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© North Star Military Figures Click here to order Click here to order Click here to order Click here to order Home Latest North Star Stargrave Frostgrave Oathmark Crusader Artizan Great War Shieldwolf SPEED PAINTING WITH SPEEDPAINTS North Star Magazine home page SPEED PAINTING
WHY? I was inspired to have a go at the new The Army Painter Speedpaints after seeing Nick’s work on a batch of Crusader Miniatures Brood. I thought they looked fun and wanted to see if I could achieve a similar result. Also the Brood are quite nice and simple for a first run out with a new set of paints that I had not even tried before. UNPAINTED Another thing that has been growing on my mind recently the amount of undercoated but wholly unpainted figures I have around the place. There are also all the models from North Star that I prime up grey for my photography and thinking (wrongly) one day I’ll have time paint, and further added to by a number of complete armies which need painting that haven’t even got out of the box yet! So Speedpaints I hoped might be an answer to some of it at least. ODD It might seem odd that I wanted to dabble with Speedpaints, but as those of you who are regular readers of some of my painting guides will know I am no stranger to fast painting (in spite of my reputation), in fact I have just (possibly) completed a series of articles on fast painting armies for Oathmark using the previous iteration of The Army Painter fast painting method using their Quickshade washes and Quickshade Varnish, CLICK HERE. However I was keen to see if the Speedpaints offer something different and they did. GRAIL First thing to say is that these paints are not the Holy Grail; they will not “do it all for you”, and they will not win you the painting competition at Salute. They are another useful tool in the painting arsenal and used correctly, on the right models will give a very pleasing result. To get the best out of them they need to be used on a good well sculpted model, they won’t do well on a model without much detail. Like all paints they require thought and handling in the correct way to get the best out of them and this does extend to the choice of model they are used upon. I am still getting to grips with them and I’m sure I have more to learn.  FIRST So the first thing I did was to read the article about them in Wargames Illustrated by their very talented painting team.
Following that I went on YouTube and watched their vid and then searched out more vids on the use of the Speedpaints. I spoke to Nick about his experience of them any gleaned any tips he had. Nick also pointed out that Speedpaints have no metallic paint so those areas need to be dealt with in a more traditional way. UNIT So I set out to complete a whole unit in a shorter space of time as I could. I didn’t have time to do it all in one sitting as I was fitting it in around my proper job and other painting commitments. Luckily most of the cleaning up was done and they were primed grey, as these were models I had already photographed for North Star web images. As it turned out I reckon the painting took about half an hour per model when doing a whole unit, which for me ranks as very speedy. The observant will have noticed that I did some conversions of the Brood adding the odd extra weapon culled form my spares draw and making them a banner, this however did not save me any time... TIME Where these paints aren’t much help is speeding up the preparation and finishing time of the models. You will still need to spend as much time cleaning up and/or assembling your models and the same sort of time varnishing and basing them up, although I did find a Speedpaint assist in the basing. Now some people just love the prep and finishing and hate painting, Speedpaints are made for them. ZENITHAL From the recommendations from those that know, and as the models were already primed grey, I went for a white zenithal undercoat applied from above over the grey. If you search on YouTube for zenithal undercoat you will see what it is. I applied it with my very elderly airbrush, but a spray can of white primer would do just as well. The idea is not to obliterate all the darker primer but leaving it underneath, creating a shadow effect and thus some shading for free, so a light touch is needed. You can also spray apply the zenithal white over a black undercoat too. I will try a straight flat white undercoat at some point to see how it fairs, but I do have a lot figures languishing in black undercoat to get through first. I stuck the boys to a piece of wood and sprayed white along the line.
Above. The finished unit of speed painted Crusader BROOd.
PAINTS Speedpaints are not paints. They are transparent. They are much more akin to a wash or a stain, but have a more sustained pigment and an interesting way flowing and don’t seem to leave tidemarks. These almost unique properties require some planning as you are less able to hide errors with subsequent layers or colours as you could with conventional painting. I planned to use lighter colours first and then go darker in the hope to minimize any mistakes. Also the peculiar properties of the Speedpaints mean that if you have left any mould line on the models they will accentuate them, so be prepared to clean up the models well. They also have another unusual property which is, when you paint over the Speedpaint with normal Army Painter War Paint, the Speedpaint has a tendency to bleed into the normal paint as stain it slightly, so if you are trying to correct an error by applying more white undercoat, expect this phenomenon. Lastly the watery nature of these paints means that they will run up the bristles of the brush into the metal ferrule and are the devils own job to completely clean out, so don’t use your best finest brushes. SHAKE Do shake the bottles up well, really well, as this can make a real difference to how the Speedpaint goes on. Each bottle has no less than 2 ball bearings in them to ensure they mix
Above. I went for a white zenithal undercoat applied from above over the grey. I stuck the boys to a piece of wood and sprayed white along the line.
up well when you shake them.  Be aware when you are squirting out some of the Speedpaint that you don’t have a ball bearing lodged in the nozzle as it can make a rather messy accident if you just keep squeezing… like I did, my bad. APPLICATION  There is no great secret, but try to be controlled with them, there is a tendency because of the speed thing to slap them on any old how, and this will not yield the most satisfactory results. Don’t overload your brush. The Speedpaint will flow; I think it must have a low surface tension that allows it to flow so successfully. Be careful and apply them only to the areas needed, avoiding slipping into other areas if you can, as you will see I slipped over a bit but I was thinking they are mostly going to be darker areas so I could get away with it. SPEEDPAINTS I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours. It is really worth planning the order of colours you are going to use from light to dark. I didn’t use the free (and very nice) brush that is included in the sets, as it was bit too manly, I used a smaller, old and a bit knackered Army Painter brush, already well broken in from other painting.
FLESH Crusader Skin 
PLOT I then slightly lost the plot about the light colours first, and went to Hardened Leather as my next choice, in my defence I thought these would be well away from the lighter colours, also I decided to do their loincloths in lots of different colours to try out as many colours as possible. I then used Dark Wood for well, the woodwork and some other bits and pieces and these pictures show it thus far with the many colours of loincloth.

