Warhammer Tone Pro Paints + Drybrushes

[Kurgan the Lurker]

Another live paint sessions from Warhipster with the TonePro paints:
 

 

[Lathe Biosas]

Found out an important piece of information today. Do not lick your brushes when using the new paint.

 

The guys at the store told us that the new paint doesn't come with the non-toxic label like their regular paints, and didn't want kids under some age (I think it was 15) using the new paints without parental consent.

[Arkley]

How not to use them.

[Kurgan the Lurker]

 

[Kurgan the Lurker]

I'm no pro and fint much to add but I did give Chotec Orange 4 a spin yesterday at the local Warhammer shop.

 

 

[Nephaston]

Medium Blobbing.... 

 

[Jukkiz]

Sounds like most "pros" that tried these seem to have very minimal negatives to say and that´s red flag for me. There´s always more issues when us regulars get our hands to something and most likely these too need mixing ball and i would suggest swapping to dropper bottles. Even if it´s pain in the rear and tedious. 

[soviet1337]

What I'm waiting to hear is why not to use these paints. Other than 'it's difficult to glaze with them' I'm not clear what they can't do, or why anyone wouldn't use them (other than price and inertia).  What necessary space is filled by the present range, such that a full scale replacement of the old with the new might not be inevitable.

 

 

Or is this stage one of the primarisification of the paint range, only without the bigger sizes. 

[Arkhanist]

2 hours ago, Jukkiz said:

Sounds like most "pros" that tried these seem to have very minimal negatives to say and that´s red flag for me. There´s always more issues when us regulars get our hands to something and most likely these too need mixing ball and i would suggest swapping to dropper bottles. Even if it´s pain in the rear and tedious. 

 

There have been negatives. They are very fluid, which is a bit of a double edged sword - you'll need the brush control to avoid letting it go where it shouldn't. You also need to put them on relatively thick to get the coverage over e.g. black though they will self level well. Or you can thin with water and do 2 thin coats as usual.

 

But then that'll bite you if you're not careful, as they dry slower - just like with Contrast, if you go back in too soon for that 2nd coat, the brush will tear up the first one and give you a very rough finish.

 

People do seem to be having trouble with wet blending on the model, even with the greater open time; possibly just because they do seem to work differently than your average acrylic, while others have got them to work, so there's probably a learning curve there for their properties.

 

Pluses are the vibrancy, good flow out of the pot so you don't actually need to thin it, each colour is very consistent, and it's opaqueness is up there with other good paints.

 

Honestly, I'm not convinced of their effectiveness for base coats in most cases - given you have to blob it on or do two coats for tricky combos, it doesn't appear outright better than other options, and it's going to cost more than e.g. pro acryl or ak gen3. The exception would be say, yellow and oranges, where they do seem to have really good saturation compared to alternatives, and the white is strong.

 

Where it seems to shine is for highlights; edge highlighting or dry brushing in particular, but also layering and feathering, you just need to be aware of a) giving the previous layer enough time to dry and b) it will need more thinning than other paints. Maybe not wet blending so much, but I've yet to see anyone try it with slow dri or that new blending medium which extends the open time which might be the trick to it. Glazing is fine, but because it takes a chunk of medium to get it thin enough, it's more effort and cost.

 

Cost per ml and the pot are also downsides. I'm not sure mixing balls will be needed, they seem very fluid in the pot so will probably shake mix relatively easily compared to thicker paints, though time will tell how badly they settle out on the shelf.

 

Overall, I can definitely see uses for them, and I will be giving them a go myself, but I think my pro acryl paints are safe. Army painter fanatic though, my small qunatity might get replaced, as I've not been particularly impressed with those overall. And my decade plus older tones are definitely candidates for replacement. If you're already invested in AK gen 3 or 2TC though, or want to, I don't think these have enough of an edge over either (and some weaknesses they don't) to be worth replacing, bar maybe a handful of brights for final highlight stages that are less pastel.

 

What they have done is get themselves back in competition - citadel paint is generally just worse than multiple other options now, while tone pro appears up there with other good brands, stronger in some areas and weaker in others.

Edited Sunday at 07:12 PM by Arkhanist

[Emperor Ming]

On 9/26/2026 at 6:10 PM, Redcomet said:

GW could give away free money and online communities would find some way to get angry about it

Free money, Outrageous!

 

[Bryan Blaire]

44 minutes ago, soviet1337 said:

What I'm waiting to hear is why not to use these paints. Other than 'it's difficult to glaze with them' I'm not clear what they can't do, or why anyone wouldn't use them (other than price and inertia).  What necessary space is filled by the present range, such that a full scale replacement of the old with the new might not be inevitable.

 

 

Or is this stage one of the primarisification of the paint range, only without the bigger sizes. 

To me, the why not is that I don’t need to use them, just like any paint range.

