In the pot, Celestium Blue reads as a cool blue, dark and moderate. Within the Citadel range it ladders cleanly, Ultramarines Blue for the shadows and Talassar Blue for the highlights. Celestium Blue is a bit distinctive: no other brand carries a strong same-finish match, though The Army Painter Highlord Blue comes nearest at 77 percent. Any substitute is a mixing base rather than a drop-in, so tune it on the model.
Celestium Blue equivalents in other ranges
This is one of the colors that keeps Citadel pots in painters' cases. Across the mapped brands, nothing qualifies as a real equivalent.
Even the nearest color, The Army Painter Highlord Blue, dries slightly more muted and darker than Celestium Blue, so any substitute will change how the scheme reads.
How to read the score
90+Close
80sUsable
<70Mix
The Army Painter
Two Thin Coats
Scale75
Monument Pro Acryl
Humbrol
Tamiya
P3 Paints
Vallejo
Green Stuff World
About this color
Color profile
Highlight and shade ladder
Pairs well with
Try any paint in the scheme toolMatch difficulty
Found in 0 other brands with a same-finish match.
Where painters use it
Frequently asked
What is the closest equivalent to Citadel Celestium Blue?
The closest same-finish match is The Army Painter Highlord Blue at 77% color similarity.
Is Celestium Blue a one-coat paint?
Celestium Blue is a contrast paint, made to basecoat and shade in a single pass over a light primer. One coat drops color into the recesses and leaves the raised areas brighter; a second coat deepens the tone if you want it richer.
What do I highlight and shade Celestium Blue with?
Highlight Celestium Blue toward Talassar Blue and shade it down into Ultramarines Blue, both Citadel paints in the same finish family.