.

Interesting seeing comments about the varnishing. I am honestly amazed anyone has miniatures for tabletop gaming and does not varnish them, regardless of paint used (unless enamels have been used or something?!) Especially once the miniature starts to get a bit older, or you have that heavy-handed friend that always breaks anything they touch, then its quite noticeable how the paint will start to fade - for me they are an absolute essential.

The issue really isn't about varnishing our tabletop miniatures - it's about needing to varnish them partway through the painting process - or before you can touch up where you accidentally slopped paint on an area and don't want it reactivating when you planned to go over it with white/yellow/etc before you can move on. Also, the fact that varnish can apparently reactivate the stuff....

That video linked above said that the paint doesn't re-activate with varnish. Do you know if someone else has had a contrary opinion? As that would be a deal breaker for me (and actually, you would have to say the product isn't fit for purpose).

 Pacific wrote:

Azazelx wrote:The issue really isn't about varnishing our tabletop miniatures - it's about needing to varnish them partway through the painting process - or before you can touch up where you accidentally slopped paint on an area and don't want it reactivating when you planned to go over it with white/yellow/etc before you can move on. Also, the fact that varnish can apparently reactivate the stuff....

That video linked above said that the paint doesn't re-activate with varnish. Do you know if someone else has had a contrary opinion? As that would be a deal breaker for me (and actually, you would have to say the product isn't fit for purpose).

I imagine the issue is that if you use a brush on varnish. If it reactivates with a spray on varnish it doesn't really matter (unless it's REALLY badly reactivating and starts to run).

Given some reviews have demonstrated the reactivation with nothing more than water, I imagine almost anything will reactivate it.

Maybe a separate but related question for people who use enamel or oil washes, does it reactivate with white spirits / turps / oils? I'm currently using a painting technique that uses oils over contrasts, if I instead use speed paints and the speed paints get reactivated that'd be a pain in the arse.





Automatically Appended Next Post:

dewd11 wrote:
They look awesome. Painting is honestly my least favorite part of the hobby. Being able to get a whole army table top ready quickly is a huge selling point, and the cost compared to contrast makes it even sweeter.

Is the cost much different in the US/UK/everywhere else? Here in Oz I was surprised how similar the price was to contrasts.

A local online discounter is selling Army Painter for $8AUD a pot or $75 for the pack of 10, and contrasts at the same discounter are $9.20AUD a pot. Cheaper, yeah, but it's not blowing my socks off and making me want to replace any contrasts I already use.

 Pacific wrote:
Thanks a lot for that video AllSeeingSkink, that was super useful! And has completely sold me on getting some of these. It almost feels like cheating actually! But, I think for larger groups of miniatures, that would otherwise take many months to paint, this surely has to be the best option.

Interesting seeing comments about the varnishing. I am honestly amazed anyone has miniatures for tabletop gaming and does not varnish them, regardless of paint used (unless enamels have been used or something?!) Especially once the miniature starts to get a bit older, or you have that heavy-handed friend that always breaks anything they touch, then its quite noticeable how the paint will start to fade - for me they are an absolute essential.

What I'm worrying is need to varnish during steps.

Contrast, regular paint, contrast, regular paint...If I replace contrast with speed paint I'll need 3 steps to varnish? And seeing I'm not doing generally one colour all the way to every spot at once...even more varnish steps?

 kodos wrote:
well in this case, you take some water and remove the speed paint before you advance and not just paint over it or varnish before you move on

Reactivation doesn't necessarily translate to "easy to remove" though. It seems for some colours it maybe is, others maybe not. That one review showed the blue was reasonably easy to reactivate to the point of completely removing it, but the red wasn't as easy to get moving and it'd probably be quicker to paint over a contrast than try to reactivate and remove a red speed paint. We'll have to see I guess.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Pacific wrote:

Azazelx wrote:The issue really isn't about varnishing our tabletop miniatures - it's about needing to varnish them partway through the painting process - or before you can touch up where you accidentally slopped paint on an area and don't want it reactivating when you planned to go over it with white/yellow/etc before you can move on. Also, the fact that varnish can apparently reactivate the stuff....

That video linked above said that the paint doesn't re-activate with varnish. Do you know if someone else has had a contrary opinion? As that would be a deal breaker for me (and actually, you would have to say the product isn't fit for purpose).

I imagine the issue is that if you use a brush on varnish. If it reactivates with a spray on varnish it doesn't really matter (unless it's REALLY badly reactivating and starts to run).

Given some reviews have demonstrated the reactivation with nothing more than water, I imagine almost anything will reactivate it.

