Paint makes Warhammer, and gorgeous miniatures are a key part of the Warhammer hobby. There’s nothing better than two epic-looking armies facing off on the battlefield, and we all take great enjoyment in sharing our proudest paint jobs on the internet. To help you keep creating incredible armies and jaw-dropping models, Citadel Colour are massively expanding the Contrast range, improving the range of amazing Shade paints, and creating the smoothest and brightest ever white spray – the best just got better.
Before we take a closer look, here’s every new hue arriving at a paint rack near you.
New Contrast Colours
In 2019 the alchemical geniuses in the Citadel Colour labs came up with Contrast. This revolutionary new range of paints made painting miniatures faster and easier than ever, and unlocked fresh approaches to painting. It helped countless hobbyists express their creativity, whether painting battle ready armies or Golden Demon entries.
Now it’s time to take it to the next level. 25 new Contrast paints are expanding the range into a whole new realm of vibrant colours. These new paints unlock wilder colour palettes for your armies, meaning they’ll stand out even more on the battlefield – painting mind-blowing models will be easier than ever!
25 new paints is a lot of colour to cover, so we’ve split the range into four simple categories to help you get an idea of what they look like. These new colours run the gamut from bright and bold to grimy and eerie – whether you’re painting a tank turret or a raging Endless Spell, there’s a pot here for you.
These are some of the boldest and brightest colours in the Contrast range. They’re perfect for creating vivid finishes and striking effects. Who knows what arcane elements our paint technicians mixed up to get such vibrancy?
Kroxigor Scales or Luxion Purple are perfect for painting the warp-touched daemons of Tzeentch in all their chromatic splendour, while Imperial Fist Yellow or Striking Scorpion Green will give the Scions of the Flame access to a kaleidoscopic inferno – let your imagination run wild!
Not every miniature needs to be blindingly bright on the tabletop. A rich and easy-to-apply colour is the perfect accompaniment to help the vibrant models in your army stand out even more. These paints will give you reliable and resplendent results with no fuss – ideal for the core colour of an army.
Need to paint some solid Space Marine armour? Hues like Baal Red and Bad Moon Yellow will make short work of saturated ceramite for any Chapter. Or, if you’ve got your eyes on a Hedonites of Slaanesh war host, Doomfire Magenta will give you the luxurious robes you need to satiate the Lord of Pleasure himself.
While the worlds of Warhammer are littered with incandescent energy weapons and boldly-coloured robes, they’re also home to pallid ghouls and ethereal entities that can discorporate in the blink of an eye.
Pylar Glacier creates the illusion of an icy surface with no hassle. Briar Queen Chill and Dreadful Visage live up to their names, making them ideal for spectral phantasms or smoky apparitions, and Mantis Warriors Green offers a luminous green-yellow that’s perfect for bolts of wyrd energy.
The Mortal Realms and 41st Millennium boast countless creatures with a touch of the dark, as well as warriors clad in weathered armour and solemn robes. Plus, every miniature needs to stand on something – like a solid, dependable hero rock.
Bringing earthier tones and solid colours to life is easier than ever with Garaghak’s Sewer and Ratling Grime, while weapon casings and cast iron are a cinch with Black Legion. Looking for authentically grim livery? Garb your Space Marines and Stormcast Eternals in Stormfiend or Sigvald Burgundy.
The Citadel Colour experts have spent many months researching, developing, testing – and painting! – with our Shade range to find out how to make them even better than they already are. The result of all of this hard work is a total reformulation of all of the Shade paints you know and love – and the creation of seven new Shades.
These Shade paints are designed to provide instant depth and easily create stronger shadows, speeding up the process of creating great-looking models. While Contrast paints are designed to tint surfaces and give an intense finish, this new formulation ensures that Shade paints will settle more effectively into the recesses of your miniatures – while leaving the raised parts of your models relatively untouched.
Not only have all of the existing Shades been reformulated – during the process of refining these recipes, the Citadel Colour technicians were inspired to create seven entirely new paints.*
Mortarion Grime is a lovely shade of yellowy filth that’s perfect for weathering war machines and dirtying grizzled behemoths. Tyran Blue and Berserker Bloodshade offer new ways to shade reds and blues that are more vivid than our existing hues, while Soulblight Grey is great for shading pale paint schemes.
Our paint scientists haven’t stopped there. White Scar is our best ever white spray paint. It applies smoothly and with absolutely no fuss, giving you the perfect foundation for painting dazzling colours – and it works particularly well with our most vibrant new Contrast paints.
White Scar is designed specifically for use with Contrast paints, to sit alongside the cool Grey Seer and the warmer Wraithbone sprays. There’s nothing stopping you from using it with our regular Citadel range, however. It’s great for creating punchier colours from a brighter undercoat – you can even try using our reformulated Shades on it for bold new results.
Just don’t ask what the Citadel Colour team had to offer the Golden Demon for the arcane knowledge of this unique spray…
Together with the new Contrast paints and reformulated shades, you’ll find it easier than ever to achieve the results you want and make your miniatures pop on the battlefield.
This is a cornucopia of colours, an absolute broadside of bold hues and new prismatic tones – and we can’t wait to see what you do with these new paints! Let us know what your next painting challenge is, and which miniatures and armies you’re looking forward to tackling using the #PaintingWarhammer hashtag on Twitter and Instagram.
Here on Warhammer Community we’ll have articles going deeper into the science behind these paints, and we’ll also have news about when they’re released. Keep your brush at the ready and stick with us by signing up for the Warhammer Community newsletter for all the latest news.
* The four gloss shades – Nuln Oil Gloss, Agrax Earthshade Gloss, Reikland Fleshshade Gloss, and Cryptek Armourshade Gloss – are leaving the range.