MODELING

Rivets
A water filter contains a lot of very small balls smaller than 1mm in diameter. These can be used to
make rivets. Just drill a small indent where you want the rivet and glue the ball. Measure the
space between rivets with a ruler to ensure they’re equidistant.
Brass strips
Brass strips can be cut from the waste runners of photo etched parts.

AIRBRUSHING

Mistakes over airbrushed parts

Thin layer of Gloss Varnish after the airbrush work, so you can clean any mistakes with airbrush
thinner.
Pressure
If the paint comes out in dots or chalky it means the pressure is too high and the paint dries before
reaching the surface.
Lower the pressure to 15-20 psi.
If already low try to get closer (beware of spider webbing effect). For really watery paint lower
below 15.
For Gloss varnish spray at 10 pts so it doesn’t mist. It should go up “wet” to prevent frosting
effects.
Airbrushing Dilution
Vallejo recommends 1 drop of thinner every 3 of paint.
Vallejo Polyurethane Gloss Varnish
2 coats of varnish in 4-hour intervals. Can be used directly without dilution in a 0.4 needle. Spray
at 30psi.
Gradient Undercoat (or pre-shading)
Prime Black. Then airbrush (or spray-can) white over
the more prominent areas or where you want a
colour gradient. Don’t worry about the transition
being grainy, the basecoat will smooth it out. If you’re
worried about it try with a grey highlight and then
spray white in a smaller area.
Then spray a basic colour onto the black&white
shades, making sure you have a good coverage.
PAINTING
Desaturating/Muting Colours
To mute a color, you can just mix it with any of the
following:
- Black (this will also darken the color);
- White (this will also lighten the color);
- Gray;
- The complement of the color (for example, you can
desaturate blue by mixing it with orange); or.
An earthy color such as raw umber or burnt sienna.

Marble
Prime black-spray scale75 inktense wood-dried old baby
wipe and stretch it to separate the fibers-wrap around the object and spray white in 2-3 layers
(use hairdryer to speed up the process)-remove the wipe.

Marble Base
Smooth base with files-paint black-dab silver with a scrunched up plastic bag-
dab leadbelcher with same method- Apply Tamiya clear coat in the desired
colour.

Marble
Required items
DRY baby/wet wipes
Chosen paint colours
Airbrush

Base the whole area in your darkest colour German grey for me and
make sure it’s fully dry.
Once it is pull and stretch the wipe in different directions.
Lay the wipe over the area trying to keep the “veins” running in the
same direction and then spray your 2nd darkest colour. Here I used neutral grey.
Repeat this step for each colour slightly moving the wet wipe each time to give some variation to
the colour veins.
I wasn’t too worried about the paint drying after each layer or washing out my airbrush each time.
Sometimes the wipe would stick and pull a bit of the paint off but it’s ok as it just reveals slightly
more of the colour underneath.

Once you get the look you’re going for stop.

there really isn’t a right and wrong way to do it as long as you keep the veins running in roughly
the same direction. Marble has such random variations in each piece it doesn’t matter if it’s not
perfect.
Color transfer in dropper bottles
Use a paperclip to avoid spillages.

Cocktail sticks for painting parts

Easy camo on vehicles

Roll sausages of blu-tac and press on hull in stripe pattern. Then spray second Camo color.

Decals
Basecoat area with Gloss Varnish-Cut out decal and soak in water-put Micro Set/Vallejo Decal Fix
then apply decal-remove excess with cotton swab-apply Micro Sol/Vallejo Decal Medium and
leave it for 2 min- remove excess with cotton swab-reapply Micro Sol/Vallejo Decal Medium if
needed-when dry use Satin Varnish to dull down area.

Metallics
Scale75 metallics are really good, especially Bronze/Gold.

Brushes
Before painting wash the brush in some hair conditioner. This makes the paint flow better and
helps keeping the tip.

Weathering
Rub a pencil along the border to make a weathered effect. Different hardness pencils give
different results.
Graphite can also be applied to tracks and barrels with the finger, to give the impression of
polished areas.

Hairspray+sand Weathering
Mask off the area, then apply hairspray. While still wet add
some sand, then let dry. Then apply the colour you want to
weather. When dried scrub gently with a cloth, the sand
will fall off and weather the colour.
Hairspray Weathering
Varnish the area, then apply multiple coats of hairspray. Apply the
colour you want to weather. The less uniform the better the
effect. After a few minutes (paint dry to the touch) scrub with a
moistened paintbrush. Use warm water for better results. Then
seal with varnish and weather.

Pin Washes
The first thing to do is put a gloss varnish over the model- ensure it is smooth and consistent
otherwise the spirits will ruin the acrylic paint. Apply the wash in the recesses, letting the wash
flow for capillary action. Clean up with white spirit afterwards, then let dry and seal with satin
varnish.
A similar effect can be achieved with gloss varnish and GW gloss washes.

Blending styles
Wet Blend: Paints unthinned or with a small amount of drying retarder. Place a
band of one colour one side of where the blend is to be, then next to it place
another band of the colour to be blended to, and whilst both are still wet on the
model, take a slightly damp brush and using small side to side motions to blend
between the two colours.

Two Brush Blend: The paint is thinned with just a bit of water (or medium) to the
consistency of what you'd normally use to paint a layer of a colour. The second
brush is then damp, not saturated, and the small amount of water is used to drag
paint out from the bounds a bit onto the other colour, smoothing the blend.

