Let's Paint: Grey Knights Combat Patrol

In this one I break open the Grey Knights Combat Patrol and paint them up using a tricky technique that lot of people undervalue as "too easy:" Drybrushing.
I drybrushed the basecoat on the Brotherhood Terminator Squad and a Strike Squad. I went with a nice grey color scheme with a purple accent color and gold metallic paint. After struggling a bit fixing a mistake made with Army Painter Speedpaint, I ended up with some nice-looking, extra contrasty Grey Knights.
Next time you start a new Warhammer 40K army consider trying painting them up with a drybrush. It will look different and won't take any longer then the usual basecoat glaze.

[@pdubb9754]

I experienced the reactivation issue with speedpaints 1x, when I was experimenting with washes over Plasmatic Bolt. In that case, the speed paint layer just sort of slid off the model, leaving me with a sloppy skink. I gave washes over speedpaint a second try, this time following an extended drying period, over Malignant Green. No reactivation issue, so I went ahead and added the wash to my 9 other Nurgle Plaguebearers. Still no reactivation. So perhaps extended drying time was the trick. Not exactly speed painting, but maybe a solution? The other thought I had is to check out Dana Howl's video on fixing reactivation of speedpaint by blending normal acryllics with speedpaint or speedpaint medium. In that case, she was adding highlights, not trying to put a regular acrylic coat over an extensive surface. One other thought I have after rewatching that is she does not seem to have a lot of paint on her brush. I say this because I recently experimented with drybrushing metallic over a speedpainted surface to give it a little luster, and I liked the effect. So not a lot of paint on the brush. Lastly, white over red? That is really testing the limits!

[@YourAverageBearGaming]

I have also noticed some variability in the bleed through (or whatever we want to call the reactivation). In my experience sometimes adding acrylic over the speedpaint messes with the speedpaint layer. In this case rather than ruining the speedpaint layer, the acrylic absorbed some of the speedpaint pigment. I also noticed that the rattle can primer layer is unaffected, while the brush-on primer is impacted like an acrylic.
So the interaction is probably pretty complicated and depends on what chemicals we are using and also how we use them (maybe I somehow use more pressure than other people).
And there's probably ways around it (though using a matt varnish didn't prevent bleed through in my experience. It's still a bummer.

[@williamfawkes8379]

It's water that reactivates the speed paint. If you go over it with acrylic and thin it with speed paint medium, or some other medium that isn't water, it won't go crazy. I tried this, after hearing the trick from Dana Howl on her channel. She is working with army painter now on the next Gen of speedpaint.

[@YourAverageBearGaming]

I hadn't heard about Dana Howl's involvement and that sounds like a great opportunity to improve the product. She rocks!
I have experimented with adding a layer of varnish in between the undercoat and the speed paint. It reduces the problem considerably. It's a pain, but it seems like the way to go when you really want to look of the speedpaint.