Slap Chop?! More like CRAP CHOP!!!

[@Modge17]

I’m a fairly decent painter but I find that traditional methods take me too long for army painting, since discovering slapchop I’ve been blasting through my projects & pile of shame and really enjoying the process!

[@nelsikegaming]

same!! I see my pile of shame as something I can achieve in 2 weeks or so instead of it seeming close to impossible

[@Regimeludwig]

What would you guys do for imperial guard cadians? Black prime/grey then what?

[@richardszabacsik5293]

@@RegimeludwigBlack - grey -white -speed paint of your choice :)

[@coryhamel2512]

Same, miniature painting became a chore. I used the "traditional" method to paint 20 Goliath miniatures for Necromunda and it took me about two months.The method that I use now, I cranked out 10 Corpse Grinders in about two days, and the end result is so much better! Black prime + white zenithal from an airbrush + contrast paints + dark enamel wash + solvent to clean up the highlights.

[@realsparrow]

same here. i got some great miniatures but it takes me to much time to paint a single one of them. i wont reach a level of a proffesional painter so i deside to switch to slapchop to basecoat faster and then paint some details with normal paints.

[@jaysonstewart3537]

I find dry brushing with more white bring the mini more in line with what we’re used to seeing in a mini. I also never use black, opting for a charcoal grey for the prime coat.

[@sethpeterson8261]

This. For Speed Paints you can do spray black prime (but just to catch the underneath deep shadow areas), Zenithal with a mid-grey (I find Army Painter Uniform Grey perfect), then drybrush (almost overbrush) with a bright white. OR Skip black just like Jayson said, prime mid-grey (not to light) drybrush white.

[@МихаилСтрогов-ш4ж]

@@sethpeterson8261 Yep. Pure black white too agressive, looks dirty.

[@justinc8791]

Just stripped some minis specifically to base them in dark Grey instead of black. Nothing new under the sun I see!

[@offthebooksmusic]

yeah the standard slap chop method is great if you like dark/faded and less vibrant minis. i'm a big fan of that look so i mostly do that. but if i want a more vibrant mini, i'll prime with grey and dry brush with white.

[@DoctorDominoh]

​@@justinc8791I'll try thanks was using black pri'me white zenithal but the contrast zqs sometimes making some weird black spots especially with light color as contrast ( 6:54

[@nikolasalexiou2837]

One of the big reasons I like the look of the slapchop method is that it has a grim look to it. Reminds me of the art style from the video game Darkest Dungeon.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Yes! I remember the game :D and yeah it adds a grungy, grimey feel to it doesn’t it!

[@GREW50ME_Gaming]

Ah, yes, the terrible RNG simulator with good art.

[@chaosincarna]

@@GREW50ME_Gaming Most games like this are RNG to nearly the same degree if not more. You might as well say that about the entire genre. Matter of fact lots of rpg or dungeon crawl games are built on a massive level of RNG. The more I think about your point the more I realize how little thought you put in to it.

[@johnfett1177]

I think it would work well for the Dark Souls board game or Bloodborne board game

[@absolutelydegenerate1900]

Did you know they made a board game with it? I think the minis got slapchop style painting so they looked like it.

[@sweatilaa5325]

more white and grey is generally a good rule, leaving too much black naturally creates a darker mini. I prefer a darker mini (not too dark though), they feel more normal too look at compared to the brighter and more colorful ones. Underpainting is a pretty nice technique and can be used in a wide variety of colors, either as a guide or as a way to make color shift tones. I first heard about it from the historical miniatures, and vehicle kit enjoyers as a way to get shadows, base tone, and highlights from just one color (regular acrylics) either as a guide for further painting or if you just want to finish some figures. It of course works great with inks as well. And I can recommend giving it a go with other colors to help change the tone of what you put on top. Using black, grey, and white is just one way of doing it :) lets say you a light grey , near white, and a very light flesh color before you slap on some "skin" colored contrast or speedpaints, then you get a more readable skin with more believable highlights in my experience. some people who know art more probably have some sweet color combinations to share :)

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Thanks for the comment man. Sound advice and tips

[@sweatilaa5325]

@@WatchItPaintIt i am by no means an art knower, there are way more competent people than me :) but about the topic of the video, the "slap chop" method is pretty good for getting people who don't really like painting and think they suck at it to actually get the motivation to paint since they see that they can reasonably get pretty good tabletop results without too much effort, like your last mini who ever that was.

[@SNDKNG]

i like a dark, desat red-brown underpaint for skin. then i add some high yellow-pink highlights, add speedpaint over the top to blend. looks great

[@HammerFang]

for me the best is slapchop with grrey midtone and added additional delicate highlight with normal brush after apllying colors

[@RyanPMcGowan]

Slapchop is a step in the painting process. It's an old technique revitalized with new technology. Not all models are good to use with the technique and you really need to push it in order to get the contrast right. Honestly, only the underside of the model should be black.