Glazing: Thin your paints with water or medium or flow improver or a mix of those. Next, apply a
thin glaze at the part you want a different colour, let it dry, apply another glaze further towards
the different colour part, let it dry, repeat until the colour build up sufficiently. The good thing
with this technique is less thinned paints will build up the colour quicker for a fast paint, whilst
very thinned glazes can give seamless blends. About the quantity of colour on the brush: you need
to have wiped off most of the paint. It should be so thin, the paint dries almost instantly and has
no time to run around or pool. Any more than that is too much. If applied correctly, you won't see
a difference for at least three or four layers, if not more. You also need to ensure each previous
layer has fully dried before applying the next one, and that the colours are not too dissimilar from
each other. So don't glaze white over green or something. I have the best results when I glaze with
a mix of the two colours I'm trying to blend.

Wash for white

1:1:2 mix of Nuln Oil,Drakenhof Nightshade, Glaze Medium

Spray Primer troubleshooting

- Spotty finish: can hasn’t been sufficiently shaken
- Grainy surface: the paint partially dried before reaching the surface. Climate too hot or
spray a little closer.
- Rippled surface: spraying too close to the model.
PAINT RECIPES

Blood Angels Red

Basecoat Mephiston Red-basecoat 50:50 meph red/evil sunz scarlet-paint recesses with 50:50
khorne red/abaddon black-chunky edge HL of Evil Sunz-thinner HL Troll Slayer Orange-Thinner HL
Dragon Bright on most edges-thin HL of Tau Light Ochre on corners-spot HL on sharpest corners of
Tau L.O.+White

Blood Angels Red 2

Basecoat black-Vallejo German Red Brown from above-German Dark Yellow primer on selected
raised areas-basecoat with VMA RLM23 all over-edge HL with VMC Amarantha Red.

Death Company Black

Prime black-Drybrush VMC 166 Dark Grey-Drybrush VMC 164 Dark Bluegrey-Heavy Nuln oil wash-
Edge HL VMC162 Basalt Grey

“Classic ‘Eavy Metal” blue-black

Basecoat 50:50 regal blue/chaos black-shade with chaos black glaze in the recesses-reapply
basecoat in prominent areas-add SW grey or other off-white colour to the mix and paint most
reflective areas-fine HL of pure SW grey

White armour
Basecoat VGC Ghost Grey (Ulthuan), shade with Codex Grey (Dawnstone), highlight with VMC
White (White Scar)

White armour 2
Basecoat VGC Ghost Grey (Ulthuan), shade with Agrax, highlight with VMC White (White Scar)

White armour 3
Basecoat Ulthuan Grey, gloss varnish, wash with a few drops
of Russ Grey in a pot of Lahmian Medium.

Sons of Horus Green

Prime Black-Airbrush Kabalite Green-airbrush sybarite green from top-Coelia Greenshade wash

Candy Red Tsons style

Basecoat with a midtone silver. Airbrush shadows with darker silver, then airbrush highlights with
a brighter silver. Run multiple coats of Angron Red/Tamiya Clear Red until happy with the result.
Easy Yellow
Base white, wash Casandora Yellow, highlight white/bone
ADMECH
Paint in sub-assemblies and airbrush VMA Gun Metal:
- Torso+legs+head+left arm
- Backpack
- Weapon
Painting order:
1. Internal Vest
2. Metals
3. Trousers
4. Wood/Leather
5. Cloak
Skitarii Cloak
Basecoat Mephiston Red, wash Agrax, layer Mephiston Red, layer Evil Sunz Scarlet, edge HL Vallejo
Vomit Brown.
Skitarii Internal vest
Basecoat ushabti Bone, wash Seraphim Sepia (light wash), layer Ushabti Bone, HL Pallid Wych
Flesh
Skitarii Metals
Metal: (basecoat Leadbelcher if not airbrushed), wash Agrax, eventual HL of Ironbreaker
Bronze: basecoat scale75 Bronze, wash Agrax, eventual HL of Gehenna Gold
Skitarii Wood and Leather
Basecoat Rhinox Hide, wash Nuln Oil, HL Mournfang brown.
Skitarii trousers
Basecoat VGC Black, HL Dark Reaper, HL Fenrisian Grey
Skitarii Plasma/Arc/Rad weapons, lenses
Basecoat VGC Imperial Blue, Layer Temple guard Blue, HL VGC White (+wash Drakenhof
Nightshade for lenses)
Skitarii Bases
Basecoat airbrush VMA Hull Red, heavy drybrush Leadbelcher, base hazard stripes Averland
Sunset, dry brush weathering/stippling with VMC Black, Rhinox Hide and Leadbelcher, wash Agrax
(light)

IMPERIAL FISTS
Prime Obscurium Mechanical Grey or Vallejo Grey primer.
If primed with Obscurium do a base with VGA Dead White.
Basecoat Averland Sunset (go for 2-3 layers)
Spray VGA Dead White from above and at a 45° angle to catch top areas. 2 light coats.
Spray VMA Burnt Umber or VMA Hull Red (for a redder shade) in recessed areas.
Basecoat in 2 layers of VGA Gold Yellow.
Matte varnish to preserve airbrushed layers, then gloss varnish in preparation to wash.
Pin wash with AK Paneliner Brown and Desert Camouflage (for a more weathered look, oil paints
tend to tint the surface) or Reikland Fleshshade Gloss (for a warmer and cleaner look).
Edge highlight with Ushabti Bone.