Recently I’ve decided to do some experimentation with the (relatively) new citadel contrast paints for my Tyranid army: Hive Fleet Sloth. My main aim is to save some time, especially on the droves of gaunts I have to paint and/or build. Here I’m going to give a brief summary of my experience so far, and how they compare to my “classic” paint scheme. I’ll do another article (at some point) about the specifics of my scheme.
My original contrast experiments showed good potential for time saving without much loss of detail or quality, in fact if anything gaining both due to not burning out painting many troops. I decide I would replace my yellow and green with contrast paints as they take the most time to paint but are not generally detailed or fiddly. The above picture shows an old scheme hormogaunt on the left and various trial models in the centre/on the right.
I was very happy with my yellow swap. I’ve replaced Averland Sunset (spray on base coat, 1x plus touch ups), Yriel Yellow (all-over layer, 2x plus touch ups), and Casandora Yellow (all-over heavy shade, 1x), with Wraithbone (spray on base coat, 1x plus touch ups) and Iyanden Yellow (all-over layer, 1x plus touch ups), in addition I can just slap it on thick straight out the pot so it’s much quicker to do 1 layer and doesn’t waste paint drying on a pallete/the pot lid. For my basic infantry it looks great, and for the monsters and bigger ones I can always add a few highlights.
The green I was less pleased with, not because I disliked the contrast side of it – it was just darker than I was expecting. A quick change solved that and now it’s close enough that it’s hard to tell the difference – except under the very washed out yellow lights at my local gaming club! Now I’ve replaced Averland Sunset (spray on base coat, 1x), Waaagh! Flesh (base coat, 1x plus touch ups), Moot Green (all-over layer, 2x plus touch ups), and Biel-Tan Green (all-over heavy shade, 2x), with Wraithbone (spray on base coat, 1x plus touch ups) and Warp Lightning (all-over layer, 1x plus touch ups). As with the yellow on some of the bigger surfaces it needs a bit of extra highlighting and/or shading but generally I’m very pleased.
The picture shows a Genestealer at roughly the same stage of both methods (contrast on left). I think it works well for Tyranids because of their biological side, I’m not certain that I would be as keen to use it on races that use a lot of technology for their armour and vehicles. I’ve also found that it works better on smaller/more textured areas – the carapace on a monster needs 2 coats of Warp Lightning and sometimes another layer of shade on top to bring it all together. Overall I’d say that the contrast paints are a great tool to have but aren’t suited for everything. I don’t use them for my orange details for example, because I want a strong, solid colour. They definitely speed up the first couple of steps of painting though!
Pathfinders Axe
Allies of Convenience 