Tutorial: How I improved my DIY Contrast Paint

[@NightfallTH]

awesome, saved the video for the time I will come to my Corsairs :)
I'm also currently very much in love with Proacryl, so glad that they started to distribute their products in Germany last year.

[@MTFTabletop]

They are really growing their market share in a big way, lately.

[@battlebrotherstabletop]

Man, these came out great. I’m going to have to try out your homemade contrast method, it doesn’t look patchy like the citadel stuff does (which is why I don’t use it). That purple is almost trippy it’s so vibrant!

[@MTFTabletop]

Thanks! The ability to control the consistency and pigmentation is one of the biggest reasons I bother with mixing my own.

[@assadlayne6446]

Anyone have a typed out recipe and ratio

[@GFNGaming]

These look lovely going on man, That teal looks great! Definitely going to be trying this out. The purple looks so smooth going on over essentially flat areas - really impressive man.

[@MTFTabletop]

Thanks! I was really happy with the transparent line.

[@sapphon]

Try using Ink for a Z.Highlight *chefs kiss* !! I have the full line of pro acryl. absolutely great line of paint and i make my own the same way too. works great. Thanks for the video sharing! also, Ink helps making it a little less transparent on the reds and yellows. I haven't got ninjons line yet. but I think i will for coming across your video. cheers!

[@turbulantthing1690]

I made homemade contrast from old and cheap tattoo ink. Tons of super fine pigment.

[@MTFTabletop]

I've heard about people using tattoo ink. I haven't tried it, but I may at some point.

[@Crits-Crafts]

Contrasts are a bit too pricey for me to get many so this is a godsend. Time to go shopping

[@alternate3787]

I am new to the hobby and plan to try mixing my own contrast paints, since I like to tinker.
You said some base paints were too opaque to use them as a base for a contrast paint. Cant this be fixed by thinning them out with more medium in the ratio, or is this caused by the pigment itself? What is your opinion about this, since I wonder whats different about the transparent paint vs the base paint

[@MTFTabletop]

Paints with a fair bit of white pigment are tough. Since white is so opaque, you can lose the effect of the kind of zenithal highlighting I like to do. Inks and the Pro Acryl transparent line are still my favorites.

[@alternate3787]

@@MTFTabletop I did not really think about it, but it makes sense that white pigment is the cause of a paint being opaque. Thank you!

[@durzod2052]

I love Pro-Acryl's transparent line, as well as their other paints. Have you tried their white primer for your zenithal? It's worked well for me. I've formally retired my white ink.
I used a mix of Transparent Yellow with just a dash of Transparent Brown mixed in with a 50/50 mix of water and matte medium to paint my droids for Star Wars Legion. Worked like a charm,and much cheaper than Contrast paint.

[@MTFTabletop]

I have not tried their primers, yet, but I may give that a shot! The issue I've had with traditional white paints in the past has been things like clogs and dry-tip in the airbrush. Good shout on the Yellow/Brown mix for droids!

[@durzod2052]

@@MTFTabletop That's what's so great about the white primer: it's designed to go thru the airbrush.

[@MTFTabletop]

@@durzod2052 Good to know! I'll add some to my next order

[@TheGamerZapocalypse]

Have you tried Monument Hobbies Glaze And Wash Medium?

[@MTFTabletop]

I have tried their glaze medium. It's thicker than most other glaze type thinners. That ends up working well with their paints, because I find thinning them down to glaze consistency with water can break the binder. A drop or two of the glaze medium keeps that from happening.

[@southpaw5483]

Have you ever tried using the Citadel Contrast Medium with the Transparent Paint?

[@MTFTabletop]

Not specifically with the Pro Acryl Transparents, but it would probably work. I have used a fair bit of Contrast Medium since it launched. My DIY method is essentially to avoid paying through the nose for it constantly, since this is a method I use a lot.

[@southpaw5483]

@@MTFTabletop Thank you for responding. Wishing you continued success.

[@merb718]

Wow! This looks amazing! Do you think you could do some diy contrast paints with regular opaque paint? Something like Vallejo or something like that. Not transparent paints but with regular opaque paints.

[@MTFTabletop]

Thanks! You can. I've done it with regular Pro Acryl. Colors that are less opaque to begin with (red, orange, yellow, etc) perform better than things that have, say, white mixed into them.

[@merb718]

@@MTFTabletop Thanks! I will definitely give it a shot! I’m assuming that it would be with the same ingredients but with different ratios? Paint, glaze medium and flow improver?

[@MTFTabletop]

@@merb718 Yeah. Probably heavier on the flow improver than the medium. I have an earlier video where I show how I did it. Unfortunately, I can't give you an exact ratio, because every brand is going to behave a little differently.

[@merb718]

@@MTFTabletop That I understand. I will look for that video! Thanks a million!!!

[@MTFTabletop]

@@merb718 Glad I could help

[@TheSquintyAsian]

Can you list everything you used in this video.

[@MTFTabletop]

There is a list in the description, and I think I got everything on there. I may not have specified the oil paint brand. They were all Winsor and Newton Winton paints.

[@jparks6544]

You didn't actually give a recipe. Kind of a useless video.

[@MTFTabletop]

I apologize for the delay in my reply. This was an iteration on a technique I've been using for awhile. There is a link to the original video in the description. I'll warn you in advance, though, there's not an exact "recipe" in that video, either. It's a trial-and-error process. Anyone telling you otherwise is lying, and that is the one thing I promise not to do.