Citadel Contrast Paints Good Or Not? 

Nuln Oil is so good I even ingest 1 tea spoon every morning before breakfast.

You nailed it. "One *neat* coat" should be the tagline

I think they’re great for things like skin, hair and fur. I agree the Black Templar is great. I don’t think I would use them as a whole system, but alongside traditional basing and washes as an extra tool in the kit.

I'll say it again then! Great contrast vid, best one I've seen so far on this subject 👍

Another good unbiased review, just saved me a 25 mile trip to pick some up - I’ll stick with what I’ve got so far ! Thanks Luke 👍

Great advice, thanks for this honest review. I am about to paint my first model and was deciding between contrast and traditional. You have made me decide to go traditional, thanks for this!!!

I have watched so many videos on contrast paints lately. Your opinion is the one I was waiting for thank you.

I’m just giving them a go now and I’m finding them no faster to use, unless you want a miniature washed all the same colour. I am a fan of the new Snakebite Leather though. Cheers for the vid 👍🏻

Great video Luke - you say it how it is and I value your reviews because or your balanced view. Awaiting your Black Templar homebrew video :-) ......

Great video bud. I have used a few of them on Plague Marines, Rumbleslam teams and Stormtroopers so far and I agree that the darker colours are the best. I really love the flesh paints and they are great for fantasy or ancients etc.

So far the best review ive seen. Great stuff.

First time watcher here from across the pond, and I wanted to say thanks for a great vid. I’ve had a chance at playing around with the contrast paints, and well, all I can say is I agree with your take on them. I do think they can be very useful for specific models/colors, but there is more of a learning curve with these paints than GW let on in my opinion. Our local gaming store decided to do a hobby day where several of us all sat around at the tables, and tried our hand at contrast paints. I paid particular attention to how each person was using the new paints because the skill level varied from very new to painting to Golden Demon winners. I witnessed one of the new painters do the exact same thing you did with the dark blue contrast paint,. He laid on a fairly heavy coat just like we’ve all been told we should do, and when the mini dried, it was such a dark blue it was almost black in color. Fortunately for you, as an experienced painter, you knew exactly how to fix the problem, but for someone completely new, they’re going to sit there and look at the god awful mess that is their model, and feel like they’ve been duped. The guy was so upset he handed the model over to one of the other experienced painters and asked him to fix it then left. Is this really for beginner painters? I’d say that all depends on the color of contrast paint the new person is using, and what type of outcome he’s looking for on his model. Otherwise I’d call them a great tool, but don’t be fooled there is still a strong learning curve to the use of these paints. I’ve been painting off and on for over 15 years (I’m no Golden Demon winner, but I’d consider myself a slightly above average painter), and I’m certain im going to have to use trial, and error to figure how they will best compliment my own painting process. What types of models I should use them on, what colors to embrace, and what colors I’m going to have to thin down to get the desired pigment. For the new painter? I can see a lot of frustration on the horizon. Just my take on this.

I could see everyone mix and matching these paints I think the flesh paint is really good for the effect

Love your channel. My first time commenting. So, Ive been painting a Death Guard army and found that contrasts make for a great base before highlights. On their on, they dont look bad but so far painting the contrasts, then following up with an agrax wash before building up my highlights has given me some really good results. Im experimenting with them as well mixing contrasts and reg acrylics. I also wanna try some contrasts over the top of metallic base. Im 100% with you on them being a nice paint to work with but can be problematic for newer painters. Very awesome review my friend and keep up the great work. Youve helped me beyond words on my journey through terrain building and modelling. Thank you.

Nice review Luke! :) I've been saying all along that these won't and aren't the "be all, end all fix" they've been marketed as but in the right hands with the right colour combination will certainly help create some awesome effects. It will be really interesting to see in 6 months time how people still feel about these once they have been tried and tested to death and see what peoples clear cut favourites are, why and how they used them. Keep up the great work! :D

Can't wait to see you replicate the black templar. When I found out about contrast and how they are similar to glazes I knew it would be possible to replicate.