 

No one needs to use Citadel/GW/Warhammer brand paints, just like no one needs to use AK, Vallejo, Scale75, ProAcryl, Two Thin Coats, Apple Barrel, Martha Stewart Craft, Krylon, Reaper, Liquitex, Golden, Daler Rowney, Molotow, Winsor & Newton, Ionic Smart Colors, Bear Cavalry, Formula P3, Kimera, Green Stuff World, DecoArt Americana, Tamiya, Amsterdam Expert, (you get the point, there are a lot of choices) or any other acrylic paint range (or oils, lacquers, enamels, etc.).

 

You use them because they are available to you and they do what you want them to. This current range doesn’t have any metallics, so that’s one thing GW can’t say is replaced by this new line.

 

The new line isn’t as child friendly presumably due to the new medium formulation and additives, but personally I wouldn’t let my child paint without my supervision no matter which paint brand they are using, including Crayola.

 

Lathe Biosas said it earlier, but it bears repeating - don’t lick your brushes with the new range. That’s good advice, IMO, no matter which range you use, or as the folks at Monument Hobbies also say “Don’t eat the paint.” Paint, painting implements, and your rinse water aren’t meant to be in your mouth.

 

soviet1337 (or anyone else), if you like the new paints, they are available to you, and they do something you want/need out of them, then by all means you should use them. Don’t worry about a reason not to.

Edited Sunday at 07:22 PM by Bryan Blaire

[Lathe Biosas]

3 minutes ago, Emperor Ming said:

Free money, Outrageous!

 

They gave away free models and folks online got angry about it... and on the dark day of the "Free Rhino* model," I saw anger at the store.

 

*They gave away a Legion Imperialis Rhino.

[sitnam]

54 minutes ago, Bryan Blaire said:

Paint, painting implements, and your rinse water aren’t meant to be in your mouth.

 

You'll take my paint brush from my cold death mouth!

[Captain Idaho]

I removed some posts. Moving on Frater, no need to attack each other.

[sarabando]

13 hours ago, sitnam said:

 

You'll take my paint brush from my cold death mouth!

i licked my brush in the GW too, a public gw brush

[Evil Eye]

I'll be a brush-licker 'till the day I die! (Which between having done so whilst using Cadmium Red and often using spray cans indoors will probably not take very long...)

[Sabadin]

14 hours ago, sitnam said:

 

You'll take my paint brush from my cold death mouth!

The old foundation orange actually tasted pretty good, somebody understood the assignment making that.

[appiah4]

Self leveling properties of 50c wall paint colorant from hardware store: 

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdyJn2NMocg/?stkn=eXpscmd6Y3k1Z3I0

[Arkhanist]

1 hour ago, Evil Eye said:

I'll be a brush-licker 'till the day I die! (Which between having done so whilst using Cadmium Red and often using spray cans indoors will probably not take very long...)

 

The risk isn't that massive with e.g. cadmium on a hairy stick as the stuff is poorly absorbed if ingesting tiny amounts and you stop doing it. Long term exposure can damage your kidneys and liver though. It's more dangerous in dust form or aerosols, as it can permanently damage your lungs pretty quickly. So never airbrush anything with heavy metal pigments.

 

Most likely risk for standard acrylics is probably the additives (antifreeze, flow aid, biocides), or bacteria in the dirty wash pot or wet palette giving you an upset stomach or the runs. Though long term risks of small amounts is hard to quantity, and much of this stuff is banned in food products for good reason.

 

Personally, I prefer not to get the :cuss:s so I trained myself to shape the brush another way - if you absolutely must use saliva to shape the brush, lick your fingertips first and shape with that, then clean your fingers which avoids most of the risk. Or just shape it on the palette with a little twist.  Oh, and clean your wet palette sponge regularly, that thing is an absolute breeding ground for bacteria.

[Mmmmm Napalm]

54 minutes ago, Arkhanist said:

 

 Oh, and clean your wet palette sponge regularly, that thing is an absolute breeding ground for bacteria.

yup. instead of just using water for my sponges I pour a bit of antibacterial Windex into a cup of distilled water, and then pour said mixture onto my sponge. the water is noticeably Windex-y but it doesn't affect the paint or anything.

[Griefbringer]

I managed to give up on licking brushes - nowadays I rather sharpen a brush tip by first dipping it in water pot to get it wet, and then running it against a piece of dry toilet paper that I keep at hand during painting.

[MoriyaSchism]

I usually include a piece of pure copper in my wet palette water to keep it from getting moldy when I use it for more than a day. Pure silver works too.  

[Lord Marshal]

He's got one for the Salamanders fans today:

 

 

[Lathe Biosas]

If you want to give up on licking brushes, read The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore.

 

The book is all about the dangers of putting paint brushes in your mouth, no matter how safe companies or the government tells you about the paints you are using.

 

Because your body liked to make assumptions. Like how it assumes that ingested Radium is Calcium. Yum Yum!

[Lord Marshal]

Confirmation of the October 24th release date on WarCom, as well as confirming the rumours of what would be replacing the free mini (Cadian, Battle Sister, CSM Legionary of Necron Warrior for 40k).

 

Edited Monday at 03:06 PM by Lord Marshal