[@napalmmachete]

I'm sure I've said it before, but I've used a slapchop type technique with purple and pale sand to make the contrast paints pop so much more

[@WatchItPaintIt]

I’ve got purple primer :O will have to try this out

[@jherazob]

I think the ultimate discovery in a few months from all the "slapchop" enthusiasts will be that it doesn't need to be black-grey-white, but that you can use other colors to suit your color scheme better That said, replacing the default with purple-palesand-white sounds interesting, definitely worth a try

[@cestaind]

@@jherazob I believe Ninjon did a video where he used different colors as the primer and highlights

[@jherazob]

@@cestaind Then i'm the one who's behind the times :P

[@dlh567]

I'm doing similar to this now, but did purple primer, white rattle can zenithal, purple toner wash in recesses, dry brush white. I didn't consider using an off white though, which is interesting. I think I would need a grey or off white zenithal for that to work, though. 🤔

[@doctordoubledakka3939]

When underpainting models with a lot of brighter colors you gotta swap the black to a dark-grey, u can ever try colors like brown under red or purple under blue. Also the second color can be zenithal sprayed either airbrush or rattle can. Only the white needs to be drybrushed. For zombies like you painted in this video, I recommend brown and a bone zenithal, with an aggressively-bright white

[@DaronSchmit]

100% agree with you It's very easy for transparent paints to get way to dark when applied over a very dark base coat. Base coating with a fun shadow color or other hue you want to shine through is a great strategy. Then dry brush with a color consistent with the theme of the minis and you're off to the miniature painting races

[@pedrobento2429]

Your last experiment looks really great. I believe that's the idea of slap chop and how it should look at the end. By using coats of dry brush you are actually providing color variance which will be reflected on the speed paint that you apply on top. Personally I prefer this output rather than primer+speed paint alone

[@curtcleancut]

I'm just getting back into the hobby and so far slap chop has been hugely hepful for me as a tool to identify model highlight and recess areas. I struggle with feathering and other techniques, so the speedpaints are a boon. The only issue I have with speedpaints is the occasional reactivation (which doesn't occur is I use a blow dryer) and knowing which color combinations work best with each other.

[@stevensmith909]

I like both for different reasons. I think it comes down to the color of paints used and the look going for. It is a great way for new painters to get started..

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Ooooh. Hadn’t thought of that! It’s a very good point brand new paints could do this really easily and get pretty epic results. The method definitely looks kinda fancy pants. Whether you like it or not it’s like “woah, that’s interesting”

[@velveteenv76]

Not really, learning the fast way without the basic people are never going to improve. I learned how to drive automatic and avoid all stick shift cards because it seems too complicated for an example. Most people sadly are lazy.

[@cfd1052]

@@velveteenv76 i don't agree, mate. Its like needing to take 2+ years of musical theory for just playing basic chords on a guitar. First you learn the basics unti it looks good enough, and if you like this part of the hobby, then you take more advance classes, youtbe videos, etc

[@torros1839]

Slapchop a new name for a process that was being used 20+ years ago with inks

[@thatFellowTraveler]

Something I'd recommend trying is the "slap chop" starting with a dark grey. Black tends to be a little too dark for contrast paints but a dark gret up to a titanium white gives a nice bit monochrome starting point for contrast paints.

[@SquareViking]

Slapchop, like a lot of other painters have said in their videos, is for pushing out a decent looking army in a low amount of time, or pushing out canon-fodder that you don't care all that much about. I think Ninjon went in and highlighted his mini after slapchopping it, and Jazza made an absolutely amazing mini with just the new Xpress range from Vallejo. I think it greatly depends on how you use it, which type of contrast paint you use and how much work you want to put into your mini afterwards. A lot of the issues I had starting out (I'm still an absolute trash painter btw) was flat surfaces, but minis with a lot of details let me save a lot of time when putting together an army from 0.

[@robpaintsminiatures]

I love the slap chop method and I find it does add a bit more time to prep but the end result is just so much better and less highlighting and edging to do. Some of my recent videos I use this method and I love it.

[@8BitLife69]

Don't use black. Easy Peasy. I use dark color values of colors that will contrast or compliment the paint job. Dark blue, Dark red, Dark purple. It gives your completed piece less of a cartoony look. Over brush with a medium grey, white, or a lighter hue of the shadow color as the top highlight, and only use it on the top of the model, face, places of extreme highlight and focus.

[@ScyberDruid]

I've gotten good results priming in white, washing in black and then drybrushing in white again before applying speedpaints. I've also done black prime with only white drybrush then apply speedpaints and go back and highlight with acrylics as normal.

[@GettinJiggly]

Something I tried was instead of using black, I did a red/brown for a more flesh and earthy tone, might work better here. One other thing is to use grey base, with a light grey highlight or zenithal and to use white high highlight.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Oooh. I’m a fan of these suggestions. I know what I’m doing tonight! Thanks man

[@colig54]

@@WatchItPaintIt i tried with purple, had to paint them white to be able to see the speedpaint

[@printandplaygamer7134]

For me, your final attempt (a Krampus?) really evokes Maurice Sendak's art for *Where the Wild Things Are.* That book, and especially Sendak's shaded ink drawings tinted with simple, solid colors, were a hugely important early exposure to fantasy for me as a child. It's also just a bit evocative of Blanchitsu style minis. I find this MUCH more appealing than the technicolor, bubblegum look of Contrast or Speedpaints over a simple white prime. I'd be thrilled to field a Beasts of Chaos warband painted in the style of your Krampus.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Ooooh, i like that warband suggestion! I think it would look awesome, nice suggestion!

