Initial Contrast Experiments (from us all)

[MithrilForge]

@N1SB- 

thanks for this, that Militarum green looks good( i'm glad i pre-ordered that colour now)  i intend to use it on Cadian fatigues which i think will be perfect for this type of application.

thanks to everyone else for showing their experiments.

as to the NMM ...darren latham   only he could make contrast paint look golden demon quality !!

 

Cheers, Mithril

[Spacecow]

I saw a video where someone put the black contrast paint on. Decided it was too grey and put another thick coat on to make it more black. That worked, only he noticed it became very glossy. Was that a fluke ( just with the black) or is it a thing with the contrast paint?

[Excessus]

Migsula posted this contrast experiment on instagram.

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx5eEFYnNuB/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

[Ciler]

My contrast experiments (more details on the relevant threads in the BT and SW subforums) :

[Son of Sacrifice]

I've played with it a little bit, it's not for me as I don't really need it this far into my painting journey.

 

I think marines are going to benefit from being painted with a larger brush than most people usually use. And a coat of matte varnish will go a long way, I don't think the glossy finish of these paints helps the final effect.

 

I'm actually really interested in the new varnish. I usually use AK but GW products are so much easiet to get a hold of.

[MithrilForge]

I've played with it a little bit, it's not for me as I don't really need it this far into my painting journey.

 

I think marines are going to benefit from being painted with a larger brush than most people usually use. And a coat of matte varnish will go a long way, I don't think the glossy finish of these paints helps the final effect.

 

I'm actually really interested in the new varnish. I usually use AK but GW products are so much easiet to get a hold of.

 

if you like AK then you'll love this varnish, it' even better  

https://www.migjimenez.com/en/varnishes/1191-matt-lucky-varnish.html

[N1SB]

I saw a video where someone put the black contrast paint on. Decided it was too grey and put another thick coat on to make it more black. That worked, only he noticed it became very glossy. Was that a fluke ( just with the black) or is it a thing with the contrast paint?

 

My friend who put 2 to 3 coats of Black Templar Contrast had it look really glossy, too.  I thought at the time it was still wet, but he was packing it up to go, so that explains that.  I tend to find many GW paints and inks a bit glossy (so I use a bunch of other stuff in addition), but that sounds very plausible to me.

[Rob_Loken]

This was my attempt at GW Cribbs on Sunday. Like others have said, I found myself fighting against my intuition to stop the paint pooling. However, I was quite impressed with these colours. I can certainly see the benefits of them. I used some washes in some of the farmer spots and it seemed to work well enough over the contrast paints. I also used the orange one (can’t remember what it’s called) to do some shading.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BygX0wYnixP/?igshid=jx5h5iksz4lq

[MegaVolt87]

Looks like you did a good job on stopping major pooling on the more flat area's, especially the legs regardless.

[Rob_Loken]

Thanks mate. It’s certainly going to take some experimentation to get it to stop splotching, I kept watering it down which possibly didn’t help because they didn’t have any of the medium.

[Xin Ceithan]

First, I think it is a great idea to pool people's experience on the Contrast side of things. I am really tempted to dip my brush into this but especially like to see a couple of examples from outside the hype train...

especially curious about how colors turn out in the end. At my usual painting speeds, basically everything is a single mini, which makes consistency difficult. Or army building. With the examples given, I might see my Alphas actually getting some colour some day.

 

And,

 

Actually this :

 

 

Migsula posted this contrast experiment on instagram.

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx5eEFYnNuB/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Is quite close to what I always have been tempted to go for on the Nurgle side but never thought I would be able to keep consistently with weeks, sometimes months between models.

 

For those outside instagram... could I ask if anyone can share what colour were used in this?

[Naryn]

Unfortunately migs said in the comments that he didn’t recall beyond a bunch of yellows, oranges, and browns. He also said that the chipping was regular paint, not contrast.

[Xin Ceithan]

Unfortunately migs said in the comments that he didn’t recall beyond a bunch of yellows, oranges, and browns. He also said that the chipping was regular paint, not contrast.

Thanks. That is sad news.

 

Is there some unspoken rule among painting tutorials artist that you do not care to remember ? It's funny how often that " I can't really remember" comes up in those videos.... :p

 

Like a fight club thing. The first rule of painting tutorials is ...

