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So I've been trying to paint white recently. I've found several tutorials, but either they use paints I don't have (and I'm broke right now) or I get a vastly different result. I should mention, I've never had a problem like this before, and I found green and red very easy to blend and highlight.

Paints I have access to (greys and whites) are - astronomicon grey, altuan Grey, astrogranite, praxeti white, white scar, longbeard grey, rakarth flesh, a flesh tone wash, and usabti bone.

I'm trying to do deathwing.

Any ideas?

I had a problem painting white and it looked chalky, i got around it by thinning out hte paint a little and doing more coats. Now i get a nice smooth finish and you dont have to buy anymore paints.

Thin your paint a lot, as Kiarn said. But don't try painting white immediately over a black undercoat. Depending on the feel of the white that you want, paint the area that will be white with a fairly light paint that covers well. Then thin the white.

If you want a sort of cool white, use blue as the first coat. If you want a warmer white, use an orange. If you want a neutral white, use grey.

Another thing to try is thinning it with a medium rather than water. P3's mixing medium or Liquitex Airbrush Medium work well for this. It really helps smooth out your paint coats.

I love Astronomicon Gray for painting white. It's quite light and covers well, as a foundation paint, allowing me to build up a base for my white rather easily, even over black. The slightly cool tone works well as a soft shadow, so I simply leave it be where light would strike indirectly, then layer up the brighter spots with dilute white (Skull White, for me). If I need higher contrast for hard shadows, I can go back in with a darker gray or thinned Badab Black.

What color are you using to prime? If you are using black, try a grey primer or even a khaki colored primer. I like Dheneb Stone (or whatever the new color is) as a base coat prior to white.

I've tried a variety of methods. A chap in games workshop told me base white, fleshtone wash then use ushabti bone to highlight. Looked nothing like the model he showed me. I mean, I've done highlights and blending in other colors, I'm a reasonable painter. I tried astronomicon grey into several layers of white with prax drybrushed on top. Looked bumpy, and I did make sure to wipe most of it off.

I'm just at a loss :(.

Could never get white right, either. Did the same thing with the Astronomicon Grey foundation color over primer and tried building up gradual layers. Never came out.

Then on a whim I picked up a bottle of P3 paint. First time I gave it a shot it went on so much smoother and just better than my Skull White. Haven't had a problem painting white since.

Biggest error people make is a black undercoat.. While it is possible to get a clean crisp white over black, it takes an insane amount of effort.

Step 1: White undercoat.
Step 2: Shade/line recesses *very carefully* with a light grey (blue/greys work well)
Step 3: Tidy up with white.

Also, water down your paints. 100% essential with white.

And avoid GW layer paints like the plague, they are horrible, worst paints on the entire market.

I like to start off with a light grey and then move gradually up to white.

I use airbrush thinner and a little gloss varnish is my white to keep it from being chalky. it goes on pretty smooth. I use an extra opaque light grey underneath i think that migt be astro grey for citadel paint. not sure, i use VGC Extra opaque light blue grey.

The trick with painting white is to not use white. Unless for the most extreme highlight. You start with a light base color (as long as it's not black, but I've done that before and it's possible but very time consuming). Then you paint a whitish color on top of it, depending on the kind of white that you want: bone or cream for a yellowish white color, light blue grey for a cool, bluish white or beige/GW rotting flesh for a slightly green white. You can also use greys for a neutral white. Then build it up with layers, going lighter and lighter until you reach white.

Hey Sidgaurd!

Heres how i approach white:

Basicaly i start with a solid coat of Dheneb Stone made up of several thin coats - many thin coats is always best, it keeps the minis detail/texture and builds up a solid colour, takes longer but is worth it, this applies even more when using GW foundation paints.

Next wash with Devlan Mud

Now paint the main areas with Dheneb stone again, making sure to keep out of the shaded areas - Keep the paint thin.

Build the highlights up by mixing more and more Skull white into the Dheneb stone.

Finish with quite a pale mix to highlight the highest folds in the fabric very thinly.

You cant really see the last highlights in the pics as they are quite bright.

Hope that helps and i haven't taught anyone to suck eggs.

Heres a couple of pics showing minis iv used this technique on.