Painting 15mm Historical Miniatures with Contrast Paints

While awaiting the imminent delivery of my 15mm Steel Fist English Civil War figures, I've been pondering how I want to paint them up.

I purchased some Peter Pig and Magister Militum figures to hold me over while awaiting the Kickstarter to finish. I tried out a few test figures, but I wasn't happy with the results. I used a wash on one, but it made it too muddy and I thought that with a small scale the colors should be brighter.

Contrast Paints on 15mm

I jumped on the internet. After searching a bit for painted examples I stumbled across the excellent Vis Lardica blog and I was captivated by his results. 

He uses Games Workshop Contrast Paints for 80% of the figure. I thought I'd give it a try as my other attempts (base/wash/highlight and Foundry 2-stage) were either too muddy, too dark, or time-consuming.

I used Wraithbone spray for my undercoat. I quickly applied the Contrast Paints and reviewed my results. The details are picked out well. The colors are vibrant. They look good on the tabletop. They only need one coat of paint on each section. What a timesaver!

Bases, Not Faces

They won't win competitions, but when they are massed on the stand and on the table in units they'll look fantastic. On smaller scales the emphasis moves away from faces, buttons and details. Instead, the stand is looked at as a whole. Taking extra time with basing should yield big dividends.