For all of them.

HORNS & HOOVES Hardened Leather WOOD & WHIP Dark Wood

The many colours of loincloth.

LOINCLOTH Camo Cloak LOINCLOTH Blood Red LOINCLOTH Plasmatic Bolt LOINCLOTH Magic Blue LOINCLOTH Sand Golem LOINCLOTH Holy White LOINCLOTH Cloudburst Blue, note the still wet paint on the drum skin, see what a hurry I was in, which is Pallid Bone! LOINCLOTH Malignant Green LOINCLOTH Slaughter Red LOINCLOTH Orc Skin, Zealot Yellow
HOLY The only real problem I had was with the Holy White Speedpaint, which was looking like it was going to be just grey not white, so I wiped it off with my thumb to reveal the white undercoat but nothing more sophisticated than that and no highlighting here. I think I should have thinned it, but even then the judicial application of the painters thumb might be needed to get a whiter than white finish. FOREWARNED The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so they would show though the Sand Golem and look messy.  I used The Army Painter Warpaints Matt White; this is when I noticed that Speedpaints slightly bleed into the Warpaints, when the Warpaints are painted over them, Nick had mentioned this but I had forgotten. However it’s not a
major issue but be aware, I did find a solution but more of that at the end.  Nick had also forewarned me about the Grim Black, that it was very grim and very black, so I tried some out and I realised it needed thinning otherwise it risked not showing up the detail of the fur, especially as the fur is quite fine on the models. I had read that it was best to use the actual Speedpaints thinner, so I did. On balance I might have over thinned it but I could always give it another coat, which I did to some areas where it looked a bit pale. METAL There aren’t any metallic Speedpaints as I said. But I wanted Bronze metal throughout so I used I used The Army Painter Warpaints Weapon Bronze, with Plasmatic Bolt Speedpaint over it to represent verdigris.

For all of them

BELTS Sand Golem FUR Grim Black METAL Weapon Bronze and Plasmatic Bolt
WITH SPEEDPAINTS I stuck the boys to a piece of wood and sprayed white along the line. I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours.
Above and below. FLESH Crusader Skin.
I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours. I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours. I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours. I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours. I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours. I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours. I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours. I decided to do their loincloths in lots of different colours to try out as many colours as possible. I then used Dark Wood for well, the woodwork and some other bits and pieces and these pictures show it thus far with the many colours of loincloth. I decided to do their loincloths in lots of different colours to try out as many colours as possible. I then used Dark Wood for well, the woodwork and some other bits and pieces and these pictures show it thus far with the many colours of loincloth. I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours. I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours.
Above. LOINCLOTH in Camo Cloak.
Above. LOINCLOTH in Blood Red.
Above. LOINCLOTH in Plasmatic Bolt.
I decided to do their loincloths in lots of different colours to try out as many colours as possible. I then used Dark Wood for well, the woodwork and some other bits and pieces and these pictures show it thus far with the many colours of loincloth. I decided to do their loincloths in lots of different colours to try out as many colours as possible. I then used Dark Wood for well, the woodwork and some other bits and pieces and these pictures show it thus far with the many colours of loincloth. I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours. I started with flesh, as that’s what I usually do when using normal paints and it would be the same colour on all these models, so I would get a good run-up at it, so to speak. Also I chose the flesh as it seemed to be amongst the lighter colours.
Above. LOINCLOTH in Holy White.
Above. LOINCLOTH in Cloudburst Blue.
Above. LOINCLOTH in Magic Blue.
Above. LOINCLOTH in Sand Golem.
I decided to do their loincloths in lots of different colours to try out as many colours as possible. I then used Dark Wood for well, the woodwork and some other bits and pieces and these pictures show it thus far with the many colours of loincloth. I decided to do their loincloths in lots of different colours to try out as many colours as possible. I then used Dark Wood for well, the woodwork and some other bits and pieces and these pictures show it thus far with the many colours of loincloth.
Above. LOINCLOTH in Malignant Green.
Above. LOINCLOTH in Slaughter Red.
I decided to do their loincloths in lots of different colours to try out as many colours as possible. I then used Dark Wood for well, the woodwork and some other bits and pieces and these pictures show it thus far with the many colours of loincloth.
Above. LOINCLOTH in Orc Skin.
Above. LOINCLOTH in Zealot Yellow.
I decided to do their loincloths in lots of different colours to try out as many colours as possible. I then used Dark Wood for well, the woodwork and some other bits and pieces and these pictures show it thus far with the many colours of loincloth.
MORE I then realised I didn’t have enough for a full Oathmark unit so I did some more Brood but this time with some conversions, and eventually I made the unit up to fifteen including a banner. The conversion bits are all Oathmark or Frostgrave plastic bits and pieces from my enormous plastic spares draw. 
The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so
Above and below. BELTS Sand Golem, FUR Grim Black, METAL Weapon Bronze and Plasmatic Bolt.
The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The conversion bits are all Oathmark or Frostgrave plastic bits and pieces from my enormous plastic spares draw. The conversion bits are all Oathmark or Frostgrave plastic bits and pieces from my enormous plastic spares draw.
Above. I did some more Brood with some conversions, and eventually I made the unit up to fifteen including a banner.

