Vallejo Xpress Color Reverse Layering

 

I did a bit of an experiment here with Vallejo Xpress colors and a freebie model I received from an Etsy supplier of 3d prints that's a bigger surprise for later. Also, the photography is way more saturated than in real life - I'm currently shooting pics with my Google Pixel 6 and it obviously has a thing for yellows and reds without any other colors in the scene.

The point of this experiment was to reverse the layering process with Xpress Color paints (any contrast types paints will behave the same). Normally I paint a miniature with the darkest colors first and one color layers over another with subsequent colors getting lighter until the final highlight. As I noted in my very first attempt, the xpress/contrast paints don't allow one color overlapping another --- or do they?

My thought was they would if you started with the lightest color first and then work towards the darkest - so instead of shadows to highlights the idea would be highlights to shadows.

The model was undercoated in black primer - and then a heavy drybrush of white primer.

Then the model was painted in the Xpress Color Imperial Yellow. I left the top of the head and the ears, neck, face and remainder of the body was painted in Nuclear Yellow. Shoulders downward painted in Martian Orange. Back and chest downwards with Plasma Red. Buttocks to feet with Velvet Red.

As mentioned, the pic is oversaturated, but the model on the tabletop looks like a lot of fun and this technique of reverse layering definitely worked. Also, I could have just done an area with the first color and then blend in the next area with another color instead of doing less and less of the entire model because part of the experiment was to see how a darker Xpress Color overlaps a lighter Xpress Color.