The Army Painter Complete Paint Guide — All Lines | Wheels & Wings Hobbies
The Army Painter Complete Guide
Complete colour listing · Warpaints Fanatic · Speedpaint 2.0 · Quickshade Dip & Effects · Colour Primer · The complete miniature painting system
Built for miniature wargaming from the ground up
The Army Painter is a Danish paint brand founded specifically for miniature wargaming — every product in the range is designed to get models painted and on the table as efficiently as possible. Where other paint brands started in fine art or scale modelling and adapted to miniatures, The Army Painter built their system from scratch for the wargamer. The result is one of the most practical and beginner-friendly paint ranges available, with a particular strength in speed-painting large armies quickly without sacrificing a good tabletop standard.
The range covers two generations of paint technology: the classic Warpaints Fanatic line — a comprehensive acrylic system of base colours, metallics, and washes — and Speedpaint 2.0, their one-coat speed painting solution similar to Citadel Contrast. The iconic Colour Primer aerosol sprays are among the most colour-varied primer range in the hobby, giving painters a head-start in any colour across 24 shades. Browse our full Army Painter range here.
The Army Painter system is fully compatible with paints from other brands — Warpaints Fanatic works alongside Citadel, Vallejo, and other acrylics without issue. Many painters use Army Painter Colour Primers with Citadel or Vallejo brush paints, or mix Speedpaint with Citadel Contrast in the same project.
How the Army Painter system works
Colour Primer — 24 aerosol sprays that prime and base coat in one pass. Available in more colours than any other primer range — prime your model in the right colour and skip the brush basecoat entirely.
Warpaints Fanatic — The core acrylic range. 162 base colours, 18 metallics, and 18 dedicated washes for shading. The complete toolkit for any painting style from speed painting to detailed display work.
Speedpaint 2.0 — One-coat speed paints that self-shade and highlight in a single application over a light primer. 89 colours covering every faction and colour family. The Army Painter's answer to Citadel Contrast.
Quickshade Dip & Effects — Quickshade Dip provides three concentrated shade tones (Soft, Strong, Dark) in a 250ml tin for all-over shading and varnishing in one step. The Fanatic Effects line adds 18 specialist finishing products: gore, slime, verdigris, OSL glows, rust, mediums, varnishes, and brush-on primer.
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Warpaints Fanatic
The core of the Army Painter range. Warpaints Fanatic is a comprehensive acrylic system covering 162 base colours, 18 metallics, and 18 dedicated washes — 198 individual paints in an 18ml pot at a highly competitive price point. The range is designed as a direct competitor to Citadel's Base and Layer system, with Army Painter equivalents available for virtually every GW paint colour. Fanatic paints are specifically formulated for miniature painting: good flow, high pigment load, and consistent coverage across the range. The washes — known as Fanatic Washes — are particularly well-regarded as a Citadel Shade alternative at a lower price per ml.
View Full Warpaints Fanatic Guide →Speedpaint 2.0
Speedpaint 2.0 is The Army Painter's one-coat speed painting system — their equivalent of Citadel Contrast. A single application over a white or light primer self-shades into recesses and thins over raised surfaces, producing a tabletop-ready result in one coat. The 89-colour range covers every colour family and is particularly strong for fantasy and sci-fi wargaming armies where speed is the priority. Speedpaint 2.0 improved on the original Speedpaint formula with better re-activation resistance — meaning you can layer paints over dried Speedpaint without lifting the layer below, solving the biggest criticism of the first generation.
View Full Speedpaint 2.0 Guide →Quickshade Dip & Effects
Quickshade Dip is the original Army Painter speed technique — a concentrated oil-based shade and varnish in a 250ml tin, available in three tones (Soft, Strong, and Dark). Apply over a completed model for an all-over shade and protective coat in a single step. The Warpaints Fanatic Effects line covers everything used at the finishing stage: True Blood and Dry Blood (gore gels), Disgusting Slime and Oozing Vomit (Nurgle effects), Dark Rust and Fresh Rust (weathering), Verdigris (copper patina), Oil Stains, five OSL glow gels, brush-on primer, gloss and matt varnishes, and paint mediums.
View Full Quickshade & Effects Guide →Colour Primer
The Army Painter Colour Primers are the most colour-varied primer range in the miniature hobby — 24 aerosol shades covering everything from Matt Black and Matt White to faction-specific colours like Greenskin, Skeleton Bone, Ultramarine Blue, Dragon Red, and Nectrotic Flesh. Each can primes and base coats in a single pass, bonds to plastic, resin, and metal, and is colour-matched to the Warpaints Fanatic range for a seamless workflow. Using a Colour Primer in the right colour for your army eliminates the brush basecoat step entirely — prime green for Orcs, bone for undead, red for Blood Bowl humans, and go straight to shading.
View Full Colour Primer Guide →Shopping for The Army Painter at Wheels & Wings
The Army Painter is stocked continuously at our Toronto store and ships across Canada. The range is available in individual pots — pick up exactly the colours you need without committing to a set. Army Painter paints are fully compatible with Citadel, Vallejo, and other acrylic brands, making them an excellent choice for painters who want to mix ranges or convert existing recipes to a more cost-effective option.
If you're looking for Army Painter equivalents to specific Citadel or Vallejo colours, or want advice on the best Colour Primer for your army, the staff at Wheels & Wings are happy to help in-store or by phone.
Browse and purchase all Army Painter products directly in our online store.
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