Workshop Wednesday: Tone Pro Paint Comes To The Table

Welcome to the table,

Workshop Wednesday is my little slice of the day where I can dive into all sorts of things related to Games Workshop. Today we are talking about the new Tone Pro paints.

Let’s get into it!

Revealed during the Big Autumn Preview, Warhammer Tone Pro is a new range of paints designed to bring really eye-catching color to your minis. The new line of Tone Pro consists of 30 colors, each available in five tones, providing us with 150 new hues to explore. It’s a ton of color to explore, and after talking to Workshop employees, hobbyists, and casual painters, the opinions seem to be glowing, despite some of the rage bait I have seen online.

The core of the Tone Pro is its five-step system. Each color family features five numbered paint pots, running from the darkest, Tone 1, to the lightest, Tone 5.

I dig this because it really makes using the tones super intuitive.

For those new to the hobby, it’s easy to follow the numbers starting with the darker tone and then building up through mid-range to finish with bright highlights. Having a unified family of color, it also makes organizing your paint space easier and shows you how different parts of your mini can be served by the layering of the paints.

More experienced painters I have talked to have said that it’s a solid way to maintain consistency across an army when they are painting large numbers of minis for their various units.

It’s also fun for me, and I’m sure a ton of other hobbyists as well, because new paint to try means an excuse to get cracking on our pile of gray, and let’s face it, we all need to be working on our pile of gray.

After I primed three of my Ultramarines with some Chaos Black, I started working through the layering process with a sponge brush.

What impressed me as I was doing my base coats was that this Tone Pro dries in a way that seems somehow …  magical?

I can glop on paint, and in a matter of minutes to an hour, the paint dries so clean and smooth that it feels like some kind of odd ancient magic is being used to make it do … whatever chemical process it is doing.

I’ve never seen a paint react this way before.

By design, the Tone Pro is not locked into a single role, and I think that is what is so fascinating to me. You can use these for glazing, dry brushing, layering, base coating, and highlighting … and they actually function in each individual space.

There is a Shading Medium as well that thins out the pigment but keeps the flow the same, and a Blending Medium that makes the drying time longer so you can work colors together for transitions, making the way you work on your minis a little more intentional if that is what you are going for.

They also blend well with your older Citadel paints, so you are not having to chuck your paint library out just to make use of these new Tone Pro offerings.

I’m a big fan of Dry Brushing. Having been playing with these paints over the last week or so, mixing and matching with other existing paints, I can report back that this has been a really rewarding experience. The new Tone Pro is a ton of fun to work with.

I have a lot more to do on my Ultramarines, but highlights and Null Oil are next in the process. All things considered, between my own experience and the conversations I have had in person with other painters, both professionals and hobbyists, these are a welcome addition to the table. I can’t wait to play with more.

Until next time, what is the next thing to be painted on your grey pile?