Paints › Army Painter › Hardened Carapace › vs Dark ShadowHardened Carapace vs Dark Shadow
Brand Army Painter Range Warpaints Legacy Type an opaque base/layer paint Swatch #2c241f (estimate)
Brand Reaper Range Master Series Paints Code 09040 Type an opaque base/layer paint Swatch #33251d (estimate) How close are they?
ΔE 4.2, very close: most people won’t see a difference side by side. Our swatches for the two are almost the same.
Can I use Dark Shadow instead of Hardened Carapace? Yes, for most jobs. Very close match (ΔE 4). The swatches are almost the same.
Can I use Hardened Carapace instead of Dark Shadow? The same difference applies the other way round.
ΔE is the colour difference between our two swatch estimates: under about 6 is close, over about 15 is loose. Real paints also differ in finish, coverage and how they thin, so test before you commit.
See Hardened Carapace on the colour wheel See Dark Shadow on the colour wheel
Other Reaper paints close to Hardened Carapace Other Army Painter paints close to Dark Shadow All matches: Hardened Carapace equivalents · Dark Shadow equivalents
© 2026 AK Tabletop Studio. Swatch colours are estimates and will differ from the real paints; cross-brand matches are close, never exact.
Chart-listed matches come from the Two Thin Coats Paint Comparison Chart 2024, the Army Painter Warpaints Fanatic conversion chart, the AK 3rd Generation Acrylics equivalence table (2021) and the Herrick Games hobby paint comparison chart; the rest are a nearest-colour calculation.
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