I think people are getting too hung up on the idea of using only contrast. I bought a few the day they came out, some are working better than others, but I am still using my other paints too. I am painting clan rats and willing to accept imperfect models so they are great to get me started on them. still doing some regular paint, wash, dry brush, but using contrast for most of the model.

great vid Luke, I'm thinking about investing in some at the moment and your vid has given me a few things to think about. keep up the great work.

Nice review, I'm looking forward to your experiments.

Luke love your videos! Keep up the great work!

Thanks for the review. I do look forward to getting some in the future I don't feel like I'm missing out n so e magical

Nice review Luke. Good info and things to think about.

Finally the social media start to show the reviews by people that were not bought by GW. Thank you for this honest opinion!

If you have not yet check out Vince Venturella's video on contrast paints, he really gives you a good sense of how to use them. It's a long video but still a lot of good information.

Great vid. I look forward to your mix. I use your nuln oil mix all the time. PS. Love the shirt!

Very informative video, thanks. I think they'll be good for scenery, especially trees.

Mate... i pissed myself at the sniff test. I use winsor and newton matte medium as your videos have proven its worth and i just sniff it every now and again for fun. Love your no bullshit videos they are whats made me value your tutorials more than most, and was waiting for you're videos on this range to come out because your opinion is honestly the one i trust the most. Cheers.

Awesome....I’ve been looking forward to your opinion on this Luke,

Hey Luke great take on their paint, I feel the same way great for somethings and to highlight others

Thanks for this one. I am just starting out with historic gaming. Looking at the army painter and contrast. Defiantly going for the army painter set.

Great video! I'm glad you did a review. As an aside, if you get a chance you should try priming a model (something that is predominantly metallic)with a silver and then using some of the greens and blues on it. From what I've seen the result is a very cool looking almost 'candy', shiny metal effect - it makes painting some Space Marine legion's and/or chapters really easy. Again, enjoyed the video, happy to see/hear your opinion on the new range.

I found a way to make my own contrast paints, kind of interesting though, what I am using seems to work fine on Unprimed Bones models as well. Got the idea from you and another youtuber to try something and works good it dries a bit glossy but can always make up for that with a matte spray primer. Cheers!

I guess one thing to remember regarding these paints vs the Army Painter method, is that the target audience isn't aware of the AP method. GW try and produce everything a hobbyist could ever need so they never have to leave the company or shop elsewhere (living in a GW bubble). So yes these are aimed at newbie painters, but GW only newbies. Those of us that are aware of of the rest of the industry will find uses for them amongst the rest of our others tools.

I've seen them used in real time over the primers/undercoats that GW created specifically for them, and in those cases they worked as advertised. I was under the impression that the GW primers had more gloss in the mix than usual for miniature paint formulas. That could have something to do with results. That said, a thing to keep in mind is that these are basically the two Nighthaunt wash colors they released earlier as a secret test of the product. Nobody had a problem with those paints because they weren't marketed as a new painting standard. Likewise, most experienced painters I've seen who are interested in the Contrast line are only using them in a technical sense for specific effects. As for whether the Contrast system is good as a system, eh - it's obvious the system used as advertised will never produce the same kind of results as traditional painting methods. To be fair to GW in this case, they're not marketing Contrast as a replacement for other methods. I think people who have been in the hobby too long don't understand the barrier to entry that painting miniatures creates. There's a lot of snobbery about it, and if you go online you find tons of posts by people lambasting anyone who dares play a game with an unpainted miniature. That's really bad for the hobby. I don't know of the Contrast thing will work out as a marketing tactic, but I can't blame GW for trying something specifically designed to make new people feel a lot more enthusiastic about trying to invest themselves in a hobby that is time consuming and complex.

Never seen your videos before (random RU-vid recommendation) but will now be keeping an eye on this channel.... I definitely agree with your overall review of the contrast range. I've been painting miniatures for 25+ years but, when I went along to one of the trial sessions GW stores were running, I went at it as if I was a complete novice to see how forgiving these new paints were. The consistency across the range is a bit all over the place and neatness is definitely key so, anyone unfamiliar with painting, is going to have to do a LOT of tidying up! I didn't use Black Templar so I will check that out, but I did have a play Apothecary White (I f'n hate painting white) and I will now be using it going forward but only in the same way as I would Nuln Oil or some other shading wash!