[@Sarados1980]

What I realized with the Speedpaints is that most times it looks much better if you use a mid-grey to bright white with the zenithal highlight (instead of the usual black to white), also instead of drybrushing the last bright white layer I paint it manually on edges and places which should be bright.

[@Arisilde]

The grey you picked was a bit too dark, as well as too little coverage on the first mini which you touched on with the next one. It also has a lot of blue to it, so that also darkens the paint on top of it. You can use different greys or even off whites to compliment the color scheme you're going for better. I recently did a set of Frostgrave cultists with a yellowish bone color as my mid tone and bright white for my highlight to good effect. It's helping to make them look more dingy than comic. Some people also don't use a stark black as their base, but a somewhat lighter mixed color that better compliments the color scheme. This is an option if you want less of the stark contrast, and less of a comic book look.

[@julienjuanes]

I tried to paint few minis with SP and I can conclude that the color of base coat is very important regarding you want to do. The dry-brushing is very important as well. On my first attempt I made only one layer of white DB on the black base coat. Consequently the recesses are too dark. Afterwards I added a grey DB avoiding to keep too much recess in deep black, and on the top of that I finished with white DB. I'll try to add a second layer of DB in white to get more light in some areas.

[@JohnCarr]

Others have already noted that you want to get the highlights really light, but I have another suggestion - start from a spray gray at about the tone of your first drybrush layer in the video. Using all AP, I've like the look of spray priming uniform gray, first layer of drybrush spaceship hull (light gray), then straight white. It really helps the speedpaints show up as an even wider gradient without ever getting the over dark stylized recesses.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Thanks for this advice. I’m going to go try out some uniform grey spray! Very interested in how that might look. Plus I have loads of it:D

[@GeneJordan]

I'm going to try this, out. I had mentioned skipping the gray step and going from black to white in a previous comment, but skipping the black and starting with a dark gray primer would create a more subtle final outcome. Thanks for that suggestion because I would never have thought to try it.

[@pdubb9754]

The slap chop is more forgiving of my declining vision. I like a grimy look but that first one is maybe a little too grimy. Definitely preferred the later results where you used a lighter grey and got more white on the model. Dana Howl's approach in which she used white primer and a quickshade under the speedpaints was pretty nice, too.

[@borvinlume7580]

I had the same issues when underpainting/slapchop'in for the first time. It was just too dark. What i figured experimenting: Spray Priming black before basing in a very steep angle from below. As much from straight down as possible. Then use grey primer in the horizontal angle. Drybrush with white. If you don't care too much for the zenital light just prime gray, use thinned down black wash to get the black recesses that forgive colour bleeding and then white drybrush. Also white edge highlights on 90°+ edges if painting models that should get more attention. Next off i will try Dana Howls pale-chop on some models that are allready primed white from years ago. This video strengthened my resolve to do so, so thanks!

[@ScytheNoire]

When dry brushing, you want to use a solid surface, not a porous surface like a paper towel. That will suck out all the water, but you want a slight dampness on the brush to prevent it looking chalky. Artis Opus has great videos on this, as do others. A piece of glass or tile works great, as you can easily clean it when it becomes too crusty.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Oooh nice. Thanks! You mean for wiping off the paint from the brush? I often just use my hand :D am I porous?

[@ScytheNoire]

@@WatchItPaintIt Ya, when wiping off. Humans are porous, but not as much as a paper towel, which wicks away the water. Calling it dry brushing is a bit misleading, it's more like minimally moist brushing. :)

[@messaroundhandleit]

That last example is what I did from the start, from seeing what most people were doing. I didn't add any grey, went straight for a non pure white for the grey, then added white for the higher points, cause from the videos I've seen the models just looked far too dark. I really like just using black with the dry brush of whites as is, but I try and go with the old school rule of 3 or more paints.

[@sunniedunbar6889]

I mean, I’m still gonna find myself painting a (single) marine for 4 to 6hrs, but slap chop’s been great for getting the work I find tedious, done, so I can focus on the fun part detailing.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Base costing has always been the bit I find most fun :-D but I’m glad you get to the bit you enjoy faster!!!

[@sunniedunbar6889]

@@WatchItPaintIt I like the last parts because that’s where you can build a narrative.

[@jamesteal8253]

Than for this "tutorial"... Glad you stuck with it and kept trying to get it to work. The final result was worth it!

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Thanks man, yeah bit less tutorial, more like don’t worry if you gotta practice and things are hard - I mess up loads too :-D

[@FurFoxMcCloud]

I like your Slap Chopped Miniatures much better than just the speedpainted ones. I use a modified version of soap chop for years now. Zenithal Prime into Nuln oil wash into light grey dry brush all around and then white drybrush from above.

