In 2021 I got back into painting miniature with the game Marvel Crisis Protocol. Before that I played/painted Warhammer 40K (Orks, Impirial Fists) and built up and painted hundreds of models from those lines. I also have a pretty sizable Warmachine Hordes armies. During that time I practiced traditional miniature painting techniques such as layering, glazing, nmm, blending, etc. But after a long hiatus I decided to give Contrast/Speedpaint a try. I got pretty much half of the Starter box painted in 1 week and plus some other models. It was super quick to get things done but I started going back to more traditional techniques because speedpainting methods looks too rough. It look amazing on the table because of how vibrant and rich the color was but up close they didn't look to great in my opinions.
A lot of creators with very high level of painting started making Contrast Paint, Speedpaint and Xpress paint videos. I don't want to list specific names, but the European ones. The end result was no where near as good as their regular stuff. I mean anyone can prime a model, dry brush and put on a coat of Contrast paint. If someone only wants to spend 15-30min a model slap chop is the way to go. Its been a few years since the product has hit the market and content creators have shown elevated ways of applying Speedpaint and Contrast paints. They all use slightly different methods but the pattern is they put a lot of time in to underpainting with multiple colors with a AB or dry brush or both AB/dry brush. And they put a lot of time into post contrast with edge highlights, micro weathering, etc. I honestly don't know how much time someone can save. But I've also seen it help a lot of people that just did base coats really up their game and love of painting. I think at end of the day contrast paints are just a tool in a tool box full of other great tools, a model you spent 15 min on will look like a model that you spent 15min and a model you spend 10hrs on will look like a model you spend 10hrs on. It is an overhyped product but a good product IMO. It is a "gamechanger" for some people and probably "nothing special" for others. For me personally I feel I fall somewhere in the middle of those two opinions.