Thanks Luke found this very insightful, as a newbie I bought a citadel starter kit, found it to be ok but would like to try another brand just to compare. Do you do starter kits?

The flesh Contrasts are amazing. I've been able to do the faces and hands on an entire army in a fraction of the time it would take doing flesh with layer painting. There are very specific, targeted uses for these that any painter of any skill level can use to their advantage. I've been painting for over 15 years but I still look for ways to do something more efficiently and faster when it comes to getting armies done and still having them look really good. A more efficient way of painting faces doesn't have to mean it's a "shortcut" or "amateurish." It's a shame that some some gamers consider these to be for "beginners only." The Contrasts can be useful to all painters no matter what level of paint job they are trying to accomplish.

At, on this side of the Pond, $8/pot, I'll stick to using acrylic medium to thin down my Vallejo paints & washes to do what these do w/o all of the hassle of paint pots & needing to replace them so quickly.

My bane is white, black I'm ok with. I want to try the yellows. But I will combine with my current paints. You can get the contrast medium to help with that ultramarine blue. I have seen some very good minis painted with contrast paints & even weathering on a dune buggy. Btw which is the thick super glue you use?

Love the shirt!!

Good review, can you thin them and put them through an airbrush, or does thinning them stop the process working.

Think that's a fair assessment, need to try them, a lot of the cool stuff seems to depend on the medium which is essentially glaze over zenethial technique. Look after the knees or they will end up like mine screwed and beyond repair baring a replacement

So far the only one Ive seen that I'd have a use for is the snakebite leather that looked cool.

Note to all potential buyers: If you paint the Wizkids pre-primed models... you're gonna need to prime them again. The primer is practically hydro-phobic to contrast paints... Super frustrating.

Miniac listed the paints that were highly pigmented in is video, so buy these, they are great. I was disapointed with the first things I painted with the white. I hope that it is due to inexperience with it.

Thank you ,Luke .

I've actually been getting quite decent results very quickly with them so far. I did find the paint itself isn't hard wearing, so a gloss coat of varnish, followed by a mat coat is still needed. Also, I've tried combining them with all over washes like army painter quickshade (thinned with mineral spirits, so it doesn't stain as much), and that's given good results... The very bright contrast paints are then dulled down a lot by the more grimy army painter quickshades, so it balances out nicely.

Love the video, I woukd be really interested if you can make them yourself. I already use your wash method which works great!

Top review Luke. Bang on when you say some of the colours are amazing and others a bit meh. Just need to figure out which of the large range is good and what for. From my experience painting Ultramarines I don't think contrast would be any quicker and the result would be as nice. It doesn't take long to put on Macragge blue spray can > recess wash > details (black, silver, gold, red) > optional highlight and you get a really nice clean result with some depth. The Ultramarines I've seen painted with Contrast look like poorly painted Crimson Fists (so dark). In saying that I've seen some excellent Blood Angels and Space Wolves using Contrast.

Luke I have already been trying to replicate the colors and I think I may have it!!!

Great review or should I say love love love it 😊

So would you get a very different result to that of the black templar over the LOTR model, if you just used nuln oil over a zenithal underpainting? Thanks for your review.

interesting to watch. I have a few citadel paints (only the basics White and black base, red/blue/yellow layer and flesh, xv88 and a couple others incl ironbreaker... maybe 10 pots in total) which I hate because they dried out so much. so I never went back to them (as in getting new pots). I like my Vallejo and Army Painter sets with a bit of Golden fluids and my PH Martin Bombay inks... thats pretty much what I stick with. my wife supplies me with the primer as she manages a paint store and I like to tint my primers with the inks, so I've been experimenting with that... but contrast paints seem to be the trend lately but I'm rather happy with what I got already. You 30+mm guys might benefit more from these paints than a 28mm guy like me.

I used the yellow through my air brush and got a really cool color blend. Yellow has always been a hard color for me. With the air brush I didn’t get the darker pooling that I have gotten with my brush rather a cool light orange to yellow coat. Lastly you have to seal the models the paint scrapes of super easy. I started edge highlighting with my fingernail 😂

I did not impress people at GW when I said I wasn’t sold after my first attempt. Totally loading the brush is so alien! My friend - a new painter - actually did like them, but she’s paints straight out of the pot anyway. I’ve seen other vids that have made me more interested to retry a few colours (like Miniac). It’s hard to get happy medium between “pro painter” and “good enough painter” and “total noob”. Thanks for your opinion too Luke!