[@t-shirtedhistorian]

I was using Slap Chop long before it became a thing. I actually did it on my own, when I ran out of spray white for zenithal highlighting. Effectively that is all the Slap chop is: zenithal highlighting by using a drybrush. I've gotten great results out of it, and while it's not as fast as using a speedpaint, I like the more dramatic contrasts in dark and light. So if you asked my preference: Slap Chop. It's not the absolute best technique, actual sprayed zenithal has a better gradient transition with the tones, and still gets that dramatic effect in contrast.

[@ronkhoo]

Try using dark grey primer like Vallejo Panzer Grey instead so the darkest areas are not pure black. This pulls down the contrast, allows a hint of speedpaint colour to appear in the shadows and generally blends better with the overall look.

[@raeishimura]

Personally, I use a slap chop method on large mobs of enemies for things like D&D and solo games like Space Station Zero and Five Parsecs from Home. Models that you're likely only to use for one or two sessions a month that don't actually HAVE to look really good. For example, do you REALLY need 10 Kobolds that will only be used during the start of your D&D campaign while the party is level one to be given your best, show quality paint job? probably not. And if you've got a DM who doesn't tell you what they need until, for example, the last day before scheduled games, then getting a large number of models in a short time is a nightmare. it's a solid method for getting good looking models in a short time that, while it might not come out looking as good as other methods, it still gets the job done where you have a good looking model in a short period of time. The method has been a lifesaver for me in those situations.

[@cybertrophic]

Your main issue is that slapchop requires you to take the highlights a lot further, so a light grey and a white dry brush and then a solid white edge highlight, then it works. It works far better as a bulk painting technique compared to trying to layer and blend. Practice makes perfect, but I think you get a better result overall than straight speed paint, without the need to then go back and add brighter colours to make features pop.

[@DarkLolification]

Yeah I used this technique just with drybrush, and maybe my white is not white enough , but I didn't like the speed paint colors after that, I could barely manage to see the original colour ! So what I do now is a zenithal from above with a spray can, and I also add white on specific part where I want to see the colours. I do some preemptive highlights. Works for me now.

[@BalooSJ]

I've had some fair amount of success using a similar air-brush method, but starting from a medium grey instead (so first medium grey, then a spray of light gray from an angle, and finally white from above or wherever the light source is). This still gives a varied degree of shading, but doesn't have that black in the recesses that won't take any color at all. I will say though, that the regular slap-chop look reminds me a lot of the art of Gary Chalk, best known for the art in the Lone Wolf game books and the OG Talisman board game.

[@FreshCoatKustoms]

A lighter grey or even 2 tones, applied with a spray can from above over a black primer and then a slight but bright white by hand with a nice drybrush does the job perfectly for me. Both with AP and Vallejo Speed/Express. You then just have to adjust your paint choice to the brightness of the primer and the results will be fine.

[@MrMisterthesnake87]

a couple other tricks I've found with "slap chop" are for "comic book style" you can skip the mid tone and overpaint white over the black like you would the grey, or if you want to do like your final product but have it pop a little more, instead of priming black you can prime medium to dark grey, midtone light grey, then highlight white.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Thanks for these tips. I will try them out!! Might make a video on all the tips everyone has provided next

[@EdAllen]

I often go in between by doing a white prime, a wash of black, Payne's gray, or brown, maybe a bit of white drybrush, and then the speed painting.

[@cronykil74]

If you took your bright speed painted mini and covered it in a heavy oil wash (I mean really heavy), left it to dry for a few hours and then came back in and used cotton buds, you could remove most of the oil from the mini, and still benefit from the dark recesses and would keep the bright colours as well. The added benefit would be the oils staining the mini and changing the colours slightly as well

[@IamGruntonHGH]

I also have been using a few different colors as well based on the color and material. Adding more of a traditional underpaint.

[@bwheatgw]

I came up with this method on my own "accidentally" as a way to paint the Bloodborne game. I love it there. I wouldn't use it on every game, but for any "grimdark" themed game it's pretty dang good!

[@bwheatgw]

Also obviously the Dark Souls game.

[@tristanspahr6164]

So the difference for you was 6 minutes. How much extra shading or smoothing could you add in 6 minutes? Also I thought contrast style paints flowed better over gloss finishes. So when you drybrush on matte paints, it might be helping the contrast style paint self locate for those crisper edge lines.

[@jherazob]

That black and white value sketch alone would be great for the zombies, yes, just add red glowing eyes and they'll be complete, perfect scary horde of monsters :D

[@WatchItPaintIt]

I want to find time to paint an entire Zombicide game like that now :$ 24 hour challenge!

[@jherazob]

[Shia LaBeouf DO IT intensifies]

[@PenguinLabsCaleb]

In bulk I like to prime grey and then do a black wash with white dry brushing, instead of priming black and doing gray and white on top of it. The washes obviously lend a longer drying time, but if you're doing 10+ models at a time, theyll dry as you go

[@chaoskarlos3980]

Ok. so my slap cop tries looked waaaaayy different. I think you´ll need to go a little bit heavyer with the dry brush. i also started some minis from grey (mechanicus standart) and drybrushed on that. it finished not that dark and muted

[@StackingLimit]

Agreed, The grey was too dark. I also prefer the GW contrast paints and the slap chop method,

[@drhapi5308]

Grey should be a zenithal from a spray can or airbrush then only dry brush step is white. Keeps the black on the bottom parts and let’s the colors shine through better while still utilizing the contrast pooling of speed paints.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Yeah got to up the brightness on my dry brushing. I’ll keep trying!

