Your opinions on Citadel Contrast, Vallejo Xpress & Army Painter Speed Paints?

[Daeothar]

Me, I've only used Armypainter's Speedpaints at this point. I was lucky(?) enough to snag a Mega Set off an auction site for quite a bit less than a completely new set and it was probably only used for some testing, as nearly all pots were still completely full and only a few were probably a couple of squirts shy of being full.

This was before I was aware of the reactivation issue though. And had I known about this, I would probably not have bothered at all. As it is though, I now have a full 24 colours of them, a lot of which I can already tell I will probably never use

I have worked with several of the colours by now, and even though the results were quite good, the reactivation is both an irritation (I encountered it several times while painting on/next to Speed Paints) and a deterrent (I don't want to encounter this again).

My first run in was a mild anoyance, and a lesson learned for the next time. The second time I did an entire unit instead of a single model, and the initial temporal gains are significant. But then I needed to spray varnish, and additionally, I needed to add some more highlights.

Yesterday I painted a test figure for a larger project. I used the 'slapchop' method, with a black undercoat, medium grey overall drybrush and a thin white zenithal drybrush, and then a single coat of black Speedpaint.

Which turned out way too dark for my purpose, but finishing the mini afterwards, I skipped the varnishing step and had no particular issues with reactivation. Mind; I did not overpaint any speedpainted surfaces this time, so that probably helps. Also; the colours next to it were also really dark (and pure black), so it might have done so, without me noticing...

All in all; I would not have bought this set, had I known the particular challenges of Speedpaints beforehand, but as I am learning to work with it, I do appreciate the results of this type of product and I might branch out into other brands eventually...

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

@Vanth
I am very interested by your comments that the Vallejo Xpress are better and more consistent. I tend to prefer Vallejo paints over everything else anyway.
There is a stockist in Zurich, so next time I am in the city I will have a look at the colours and buy a few.

[pauld]

I have the following

Army Painter Speedpaint Starter Set
Green Stuff World Intensity Inks (set 2)
Vallejo Game Colour Ink set

As you can see it appears I have more money than sense.

What do I think?  In general I don't like the effect (apart from the Vallejo Inks but we'll get to them later) and figures I have slapped or white primed just look dirty or anaemic respectively.

Army Painter are very annoying as they bleed easily and all time time for me although the colours are stronger and I normally brush varnish so that's out of course.  A deterrent? Definitely.  Quicker - hell, no.  I spend twice as long trying to make them look decent.

Green Stuff World - don't bleed, run or reactivate however I still don't like them as the paint job for a model.  Great for heavy washes over over some colours though.

Have not tried Citadel - too expensive to be disappointed again.

Vallejo Inks I do like - they are like great flowing vibrant paint and on a white primer they do give darker recesses and lighter high points.  They're great for beefing up the vibrancy of regular paint too.

But end of the day I still prefer a traditional base coat and wash (sometimes) followed by highlight as I paint to play not paint for painting's sake (and heretical as it may be I find painting a bit of a chore although it's nice to look at your little men at the end and think I did that).

I do yearn for a multi coloured paint that you just dip the model in though, perhaps I was just born 50 years too early 

[Storm Wolf]

Pauld: Indeed wouldn't that be nice 

One of my favorite GW contrast paints is the apothecary white, as someone who has never, ever got the hang of painting lots of white on a miniature, this for me is a game changer.

My Deathwing are now ready to stride across the table resplendent (YMMV) in something looking a lot more respectable than any of my previous attempts.

Glen

[WorkShy]

Interesting, as that's pretty much been my own observation too. Out of curiosity, which 20 or so paints make your "essential" list please?

My most used Contrast is Snakebite Leather for any leatherwork and also for some clothes/cloaks. Aggaros Dunes is useful as a lighter version. Guilliman Flesh and Gore Gruntha Fur are also handy (though I don't really use them as Flesh or Fur tbh). Add in Black Templar and I can do all my horses fairly quickly. Militarium Green is useful for clothes/cloaks.

