Warhammer Tone Pro Paints: Colours, Numbered Tones and Our First Impressions

Put a Blood Angels Space Marine on the painting desk and the red armour does most of the talking. It made a fitting first test for our Warhammer Tone Pro paints. Whether you are painting a favourite character or getting the next squad ready for battle, finding paints you enjoy using for that job matters.

Our first encounter with Warhammer Tone Pro involved exactly that sort of test. We received a sample pack at Bomran, painted a Blood Angels Marine and came away extremely impressed. There is plenty to explore in this range, but that miniature is the best place to begin.

A very encouraging Blood Angels recruit

The coverage was the standout. On our Blood Angels Marine, we felt it was far better than the current Warhammer paint range. That is our first impression from the sample paints on one model, and a genuinely enthusiastic one.

Coverage matters when the main colour has so much work to do. On power armour, it sets the stage for everything that follows. If you are painting a squad, it is also a job you will repeat across a small procession of shoulder pads and greaves. A paint you enjoy at that stage can earn its place on the desk very quickly.

Here is the Marine we painted with our samples. It is a good reason to investigate further, especially if there is already a red-armoured project waiting in your own collection.

You can see the colour choices and current availability in our Warhammer Tone Pro paint range. Before choosing pots, though, it helps to understand the numbers.

Warhammer Tone Pro: five tones, a clearer route through the paint rack

Most painters know the moment: the main colour looks right, but choosing the highlight turns into a search through half the paint collection. Something lighter, certainly. How much lighter is the interesting question.

Tone Pro puts a dark-to-light progression together under one family name. Once a colour catches your eye, the neighbouring tones give you somewhere useful to look for shadows and highlights. That makes planning a scheme more approachable, particularly when you are moving beyond your first few miniatures.

The numbers leave room for taste. Tone 3 might make a useful main colour, while Tone 2 could suit a moodier scheme. Start with Tone 4 and you are already looking at something lighter. You decide how much of the model each colour earns.

Read the numbers within their own family. A Tone 3 in one group is not necessarily as light as a Tone 3 elsewhere, and the darkest member of a family need not be black.

Pick the project before the palette

A range this size can encourage some ambitious shopping. Give the miniature in front of you the first vote. Its armour, skin or cloak will usually tell you where to begin; the tiny belt pouches can wait their turn.

For red armour, compare Carmine Blades and Bloodtoof Red. Look at the darker and lighter options as well as the colour you expect to use most. The overall direction matters: those supporting tones help decide how the finished red will read.

Ultramar Blue is an obvious family to explore for blue power armour. For green, Kruleboyz Green, Lustria Green and Kasrkin Green offer different starting points worth comparing for skin or equipment. Necrolith Bone deserves a look for bone and pale details. Blackstone Void takes its family all the way through to white, despite the ominous name.

If you are adding reinforcements to an existing army, put a dried sample beside one of your painted models under the same light. A close-looking screen swatch is a starting point; the comparison on the desk is the one that matters.

Build a small palette with a job to do

A main colour, a darker option and a lighter option make a useful first selection. You might compare Tones 1, 3 and 5 for a broad spread, or choose neighbouring tones for smaller changes. Look at the colours themselves before settling on the numbers.

Try that selection on a spare miniature or test piece. Pay attention to how the paint covers and how easily you can place it, then judge the colour once it is dry. You will have a much better idea of whether another intermediate tone would help.

For anyone preparing their very first model, our beginner’s guide to painting miniatures covers the steps around the paint choice, too.

Shading Medium and Blending Medium: what each does

The accompanying Warhammer Tech Pro mediums solve different painting problems. Choosing between them starts with what you want the paint to do.

Shading Medium reduces pigment density while preserving the paint’s intended flow and finish properties. It lets you turn a Tone Pro colour into a shade or glaze, useful when you want a more transparent application to add depth or adjust the colour underneath.

Blending Medium extends drying time, giving you longer to work colours together. If you want more time to develop a transition, this is the medium to investigate.

Start with a small test mixture and work towards the effect you want. A cloak that needs a gentle colour shift and a recess that needs a deeper shadow are different jobs; give yourself a chance to see the mixture working before committing it to the model.

Make space beside your favourites

Tone Pro is designed for basecoating, layering, highlighting, glazing and drybrushing. Games Workshop describes the formulation as self-levelling and suitable for application straight from the pot. That gives painters several ways to explore a colour beyond its place in a numbered sequence.

Tone Pro is a separate paint system with its own formulation; it is not simply a new label for the existing paints.

You can begin with a few useful additions while keeping the recipes you already enjoy. If the changing names on the paint rack have left you puzzled, our guide to the Citadel paints rebrand explains the wider move to Warhammer Colour.

There are also four Tone Dry brush sizes, from XS to L. If drybrushing features in your plans, browse our paint brushes alongside your colour choices.

A few questions before you choose

Does a family listing include all five paints?

No. Select the numbered tone you want; each selection is one 12ml pot. You can buy the individual colours your project needs.

Do I need to use every tone in order?

No. The sequence helps you choose colours. Use whichever steps suit the look you want, whether that means subtle changes or a bolder jump into the highlights.

Can I try Tone Pro at Bomran?

Yes. We have sample pots for customers to try at 3 Grover Walk, Corringham, SS17 7LU. Contact us to check which samples are available or ask about trying them before your visit.

Give the next miniature a good start

Our Blood Angels Marine has made an encouraging introduction. Now comes the enjoyable part: choosing where the colours could fit into your own collection.

Have a look through the Tone Pro range at Bomran with your next miniature in mind. The whole army can come later. One model is a perfectly good place to start.