Monument Hobbies has spent years building PRO Acryl into one of the most trusted paint lines in the miniature hobby. The range is known for smooth coverage, strong pigmentation, excellent flow, and a finish that works for both newer painters and experienced hobbyists. Now, Monument is stepping into a different corner of the painting world with PRO Acryl 1-Step, their answer to the growing demand for fast, high-impact miniature painting.

But what exactly are 1-Step paints? Are they just another contrast paint? Are they beginner paints? Are they meant to replace normal acrylics?

Not quite.

PRO Acryl 1-Step paints are designed to give you strong color, built-in depth, and a smoother path to a finished model with fewer layers. They are meant to be fast, flexible, and easy to use without locking you into one specific painting style.

What Are PRO Acryl 1-Step Paints?

At the simplest level, PRO Acryl 1-Step paints are single-layer, high-flow paints designed to create instant color and contrast over a bright base coat. Monument describes them as paints that provide vibrant color in one layer while naturally creating darker tones in recessed areas and brighter tones across raised areas. (Monument Hobbies)

That means they are intended to do some of the visual work that would normally require multiple steps:

Prime the model.

Basecoat the model.

Shade the model.

Maybe clean it back up.

Maybe highlight it.

With 1-Step, the goal is to compress some of that process. You apply the paint over a bright primer, white basecoat, or zenithal undercoat, and the paint gives the model immediate color depth without needing the painter to manually shade every recess.

That makes them especially useful for hobbyists who want models that look good quickly without turning every squad, unit, or army project into a massive time sink.

What Are They Trying to Do?

The point of 1-Step is not to replace traditional painting. It is to give painters another tool.

Monument Hobbies is clearly aiming these paints at the same broad space occupied by contrast-style and speed-paint products, but with the PRO Acryl identity baked in. They describe 1-Step as their answer to traditional speed and contrast paints, with a focus on smoother application, more consistent finish, easy blending, and compatibility with the existing PRO Acryl line. (Monument Hobbies)

That last part matters.

A lot of hobby paint lines create a separation between “normal paints” and “fast paints.” You have your standard acrylics over here, your contrast paints over there, your mediums somewhere else, and they do not always feel like they belong to the same system.

1-Step seems to be Monument’s attempt to make that divide less awkward.

These paints are built to work alongside regular PRO Acryl colors. They can be thinned with water for glazes or filters, mixed with other PRO Acryl paints, and used as part of more advanced techniques rather than only as a beginner shortcut. Monument is also releasing 1-Step Special Sauce, a medium designed to thin 1-Step paints or even help convert standard PRO Acryl colors into a more 1-Step-style behavior. (Monument Hobbies)

So the idea is not just “paint faster.”

The idea is “paint faster, but keep control.”

The Niche 1-Step Is Trying to Fill

The miniature hobby has changed a lot over the last several years. More people are building larger armies, playing more games, and trying to keep up with release schedules that move quickly. At the same time, not everyone wants to spend twenty hours painting a single infantry squad.

That creates a real niche: painters who want better-than-basic results without committing to a full traditional paint process on every model.

That is where 1-Step fits.

It sits between basic basecoat-and-wash painting and more involved display-level painting. It gives newer painters a way to get color, shade, and depth on a model without needing to master layering immediately. It gives army painters a faster method for batch painting infantry, monsters, terrain, and large projects. It gives experienced painters a flexible tool for underpainting, glazing, tinting, filtering, sketching in color, or speeding up early stages.

In other words, 1-Step is not just chasing the “beginner paint” market. It is chasing the “I have a lot of models and limited time” market.

That is a very real part of the hobby.

Who Are 1-Step Paints For?

PRO Acryl 1-Step paints are going to make the most sense for a few types of painters.

They are great for new painters who want good results without learning every traditional technique right away. The paint does a lot of the heavy lifting, especially when used over white or zenithal primer.

They are also ideal for army painters who need to get squads, hordes, and larger projects finished faster. If you are painting dozens of models and want them to look clean on the table without spending forever on each one, this style of paint can save a lot of time.

They should also appeal to experienced painters who already like PRO Acryl and want a more flexible contrast-style tool that works inside that ecosystem. Because 1-Step paints can be thinned, mixed, and used in more advanced ways, they are not limited to simple one-coat applications.

Finally, they are useful for painters who struggle with motivation. Sometimes the hardest part of painting is getting past the ugly early stage. A paint that quickly gets color and depth on the model can make a project feel much less intimidating.

Who Are They Not For?

These paints are not magic, and they are not meant to do everything.

If you want perfectly controlled blends, crisp edge highlights, or display-level precision, you will still need traditional painting techniques. 1-Step can help get you there faster, but it will not replace brush control, layering, glazing, or highlighting.

They also work best over the right undercoat. Like other paints in this category, they are designed for bright primers or zenithal surfaces. If you slap them over a dark primer, you should expect a much darker, less vibrant result.

So while the name is “1-Step,” the prep still matters.

Why This Release Matters

The big deal here is not just that Monument Hobbies made a contrast-style paint. The big deal is that they made one that appears designed to live inside the broader PRO Acryl system instead of feeling like a separate gimmick.

That is the strongest pitch for 1-Step.

For newer painters, it is approachable.

For army painters, it is fast.

For experienced painters, it is flexible.

For existing PRO Acryl users, it fits into a paint line they may already trust.

The hobby does not need every paint to be a display paint. Sometimes you need something that gets models to the table, makes the process smoother, and still leaves room to grow as a painter. That seems to be the real purpose of PRO Acryl 1-Step.

It is not about replacing the way you paint.

It is about giving you a faster road to the part everyone actually wants: finished models on the table.