A recent Reddit post got people a little worked up, but before you get mad about Speedpaint, you really should read about it being “defective”.
So, if you haven’t been on the Reddit side of Warhammer there is a huge thread going about how the new Speedpaint from Army painter is “defective”. The problem, or perceived problem, is basically that you can’t paint over the Army Painter Speedpaint with another paint because the colors “run”.
The OP can be found here (the video is linked below as well) that states that the Speedpaint was defective because it would just come off if you tried to apply another coat of paint.
Before You Get Mad About Army Painter Speedpaint
We wanted to point out a few ways you can avoid this, mainly because Speedpaint feels like a real game-changer for fast painting that looks good, and Rob has done a lot of experimenting with them!
Speedpaint is actually designed differently than GW contrast on purpose, but a lot of people are trying to use them in the exact same way. The Army Painter spent years getting them right, and not just a copy of something. They are meant to be reactive in nature to reduce pooling and ‘coffee stains’.
Just make sure you fully dry the paint before trying to apply another coat over it- like basically any other paint you use on your miniatures.
If you want to apply a wash or acrylic paint on to Speedpaint even after it is dry, it’s probably worth sealing your miniature (aka matt coating it) before you do so. You don’t have to, but it’s just great for washes, and is really just a good practice in general.
Also, you can THIN the Speedpaint too if you want, but it ends up not looking that great, and may only be worth it for applying them over metals. You can see a thinned red Ork head above by the tip of the brush!
The More You Know About Speedpaint
This is the comment from JHMiniatures about his YouTube video. And the first thing we want to say is this, he brings up a good point that you need to know what the Speedpaints do before buying them!
This is actually super important to know because if you pick the paints up and get mad about how they work, it means you need to understand the instructions! The main issue seemed to be that people were annoyed about clear coating minis, but come on, you should seal your minis no matter what when you are done, or if you are mixing paint elements like a wash for example!
Especially if you live in a humid climate (much like NC here in the States) or you don’t always have time to just paint everything all in one sitting.
Here is the response from Army Painter You see it is actually meant to work this way because this allows for three big things. First, it lets, the paint do most of the work for you and find the crevices. Secondly, it prevents tide marks and pooling, and lastly, it prevents the awful coffee stains some contrasts or inks can create.
So, let’s check out some other examples of how to use the new Army Painter Speedpaint.
Clear Coating
This is Rob’s review of the paint over both airbrushed and washed miniatures, and white primer ones.
One thing he does when painting any mini is clear coat between each step- mostly because he doesn’t know when he’ll get back to painting it.
So that’s probably why the issue never comes up. If you have an airbrush, the clear coat takes literal seconds. You just spray it on and let it dry. If you’re doing a bunch of minis. Just assembly line them all with Speedpaint and then do the same with the clear coat. It adds a few minutes (for a bunch of minis, seconds really for one) and that gets rid of all the issues.
In our opinion, even with that extra step, it is still way faster and looks way better than other alternatives out there.
Plus, you can do all your colors as a base type coat, then clear coat the mini, you don’t have to do it after each color. As shown by Gobbertown’s video below.
Applying Multiple Coats of Speedpaint
Rob’s review is really good on how to use the Speedpaints to show the difference between light and dark, but Goobertown went super in-depth and tried this on so many different minis, with different undercoats, primers, no primer, and basically everything in-between.
Just look at how many he tried this on! In his extensive testing, he didn’t have an issue with the paints and basically said they will be replacing all of his contrast paints.
In this example, he waited about 8 hours to let them dry and didn’t have issues, but he did just do multiple layers of Speedpaint. So, if you’re worried, take the little extra step and just clear coat them as you would any other miniature! It’s really not that hard and you should be coating your minis no matter what to protect them from the harshness of moving and playing.
Can You Just Let it Dry?
Adam Abramowicz Posted on the Hobby Brigade Page about his newest project where he didn’t clear coat the paints and just used a hairdryer to dry the paint before using a different type of paint on top of the previous layer. Here’s what he had to say about the paint recipe:
Decided to take a break from NMM and spent my lunch break painting up Yndrasta’s wings. Even added a drybrush on top of my first coat of Speedpaint Holy White with nothing but the help of my trusty hairdryer.
So it definitely looks like you can really speed up the process if you’re willing to go with the fan or hairdryer option!
Is it Still Fast?
Well, the short answer is yes, and really the long answer is yes! Even if you want to go the safe route and clear coat once you’re done and your paint is dry! Speedpaint is way faster and looks so much better than what’s out there!
We really think these paints will be a game-changer! Again, it’s good to know going in you might have to take what can be perceived as an “extra step”, but in the long run, it will be so much more worth your time and effort.
So is Army Painter Speedpaint Defective?
No not at all, as long as you let your paints dry, and clearcoat your miniatures like any other project! This idea of Speedpaint being defective seems to be a non-issue.
So if you want to try out the paints for yourself, pick them up at the link below.
Click Here To Get Your Speedpaint!
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
