Adventures in Contrast: Squig Hopper

Just a quick one to post the latest model I've painted, this time going back to experimenting with Contrast paints but combined with some traditional base+wash+highlight.

These are gorgeous models, with this squig's pose and face being the most vanilla of them all and still full of energy. The customisation and dynamic poses of these are really something special, and show that GW can do some amazing work these days.

My painting started from a base of Mechanicus Standard Grey rather than the off-whites that are usual for Contrast paints, inspired initially by this guide and further reinforced by this video guide. However, it's clear that the video's zenithal highlighting with Grey Seer made his colours a lot lighter, as the red on mine in particular is very dark (in the flesh it looks even darker than in this photo).

For the other Contrast areas - the gums, robes, shoes, and the wood - this was fine, as I could highlight back up and get the look I wanted. But the darkness of the red means they don't have the visual pop of the classic squig hoppers.

'Eavy Metal-painted squig hoppers

So now I'm not sure whether to carry on as-is, or try another one using Wraithbone as the primer.