By contrast (excuse the pun), I've found Ultramarine Blue and Leviadon Purple fairly useless. In fact none of the Blues, Purple and Yellow really seem to work for me. The reds like Flesh Tearer and Blood Angels are nice colours but don't really seem to provide much Contrast. Basilicanum Grey has been difficult. It's really dark and when I try to lighten it with Contrast Medium, sometimes it's work perfectly and the next time appalling with no clear reason why.

[Codsticker]

I use a few of GW's contrast paints; I bought them for use on terrain but have ended up using them on minis in certain situations (some of them definitely do a better job than others). I actually quite like Basilicum Grey or Black Templar over silver for a great dark armour/metal effect.

One of my favorite GW contrast paints is the apothecary white, as someone who has never, ever got the hang of painting lots of white on a miniature, this for me is a game changer.

I agree, I think this one works very well. It does produce the perfect shading for white. I usually put a little extra white highlight afterwards.

[tomrommel1]

Is there a conversion chart from contrast paints to vallejo xpress ones?

[Daeothar]

That would certainly be helpful, even though the two lines are not 1:1, so there will be discrepancies.

But I would be even more interested in a conversion chart putting the current/old Vallejo Game Color line versus their new one, because I read they're cutting a significant amount of colours and washes and slightly changing a bunch more.

Now I can work with consistencies changing etc, but some of those colours will be gone soon and several of those I use on a very regular basis (Green Wash and Heavy Orange; I'm looking at you!)...

[Hammers]

It is really not difficult to make your own. Acrylic medium and water are your friends.

[Codsticker]

It is really not difficult to make your own. Acrylic medium and water are your friends.

I've used thinned matte medium and diluted Flow Aid to get the effect. The medium works the best, but still not exactly like contrast paints; very close though.

[nozza_uk]

I've been using GW Contrast paints since they came out. Some I use frequently, some I don't , but all have been used at some point.

I avoided the Army Painter Speed Paints at first, but it seems the reactivation issues have been resolved and I've added Holy White, Grim Black, Runic Grey and Gravelord Grey to my palette.

I'd recommend them all.

[majorsmith]

Only used contrast by gw, not keen to be honest, maybe I’m too stuck in my ways how I paint but I find I’m constantly tidying up using contrast, I tried yellow over white, whilst it was an easy quick paint job as soon as I started painting darker colors and accidentally put darker paint onto the yellow I found it hard to match the same finish again….. I tend to use the black mist as it’s good over gunmetal colors for a darker shade or lining in, same with brown….

[Codsticker]

Only used contrast by gw, not keen to be honest, maybe I’m too stuck in my ways how I paint but I find I’m constantly tidying up using contrast, I tried yellow over white, whilst it was an easy quick paint job as soon as I started painting darker colors and accidentally put darker paint onto the yellow I found it hard to match the same finish again…..

For me that is a big downside; you have to be super tight with your painting to get the best result (and I am not that tidy ). I think the other thing to keep in mind is that GW's Contrast range is designed to go over resin and plastic. Like using washes and inks, you get a 'dirty' effect over metal as there is usually some pitting in metal casts (especially from older moulds).

[DivisMal]

For me that is a big downside; you have to be super tight with your painting to get the best result (and I am not that tidy ). I think the other thing to keep in mind is that GW's Contrast range is designed to go over resin and plastic. Like using washes and inks, you get a 'dirty' effect over metal as there is usually some pitting in metal casts (especially from older moulds).

I had this, too, when I started and then borke off. Since then I have talked with others and experimented and now am using a lot of contrast paints with some normal colors for highlights plus glazes and washes and love it very much.

You can skip 99% of these effects with a good preshading (what is now called „slapchop“). The quickest way is white + brown wash. The wash will dosome lining and smoothe the transitions.

I’ve tested black + drybrushes of gray and white, white + brown wash + yellow/green drybrushing, yesterday even with pink!

You can achieve very nice effects with that and dont have those white spots on the model.

[ARKOUDAKI]

You can skip 99% of these effects with a good preshading (what is now called „slapchop“). The quickest way is white + brown wash. The wash will dosome lining and smoothe the transitions.

Interesting....so a white primer and then some Agrax Earthshade or Aly's Brown Liquid Mix or something similar diluted?