The chap in the video specifically mentioned and used a brush on varnish and that it was OK. It's the only review I have taken the time to watch though so don't know if other people doing sampling have found out anything that says differently.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

Is the cost much different in the US/UK/everywhere else? Here in Oz I was surprised how similar the price was to contrasts.

the single Speedpaint here is 3,99€, 3,39€ with discount, Contrast is 6,30€, 5,67€ with discount

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 kodos wrote:
well in this case, you take some water and remove the speed paint before you advance and not just paint over it or varnish before you move on

Reactivation doesn't necessarily translate to "easy to remove" though. It seems for some colours it maybe is, others maybe not. That one review showed the blue was reasonably easy to reactivate to the point of completely removing it, but the red wasn't as easy to get moving and it'd probably be quicker to paint over a contrast than try to reactivate and remove a red speed paint. We'll have to see I guess.

I have to try it
and this is just me, I know, but I also always try to remove mistakes with acrylics by reactivating them with water instead of just painting over it, which works depening on the brand and time it had to try not always very well

 kodos wrote:

I have to try it
and this is just me, I know, but I also always try to remove mistakes with acrylics by reactivating them with water instead of just painting over it, which works depening on the brand and time it had to try not always very well

I do the same, for a while I used to have a shot of vodka next to my paint because it was better to clean up mistakes than water. I imagine if you cleaned it up immediately it would be easy enough, though that's usually not what you'll be doing because you'll want to finish painting the area you were working on before going back to clean up mistakes. At that point it's a guess how easy it'll be to remove.

Personally my main worry is that with contrasts I'll often just paint over details to avoid over working the contrast, then I'll go back and pick those details out again, but if the thing reactivates that'll just be annoying to deal with and like others I normally don't varnish my models, so adding varnishing steps in between does not sound appealing, it also will wipe out any money savings for using speed paints because varnish is going to become more expensive than the paint itself. I'll just pay the 15% extra and get a contrast instead if that's going to be a problem.

Just did a quick test using four paints:





So far they work prett well, but the reactivation is a thing. I don't thin k it will be an issue for the case use I had in mind, though.

 Bossk_Hogg wrote:
Are these actually out yet in the US?

Nope maybe sometime in March. They were supposed to be released on 2/18/22 for the basic set. Now we are in an unknown date in March.

I received and tested my paints and can happily say, they work perfectly with the cheapest white primer that my local hobby & crafts store has. I strongly dislike the overpriced trash companies sell to painters and only use regular primer. Cheaper, better finish, more content - as long as you don't need a specific colour, it only has advantages.

That being said, while the Speedpaint Colour looks good and gives a nice even finish, the bleeding through is really nasty... This severely limits the useability of these colours. I hope they fiddle with their mix and remedy this in the future...

Can I ask Garfield666 have you used Contrast paints too? If so how do they compare?

 kodos wrote:
if the varnish reactivates it, this would be bad
the others are not an issue straight away as:
need to varnish for advanced techniques is already a thing with certain colours and if you are going to buy them to use them that way you know this in advanced (like no one is complaining that he needs to varnish before using an oil-wash)

Complete agreement with you on that.

in the other case, this colour is meant to be the only layer or the top layer, not a base for something else

Well, they're not advertising it as such. That's not a detail they're mentioning - it's something you're coming up with in your post. I see nothing from AP saying "Out new range of amazing Speedpaints are meant to be the only layer or the top layer, not a base for something else." - or any different verbiage with the same or a similar meaning. So then it's an issue, I hope we can agree.

or before you can touch up where you accidentally slopped paint on an area and don't want it reactivating when you planned to go over it with white/yellow/etc before you can move on

well in this case, you take some water and remove the speed paint before you advance and not just paint over it or varnish before you move on

It doesn't appear to work cleanly like that, but let us all know how it goes for you.

I for now will get some of those or maybe the starter set as I see some possibilities to use them for my models
looks like to be the best method to have large areas of bronce or golden armour, and I want to try them for weathering instead of oil-washes or chipping

Cool - looking forward to your feedback and impressions, especially on the bleed issue but also on the rest. You're not beholden to clicks or keeping AP onside like (most) of these YouTubers, so more consumer reviews are always better! I've been using two brush coats of Seraphim Sepia over Silver sparay base for bronze-ish armour.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Pacific wrote:

That video linked above said that the paint doesn't re-activate with varnish. Do you know if someone else has had a contrary opinion? As that would be a deal breaker for me (and actually, you would have to say the product isn't fit for purpose).

Both stahly's first impressions and youtube video talk about the reactivation in depth, as well as Hildago's video. I don't recall which (or if both) of the videos mentioned varnish reactivation, but one (stahly's, I *think*) definitely did.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

A local online discounter is selling Army Painter for $8AUD a pot or $75 for the pack of 10, and contrasts at the same discounter are $9.20AUD a pot. Cheaper, yeah, but it's not blowing my socks off and making me want to replace any contrasts I already use.

Which one is that if you don't mind me asking? PM is fine if you don't want to post it.

Im really curious about what happened in the AP studio that a product could get so far into development with such a glaring issue. I guess they sunk the cash into the chemical formula and then realized once it was too late to turn back?