I'm just using it mostly like a normal paint, it's doing a good job on Imp guard. Not really using much more than a green, tan, brown and flesh tone. Nice to see snakebite leather again though Will have to try the black if it's that good. Edit - you may have torn some cartilage, ice pack for a few days then see your doc if no improvement, use the NHS while you still have it

"... after this... obviously." :D :D :D I like the fact they you have become a Medium Sommelier.

I would have to agree with you. Lighter colours like the oranges have been a bit disappointing but dark colours are amazing. They suit me as I have to paint very fast as I have a baby to negotiate with at the moment.

As an experienced painter - Doing Contrast Black over bright silver then highlighting in silver made my SPES MAHREEN guns look gorgeous. Reminded me of the old 90's Boltgun Grey.

Luke, I have been playing with the Dark Angel Green and Ultramarine. Have to get a pot of Black Templar, or wait for your replication. I have found the dark colours to be a better heavy wash or stain. A bit of thinning and they make fantastic glazes. The lighter ones I have to get and play with. The price is the killer though. Finally, I wonder if having sloppy paint jobs are that much better ....

I paint board games with them. Great for lower quality models. Especially organic models. I have used them on higher quality models as well and they do fine with some dry brushing and some additional washing. Plus picking out fine details for "pop". All in all, Been a game changer for how fast I can paint with these.

Couldn’t agree more. Get on really well with black templar and blood angels red but the lighter ones I’m really struggling with.

I had the same issue with the Aethermatic Blue. It's a lot thinner and more of glaze than any of the other contrast paints that I've used. It's also not great when you have larger flat surfaces and I feel works best on more organic models. Skins, furs, and the likes, or for smaller bits and pieces. I think the browns in particular are the high point of the range and make great varying leather shades.

I would love to see a review of them on other primers.

you should try the black Templar over mechanicus standard grey. not bad.

Cheers Luke!

I only got a few of the contrast but my favorite is the snake bite oil i think is what it’s called and love that one

The paints are great in use if you know how to use them. You need to be precise in the layers but they are great in combination with others. So far i like them and for beginners they are easy if you want bang out a tabletop Standard army quickly, for which they are made for. But the best results is to combine them. Imo, that is how I use them.

I'm a new painter. New to any kind of painting at all. I am personally loving these contrast paints as an entry level. I would never have laid paint on a single model if it wasn't for them. I am seeing some limitations, though...but that's to be expected. Nothing is magic.

Yea Black Templar is really nice and the Basilicanum Grey is awesome too.

Where did you get the paint shelves on the wall? (The paint rack)

I am tempted by the flesh tones and orc skin colours. I think they will be a great asset to add to your paint collection but will not replace your normal paints.

Never been a speed painter, but I will try them one day

I love that ring raider 👍

Mate know how you feel with the knee I used blood angels red on my bloodletters instead of fleshtearer red and was pretty happy with the result but still think the older steps with basecoat then wash and highlight is better 😉

What is Vallejo Wethering like to use? eg grease and oil, And would you recommend it?

Looking at various reports it seems some of the colours are better than others.

Did you try Snakebite Leather, m8? Wanting to get that and Black Templar, which others have also said is good. Hope the leg heals soon :)

Hello Luke, Do you have any ideas on removing foil paper from foam board to create a small gaming table. I would really appreciate any help. GREAT CHANNEL that you provide and very interesting topics. Thankyou Dave from the UK.

