Warhammer Paint Guide Pdf

[Maggie Szydlowski]

Paintingyour first Warhammer army can be a big challenge. The number of options and pitfalls are staggering and most never people actually finish the projects they start. This is a beginners guide to painting your first Warhammer army (be it Age of Sigmar or 40k).

Over time I have developed a quick and clean method of finishing models and armies quickly. This is the method I am going to describe here as a step-by-step guide. The painting will be tabletop standard, so do not expect to win any awards. What it will do is get a painted army on the tabletop.

If it all possible, it would be great if you had an experienced painter that could help you along. It will really cut down on how long it will take to learn to paint if you can get some tips while you acutally paint.

Pick a colour for the skin, the cloth, the metal, the bone, the wood and so on. Find a shade/wash paint that you think will work with that colour (Agrax Earthshade for wood and bone, Biel-Tan green for green and so on). I like the shades that Citadel makes, but others are also very good.

The method you will be using to paint your models is primarily via a basecoat and shade/wash, so it is important to pick some colours that will look great when you do not highlight the shaded miniature.

For the example used in this article, I am going with a Bonesplitter Orruk. Seeing as he is predominantly green (and green is easy to paint) that will be one of my colours. Directly opposite very light green on the colour wheel is purple, so that is my complementary colour. Everything else on my test Orruk is neutral colours.

Now go ahead and do a test model with the colours you have picked out. If the result does not satisfy you, change a few colours and do another test model. Repeat the process until you are happy with the colours you have picked for your colour scheme for the army. Remember, you are going to have to paint a lot of models with this so it has to be quick and easy but also look good.

When you are done, write down a recipe of exactly how you are painting your army. This will be a lifesaver if you ever take a long break because you can always come back and pick up where you left of with the project.

You now have your model or unit assembled and ready. It is now time to lay an undercoat of paint on the models. The undercoat (or primer) is necessary because it will make your paint stick much better to the plastic and it will create a more even surface for you when you paint. I strongly recommend only painting on a miniature with undercoat. Painting on bare plastic is just inviting a lot of trouble into your process (paint falling off, thin paint pooling up in areas and generally just a pain in the bum).

Some people swear by grey primer and others do black. Some find that black is easier for beginners because if they miss a spot it is not that visible. I find that is a poor way of painting for a beginner. Some find white hard for beginners because any missed spot will stand out. My thoughts on that are that you should not miss a spot, and even if you do miss something, some shading will cover it right up okay.

So it is time to lay down some paint. The first layer you of paint you put on a miniature is called the basecoat. This is where you decide what colour each part of the model is and apply basecoat of that colour.

Now all parts of your miniatures have basecoat on it and it is time to add some shadows. When you look at the miniature right now, it will look very flat and dull. After we are done shading it, it will look much more lifelike.

A good looking base is one of the things that will make or break how your model and army looks like. Even though the base is really important for the overall look of your miniature, I still suggest that you find a simple way of making some good looking bases.

For all Destruction bases I use Agrellan Earth, dry brush with bleached bone and followed by a lighter toned dry brush. To that, I add a few tufts, some skulls and some homemade mushrooms mode greenstuff.

When you decide on a texture paint to use, think about how that colour will interact will all of the different colours of your miniature. I picked a very neutral looking base, but with red mushrooms to catch the eye from a distance.

This step is skippable, especially if you are going to paint a horde army. That said, doing just a few extra bits can take your the look of your army to the next level. This does not have to lake long, maybe 5 min. extra pr. miniature.

While painting your first few models, you will find things that are working less well for you. You should adjust your process along the way, so the next models and units will become easier and better.

This sounds like the easiest thing to do, but is actually the hardest. Getting those first few units done is the easiest because you are so excited about the project. The hard part is the end stage, once everything becomes boring because you have done it 50 times.

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I have put together a comprehensive guide that covers the hobby of miniature painting, and helps guide those new and interested in the hobby towards resources to get you started. I also have advanced information for veteran painters too.

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Miniatures are small models in various scales used for different things. Commonly most who paint miniatures are doing so for a game they play. Popular games, to name a few, are Warhammer 40K, Age of Sigmar, Infinity, Warmachine and Hordes, and countless more.

Those type of games are considered wargames. A wargame is a miniature game that pits two or more people against one another in a battle. Most often those games involve using dice to determine outcomes of things like shooting, melee combat, etc.

Busts are another form of miniature painting that is becoming more and more popular. Just like a bust from a traditional sculptor, you can find scaled down busts of various things that people enjoy painting just for enjoyment and to showcase.

Along with that is the general principle of shading and highlighting. Miniatures are small, so as painters we tend to exaggerate the shadows and the highlights to make them visible to the eye from a distance.

Glazing is a method where you apply a glaze (translucent, thin paint) over an area to change the tone of the paint. This is very useful for smoothing out color transitions (basic blending), and for just giving more visual interest to something.

By getting into the habit of using this after each time I paint, I have increased the life of my brushes. Not only do my brushes last longer, they stay in peak condition and wear out much more slowly. That of course saves me money.

Like everyone, I used one water pot for cleaning my brushes. I noticed that sometimes I would get metal flakes on non-metal areas I was painting. Also, the finish on the paint would be kind of cloudy and dirty at times.

What makes the paints from gaming companies and miniature companies so much better is that they are higher pigmented paints. The density of color is intense, which means you need less coats of paint to get even coverage.

You can blend with the paints by thinning them using water or a medium. When thinned out, those paints do not break down, unlike craft paints. This means you can get nice coverage with thinned out paints instead of it glooping and pooling like craft paints do.

Proper miniature paints will dry fast. Craft paints can take 10-15 minutes to dry, more if you tried thinning them out. Good acrylic paints for miniatures will dry in like 5 seconds if not thinned out. This means no sitting around waiting on paint to dry.

For many of us, the choice of paint comes down to the ability to buy it. I really like Vallejo paint, however, I have much easier access to Citadel paint. So, most of the paint I use is from Citadel.

So, the paint you go with may be subject to availability to you. Any of those companies mentioned are great choices for miniature paint. Learning to paint with quality paint will make learning much easier.

The other side of it is to give you control over the colors. This lets you paint those elements to compliment the model. Maybe you want a purple rock on the base because it would look cool, but what are the odds of finding a purple rock to use? So, we paint these things to be what we need them to be.

The takeaway here though is to spend a little time on the base of your miniature, whether you create the scene or buy it. Those decorative elements really help set the scene and bring everything to life.

Once your miniature is painted you want to protect it. A sealer, or varnish as some areas refer to it, adds a protective coating over your miniature. It prevents the paint from rubbing off from use, as well as adding a protection should you drop your miniatures.

One day I decided to make my own wet palette. Actually, first I bought one, but it was way too large for my painting desk. So, I had to create one appropriately sized for my desk and miniature painting.

A wet palette keeps paints workable for damn near forever. They do not dry out during a painting session. I can work on something for hours and keep going back to paint I put on there earlier in the day.

By keeping your paints wet, they become much more workable. The moisture of the palette will naturally thin out the paints a bit. This helps you get a nice, smooth coat of paint on your model with no work at all. No more dried paint getting brushed onto the model.

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