[@kurukblackflame]

Slap chop is a useful technique-Particularly on very heavily textured things or large things like a big scaly or feathered monster (where highlighting each feather or scale would take a very long time). I've used it a couple of times and I find I like it best in conjunction with other techniques. Eg-I did a Sludgeraker using mostly slapchop but painting the orc rider , small areas of the monster (the tongue and teeth) and the metalic areas in a more tradtional way. This way you save a lot of time but the model has more variety and extra zing with the addition of some more vibrant colours.

[@stephanecotnoir6334]

The last one you made was absolutaly awsome, i simply love the final result

[@Inxx89]

Awesome vid, nice to see the comparisons! What I would love to try is: instead of starting from a black on the slapchop, start from a dark grey - so that the shadows are not pure black that overpowers everything else.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

I’ve definitely got to try this. Not sure how dark my grey primer is but maybe its worth trying any grey primer! I’ll hopefully do-a follow up video with all the awesome suggestions like this

[@christopherkrueger4598]

Technically, the first test wasn’t how the original SlapChop video demonstrated the drybrushing. The final one you did, with light grey drybrush everywhere and white drybrush only on the raised is the original method. Three ways you can easily shift SlapChop into overdrive (from other videos). 1. Primer with a color other than black before SlapChopping. (Artis Opus) 2. Paint with two thin coats or more in places to change up pigment saturation. (Duncan) 3. Combining in various ways with Zenithal. (As you mentioned, Dana Howl) The main thing to remember is, if you are good enough with an airbrush to have your own painting channel - SlapChop for you is just going to be another cool tool. SlapChop is only “Emperor steps off the Golden Throne” level awesome for people without an airbrush who need a whole army painted before the next edition of their game comes out.

[@VileProject]

To me, Slapchop tends to make a gritty looking mini that would be at home in a 40k style rpg, whereas bright white minis tend to make Blizzard-style cartoony minis. Each is good, but at their own thing. The darker zombie in this scenario looks long-dead to me, whereas the lighter one looks like he still might actually be alive; infected by some sort of boily sickness.

[@tammyschilling5362]

I really like it for helping me "see" the details that I want to highlight, especially by using the white only with down strokes.

[@PwndNewbie]

I have done this "Slap Chop" technique for decades, long before anyone put a name to it, or even speed/contrast paints. I love how they look. They are easier for me to see all the details on the miniatures as well.

[@PigeonCrash]

Very interesting point with the black recesses hiding the speedpaint's issue with reactivating and mixing! I was going to recommend that Danna Howl video to you when I saw your first slap chop zombie, but then you brought it up yourself. Your final attempt with that horned troll ended up looking great. There is another variant to these underpainting styles taught by a guy/channel called Marco Frisoni. Simplified, it would be to start with a light gray or off-white like grey seer or wraithbone, then applying shade -not just to the deepest recesses but the undersides of the entire mini before drybrushing white. That way you get the saturated bright colors, but keep the stylistic darker recess shading. He does this in a way lengthier process where he also underpaints things like armor-scratches and stitch marks in cloth with a bright white at this stage, but what I summarised would be how to use it for speedpainting.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Niceee. I’ll check that out! Yeah I thought it was funny Dana released her video just while I was playing with the technique myself to get happier results. I think she has a nice approach into trying to improve her technique so thought I’d just let her video improve on mine :) I was chatting with her a few weeks ago and my awkwardness in the video was inspired by our comedy awkward conversation:-D she’s an inspiration

[@Lucius292]

base coat white then shade the miniature with ink (soft or dark) and then a light drybrush with white. and then colors. looks great.😊

[@athollmcnicoll1028]

Speed paints are by far the most enigmatic finish anyone could ask for but the slap-chop gives a different aspect as if this guy has been dwelling underground and never seen daylight, bit like me as of tomorrow when hibernation starts as Snow begins to drop from the heavens up here in N. East Scotland. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

[@ozskeeter]

I love the darker grungier look obtained by a black primer for many of my painted minis (spent a lot of time on Zombicide abomination variants) ... used a dark primer and heavy handed dry brushing technique before it was ever called "slap chop" (as many of us older painters did). We also experimented with QuickWash type products as dips for shading. Now with a great selection of washes and "speedpaints" we can get a time conserving way of getting a great look over a simple white prime (or grey with white zenithal) if the brighter look is what we are aiming for (I tend to do this for player models and NPCs). I recently played with a large Nolzur's "white" dragon that I actually re-primed with black spray and used white zenithal (spray can white) highlighting and minimum dry brushing before using a lot of different colors (rainbow style) to finish the dragon. Love the end product with the darker tones.

[@EvilBobarino]

i think one of the biggest issues with how slapchop looks is the use of pure black and white which just suck all of the saturation out of the paint would probably work better if you used a prime and highlight colour that actually work with the scheme eg purple prime with an orange highlight for something red

[@diego2112gaming]

See, the funny thing is I was actually talking with some mates recently about how I'd like to prime a model out, then drybrush it for the highlights, and so on. I didn't realize this was a technique already. The fact it's called "Slap Chop" is even better, because seriously. I communicate in memes. And Vince was MEMETASTIC.