For all of them

BELTS Sand Golem FUR Grim Black METAL Weapon Bronze and Plasmatic Bolt LOIN CLOTH Zealot Yellow LOIN CLOTH Orc Skin LOIN CLOTH Camo Cloak (again)
The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so The final bits to do were the belts in Sand Golem and fur Grim Black and lastly the metal. For the belts I did try touching in the white undercoat, as I realised I had gone over them a bit with some of the loincloth colours, and as some were quite dark so
Above and below. BELTS Sand Golem, FUR Grim Black, METAL Weapon Bronze and Plasmatic Bolt, LOIN CLOTHS Zealot Yellow, Orc Skin, Camo Cloak (again).
BASING I wanted to carry on the Speedpaints to the bases if I could. I glued on my usual sharp sand and when that had dried I painted the edges of the base with Hardened Leather. Then I painted the sand itself with Hardened Leather mixed 60/40 with the thinners. That was left to dry then I stuck on some Gamers Grass 6mm tufts for a quick finish!
FINISHED So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints and not only that, also combining them with more conventional painting for particular effects that I have liked, like flesh and fur. 
MORE SPEEDPAINTING These are more conventional figures, ie humans, which were also lying around waiting to be painted one day. So I primed them up and got on with them (they hail from the fantasy world of Frostgrave Ghost Archipelago). I found similar problems and successes with these, with the middle and lighter colours working on the whole better than the darker, the most pleasing aspect of them I think is their flesh,
So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. So that’s it, a unit of fifteen of them done in about a day, if I did it all together, for the painting. This is very quick for me and I can now visualise doing one or more whole armies using the Speedpaints. SPEED PAINTING WITH SPEEDPAINTS SPEED PAINTING WITH SPEEDPAINTS
Crusader Skin is my favourite of the Speedpaints, and works very well indeed when combined with a well sculpted model. See what you think. TIDY I used some Humbrol white enamel paint to repaint and thus tidy some of the areas where I had inadvertently gone over with the Speedpaint like the belts, and it seems to work. 
I found similar problems and successes with these, with the middle and lighter colours working on the whole better than the darker, the most pleasing aspect of them I think is their flesh, Crusader Skin is my favourite of the Speedpaints. I found similar problems and successes with these, with the middle and lighter colours working on the whole better than the darker, the most pleasing aspect of them I think is their flesh, Crusader Skin is my favourite of the Speedpaints. I found similar problems and successes with these, with the middle and lighter colours working on the whole better than the darker, the most pleasing aspect of them I think is their flesh, Crusader Skin is my favourite of the Speedpaints. I found similar problems and successes with these, with the middle and lighter colours working on the whole better than the darker, the most pleasing aspect of them I think is their flesh, Crusader Skin is my favourite of the Speedpaints. I found similar problems and successes with these, with the middle and lighter colours working on the whole better than the darker, the most pleasing aspect of them I think is their flesh, Crusader Skin is my favourite of the Speedpaints.
Above. These last two groups are conversions on the Frostgrave Ghost Archipelago Crewmen converting them into 18th Century pirates with Crewmen Pirate Conversion Pack. On all of these I have used a wide variety of the Speedpaints.
SPEED PAINTING WITH SPEEDPAINTS