This past week I painted one of the Dreadmere Mercenary figures from the Bones 4
Dreadmere Expansion. For Christmas, a friend gave me a set of the new Citadel Contrast Paints, and I thought this figure with its plain and simple outfit would be a good one to try them out on.
I prepped the figure in the usual way, soaking it in a dish of water with a couple drops of dish-soap added, then giving it a light scrub with a soft toothbrush, and then rinsing and drying it. I then glued the figure to a brown-primed 1" fender washer with Aleene's Tacky glue, and then placed the figure in my painting grip.
It was my understanding that the Contrast Paint worked best over a primer coat, so I began by painting the figure with Ceramcoat "White".
When the figure was dry, I painted the face and hands with Citadel Contrast "Guilliman Flesh". I then painted his pants with Citadel Contrast "Aggaros Dunes" and his tunic with Citadel Contrast "Creed Camo".
Next, I painted his coat with Citadel Contrast "Basilicanum Grey", and his boots and belt with Citadel Contrast "Wyldwood". After that, I painted his pouch with Citadel Contrast 'Snakebite Leather", and the scabbard on his back with Citadel Contrast "Talassar Blue".
I then painted his hair with Citadel Contrast "Skeleton Horde". After that I did some work with my regular paints, painting the scabbard belt in his hand with Americana "Light Cinnamon", and the grip of the sword with Americana "Asphaltum". I also painted the metal fittings on the sword and scabbard with Americana "Zinc".
Next, I painted his eyes; and afterwards painted the buckles, clasps on his tunic and metal fittings on the sword and scabbard, all with Folk Art Metallics "Gunmetal Grey". I then put a little Citadel Agrax Earthshade" wash on the scabbard belt, and after that I highlighted the metal bits with some Citadel "Mithril Silver". Lastly, I painted his base with Americana "Mississippi Mud".
I let the figure dry overnight and the next day I gave it a coat of Americana "DuraClear Matte" varnish. Then, when the varnish was dry, I used some white glue to flock the base. Another overnight dry, and I sprayed it with Testor's "Dullcote".
Hmmm... I think it's okay, but I am not immediately won over. I find the results to be splotchy and lacking the true, defined, shadows and highlights that my usual; painted base coat, dark wash, and painted highlights, method gives. And maybe it's the colors I had to work with, but the figure looks tonally all the same mid range; I don't get a real sense of light and dark colors.
That all being said, I think the figure came out looking perfectly serviceable as a gaming figure. And I want to experiment more with the Contrast Paint on different things like terrain and monsters.
I will also say, that simultaneously with this figure, I was also using these paints on some mass-unit based figures, and I think this is where these paints may shine. The figures below were all Contrast Paint except the blue jackets, red facings, and the metal bits, and I think here is where this paint might find their purpose. They made painting this assembly-line type of figure really easy to do; and grouped together on bases like this, where your eyes see the unit and not the individual, I think the paints really work to give a good fast and easy result.