Monday 20 January 2020

Caving in to Contrast


 I'm a contrary git when you get right down to it.  I often have a perverse desire to do the opposite of what I'm told and sometimes cut my nose off just to spite my face.  When all the hype surrounding the release of contrast paint was hosed directly into my hobby feed for months on end, my knee jerk reaction was to completely ignore it and buy more models instead.  I doubt that GW were particularly concerned about this decision and I was still spending money on their product in one form or another anyway.


However, now that the furore has died down and everyone has made their mind up, I feel a perverse desire to try it out.  The fact that I need to build and paint 30 Skitarii for my Dark Mech army may also have been a contributing factor.  The thought of painting so many models which (at the time) I didn't think were all that interesting left me cold.  My previous attempts to paint entire blocks of troops for various armies has produced mixed results.  I still haven't painted all my shitty Termagants for the Tyranid army and hate those gribblies to this day.  Buying 96 more or less identical models and having to build and paint them is completely overfacing.  Choosing a bad colour scheme and having to start all over again is beyond the pale.  I liked the colours for my Zombies in the Kings Of War undead army but again I bought too many models and bit off more than I could chew.


I really liked the colour scheme for my Space Marine army.  However, edge highlighting every single footsoldier nearly drove me insane.  I have no desire to do any more and think I set the quality bar too high.  The Necrons were a success and my carefully planned and scheduled speed painting exercise worked out well.  But painting a Necron army in two colours isn't particularly exciting and I went for a rusty effect in order to hide mistakes.  The end result makes the whole thing look drab.


Therefore, it was time to try something new. The vibrant colours and 'one thick coat' approach of contrast paint seemed like it would both save time and produce something pretty.

The 'Teal' contrast scheme on the Citadel paint app caught my eye.  The spear carriers of Helforge Monkeychuka will march into battle wearing turquoise!  It doesn't match the paint scheme of my vehicles but it's close enough.  I did a test model which seemed alright and ended up painting 10 of them.


Based with Grey Seer, one thick coat of  Terradon Turquoise is added to the cloak.


One thick coat of Basilicanum Grey is added to the metal parts.


One thick coat of Skeleton Horde is added to the rifle, base and purity seal.


Brass effects added with Hashut Copper and Liberator Gold. Silver effects added with Runefang Steel and Vallejo Steel.  Nuln Oil gloss washed over the top.  Wraithbone painted on inside of cloaks and pants.


Cloak highlighted with Sotek Green and Temple Guard Blue. Red detail added with Khorne Red, Evil Sunz Scarlet and Agrax. Wraithbone dry brushed on base.  Rhinox Hide used on base rim and rifle.

Once I started to build the Skitarii I quickly warmed to them.  There's lots of options in the kit even though the way the torso/cloak and legs fit together is mono-pose.  The steam punk, retro-future vibe is pretty cool.  I even managed a bit of kit bashing and reposing on a couple.  I don't think I'll begin to hate them until I've done at least 20.


17 comments:

  1. They look very effective (helped a lot by your choice of colour scheme). How long do you think they took to paint?

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    1. Thanks, I'm not sure how long. About 5 evenings I think.

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  2. I dread to think how long these will take me to paint without Contrast. I thought I might try out the yellow on the cloaks when I get round to them, but everything will else will probably be painted the traditional way.

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    1. I'm glad I went with contrast on the cloaks because its a good way to block in colours uniformly and quickly. But I went back to traditional paints for the detail/finish so agree that seems to be the best way.

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  3. I still only paint in the traditional way - havent touched any Contrast paints at all. I feel that 'contraty git' part!
    They do look good as a group however, and having finished models is always better than having them primed or even gray plastic! But I'd go over the rim of the base one more time to neaten them up a bit. (Maybe I should have suggested the opposite to get around the 'contray git' part?)

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    1. Haha, yes you probably should have used reverse psychology! There's lots of mistakes on the models and I was rushing it really. But if I go back and start tidying up I'll end up repainting the damn things!

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    2. That's true! They look good as they are and once you have even more of them painted they'll look even better!

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  4. I have one contrast paint (orange), though have yet to try it as it was intended for my small penal legion/cultist horde slow-build army which has since been rendered superfluous given all of the Space Marines that landed in my lap. I'll give it ago at some point I suppose, but am still painting the 'old fashioned way' for now.

    That aside, these minis look great!

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    1. Cheers Cheef. I don't think contrast paints are going to change the world but they seem useful for certain situations. Not sure I'd use them on Space Marines tho so carry on with your traditional method!

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  5. I know what you mean about having to paint a horde well. I did 10 of my ork boyz up to a good standard and havent painted any ork models since. I am loving the scheme of skitarii. Teal is underrated. I was waiting to see how you did you bases for the infantry as I wanted to steal is but Im still feeling lost as to how Im going to go about mine. Want some palace bases for my marines..

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    1. Yeah I like teal but might add a purple spot colour on the next batch. The bases were phoned in really. They only had Shattered Dominion pre-made bases in the shop so thats what I bought! Wasn't sure what to do with them so when in doubt drybrush and wash! (or drybrush and contrast now)

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  6. These look great! Would you think of using a base (lighter) colour then contrast as a heavy shade? Like Teal over Sotek?

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    1. Thanks, yeah I'm considering putting the grey contrast over a silver layer. Hadn't thought of Teal over the Sotek which should work I think but I want to keep all the cloaks uniform and it might change the colour slightly? Dunno, still experimenting.

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  7. They look effective enough, a small amount of details you could (if bothered) pick out, the dials and big button/LED on the backpack, the leather straps on top and bottom of backpack? The chest emblem in black/white and metallic skull? But as a troop choice these are great!

    I've only used Skeleton Horde, its my easy go to now for all scroll and parchment over a base of Dhneb Stone Foundation Paint! I am looking to get some red and green for some Plaguebearers... and maybe some Daemonette skin purple. I'm pleased with them so far, but I think they work better on organic skins/materials rather than Power Armour. Another tool in the toolbox I see them as.

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    1. I might go back and do a purple spot colour on the dials/lenses etc. Seems to work better on organic looking stuff yeah.

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  8. That's a great looking, effective, paint scheme for Skitarii. Thanks for laying our each stage so clearly. The squad came out well. Congrats!

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    1. Cheers DAM. My attempt to be Andy Warhol and do repeating panes!

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