With the chess set I've got 8 Stormtroopers to paint so decided to give the Apothecary White Contrast paint a go.
First I laid down an even coat of base white
Then applied a layer of the contrast paint, my first impressions were it's a gloopy form of a wash, and moves a lot like the GW Gem Paints. This means you need to spread the paint a lot more than a wash, but not too much that it doesn't cover the surface.
After this I needed to go back to normal painting to make the armour look clean as you normally see on a stormtrooper
Once I've found my gloss varnish I'll coat all the armour plates to give the shiny feel, and I'll call this one done, only 7 more to go.
Do I feel the contrast paint made a difference ? Not massively as I still had to use normal techniques to finish it off, but then white is one of the harder colours.
That's all for this post, until next time have fun !
Cheers Dave
I've been really interested in these, particularly for a batch of stormtroopers, anything to speed up the process. Sounds as if you are not convinced though.
ReplyDeleteThank you Michael, on smaller scale and being able to spray coat white, you may find them useful to speed up the process to paint a large batch of clean looking Stormtroopers
DeleteI was gifted some Contrast paints by a friend and am looking forward to seeing how much quicker I will be able to get rank and file (Where I don't spend near as much time painting up) figs done.
ReplyDeleteLiking the effect it has on the TK armour. I guess were I not picky in my finished result and happier to just leave a model at "Stage One", I could see them being more useful. But like yourself, highlights, etc seem to be needed, at least for the white you've previewed.
Indeed Dai, at this scale they were no better than a wash, but need to experiment on other scales, and try some of the other colours as white would be one of the hardest colours
DeleteI can see how these new paints will work for some people, but not for me. Too many negative reviews (plus they're Games Workshop!) has put me off. YMMD.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Bryan, each to their own, for me if it's another tool in the arsenal I may get some more but in no rush to do so
DeleteAs I don't think you said in the post Dave or you might have & I missed it, did you use the GW spray ? I think these paints are more aimed at people that really aren't in to painting & its a way for them to get stuff done fast with little effort so for the likes of yourself I don't think they be a big help tbh.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Frank, they are aimed at people who don't paint as much, but always worth trying out a fresh tool. As a test colour this would be the toughest test as well, as white is a tough colour to paint with any method. To be fair I will try other contrast paints later but probably on smaller scale models, and ones with deep detail, as I've read on other blogs that shallow detail doesn't work well with them.
DeleteThe model was hand undercoated white, as I wanted to keep the base colour on the base so they all tied together.
Agreed Dave its always worth giving something a try & yes withe is a bitch to paint when trying to get shadows, the reason I asked about the spray is because my understanding of the contrast paints is that they were designed to work with a certain spray that GW released to go with them, now I've not used them myself so can't say if better results would be reached using the GW spray.
DeleteNow I'd be the first to admit that painting is not my thing, so I've not looked into this but as I'm sure you know some of GW kits are very big, it might be worth your while trying to find out if these paints work on the bigger kits as that could answer your question on if your models are to big to give you the right result.
That's interesting about the spray Frank, as all the online bits I've been reading have been used over normal paint base colouring.
DeleteTo be honest I don't trust GW sprays especially white, as there has been so many problems with them over the years, melting plastics, pickling effect, and sandpaper effect, that I won't buy them and then there is their overpricing.
Part of the problem with these models are their very smooth, and from what I've read the contrast paints work better with deep detail.
I'll be honest and say I can't see the difference in the photos before and after the contrast paint. It's probably my tablet.
ReplyDeleteFrank seems to have a valid point about the way the contrast might be used. I don't have a GW store near me, that I know of, so not tempted by this method. Does save some money though ;)
I think I've lost the picture of just plain white somehow John so it's not your tablet ! LOL
DeleteYour not wrong about Frank's comments, I just like to push new products as hard as I can, to see if I can find extra ways of using them and pitfalls I can share with people.
Saving money is always a good thing John ! LOL
I am not convinced by contrast paints. Not enough for me to attempt to try them from my normal methods.
ReplyDeleteNo problem Simon, as I try more colours and experiment more with this one I will post up my findings, and as always Simon work how your happy
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