Warhammer Painting Tips

Warhammer is not only about playing and collecting. Warhammer painting tips page will help you grasp another dimension: after piecing the models together, which is fairly easy, painting them in a unique way. However you will soon grasp the basics and paint well, and soon you will start to paint godly!

Let’s go over Warhammer painting tips essentials: Brushes, Paint Station, & Painting Techniques. Firstly, the brushes. Without these... you won’t get very far :). You should have a broad assortment, but the most important ones are: Standard brush, Find Detail brush, Tank Brush, Base coat brush, and a Dry brush. All of these serve important roles in your paint station. All of Warhammer painting tips regarding brushes are self explanatory:

Basecoat Brush: Used to put a base coat on to your infantry miniatures.

Tank Brush: Only used for models bigger then Monstrous Creatures. Anything smaller, and your life will be a pain.

Standard Brush: Most versatile brush, can paint large and some small things.

Dry Brush: Used to dry brush your models to give them a look as if you highlighted them, or a messy look. To drybrush, take a small amount of paint, wipe excess off in the container, and then try to get 80% of the paint off the brush with a paper towl. (As if you were painting on a paper towel). It takes some time to get the right consistency - too much paint and it will just paint over all of your work, and too little would leave no marks. However a proper dry brush can make a model look fantastic.

Fine Detail Brush: Used to paint the smallest of things. Eyes, guns, etc.

Warhammer painting tips: The Paint Station:

This is one of my special Warhammer painting tips. Your paint station should be a well lit and ventilated area; sometimes the fumes can get the better of you. It should have all of your brushes, paints, glues, water, and flocks at hand, and you should consider a paint pallet. If you are cheap like me, you can always improvise by using those small bags that Games Workshop gives you when you buy small things, they are great as they do not absorb the paint and are free. It should be relatively neat as well, you do not want to paint on a 3 meter high pile junk, would you?

Now let’s jump right in, and start sharing my Warhammer painting tips. First thing first, make sure you have everything, such as a water canister, pallet, paints, etc. If you do, let’s get started. The first thing you must learn is to THIN YOUR PAINTS!!! If you do not, it will cover up all of that fine detail on your model. You do not want it too thin, either, as it will take you days to finish one model. It is generally better to put many lighter coats then one heavy coat.

Before you star painting, you should pull up some test models to help you decide upon your color scheme. There is no “one” color scheme, so this is your chance to be creative. Here comes one of my favorite Warhammer painting tips: unleash your creativity! Don't be afraid - only good things can happen (or, you can call it 'experience'...)

Warhammer Painting Tips Order of Operation:

1 – Prime

2 – Base Coat

3 – Details

4 – Wash

5 – Highlight

6 – Fine Details

7 – Clean up, bring out lost detail

8 - Basing

Below are detailed all the steps mentioned above, for Warhammer painting tips:

Step one: Priming. It is generally advised to use Chaos Black primer. Not only does it protect your model from chipping all of that hard work, it allows you to paint more smoothly and easily. You should put on a thin layer, leaving the nozzle a foot or so away from the models, spraying them in bursts instead of one long spray.

Step two: Base coating. For your base coat, you want to use your (gasp!) base coat brush. It can cover your entire model quite quickly and neatly.

You should do multiple coats if it ends up dark and hard to see the paint. Just to let you know, the base coat does NOT have to be perfect. It could be messy because you can clean it up later. However it is recommended that you try to keep it clean.

Step three: Details. Details include armor, guns, bling, weapons, etc. So at the end of this stage the entire model is covered in paint. Again you want to thin down your paint, so it wont look gooby. You should be using the standard brush, or if you have one, a detail brush. (not fine detail) You want to make sure that the entire model is covered before proceeding to the wash stage, because it is difficult to paint over the wash, then wash the model again and get the same color.

Step four: Wash. This is an optional stage, however so many people use the washes because they are so amazing. Any army I have painted would look disgusting if not for the washes. This stage is up to you, but if you wash a model, generally you should wash ever part of the model. (Different colored washes may be needed, depending on your scheme. Do NOT thin down the washes, and apply it generously. By generously, I mean stick your brush in there. ;)

Step five: Highlights. (In some cases could be replaced with Drybrushing)This is simply taking a slightly lighter color then the colour underneath it, and carefully highlight the raised areas. (Only carefully paint the higher areas, we wouldn't want to highlight in a crevice now would we? This is probably the most difficult stage, so take your time with it.

Step six: Fine Details. Basically highlighting tiny places such as eyes, teeth, weapons, and even free handing if you are skilled enough. Fine detail brushes are almost mandatory for this, and you generally do not want to thin your paints at this stage; if it is too watery then the paint will flow in places you don't want it to flow.

Step seven: Clean up, bring out lost detail. This essentially means clean up any detail that may have been lost during various stages, say if you messed up. You could avoid this stage if you are a careful painter.

Step eight: Basing. Now this totally depends on what kind of bases you want to have. There are MANY types of bases, and all are personalized to suite your taste. My Tyranids, for example, are all based on a snow theme, and as such, have snow bases. My Lizardmen on the other hand, come from a Jungle, and I am not too sure if you could find Snow in a Jungle. They are based with Sand and grass flock. There are many different ways that these effects can be achieved, however here are some basics.

Warhammer Painting Tips Basics:

- Do not flock the side part of the base. This is best to just be kept a certain color.

- To apply a flock or sand, paint the base of the model with a generous coating of white/PVA glue, and then dip the model in it.

- If you are planning to use sand, this is best applied before you prime the model. You would want to then seal it with a watered down coat of White glue. Two or Three layers ensure a better protective layer. (This is done before the model has been primed).

- Generally, stay away from normal modeling flock - it has an unrealistic effect to it and looks like you are standing on green pebbles.

- If you are planning on using static grass, it will make your model look much better if you base it with sand first, and leave small patches of static grass on.

- Don't forget to paint the sand - A quick dry brush will make it look pretty good. You may want to start with a dark color and then work your way up to lighter colors. The colors you use will vary depending on what type of base you want. If you wanted a dirt base, you would go with browns. If you wanted ash, you would go with grays, and so on.

- If you want to base your base with snow instead, you would want to base differently. Start by getting a CLEAN cup of water. The slightest tint would ruin the snow. Then make sure you have the Snow flock (Baking soda could be used instead) and White glue. I can't really tell you the quantities you would want, but I will get pictures up. You want to pour white glue on a clean part of your pallet, put a small amount of water, and a generous amount of snow flock/baking soda. You want it to be thick enough to clump a small bit, but not too much. Apply it to a painted base (You don't want to paint the sides or base after this) and then dip the base into the container of Snow Flock or Baking soda. Shake the excess.

I really hope that you find useful my Warhammer painting tips. In conclusion, you just have to practice to get a proper painting technique. Now I am not masterclass painter, my models are table-top quality. I just don't have the patience to spend too much time on models. (I'm Tyranids, for crying out loud).

There are more Warhammer painting tips to come! Keep on checking this page!