[@Jimmothy]

My first attempts at slapchop were definitely too dark for my taste, I had to use Vallejo's Buff and dry brush the highlights after applying Speed Paints to make them pop more. It feels counterintuitive to over drybrush because you're afraid of losing the contrast, but going heavier on grey and white seemed to fix any post-processing steps I needed to take.

[@ramen6124]

finally, we've come full circle, "how much faster is it to use speedpaints as speedpaints?"

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Hahahaha :D

[@patrickbarrett7536]

I've only recently got back into the hobby after a 20+ year break, I much prefer darker figures, but this seems like a great way of brightening them up a touch; as the man said a great little extra tool to have...

[@TheMariusDarkwolf]

Slap chop looks like a different way to achieve something like a Zenithal prime. Maybe a bit slower, but without the need of either a second rattlecan or airbrush, but depending on relative skill levels, perhaps better coverage. I just got some 'Thropes in for my 'Nids, and I might try this as a comparison to my (rather poor) zenithal priming

[@SimonNeilScott]

Personally, as someone who is new to painting minis, both warhammer and dnd, I've been using 'slap chop' (or 'zenithal' as some seem to call it) and generally speaking I've had good results. I use speed paints on the DND minis and Citadel contrast on the warhammer minis. But I have found, you need to get the 'slap chop' foundation correct. Any part of the model which is black or doesn't have enough grey covering it, will come out VERY dark or near black regardless of the colour you use. But if you get the 'slap chop' covering right, the models come out great. I personally tend to build a set of models first, cover them all in 'slap cop' take a breather and come back a few days later and paint. But i'm certainly not an expert, but there is examples of may painting on my social media.

[@wolvermonkey]

Only tried slop chop once so far but was pleased with my results. Although I used a sand color and then white instead of the grey and white method. The straight speed paint/contrast paint looks to bright and clean to me personally.

[@Turtlesism]

Also while this is undoubtedly slap chop heresy, I prefer to start from a grey primer -> white drybrush for highlighting and then go from there. I find it avoids getting that grimdark zombie look you got that first time, while still applying an automatic sort of edge highlight to the miniature. This technique is how I am painting my Slaves to Darkness army.

[@rons5438]

I use an airbrush for the black and grey layers, which speeds up the painting yet slows down the cleanup process and of course you have to have the air brush. But it makes the grey much more prevalent. And if I am doing a light colored model I really bring up the highlights with white but still leave the black and grey in the recesses, just like you did in the last model...

[@giulioscognamillo7669]

Such a great and honest video! I think not all minis are suitable for slapchop, but it's the only way I can use contrast/speedpaint with satisfaction. It's just a starting point, it helps me to see where to add highlights and other shade details that normally I wouldn't see because I'm not such a good painter. The final look surely it's darker or grimier so I have to pick carefully which miniature is good for this method. Probably this would be a good starting point for a "cell shading" effect, who knows.. For sure I would not waste much extra time for slapchop priming for a 20+ army of identical models, even with the airbrush.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Glad you liked the video. Always very nervous releasing a video where I basically mess up for 15 minutes :D but I also want to show the honest side of things. I’m just a dude painting his little dudes so his game looks better and we all gotta learn and practice! Happy painting!!

[@simonhughes2902]

I never considered mixing my speed paints till you said it, don't know why cus it seems obvious now but ill defiantly try that crusader skin paladin bone mix

[@WatchItPaintIt]

That’s good to hear actually. I’ve been making a quick little video just about me mixing colours but I keep thinking surely this is just going to be people saying “well duh!” But I also forgot you can just make your own colours til recently :-D

[@antongunther3977]

try using the most white grey you can if you are going with speed paints. I find that using spaceship exterior is the best. You can also play around with the shadow color. Instead of black try starting with a dark grey or purple/blue. That should brighten up the mini a ton and add a more interesting color variation.

[@Machinationstudio]

I really like how the green aquatic monster turned out. As well as your final light grey to white, version. Definitely going to look at this for large monsters.

[@DoctorDominoh]

Do you use contrast paint in this vidéo ? I have issue to phave a clean result with contrast paint. I spraycan black chaos for the prime, whiye scar in.a spray can for yhe zenital (quiete a lot/ then ultramarine blue but i have some black spot and général dirtyness, and when im extra careful it looks too much unreal and uniform for so'e reason. Thanks for your attentkon and the videos!