 

Oh well, -sigh- so much for that. Will have to test paint " some yellow, oranges and browns" then.

[Kevlarshark]

A quick play round with the contrast... Mixed the really bright green (warpstone?) And bestial brown together then watered them down a bit with standard water. Also added few details using the black one and an orange. I wish I watered down the purple...it's very strong.

Edited June 13, 2019 by Kevlarshark

[GenerationTerrorist]

I managed to have a brief go with them for 40mins in my local GW today.

During this time I fully painted 6 Intercessors to a level far beyond what I would normally be able to do. I'd be happy enough to put them on the table with a bit of basing.

My painting skills are well below average, but I was pleased with how well they turned out and how quickly I was able to lay the colours down without mixing/thinning/shading.

 

I tried several of the new paints over both types of undercoat. By far, my favourite was the Space Wolves Grey over the Grey Seer. I am going to try and paint a full unit of Intercessors with this and base them with Valhallan Blizzard.

The Iyanden Yellow over the Wraithbone was also very impressive from a visual sense. Finally, a yellow that works! I also used this colour on the Shoulder Pad for the above example, as per Space Wolf colour scheme dictates. Worked really well.

 

I was least impressed with the Ultramarines Blue over the Grey Seer. There was just something wrong about it, tonally, for the name. Maybe it would have worked better over the Wraithbone?

 

The absolute pick of all the colours, however, was Wyldwood, which I used for leather pouches, etc. What an amazingly strong, vibrant colour. This could be the "Devlan Mud" or "Agrax Earthshade" of this particular range.

 

It will be interesting to see how they work with a pre-base undercoat of Mech Standard Grey (what I normally use) before priming in Seer/Wraithbone. I will also see how semi-zenithal techniques work with a Mech Grey - Grey Seer - Wraithbone buildup.

 

I pre-ordered the whole range last weekend (got in quickly) and am really excited by finally painting up my hordes of grey plastic marines from the various box sets over the years.

 

In conclusion, I think these will be a massive hit. Hopefully there is not too much paint-snobbery in the community ("Oh, you only used contrast paints") sort of thing; I don't care personally, because I know I am crap. Hopefully it will not annoy/shame others.

It will be interesting to see how well these paints work with a simple drybrush, as I didn't get chance to do that today.

[Reyner]

What basecoats have you guys been using? I have a bunch of Death Guard sprayed with Zandri Dust and I am wondering how contrast would look.

[MithrilForge]

What basecoats have you guys been using? I have a bunch of Death Guard sprayed with Zandri Dust and I am wondering how contrast would look.

 

i wonder if you did a light Zenithal spray with wraithbone over that Zandri coat... 

[Arkhanist]

What basecoats have you guys been using? I have a bunch of Death Guard sprayed with Zandri Dust and I am wondering how contrast would look.

 

Depends what colour you want your deathguard to be! Many Contrast colours still work nicely over somewhat darker base coats for a darker result, and work even better with a zenithal prime from mid tone to light. So as suggested, a basic zenithal spray of wraithbone over the top sets you up for any of the lighter colours really; Miniwargamer did that with the iyanden yellow Contrast for a browner version of Imperial Fists. I think that zandri + wraithbone would be an excellent base for the plaguebearer flesh Contrast, making it a bit darker, browner green closer to the standard current death guard scheme, or as a base for militarum green would also look good I think for a kind of khaki-tinted green. I think it'd be a bit too dark for an off-white scheme using say skeleten horde, I think it'd come out a rather beige; though basicicanum grey could well work for a dirty looking light cream.

 

(found the video demoing zandri+wraithbone for a base for Fists)

 

[Chazzmos]

I had a bit of a play yesterday at a GW store and found them really interesting.  My main thoughts on them are:

