Miniature Painting
Best Speedpaints for Beginners (2026 Guide)
For most beginners, Army Painter Speedpaint 2.0 is the best speedpaint line to start with: it's roughly half the price of Citadel Contrast, the range is huge, and the 2.0 formula fixed the reactivation problem that made the original frustrating. Citadel Contrast is a close second with slightly richer pigments, and Vallejo Xpress Color is the value pick if you already shop Vallejo. Below is how they actually differ, and the eight colors we'd put in your basket first.
What speedpaints actually are
Speedpaints (Games Workshop calls theirs "Contrast," Vallejo calls theirs "Xpress Color") are one-coat paints that combine a pigment, a shade, and a medium. Brushed over a light undercoat, the paint flows into the recesses and stays translucent on the raised areas, so a single coat gives you base color, shading, and a hint of highlight at once.
That makes them the single biggest shortcut in the hobby for new painters. A traditional paint job means basecoat, wash, then layered highlights: three or four passes per color. A speedpaint job is one pass per color. People at our paint nights routinely finish their first playable character mini in an evening.
The trade-off: speedpaints are less controllable than regular acrylics. They pool, they show brush strokes on large flat armor plates, and you can't easily do bright-over-dark corrections. That's fine; see the section on when to use regular paint below.
The three lines compared
| Army Painter Speedpaint 2.0 | Citadel Contrast | Vallejo Xpress Color | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical price per bottle | ~$5 (18 ml, dropper) | ~$8–9 (18 ml, pot) | ~$4–5 (18 ml, dropper) |
| Range size | 90+ colors | 60+ colors | 40+ colors |
| Bottle type | Dropper with mixing ball | Open pot | Dropper |
| Behavior | Strong shading, slightly matte finish | Richest pigment, self-levels well | Softest effect, most forgiving |
| Best for | Most beginners | Painters already in the GW ecosystem | Budget armies, subtle results |
A few honest notes from the paint table:
- Dropper bottles matter more than you'd think. Open Citadel pots dry out faster and are easier to spill; droppers dispense exactly what you need onto a palette. Two of the three lines get this right.
- Speedpaint 1.0 vs 2.0: the original Speedpaint formula could reactivate: a second coat or a varnish pass would lift the dried layer underneath. The 2.0 formula fixed this. If you find old 1.0 stock in a bargain bin, that's why it's cheap.
- Contrast's strength is saturation. Reds and oranges especially pop harder than the equivalents in other ranges. If one color matters most to your army, it's worth mixing lines.
The 8 colors to buy first
You do not need a mega set on day one. These eight cover almost any fantasy character or starter warband (names describe the concept; every line has an equivalent):
- A mid brown for leather, wood, hafts, and bags. This is the most-used color in fantasy, full stop.
- A dark brown: boots, belts, rifle stocks, and contrast against the mid brown.
- One skin tone. A light or medium tone gets you started, and you can expand later.
- A red for cloaks, sashes, and shields.
- A blue, the other classic cloak-and-cloth color.
- A green. You will paint goblins eventually. Everyone does.
- A metallic or near-black for armor and weapons (a true metallic acrylic plus a dark speedpaint wash also works).
- A bone or off-white for skulls, teeth, feathers, and scrolls.
Add a pot of matte varnish to protect the finish, and you're set for your first twenty minis.
What else you need (it's less than you think)
- A light primer. Speedpaints only work over a light undercoat: white, bone, or light grey. Over black primer they just look like dirty black. This is the number one mistake we see; see our first miniature walkthrough for the full priming step.
- Two brushes. A size 2 round for everything and a smaller size 0 for faces and details. Skip the 12-brush sets.
- A wet palette or a white ceramic tile. Speedpaints straight from the bottle are usually fine, but you'll want somewhere to work them from.
Total damage for paints, primer, and brushes: roughly $60–70, less than a single boxed video game, and it'll paint your whole first army.
When speedpaints are the wrong tool
Speedpaints excel on textured, organic surfaces: cloth, fur, skin, scales, leather. They struggle on large smooth panels (vehicle armor, power armor pauldrons) where the translucent formula shows every stroke. For those, a regular basecoat plus a wash still wins — our speedpaint vs. traditional paint comparison breaks down exactly when to reach for which.
Frequently asked questions
Are speedpaints good for beginners?
Yes. They're the fastest route from "never painted" to a tabletop-ready miniature. One coat over a light primer gives base color and shading at once, so a first character mini is an evening's work instead of a weekend's.
Do speedpaints work over black primer?
No. Speedpaints are translucent, so they need a white, bone, or light grey undercoat to show their color. Over black they read as murky near-black. If you like priming black, zenithal prime or drybrush a light grey over it first (the popular "slap chop" method).
Speedpaint 2.0 or Citadel Contrast — which should I buy?
Buy Speedpaint 2.0 if you want the widest range at the lowest price in dropper bottles. Buy Contrast if you're already buying Citadel paints or want the most saturated single-coat colors. Practically, the lines mix freely — most painters we know own some of each.
How many speedpaints do I need to start?
Eight covers nearly everything: two browns, a skin tone, red, blue, green, something dark for armor, and a bone white. Starter sets from any of the three brands land close to this list.
Do I need to seal miniatures painted with speedpaints?
A matte varnish coat is strongly recommended for minis that will actually hit the table. Speedpaint 2.0 and Xpress Color won't reactivate under brush-on varnish, and varnish prevents the shiny wear spots handling causes.