[@JZStudios2]

I like the last model the best because it oddly gives it a fairy tale look, which fits the troll, and I love the first zombie just with the black and white because it did remind me of Night of the Living Dead a lot-so yeah the style works the best when it's just black, greys and white to be it. But I'm not over the moon for it, because it kinda feels like I did it before everyone was over it-without knowing. I used it to paint my Dark Souls pieces, and even then there I skipped the grey and began to dry brush the colors on top of the black and built up to the bright colors with having the black in there for the shadows. For me, it's a very specific look-especially when you truly want to make things look either grimmer or darker but it's not the once shoe fits all solution. Good technique but overhyped to be the great time saver.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Hahah. I hadn’t noticed that. You’re right it does kind of look old school/dark monster fairly take! You’re right. I loved it in black and white and I think I might paint my Night of the living dead Zombicide just like this! Yeah it’s getting crazy hyped at the moment isn’t it. Love the idea it’s bringing more and new painters to our hobby though! Although at the expense of the more experienced painters being like “wtf I’ve done this for years”

[@IcarusGames]

My big problem with the regular slap chop method is starting from black and white. Because of the nature of transparent paint, your end result it going to be much more desaturated and a lot darker. I've yet to try this myself (waiting on some colored primer sprays) but I want to try a color primer, followed by an off-white zenithal, and then a white drybrush to see if the end result gives strong contrast, but keeps the color saturation and vibrancy that you lose in the B&W approach.

[@mogwaiman6048]

For warm colors you can base with a red brown, then apply an ivory and white.

[@Khobai]

slap chop never claimed to not look like crap. its more about getting a minimally painted army on the table as fast as possible.

[@jgodwin17]

Personally I think slapchop has a time and place. I think it works great for the more "grimdark" 40k factions (Inquisition, Chaos etc...). I painted up my Traitor Guard Kill Team with it and I think they look fantastic. I also found the same thing you did, that the heavier the dry brushing the lighter the finished mini looks. That said I wouldn't use Slapchop to paint my Battletech or Blood Bowl stuff. I do think it looks a lot better than just speedpaints over white primer though....I think unless you are painting something very "cartoony" in appearance....Marvel Superheroes come to mind, the minis just look too bright for my taste.

[@HermieMunster]

I’ve been using greychop variation happy with the results not to dark. I like the way the dry brushing picks out the details, certainly helps my ageing eyes!

[@blackdicegamingltd]

Fantastic video! I like both, and I really think it depends on the models your working on and the overall effect you want. Thanks for showing this comparison.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Thanks for leaving a comment! Happy painting

[@MrJadeskies]

The intention of slap chop is not that it is high art, it is intended for people who are not master painters but still want to have a painted army that looks decent.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

But wouldn’t a contrast/speed painted army look decent without the slapchop part?

[@TheLunatiched]

@@WatchItPaintIt I don't like the look of speedpaints on their own. I've always liked the grisaille style on miniatures and it seemed a near perfect fit for contrast/speedpaints.

[@echodelta2426]

great review. for a noob like me, I prefer the straight up speed paint (what Dana called zero chop) vs the slap chop. the colors stand out more, although your last attempt turned out rather well. Congrats on making it as part of the Army Painter development team.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

I think I'll mostly stick to zero chop too, but I think this slapchop can be really interesting, I can imagine doing a whole game in this style just for effect. Thank you! I hope we can contribute and make speed paints even better!

[@EliteC64]

I've only just got into it myself. My Undead or Alive arrived yesterday and my new set of speedpaints mega set along with AP black primer spray. Liked the results from all the videos Ive got and fed up with Sooo many minis stacking up I have. What I have noticed though is skin tones seem to be alot darker with slap chop I'll probably drybrush a bit lighter to compensate as I cover it all with a tin of AP stong tone after then Matt varnish anyway. Might also try acrylics for skin after grey/white drybrushing then add speedpaints over that e.g. Red then skin colour speedpaint.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

I’m well tempted to attempt a 24 entire Zombicide game paint challenge with this technique!

[@EliteC64]

@@WatchItPaintIt I'll be interested in seeing that, might encourage me to attempt to start on my MASSIVE, Massive Darkness 2 all in kickstarter 😅

[@Gamer-Drek]

I personally found that I don’t care for working in light flesh tones with the slop chop method. I usually use regular paints and washes for the skin tones. Darker skin or unearthly colors are a different matter and they perform a little better. That’s just my opinion.

[@jwchampagne1]

Honestly I wouldn't wed myself to the idea of a black undercoat or primer. It's definitely too dark for that first zombie. If there's a lot of flesh or if you're painting brown or red-brown horses, I'd go for a brown primer. If you want to generally lighten the figure, I'd start from a dark grey. Dark blue, dark green or purple would also have their place as undercoats. Finally, if you want the very dark recesses without making the whole figure black, you could always prime white/off-white/light grey and then wash black, if your wash formula likes creeping into recesses more than staining surfaces. A black oil wash would be even better, as you could easily wipe it off any raised detail. But that would you to varnish even before applying your regular paints... so not a quick technique, though you could probably approximate some cool early GW effects with it.

[@jklappenbach]

For slapchop, starting from black is just a bad idea -- unless you're going for grim-dark. Otherwise, start with the darkest color you plan to have on your model, and prime with that. Then choose two colors for highlights that build from that base. Also, don't use paper to wipe the excess off your brush. That will remove more medium than pigment, and the remaining pigment will glob together, resulting in a dusty / gunky / grainy look. HTH!

[@ceowulf69]

Add a really soft drybrush with an off white in the end, makes it stand out allot more IMHO

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Do you mean after doing the colour?

