“What sorcery is this”: Warhammer Tone Pro seems so good fans are literally watching paint dry

The new Warhammer Tone Pro paint range seems to be breaking all the rules, but in a very good way – and fans are excited.

This range was one of the more surprising Big Autumn Warhammer Preview reveals, and it promises to change the game with superior pigmentation, better coverage so you aren’t putting on multiple thin layers, and improved flow. However, there’s no argument better than actually seeing it in action. Professional painters like Louise Sugden (Savage Ork Guy) have been hands-on with the range, and their findings are blowing minds. In one video, Sugden decides to “stress test” Warhammer Tone Pro and its self-leveling properties by splodging on as thick a coat as possible. Rather than obscuring all the details when dry (a common issue with classic Warhammer paints, especially for beginners), it totally levels out into a strong basecoat that doesn’t obscure anything.

“What sorcery is this,” asks a thread by kamikazee786 with 8.9K upvotes. I’m equally speechless. I’ve been painting Warhammer models for decades, and this is straight up witchcraft. It used to be outright impossible, so I don’t know what deal with the devil the design team made to pull this off. I’ve never seen anything like it, even from rivals such as Army Painter that are known for their beginner-friendly solutions. (They offer everything from Speedpaint to Speedpaint Markers on Amazon, for example.)

A post shared by Louise Sugden (@savage_ork_guy)

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“The age of two thin coats is over. The time of the one thick coat has come,” writes niclyx in reply to Sugden’s video, referencing everyone’s favorite scumbag orc from Return of the King. Because of how time-consuming it was to apply the much-memed two thin coats to a model before now for a smooth finish, this is a huge deal. Indeed, I think these could become the new go-to for beginners as well as experienced painters; it seems so much easier to manage, with great results stemming from absolutely zero effort or skill. That’s a big difference even compared to Speed/Contrast paints that essentially stain the model with inbuilt highlights and shadows; while they’re generally straightforward to use, they do require a specific technique to utilize properly.

Speaking of Contrast, Warhipster – one of my favorite painters – has built their whole online presence around the medium on YouTube, but they’re equally impressed by Warhammer Tone Pro. They were one of the few to go hands-on with this range ahead of their reveal, and have nothing but praise for the concept.

I’ve yet to try the range for myself, but some Warhammer Tone Pro samples are apparently in the post for me to test and fill you in on as we speak. I’ll let you know what I think as soon as I’ve got the paints in hand, but until then, I’ll continue to gawk at these early previews. As Galind_Halithel put it on reddit, “It finally happened. I’m watching paint dry.”

Wondering what to use these paints on? I’ve been hands on with all the new Warhammer 40K Space Marines, and these are the ones you should buy. Alternatively, you could always try these new Warhammer Mordor Orc models or the Legion of the Damned set fans are going wild for.