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How Have the WarhammerTV Painting Team Been Using the New Citadel Colour Range?

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The full range of new Citadel paints are almost here. With 25 new Contrast colours, seven new Shades (and the rest reformulated), and a brilliant white undercoat Spray on offer, you can either pre-order them right now or pick them up from stores tomorrow.

You’ve probably seen what they look like with single coats, but now it’s time to see them in the context of painting a miniature or two up properly.

The Warhammer TV painting team have been hard at work testing out how the new colours work alongside the existing Citadel range.

Lizzie: I absolutely love the new Gossamid Archers and with the launch of the new Contrast paints and Shades, this was the perfect opportunity to paint some. I chose to paint each differently in order to familiarise myself with a variety of the new colours.

I’ve used everything from Ironjawz Yellow to Dreadful Visage and Kroxigor Scales. I also discovered a new love for Mortarion Grime! With an endless list of uses, these paints are an incredibly valuable addition to the range.

Emma: I’ve always wanted to paint an army of Hedonites of Slaanesh, but I was never sure on how to go about doing it. With the vivid new Contrast colours coming out, I suddenly had a plan. I started by painting up some Blissbarb Archers using mostly new Contrast paints like Aeldari Emerald and Kroxigor Scales for the fletching and tassels, and Luxion Purple for cloth and metal details.

I used these alongside older Contrast paints such as thinned Guilliman Flesh and Darkoath for skin tones. I managed to get some really cool effects over metal layers by basing with Skullcrusher Brass and the new Tyran Blue shade for a mystical effect.

Peachy: I knew I wanted to paint up some Cypher Lords, using the new Contrasts and Shades to make it quick and efficient! Other than Guilliman Flesh, Liberator Gold, and Iron Hands Steel, I made good use of a bunch of the new paints. A slightly thinned-down Black legion was used for all my black cloth and leather, Sigvald Burgundy was used for the loincloths, plumes, and warpaint.

Applying Druchii Violet all over the metallics really helped tie into that Slaanesh feel, and the reformulation of the Shade range made sure that the raised areas kept their shine. Briar Queen Chill was perfect for adding a slightly corrupted white to a few characters. Kroxigor Scales worked as a cool spot colour on the gems, and the Thrall Master’s globes and smoke. I'm really pleased with how these turned out, and I'm stoked to paint more Hedonite warriors, especially considering how quickly these were done.

I also wanted to use these classic Kill Team Sister Repentia and Novitiate models in Warcry, standing in as warriors for my Cities of Sigmar collection. I used Guilliman Flesh, Liberator Gold, and Iron Hands Steel for the skin and metallics. Stormfiend, meanwhile, is such a beautiful tone of blue, and fits perfectly with the existing colour scheme of my Age of Sigmar collection.

I used Black Legion for all my black leathers. This has become my new favourite black as it has such good coverage – when thinned down it maintains its depth, but gives subtle highlights on any edges. Berserker Bloodshade is perfect for painting scars – while not super glossy, it still has all the properties I need for a subtle blood tone. For the parchment I used a coat of Mortarion Grime over white and then Ratling Grime for a bit more….well grime.

Adam: I’ve been eyeing up a warband of Stormcast Eternals for Warcry for a while, but wasn’t sure how to paint them. I knew that I wanted a paint scheme that’s not time-consuming, getting them Battle Ready between other projects. When I got my hands on the new paints, the scheme smacked me harder than a Kroxigor’s club. Mantis Warriors Green worked perfectly over a Leadbelcher spray undercoat – covering in one pass – to get a nice green metallic look for the armour. 

I then used Black Legion as an accent colour for the armour trim. I used Sigvald Burgundy weapon handles and applied multiple thin layers of Frostheart, dragging the pigment towards the base of the spear blade, to give an easy-to-achieve celestial glow to the business end. For the robes under the armour, I based them in Grey Seer and then shaded using Soulblight Grey. I took the time to pick out a few gems using Baal Red as well. 

Aidan: As soon as I saw Imperial Fist I knew I was going to have to paint an Adeptus Astartes with a classic ‘Eavy Metal look. To start the process I undercoated the model using Grey Seer, and applied a directional spray of White Scar. This meant that as I painted Imperial Fist onto the armour it created an instant blend, helping to define the shape of the armour. 

Once the Contrast paint was fully dry I carefully applied the reformulated Fuegan Orange Shade into the recesses to create definition and depth. From this point on I used layer paints, adding a highlight of Phalanx Yellow, and finally weathering the armour using a glaze of Rhinox Hide and some Doombull Brown. With the armour finished I neatly blocked out all the other areas with Abaddon Black. The whole model took less than a day to paint, which wouldn’t have been achievable without the new Imperial Fist to get that incredibly saturated and opaque yellow on the armour in one coat.

You can find out more about what the WarhammerTV painting team have been up to this Sunday at the #WarhammerPaintathon. Tune in on Twitch between 10am and 6pm BST. You can also pre-order the entire new Citadel Colour range from the Games Workshop webstore right now.