[@Magicwillnz]

I prefer bright, clean paint jobs with saturated colors, so I've never liked the "contrast paint" look as there's too much grey. When I use contrast paints, I mostly use them as a kind of wash. I think you can get pretty good quick results from simple layer painting which is what I prefer.

[@markchristy9704]

Both techniques have their place. As you point out, it's another tool in the tool belt for mini painters. In this case, I think the brighter version works better for me. There are plenty of variations to the slap chop style that would add to this particular piece or other, organic minis like these zombies. For example, instead of black and grey, you could start with a dark brown prime and drybrush with a light beige to give the final product a warmer tone overall. You could also either go brighter or heavier with the final drybrush layer to get more contrast in the end.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

You’re absolutely spot on. I’ve played a lot with it over the last year and different colours and extremes make for really interesting results. Thought this video was nice for others just trying out the technique. My results were far from optimum, even now I could do better! But a lot of people will benefit from seeing my mistakes :-) thanks for the great tips

[@Crits-Crafts]

Im a beginner painter and last week i used slapchop with a few extra steps and won a competition for my mini army. its a good starting technique. But one im hoping to build on moving forward

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Oh my goodness. That’s fantastic! Really well done. I’ve definitely built on mine since making this video. And it’s definitely a technique you can get better and better at!

[@gameswithtoasty3246]

I much prefer the slapchop version. I think a brighter skin tone would have helped define the skin more. I’ve found brighter speed and contrast paints work really well with slap chop, where a darker or less vibrant colour tends to get lost.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

What colour do you use for skin tones with slapchop?

[@nickthebeardedwonder]

For me slapchop wins. As a traditional portrait artist, a key skill is colour theory abd unity. Base painting is the key to this and it's the same principle here. Looks so much morw unified at the end.

[@6Stevo]

Really really good video! Found this really helpful. This is a technique I am planning to employ on some of my miniatures. Subbed.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Glad it helped! Thank you for the sun! What would you like to see next?

[@nickdavis5420]

I mean slap chop gives you a more comic kinda thing . With super dark shadows.

[@eyaldiskin3665]

I like starting with a colored primer (red, green, blue, purple, brown) and drybrushing lighter colors (white, grey, ice yellow, etc) and after that speed paints. makes the shadows more interesting and overall making the colors work together better

[@WatchItPaintIt]

This is a really interesting take. I have so many coloured primers. I need to try your ideas out!

[@TCJosh78]

Tried Slapchop myself on some minis, as someone who went from the matt white to speed paint, the slapchop method just didn't do it for me, may work if I wanted a more dark creature for that ambience, but for Zombicide 2nd edition, I prefer the brigher colors myself. Maybe a grimier game with more of a dark feel may sit to the Slap Chop method for me... but could be my application, hard to say. It's been fun trying it out though.

[@dlh567]

It would have been nice to see a rattle can zenithal for comparison. Dana Howl didn't try a rattle can zenithal either.

[@WatchItPaintIt]

I’ll add that to my things to try! Thanks

[@dlh567]

I should mention that I know it works because I do it, but the reason I ask is two fold: 1) it's more accessible than an air brush zenithal. Even for me who has an airbrush, I don't have a permanent setup for it, and it's so much quicker to just trailer can prime most of the time so it would be good to share this approach for underpainting. 2) Even though I use this, I haven't had the discipline to take a scientific approach to it, I have limited painting time so I just see it's good enough and move on, but maybe I'll see that over brushed highlights are much better and switch, for example. Also, I'm trying spray can zenithal, followed by a wash, followed by a white dry brush as a lazy version of Dana Howl's underpainting technique and that may be my compromise going forward.

[@richardwales9674]

The other option would be experimenting with different base colours before painting. Maybe brown and bringing that up with two highlights to get a warmer final result, avoiding white. As you're effectively glasing over the primecoat and dry brushes they will ultimately effect the final outcome. Might mean a bit more colour theory as background knowledge but you could show people the results same as this video.

[@terrain4print]

No technique or tool is a magic wand that you wave over your miniatures to get perfect result. You have to tune in how much you brighten the models with drybrush. And you have to learn what contrast/speedpaints give what results, get to know them. The last mini you painted looks very good (for the time invested). Slap chop has two advantages to me. The contrast paint flows oh so easy. I take it directly from the pot and it is very easy (and fast) to control. The second is that the dark shadows hide all mistakes that happen with such a flowing paint. All in all I have painted so much over the last month. I really like it for painting armies. I also do a bit of touch up, such as giving weapons light silver highlights.

[@gregmccormack5709]

I really like both styles. A happy medium might be dark grey primer from below light grey from above and a quick bright white zenithal or slapchop coat followed by the speedpaint. As you point out though it depends on what time you want to spend and the look you want. Great video.

[@yoshi-the-great]

Great video. That model you painted at the end was fantastic, im moving onto another army for my 40K game and was tempted to try this slapchop method out!

[@WatchItPaintIt]

Thanks man! Which army are you doing?

[@Creationweek]

Really curious how mixing slapchop with a zenithal prime before or after would work out. Going to give it a go on my next paint job

[@toxkatz885]

Just stick with a zenithal prime, no dry brush needed , underpainting already done 👍