Do They Live Up To the Hype? Unofficial Citadel Contrast Paints Review

Don't miss our 100% unofficial review of the Citadel Contrast paints as we put them through their paces and give you our thoughts on the line at the end of the tutorial.

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Unboxing Hobby Tutorials pdf Instructions. First Look Airbrushing Battle Reports. Rob Baer Kenny Boucher warhammer 40k

[spikeybitstv]

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2 Step Paint Brush Cleaner:

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Figure Storage:

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[barryslemmings]

For shaking all acrylic paint pots, I use 6mm stainless steel ball bearings and pop one into each pot or jar along with two or three drops of acrylic thinners. I give it a good shake and the ball (like in a shake and spray rattle can) moves the pigment around beautifully. You must use stainless steel BB as normal steel will rust in the water-based acrylic paint and spoil it within a few days.
I also periodically 'service' all my paint pots by removing traces and spills of dried paint from around the edges to ensure a good seal. I clean most once a year but more popular colours are cleaned more often.
Finally, when I use my paints I always add a drop or two of acrylic thinner before or after use to allow for evaporation while it was open. The result is that some of my paints are more than 25 years old and go back to the days of the old LARGE glass Tamiya paint jars or the glass DBI paint bottles. They are all still good and well pigmented.
I cannot stress the use of the BB enough, the 6mm has plenty of weight to it and moves the pigment around well. You can buy them online from bearing suppliers. In the UK I pay about £6 from Simply Bearings for approx 50 x 6mm. Other sizes are available, such as 5mm or 7mm.
If you use plain glass jars wrap some sticky tape or duct tape around the sides as I once shook one so hard that the BB went through the glass side. Messy but harmless, most of the paint stayed in my hand and not on the carpet! :)
I would also suggest DON'T use tap water to thin any acrylic paints in the jar. I live in a hard water (limescale in the kettle) area and I am sure that this affects the long-term quality of the paint in the jar/pot over time. If you must use water to thin (I don't) then use distilled water. This can be purchased as distilled or de-ionised water for things like steam irons. Try to get it unscented. If you can't find it commercially then next time you defrost the freezer save and filter the melted freezer ice. It is effectively the same thing as there is no limescale in the air. You can filter this using blotting paper or kitchen roll inside a small funnel.
I use thinners are all times and now only use tap water to flush a cleaned brush or thin paint already in my palette.
I use a white ceramic dinner plate as a palette and I was surprised when I started using acrylic thinners to clean my brushes to see how much extra paint came out of the metal ferrule that holds the bristles of the brush. That was AFTER I had supposedly cleaned it in water. The paint traces trickled out on to the white plate and were clearly visible.
A cheap white plate is great as a palette as the brightness allows you to gauge how thick your paint is and the ceramic surface is great for washing clean afterwards. Soak the plate in water or water and detergent for a few hours or overnight and most just slides off. The rest comes off with fingernails or a pot brush.

B

[bobbysimpson]

Anyone try Painting the Contrast paints over other Base Paints? Like Base: Macragge Blue, Mechanicus Standard Grey, Mephiston Red, Mournfang Brown, Naggaroth Night or even Corvus Black?

[Markovian_]

Why did you thin it? Just curious. Seems like you wanted it to be pastel?

[MoonEaterSkoll]

I would say the one on the right actually looked worse but to each there own I think a lot of the old guard will have trouble transitioning mostly because they learned on a different medium

[sbengholm]

It’s weird that you present the contrast in a way they aren’t meant to be used. This video didn’t give me a proper look of how they work, since you thinned them all down 1:1, which made them all look way to bright and pale.

[rdubayoo]

Protip: Wraithbone is NOT a new color, at least not for the hobby market in general. It's actually Ivory, and I was able to pick up some Vallejo Model Color Ivory from Hobby Lobby. It's cheaper and you get more of it. Also, a Krylon spray can of Ivory paint is about a fourth as much. Granted, the GW spray may be of higher quality, but is it really good enough to justify the higher cost?

I can see where there might have been confusion, though. The color sample from GW's site looks like Army Painter Skeleton Bone, but it is not.

[SelflessSoldier]

Quick tip for keeping your paints mixed, go to hobby lobby or another craft store and grab some beads (I found some magnetic ones) and drop em in your pot. That way, it’ll mix it up nice when you shake it, kinda like a rattle can👌🏼🤙🏼

[garbagecan]

I'm legitimately confused why everybody keeps trying to paint models entirely using contrast and nothing else and bases their opinions on how well they completely replace normal paints. It's a tool in the tool box, great for blocking out quick base colors, especially for colors that are hard to paint correctly. I get that GW had people paint models entirely with contrast at Warhammer Fest so maybe it's some mixed messages in the marketing but there has never been another "type" of paint people did this with. Nobody goes around acting like washes suck because you can't paint your entire army with only Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil.

[AnimeSquirrel]

So, as someone who isnt much into the painting side of the hobby as I am into building and playing, but u want table ready paint with out outsourcing a painter; is this a good primary tool to use to churn out playable painted models relatively quickly so i can play as quickly as possible and not have grey plastic all over the table?

[julianb.]

Can you mix Lahmian medium with Contrast paints?

[TheRovingRebel]

Terradon Turqoise on Leadbelcher spray makes a great looking Alpha Legion scheme.

[ludantikasmith]

can you use regular spray or will the contrast only stick to these spraypaints?

[briansanders]

Thanks for this video, even though I figured out fairly quickly I was not the intended target. I would like to take a second just to throw my unsolicited personal opinion out there. These contrast paints are an absolute godsend to people like me. I am a 46 year old dude; and until yesterday, I had never in my life painted a model, miniature, anything at all. I am not artistic in any way shape or form. I have been embarrassed for the last 2 months playing with my primed only army. Now, as the intended demographic of this paint line, I can get my models on the table, learn a little bit along the way, and not have to pay someone to paint them for me. Again, just food for thought. Have a fantastic Father's Day!

[gealgain]

@Spikey Bits do you think that the contrast paints are better or worse putting into dropper bottles?

[darkowl]

Hmm... the Grey Seer and Wraithbone base pots aren't primers -- the related sprays are primers, but the bases are meant as any other base paint, to go over a primer. They're supposed to be used to "reset" any areas where you want to paint a contrast in another colour.

As for the sprays, the only reason they're "recommended" as base is that as off-whites the pigment is a little finer than pure white (the pigment of which is the largest, chemically) and gives a smoother finish that's supposedly more conducive to the "flow" of contrast paints.

[LeeAllanSpades]

Funny thing, I'm actually more interested in the brush-on primers. My husband and I build and paint together, and I usually leave spray priming to him because I either have too heavy or too light of a hand with the spray can. If I can brush prime my figs with stuff available at my LGS (they sell exclusively Citadel so Vallejo is out) then I don't have to wait for my husband to spray prime. And that's a time saver on its own!

[ninjasqurl]

As for the tipping pots. I use a paint stir stick from the hardware store (free) and some blue sticky tac. It’s not ideal but the materials are easily obtainable.

[deanm]

Thanks for this demo. As always an honest, frank discussion.I was unable to attend the preview/reorder at my local GWS last Saturday. I had visited them a few days before and the manager there was definitely sticking to script with regards to his own impressions from the internal GW seminar he attended. There were questions he either glossed over or ignored regarding compatibility with existing paints etc.

[tankdempsey]

I like where GW went with this line of paints. Some colors are far too pastel though. Now gimme 2 cents.