Contrast - The Emperor's New Clothes?

Ok so i got to try out Contrast today. My main aim was experimentation as opposed to just getting something painted and the Primaris Marine was first. I'm intending to do an old school Ultramarine army so the first thing i did was try Talassar Blue over a Grey Seer undercoat. Honestly, i was underwhelmed. I found it very blotchy and once it pulled it was very difficult to work with. The fact that the undercoat was so light it really provided a lot of 'contrast' didn't help. The paint doesn't act like a normal paint. It's like a thick glaze mixed with an ink or shade. One thing i would have liked to have done was to mix it with some medium to see if i could get it to behave 

differently but alas none was available. 

I tried a variety of different techniques on the different halves of the model. One side received a carefully applied thin coat. The other side a thick one as suggested by GW. The results were disappointing. The thin side was patchy and the thick side blotchy with heavy pooling. It was here that i tried a few different things.

ONE thick coat

First i used the capillary action on a dry brush to remove some of the pooling. Contrast cannot really be manipulated once it is on the model, because of its viscosity you will just leave marks everywhere. This made things a little better but it was still pretty uneven.

One thin coat. 

Secondly i used a second coat over the first thin one in selective areas to dark the middle of some of the panels, kind of a reverse highlighting. This worked reasonably well but the paint was still really sticky to work with. Ho hum.


Next i used some Wraithbone base paint to pre-highlight areas, kind of a manual zenithal highlight. When i went back over these areas i would get a gradient, though again it was difficult to control the gradient. This worked well in some areas and not so well in others, on the helmet it was a bit of a disaster but on the arms it was pretty good and i got a blended effect.


The last thing to do was to add some shading with a successive coat of Talassar Blue. This worked OK but in general i was still left with a fairly blotchy model, especially on the shoulder pads and leg greaves. I put a lot of this down to the undercoat though, i would be interested in how a dark undercoat with a zenithal highlight would change things.

a bit let down by the Talassar Blue i decided to switch it up, i repainted the shoulderpad rims and chest eagle and Bolter in Wraithbone. I then hit the Bolter with (2nd Ed FTW) a thick coat of Blood Angels Red. This preformed more as i would have hoped. I needed to do nothing else with it. Happy with that i used Iyanden Yellow on the shoulder pad rims. This was a REVELATION. It looked great. one coat and i got a bright clear yellow. Painting yellow has officially been solved! Buoyed by this i used some Nazdreg Yellow on the chest eagle which gave me a very passable shaded golden yellow that i would have had to use multiple paints to achieve normally.

Chalking that down as a success, i used Black Templar on the ribbing between armour plates, which worked well, and Snakebite Leather on the pouches which acted more like the Talassar Blue and pulled too drastically. I tried to water down the Black Templar with water to use on the metallic sections of the Bolter and was interested to see how the water affected the paint. It doesn't really mix with it, it tried to separate from the water. Still i slapped it on and it behaved kind of OK on the model, Blood Angels Red on the eye lenses a bit of Skeleton Horde on the base and i was done with the marine. Not entirely happy but curiosity satisfied.

I then picked up a Stormcast, this time undercoated in Wraithbone. I have a Stormcast army and its not grey but it is just undercoated, could Contrast provide a quick way to get them done? I am a slow painter by nature.

First up was the purple robes that my Stormcast have, i used Shyish Purple, which was very rich if a little dark. Still, it was behaving very well on the folds of the robes and i was pleased by the possibility of future applications. I then used Black Templar on the armour, this gave me a dark grey with natural highlights on the edges where the paint pulled away. Again, i hit it with a second coat. ET VOILA! I don't think i will ever paint black armour another way. It looked superb, and it was so easy to do! This in itself made Contrast worth it to me, so it's a real shame that GW have once again failed to anticipate demand and sold out immediately. Bravo Black Templar, hope you return to availability soon.

I was nearing the end of my available time to play about with paints so decided to just hit the model with some different colours to see what happened. Apothecary White on the shield resulted in no discernible difference, the flat surface giving nowhere for the Contrast to work. Nazdreg Yellow as gold on the decoration worked though as did a brown i cannot remember the name of on the scroll. Gulliman Flesh on the face and more Nazdreg for blonde hair did the job there.


I tried Basilicum Grey and Gyrph Charger Grey on the hammer head and and trim of shield respectively, some dark red (again sorry i don't recall the name) on the haft of the hammer and Wyldwood on the leather parts and she was done. I was a lot happier with the Storm Cast than the Marine but when i picked up the Marine i did realise that, fully dried it had evened out the finish a bit, even if it was still a bit shiny for my liking.

The last thing i did was use some Athermatic Blue on the crystal at her belt, as you would expect this worked really well, looked like it was glowing. I called it a day there. Mixed results overall but a lot learned.


Final Thoughts:


Contrast is interesting. It doesn't really work like paint at all, it is a thick ink/glaze. The way it works out of the pot is something that, for the most part i really don't like, it's a real shame that there was no medium to thin it down with, i would have liked to see if it made it more workable. Never mind.


I also found that some colours worked better than others, some were a dream and others really were difficult to work with. The Talassar Blue in particular was a disappointment although i must admit that it may have been as much to do with the model, Snakebite leather was another that undewhelmed, as did Basilicum Grey. Some of the Contrast Paints are thicker than others more unwieldy and difficult to apply.

However, the gains outweigh the negatives in my opinion. Black Templar and the Yellows have changed the way i will paint those colours. Forever. I also found a few other colours that will certainly form part of my paint range in the future.


So overall, i think that Contrast is a decent addition. More experimentation is required, and i need use the medium at some point but for the most part they do what they are meant to. They certainly work on models with a lot of recesses and detail and depth more than large flat panels. Texture and intricate detail allow Contrast to to do what it does best.

The finish is also a concern with me, as with inks and heavy glazes it dries a little shiny. Not gloss exactly but still more plasticy and patchy than i would like. It is worth saying though, that a second coat and/or matt varnish can probably negate these problems. It is also worth noting that i did not use as much of the paint as i had thought i would,. it certainly goes quite a long way.

Still a lot of people will use contrast as a quick way of painting armies and for hordes and those that will only be concerned with a force that good from a distance they will certainly be a boon. For others their use will be limited but i am sure we will be finding new possibilities and potential for the range for some time yet.