• Just flat out excellent for texture rich surface (e.g. fur) and skin
• How you apply them and move them around really matters to the finish, especially when working with large flat surfaces (e.g. Primaris).  If you are comfortable using a large brush and applying a lot of paint and then moving it and smoothing it, you'll get a pretty good finish.  If you're a beginner that does a lot of tiny strokes, you're going to have a bad time.  Some of the Primaris on the test table looked just awful.
• For painters that are already quite accomplished, these will be fantastic incorporated into a workflow in different ways, but will require a bit of forward planning (due to the importance of how the primed surface is finished and drying times).
• I think that a Primaris marine, airbrushed 3 colours, dark to light (90^o > 45^o > 0^o) and then 'washed' with a thinned contrast paint will look amazing.  Have a look at 0:30-1:30 at what happens when you mix Nuln Oil into the Contrast Medium: https://youtu.be/qmF_13Xnb80?t=30. Now imagine that being just a really shade colour over those airbrushed gradients, it will smooth it all out, shadow line it, and still give an impression of specular and edge highlights.
• Blocking in base colours and then using thinned Contrast paints as a wash will be brilliant.  They will work as really good shade/glaze/little highlight, but you'll maintain the strong opacity of the base colour.  You'll probably need to paint your base colours a little lighter though, as the Contrast paint will still tint them overall.

And that's my 2 imperial credits!

 

EDIT: This shows what can be done quickly when incorporated with other techniques: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/06/13/painting-with-contrast-sam-lenzgw-homepage-post-3fw-homepage-post-2/

Edited June 13, 2019 by Chazzmos

[MithrilForge]

@Chazzmos - ooh that nuln+Medium is going to be a cool trick, and the other one makes a nice dusty weathered look...a nice post apocalyptic wasteland look if you will 

thanks heaps for posting that 

 

Cheers, Mithril

[Arkhanist]

Yeah, that nuln oil and contrast combo as an idiot-proof alternative to pin washing looks really, really useful. Diluting washes with normal medium makes them more glaze like with all the risks of tide rings etc, while this turns them into nearly crevice-only washes. Definitely could be handy for weathering and easy rust effects with other colours too.

[Reyner]

Good find thank you for that Arkhanist! I am tempted to make my Death Guard very similar to the Pallid Hand colour scheme but with a bit more black. 

[N1SB]

Hi Brothers, further progress on what I painted initially, just to file in my report on these particular test subjects, but more experiments to follow.

+++ Militarum Green Raptor Marine +++

Mainly I just painted his chest aquila with Leadbelcher and washed with Tamiya Smoke, did some detail work like red for his purity seal, also drybrushed with some Stormhost Silver for a battle-worn look (I know power armour is ceramite, not metal, but the effect was so popular in my meta I decided to keep doing it).

However, what is probably of greatest interest was I was fixing the Contrast paint with just regular paint. I was at home, didn't have access to Contrast paint, there was some splotching from having too thick a coat that I needed to fix, what I showed before:

Fixed that with some Vallejo's Russian Uniform, thinned a bit, just eyeballed it, patched up the splotchiness. Evidence that normal paint goes on fine over Contrast.

IMPORTANT EDIT - I'm also retracting my thoughts that perhaps Contrast isn't good for Primaris, due to large surfaces. I see your examples and mine, and I'm thinking I just need to manage the consistency a bit. No need to water down, but maybe I just won't dunk my brush quite as deep into the pot of Contrast as before. I still think all Contrast paints will have a slightly different consistency, and depending on what you paint, you might just not want to splash it as liberally as I did initially.

+++ The Not-Soritas (female Stormcast Celestial test subject) +++

Previously, we talked about black armour. In our meta, lots more discussion on this topic, everyone's thinking about Black Templars or Deathwatch apparently.

2 Thick Coats of Black Templar was too dark apparently, someone tried it out. Now they're thinking 1 Thick Coat of Black Templar and 1 wash of Nuln Oil.

But I'm thinking...screw that. Just choose a darker grey basecoat, and 1 Thick Coat of Black Templar. Perhaps better yet, a basecoat of Leadbelcher or gunmetal spray, then 1 Thick Coat of Black Templar. I looked at the 2 Thick Coats example and it really just brings the whole miniature down a shade, highlights faded.

I'm thinking of re-spraying one of the Stormcast Celestials with a light gunmetal and trying it with Black Templar, doing a metallic black effect.

Edited June 14, 2019 by N1SB

[Reyner]

Keen to see how the metallic black works out :)

[GenerationTerrorist]

I'd be really interested to see any Deathwing painted using Contrasts. I've always struggled painting bone colour consistently, but unsure how I'd go about it with the Contrasts - Skeleton Horde and Medium 50-50 mix over Wraithbone?