Pendraken Miniatures Forum

I knew it would happen, and that it was pointless to resist - so I gave in gracefully and allowed Leon to send me some Xpresscolor pots.

I've not used contrast paints before, they not being in the Pendraken Canon, so I thought I'd give them a go on some Napoleonic civvies. the colours used are not expected to be realistic, I was just playing with the paint. 

I did three groups. All were primed in black. One I the sprayed from above with white (Zenithal highlighting), one I dry brushed in downward strokes in white , and the third group I left black, as I going to paint these figures in my normal style using paints.

I realised that I hadn't bought the Xpress white, so anything white was painted with thinned Game Colour. Also, the flesh tone I used seems to have completely disappeared on the photos.

The lessons I learned were many and various.

• The colour of the bottle does not bear much semblance to the colour on the figure. Obviously, the Xpress is applied in very thin coats so is much lighter when applied.
• Drying time was a bit longer than acrylics, but not unreasonably so. Strangely colours seemed to dry at different rates; the black taking considerably longer than other colours.     
• Xpress needs more care and accuracy. I found that if I went "over the lines" then it was very difficult to correct. This made things like the bows on the back of the female figures somewhat problematic.
• The preparation is very important. A good degree of contrast in the dry brushing is required for the best effect

The figures I spayed from above were probably overdone, and the contrast effect less pronounced than on the drybrushed figures.   
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52656791968_2fe7be522b_z.jpg)

The drybrushed figures came out better, with a fair degrees of contrast, and a pleasing effect. I even got brave enough to try cuffs and collars in a different colour. 
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52656584149_228020f357_z.jpg) 

The Xpress painted figures (left) compared favourably with my usual style (on the right). Perhaps I'd get a better effect if I prepped the "usual" figures with a white drybrush as well.   
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52656298866_4b389e6897_z.jpg)(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52656298821_ba3f6a685b_z.jpg)

So, I decided to do some Norse. (Yes, I know I missed the shield rims.)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52656298801_719e75752c_z.jpg)


Overall, I quite enjoyed the experience, and feel I will do better in the future. The downsides to this method are the exacting requirements of accuracy, and the fairly narrow range of colours.

The names of the range point to it being designed with fantasy figures in mind. The colours have more of the feel of a "natural dye" feel an "artificial dye".

I don't think I'd use the Express range on anything from a uniformed age, but think it will be great for Medievals and Dark Age figures. 
 

A successful experiment!

I've found with contrast paints you do rather have to learn what the colour will be - the colour in the pot is a bit of an approximation. Also the colour / shade of the base coat does make a difference. I typically use Vallejo grey primer which is a pale grey, almost white if viewed alone. But it is actually quite a bit darker than white, so using white gives more vibrancy to contrast style paints. 

As to needing to be neat - to a degree - I suppose a key point is that you don't have to paint with just one type of paint. Whilst contrast style paints are great for getting a shaded base coat down. Over this you can use 'normal' paints for details or further highlights. 

Thanks Nobby & Fred, useful info on a type of paint I've not tried before

The various contrast paints saved my hobby!  I have rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia so sitting in long painting sessions for whole armies was becoming impossible.
Contrasts and Express mean that I can get something acceptable done in a much shorter time leaving me able to concentrate on going all out on a few important pieces.
It's actually quite versatile stuff and can be used for a technique of painting non metallic metal and the pigments can be mixed to make highlights so it's possible to do a whole figure without any other paints.
I'm expecting to gradually shift over to Express because, although I love GW contrast, they are not consistent enough across the range so I was really pleased to see Pendraken stocking it :)