The one thing I dislike about speed paints

As you all know, I am an award winning miniature painter (I have won a few (and far between) awards for playing as well).

However that does NOT mean I'm a great painter.  Most of these are more for theme / favorite army than best painted - because I know my technical skills are not great.

In addition, any skill that you don't practice with will get 'rusty' over time (like a tool you don't sharpen or maintain).  And the VAST majority of painting I have done for most of the past 10 years has been for demo armies.  I strongly believe that these SHOULD NOT be top tier painted models, but should instead be a simple table-top quality.  (Why?  Because you don't want to intimidate new players / hobbyists.  Teaching someone how to do layering for their first warband (so the one figure has 18 layers on his ass cloth) will often drive them away rather than make them want to do more.  You can always go back (though does anyone?) and improve things - but FINISHED is better than perfect.  I want to show people they can paint the figures (that new players are always impressed by) themselves).  So my skills have NOT improved (nor has my eyesight gotten better, nor my hands steadier, and the clock continues to tick onward in life (hitting one of those birthdays that ends in a 0 (though I had a lot of fun at both the surprise party and the family weekend (which my wife lied straight to my face about, by the way)), and it has not helped with my mood nor inspiration.

Which brings me to the actual topic (which I had intended to just be something short).  Contrast / Speed / Xpress etc. paints.  GW was the first to bring these to market, and getting a starter set of them was one of the few times I've given then any more money since I stopped playing WFB back in the day.  It took a while, now most hobby paint manufacturers have their own versions.

I used to exclusively use Valejo Game Color paints, but I am liking Army Painter more and more (and honestly they are stocked at the FLGS I frequent (while valejo is not).  Army Painter calls their speed paints.

I LOVE SPEED PAINTS!!!!!!!  The idea of a one coat tabletop ready miniature (even though most of my demo armies are just a base and a wash) is fantastic for those beginning in the hobby, and are a useful tool for experienced painters.

My one frustration is that they are a bit "unforgiving". 

I am not a neat painter.  I probably spend more time going back over miniatures correcting mistakes than I do any other step painting them.  (I still remember years ago I took a picture of a model to post - I thought I was done until I pulled it up on my computer - and OMG was it horrible.  That afternoon I ordered my first magnified light because I could not see the issues the camera saw with my own eyes.

When I say speed (and this goes for all the various brands) paints are "unforgiving" is that if you make a mistake, you can't rarely just cover it up.  Some of the darker colors will cover light ones, but most will NOT.  So to correct mistakes, you first have to repaint the affected portion with the same white base that you started with, wait for it to dry (god I hate the waiting part), and then paint it correctly (hoping you don't slop something over again).

So one of the few things I've been working on lately has been some Armada ships.  Armada is not a fully 3D printed game - and in fact they now have 3 fleets out that are 3D printing ONLY - Ghosts, Kingdoms of Men and Forces of the Abyss.

I got the printed (the ghosts in clear resin with a green wash and white drybrush) and as I have done in the past, used speed paints for the hulls and sails (I really like how it brings out wood).  Beyond the wood and cloth however, they needed more color.  I remembered my KoM demo army is green and yellow, so I decided for at least green as a hightlight.

I hit the flags with Orc Skin speed paint no problem.

But then went to paint some of the trim on the ships (which I had previously painted Dark Wood), and crap.

You can see what I'm talking about with the trim around the upper rear deck (is that the poop deck?) 

One solution, of course, is to repaint it white, then apply the speed paint.  But instead I now have gone to 'normal' paints to cover the darker color - which will require at least a wash.  (I may try using the orc skin speed paint as the wash).

So this is the one thing I don't like about them.

But, at least I'm painting SOMETHING.

Because it is all fun and games . . .