Filthy, Filthy Contrast

So what's all this Contrast Paint I've been hearing about?

He's holding a snowball.
This makes the hundreds of snow bases all worthwhile.

So Contrast Paints are the new flavour of the month (that month being July, but I've never been quick off the mark) and they can apparently transform grey plastic into tabletop armies with a mere flick of the brush. Let's find out!

Even before I bought my first pot, I knew they weren't going to match up with my existing colour schemes. So that meant only one thing - start a new army!

(say ... you don't think that was GW's plan all along...)

Daemonic allies could come in useful for my heretic forces, even if I don't go full-blown daemon, so I grabbed some Start Collecting! boxes and set to work.

The first expenditure is the base coat - apparently you have to use a special kind of primer for these (which doesn't half stink when applying it) - and it has to cover everything, since you can't rely on the next stage to cover up any gaps. Having done so, I reckon some basic white primer would do the job, and for less expense.

Once that's done, though, it's easy enough to slap the Contrast on (I reckon Plaguebearers are the easiest of Easy Mode for Contrast). And because the layer was so thin, I could also go over areas with washes to change the colour (Carroburg Crimson over Plaguebearer Flesh makes a great 'rotting intestines' look).

These three are the Plague Drone 'jockeys'.
I preferred the flies without riders.

I used Wraithbone as a the primer, since that is the 'warmer' of the two whites.

• Flesh: Plaguebearer Flesh contrast, Nurgling Green drybrush
• Horns and buboes: Nazdreg Yellow contrast
• Swords and banner: Screaming Bell base, Typhus Corrosion wash, Nihilakh oxide
• Intestines: Plaguebearer Flesh contrast, Carroburg Crimson wash

For the Nurglings, I split the three bases, since you can so easily get six from them. Same basic colours as the Plaguebearers, but I played around adding washes of Seraphim Sepia and Militarum Green Contrast for some variety.

The only slight stumble was the Plague Drones. These are considerably bigger than the other models, with large smooth surfaces, basically like armour, and it's not the strong point for Contrast. 

• Wings: Snakebite Leather
• Carapace: Gor-Grunta Fur
• Flesh: Plaguebearer Flesh
• Claws: Militarum Green

There was some pooling with the paint, and I had to hand them as crazy angles while they dried. Luckily with Nurgle, you can get away with most things.

So that's a whole batch of Nurgle daemons finished. they were absurdly quick to paint, and I'm happy with the finished effect.

The reason they've waited from July until now to get posted on the blog is that, unlike my other models, these guys need to be varnished to get properly finished (I'm reliably informed that Contrast is so thin, compared to acrylic, that it will quickly rub off to the touch).

So not only did I have to get varnish (I've sworn off the stuff for years - although the Testors Ardcoat seems pretty good), I then had to wait for an suitable day to spray outside, and wait for a gap in my painting/priming queue - so that's a mark against Contrast paints. I much prefer a model to be done as soon as I've slapped on the base.

Still, it's a beginning. And there's more adventures with Contrast to come!