Reply To: GW Contrast Paints and Base Coats Examples

[blinky465 17028xp 0]

I feel like a lot of people are missing the point of Contrast Paints – this is a still from a video showing different techniques (it’s in German so I had to use online subtitle translation, which is a bit sketchy!)

The first Space Marine is by far the brightest. And I think this is what contrast paints are about. I’ve seen loads of amazingly painted minis in GW stores and on tabletop games, and the detail and the skill in painting is fantastic. But very often, they’re a bit, well, muddy. A bit dark. It takes a lot of faith to highlight your minis all the way up to white on the highest points.

I think too many people are focussing on the shading effect of Contrast Paints and missing the highlight effect they create. Look at the first space marine. Look at the trim on his shoulder pads (enlarge the image if it’s not clear). Not only is there a nice dark blue line around the edges of the trim, but look how the paint has pulled away from the very edges – leaving the white undercoat showing through.

This creates a nice, bright model, with lots of variation in colour from very dark blue, to almost white. The effect is similar on the second model (zenith highlight over grey base) but not as obvious – because the undercoat was grey, not white. The metallic effect of the third model is cool, but because the model has no white edges, the effect is less pronounced. For me, this model would need a decent edge highlight adding to be anywhere near as good as the first.

So there we are – I love the look of the contrast paints and can’t wait to start using mine; not because of the shade effect they create, but because of the often-overlooking highlighting they add with much less effort than lining every panel. If your dislike of contrast paints is because “I can get the same effect with a colour primer and an ink wash” you’re sort-of missing the point of the new paints in the first place!