How Citadel Contrast Paints Work: A Complete Guide

Contrast paints are one of the most popular products from Citadel (Warhammer Colour) — and also one of the most commonly misused. Not because they're complicated, but because they behave differently from ordinary acrylic paints. Understand that, and you'll save yourself a lot of frustration while getting results that would otherwise take three times the work.

We'll go through how Contrast paints work, what kind of base coat they need, how to apply them, and — most importantly — how to use them not just as a quick one-step base, but as a tool for more advanced techniques too.

How do Contrast paints actually work?

Contrast paints are transparent — they're not typical opaque paints like Citadel Base, but translucent, heavily pigmented media. They work more or less like a color filter: the base coat shows through them, and their consistency causes the pigment to naturally settle in recesses while raised areas stay lighter.

The result of a single layer is, at once:

• a base color across the whole surface
• a shadow in the recesses, folds, and details
• a lighter highlight on the raised areas

What the classic Base + Shade + Layer method would take three layers (and at least three times the time) to achieve, a Contrast paint handles in one. It's not magic — it's the physics of how a translucent medium reacts to texture and a light-colored base coat.

The most important rule: it all depends on the base coat

This is where most beginners go wrong. Contrast paints are entirely dependent on a light-colored base coat. Over a black primer, they won't create any shading or gradient at all — they'll just come out dark and flat. The lighter the base coat, the more vivid and contrasty the result.

How to apply Contrast paints

Brush and consistency

Contrast paints are thin — you don't want to apply them with a dry brush or "press hard" onto the model. A medium-sized round brush (size 1 or 2) is ideal, where the goal is mainly to load the paint into the body of the brush. The paint should flow naturally off a fully loaded brush onto the model — it shouldn't have to be forcibly spread everywhere.

Then let physics do the work for you. Wet the brush, let the paint flow onto the surface, and just guide it — away from raised areas, more into the recesses. If you find yourself having to work the paint intensively, it's probably too thick, or there isn't enough of it on the brush.

Apply one layer at a time

The biggest mistake when using Contrast paints is applying a second layer over a first one that's still wet. The result is blotches, unwanted color mixing, and a lost gradient. Let the first layer dry completely — usually 5–10 minutes — before adding another layer if you want a darker result.

Work quickly on larger surfaces

Contrast paints dry fast. If you're working on a large surface, the paint can dry unevenly and leave brush marks. On bigger areas, work faster, keep the brush wet, and cover the whole surface in one pass.

An overview of popular Contrast paints

Different Contrast paints carry different pigment strength and suit different surfaces. Here's an overview of the most commonly used ones:

You'll find the full range of Contrast paints at our shop and in our online store.

The most common mistakes — and how to avoid them

Advanced techniques with Contrast paints

Contrast Medium — controlling pigment strength

Contrast Medium is a translucent, pigment-free medium for mixing with Contrast paints. Adding medium thins the paint — not with water (which disrupts the consistency), but with the proper medium, which preserves the paint's physical properties.

• Lightened Contrast — the paint becomes more transparent, creating a subtle color tint instead of strong shading
• Glaze — a heavily thinned Contrast paint works as a glaze for tinting and smooth transitions
• Shade effect — without medium, apply the paint more thickly directly into recesses for intense shading

Zenithal highlight + Contrast = the fastest route to a dynamic look

Combining a zenithal highlight with Contrast paints is one of the most powerful techniques for fast-painting armies. Instead of an evenly light base coat, you get a gradient running from dark through grey to white — and the Contrast paint reacts differently at every point along it. The result is natural shading with no further work needed.

Contrast as shading over Base paints

You don't have to use Contrast paints only as a single-layer solution — they also work great as shading over classic Base paints:

1. Apply Mephiston Red as your base red
2. Add a thinned Blood Angels Red Contrast (thinned with medium) into the folds
3. The result is smoother than a classic wash and preserves the color's richness

Layering over Contrast

Contrast paints make a great foundation for further brushwork. Once dry:

1. Add edge highlighting with a lighter Layer paint on sharp edges
2. Deepen the shadows in the deepest recesses with a darker Shade paint
3. Add details — eyes, symbols, metal — with classic paints

Contrast vs Speedpaint — what's the difference?

Army Painter Speedpaint 2.0 works on the same principle as Contrast paints. The main differences:

Both lines are compatible with each other and can be combined. Contrast is more approachable for beginners thanks to the sheer number of tutorials, while Speedpaint 2.0 offers a better price per ml.