Cracking review, I totally agree. They aren't exactly what people think they are, but they are very very good. You have to learn how to paint again and I think if you had done as many models with contrast as you have with the traditional way you'd be just as capable. Skeleton horde is gorgeous stuff, I'll need around 10 litres 😆 Dark angels green is a lovely colour too, draws away from highlights lovely. A good colour for robes but I struggled with it for painting actual dark angels (although I've seen some great examples)

At first i thought the contrast paints are not my cup of team, but my Games Workshop hobby store let us try out all the paints , they let us try on poxwalkers and some stormcast and i have to say, they changed my opinion. There are awsome ones, but as you also noticed, there are also the ones with very little pigment which are not that stunning. I noticed that the not so stunning ones are in the most cases a dilluted version of another paint. If you mix Cygor Brown ( the darkest cold brown) 1:1 you will pretty much reveive Wyldwood to bring an example. So if you buy only the highly pigmented ones, you can have many more Conrast paints with just thinning. In regards of giving this paints to beginners: I think it is valid for people wo want to just slob some paint on, and dont care for a result with no mistakes. To paint a mini enirely with Contrast it took me longer than painting it normally would - because of all the "inbetweens" where i needed to come back to white when covering up.

Luke.. Im completely new too this hobby. Had some excellent results so far, especially on feathers, Ie, storm cast minis. how can i send pics? Jay.

They smell identical to the old GW Inks. It's a smell I will never forget. Slapping red ink on my old Blood Angels when I was like 14.

Really great balanced review mate. I can’t help thinking GW have essentially released a glaze range and brought to the forefront a technique that few army painters use - the disappearance of their glazes alludes to this. I won’t be using them as it’s not the way I paint, not because I don’t think they’re worth it and such and anything that takes away any excuse for tides of grey plastic armies is a good thing.

The white and yellow ones are great for brand new painters, since those are two of the hardest to do it properly.

Having had a couple of goes, my opinion is, use the contrast for the primary colour and then standard paints for the accoutrements, weapons and trim. Also, a lot of people like the warm effect of wraith bone undercoat when you lay on the contrast. But, horses for courses is the way to go. For marines I have found the grey colder colour is better as you don't want white shining through on marine armour. The sergeant might see it and get testy.

Great Review )))

Showing my age now. Watching this reminded me of a technique we used back in the early 80s. First prime the figurines with white ensuring it is solid white when finished. Then chose a colour that you would use in the darkest shadow. Break the paint down between 70% to 90% thinker. Later we would add a bit of liquid soap as a surface tention breaker. Late we added drying retarded to extend working time. Today I would use airbrush flow improved as it would do everything from thinker to drying retarded. With like colours we would ink the darkest shadow areas first and then use the light colour to give better range of shading. As a final touch if required we would finish off by lightly drybrushing the final high lights. Side by side it was hard to pick which figurines were done using the method or the hard way. After dinner you could knock off 30 to 60 figures using this method or roughly a regiment done in and evening. Try this old school method as a comparison.

Great vid Luke! The new Citadel Contract paints are marketed as being revolutionary and easy to use, which I think, as you said, is a bit misleading. It should not be considered as a replacement for your paints, especially if you're aiming for better than table top finishes. Is it quicker? Perhaps. Bt honestly speaking, when aiming to achieve an above average quality finish, these paints will not get you there.

I have waited myself and think that the browns the red the black maybe 2 greys will be okay for me but im going to buy the medium and the base coats and try them with my older gw paints and see what comes from that

Great Vid - the only issue I have, is that I can't find Black Templar anywhere, for love nor money :(

I think I will just pick up the black !

Black Templar is wonderful

I then for black, white and yellow contrast has a use but for easier colors to low light and highlight I don't see the point trading the "traditional way" for these. But I will go by apothecary white and black Templar for sure

when do you think you will get around to the video on making home made contrast paints?

I've been more impressed with a slightly thinner application of the Contrast paints. The drippy coffee stained look just ins't appealing to me.

At roughly 10/11 Aud im very dubious about getting them happy to get the black templar!

How the hell was I not subscribed to this channel?!

It's not a bad product. I find them more useful as supplementary wash after thinning. It allows me to explore new methods to try. Price is a bit on the negative side tough.

From watching this vid I think you may have used it a bit too thickly, but I'm not 100%on that as I have yet to try them out myself. They will involve a slight bit of practice, but then again all paints and techniques take a bit of practice. I'm still really looking forward to getting some for my 8 year old. He loves painting but gets a bit bored with the different methods, like layering, washing then drybrushing, and I recon these will help him learn his brush control whilst only having to stay with a single layer of the colours. P. S. Made my first purchase from geeks gaming the other day. Finally trying out one of your "base ready" mixes. Let's see if it does as advertised. 😉