Citadel spreads its greys and blacks across three different ranges rather than keeping them together, which is why a search for "citadel grey" turns up colors with wildly different jobs. Corvus Black is the true black base coat, Eshin Grey and Dark Reaper are cooler mid-tone layer colors used for highlighting and stonework, and Basilicanum Grey is a single-coat contrast paint for fast grey armor and stone.
What is Corvus Black used for
Corvus Black is Citadel's standard true black base paint, the one most painters reach for when a scheme calls for flat black armor, weapon casings, or rubber. It's a base-range color, meant to be applied over primer as a solid foundation coat rather than layered thin, and it's dark enough to serve as the shadow value under almost any other color if you're building up highlights from black.
Eshin Grey versus Dark Reaper, what's the difference
Both are layer-range colors meant for highlighting rather than base coating, but they read differently. Eshin Grey is a cooler, more neutral grey, commonly used for gunmetal buildups, stone, and cloth. Dark Reaper leans slightly toward teal, giving it a cooler, almost slate quality that suits shadowed metal and certain xenos or undead color schemes better than a flatter neutral grey would. Neither is a true base coat; both are meant to go over a darker base as a midtone or highlight step.
What does Basilicanum Grey do differently from a base or layer grey
Basilicanum Grey is a contrast paint, which means it's designed to go on in a single coat over a light undercoat, usually white or grey primer, and do the shading and base coloring work at once rather than requiring separate base, wash, and highlight steps. It's the fastest route to a finished grey stone or armor look, at the cost of the fine control a full base-plus-layer-plus-wash approach gives you.
Is Briar Queen Chill a grey or black paint
Not really, despite showing up in grey-adjacent searches. It's a contrast paint with a cool, pale teal-blue undertone rather than a true grey or black, closer to a ghostly spectral blue than a neutral stone color. It's worth knowing about if you're searching for greys and it keeps coming up, but it isn't a substitute for Corvus Black, Eshin Grey, or Basilicanum Grey if what you actually need is a neutral tone.
Comparison table
| Paint | Range | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Corvus Black | Base | True black foundation coat |
| Eshin Grey | Layer | Neutral grey highlight, gunmetal, stone |
| Dark Reaper | Layer | Cool teal-grey highlight, shadowed metal |
| Basilicanum Grey | Contrast | Single-coat grey armor and stone |
What to buy first
For most new painters, Corvus Black as a base coat and one layer grey to highlight it upward covers the majority of grey and black needs on a model. A starter set that includes both a black base and grey layer options avoids buying single bottles piecemeal: Citadel Colour Essentials set(affiliate link). If you want the fast single-coat route instead, the Citadel Contrast starter set(affiliate link) covers Basilicanum Grey alongside other contrast colors.
FAQ
What is the closest grey wash to darken these down
Nuln Oil is the standard grey-black wash used across almost every scheme that includes these colors, applied over a base coat to deepen recesses before highlighting.
Is Corvus Black the same as Abaddon Black
No. Abaddon Black is a pure, flat black, while Corvus Black is an extremely dark near-black with a faint warmth to it. They sit close enough that a quick glance can miss the difference, but check the specific bottle you own rather than assuming they're identical.
Which grey is best for painting stone bases
Eshin Grey or a similarly neutral layer grey works well over a darker grey or black base for stone, since the cooler, muted tone reads naturally as rock without needing much additional color work.
Can Basilicanum Grey be used as a wash instead of a base coat
Not effectively. Contrast paints are formulated to sit and pool differently than a true wash, and using one purely as a shading wash over an existing finished color tends to give uneven, patchy results compared to a dedicated shade paint.