Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey all

I've got some Deathwing Terminators to paint, plus a Master in Terminator armour that I'll be assembling from the parts in the Deathwing box set.

I've seen how GW do the bone colour armour on their Deathwing models, I've watched how a few youtubers do it also, and I've done some others myself in the past, and it's always - white undercoat, ushabti bone (or similar bone-like shade) all over, seraphim sepa shade all over, go back and spend ages touching up and cleaning up where the shade is that you don't want it, a few bone/white highlights to finish off.

However I don't like using Citadel Shades on models with large areas that should be a solid clean colour, because they invariably get stained, look horrible and require clean up - something that you don't see in GW's Warhammer TV videos! Do their pots of shade come from a special run or something?!

I'd like to be able to just stick a wash liberally all over the model and and be able to move straight onto highlighting.

I had some success in achieving just that when I did an Imperial Knight last year, by airbrushing on AK Interactive enamel washes over a gloss coat (Pledge Floor Care, aka Future) - using a paper towel, and q-tips where necessary, the enamel wash just came straight off the big smooth areas where I didn't want it, but stayed in the recesses where I did want it. It was a very quick way to achieve the clean look to the large armour surfaces whilst leaving the wash in the crevices.

I'm thinking this might be a good way to do the Deathwing Terminators slightly quicker, just airbrush a wash on, having airbrushed them with Ushabti bone, them remove the wash with q-tips where it's on the smooth armour areas, however I'm struggling to find an enamel wash that is equivalent to seraphim sepia?!

Could the same technique work with GW Citadel Shades (I'm guessing not because they are acrylic over acrylic)?

Is there any other fool proof quick easy way, without having to be at all precise in application, or apply multiple coats, to get GW Citadel Shades to just go into the crevices/stay around bolts and stuff, and not stain the smooth armour areas thus eliminating the need for touch up?

Any tips on how to shade the bone armour as quickly and neatly as possibly would be greatly appreciated?

Thanks in advance.

Paint the shade into the recesses instead of all over. Use a fine tipped brush for this. I do this on all my space marine models and it saves a ton of work over doing an all-over wash.

 TheCustomLime wrote:
Paint the shade into the recesses instead of all over. Use a fine tipped brush for this. I do this on all my space marine models and it saves a ton of work over doing an all-over wash.

This, just like in this Warhammer TV tutorial:

If you really want to avoid having to be precise with your brushwork, just work in as many thin layers as possible. Dilute your GW wash down massively; something like 1 part wash to 2 parts water to 2 parts lahmian medium. Just slp that over the model in as many coats as needed. In my experience, the thinner you go the less you affect the flat areas.

And there is always the option of using diluted oil paints.

I painted this guy with the usual bone colours, but used thinnned Skrag Brown into the recesses, which didnt take me very long at all. A bit more definition compared to the Seraphim Sepia too.

Maybe do it the old way, I have the 2nd ed paint guide and deathwing are in it, I will post up a couple of pics when I get home if you want

You will need inks which are still available from cote d arms (citadels original paint supplier)

your options are oil washes, as already mentioned, or gloss varnishing before putting your washes down. However, I advise against this (although it seems to be much loved) as the gloss finish is a nuisance to remove once you're done, requiring lots of coats of matte to dull the shine.

Why do you want to do it quickly? why not take a little time and ensure your models are painted to the best standard possible?

Even if you desperately want to get your models to the tabletop, surely theres more satisfaction in having nice looking models over rushed efforts?

After the base colours are on, gloss varnish the whole thing then use an oil paint based pin wash.

I recalled seeing a video on Dr. Faust's Painting Clinc basically on exactly this. He uses enamel washes and he mentions why he chose those as opposed to oil washes, but I don't recall the reason off hand.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
your options are oil washes, as already mentioned, or gloss varnishing before putting your washes down. However, I advise against this (although it seems to be much loved) as the gloss finish is a nuisance to remove once you're done, requiring lots of coats of matte to dull the shine.

Why do you want to do it quickly? why not take a little time and ensure your models are painted to the best standard possible?

Even if you desperately want to get your models to the tabletop, surely theres more satisfaction in having nice looking models over rushed efforts?

Personally I find that the choice is models painted quickly, or unpainted models. For painting Marines of any colour (except black) I basecoat, then apply a wash to the recesses then tidy up again with the base coat before highlighting. Alternatively, say your Dark Angels are from 10,000 years ago and paint 'em all black.

 H wrote:
I recalled seeing a video on Dr. Faust's Painting Clinc basically on exactly this. He uses enamel washes and he mentions why he chose those as opposed to oil washes, but I don't recall the reason off hand.

Enamels are less transparent than oils, which makes them more suited to pure washes, whereas oils can be used for washes, but require more of the paint, and their more translucent nature means they can be used for filters and weathering more easily.

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:

 H wrote:
I recalled seeing a video on Dr. Faust's Painting Clinc basically on exactly this. He uses enamel washes and he mentions why he chose those as opposed to oil washes, but I don't recall the reason off hand.

Enamels are less transparent than oils, which makes them more suited to pure washes, whereas oils can be used for washes, but require more of the paint, and their more translucent nature means they can be used for filters and weathering more easily.

Yeah, enamels do go on more opaque. At the same time, my pin washes are always oils mixed with a Tupernoid.

Overflow can be very hard to clean up with enamels, I've had a few good paint jobs ruined when too much enamel paint came off the brush.

Yeah enamels are more persistent. I use them for sign writing but wouldn't touch models with them.

Thank you gentlemen.

I will take that all on board. I watched a Youtube video of Lester Bursley doing his Deathwing terminators, and he uses W&N oil, presumably thinned with Enamel thinners, for his shading wash stage, seems to work very well, although he is very precise in his application.

I just don't want to have to be that precise. I have some health problems currently which mean I can't sit and do a lot of painting in one go, perhaps an hour or two at a time. I also lose enthusiasm for models quite quickly. I've had my Deathwing Terminators for over 2 years now, they've sat in a Ushabti bone (or something similar, might be a Vallejo Model Air bone sort of colour) base coat stage for that long.

So, naturally I want to take the tedium out of painting them, and putting a shading wash on, and then having to go back and repaint with normal paint, as always happens with Citadel Shades for me, is quite tedious, as is having to be uber precise.

H wrote:I recalled seeing a video on Dr. Faust's Painting Clinc basically on exactly this. He uses enamel washes and he mentions why he chose those as opposed to oil washes, but I don't recall the reason off hand.

Yes it was Dr Faust's Painting Clinic where I got the idea for using enamel washes on my Imperial Knight from, in fact I used the exact AK Interactive enamel washes he used, although mine ended up looking a little more rust coloured in places than I would like. It was an absolute godsend though, had I done it using Nuln Oil with a brush, as per Duncan on Warhammer TV, I'd have spent ages putting it on, and ages tidying up and had a pool of Nuln Oil on my cutting mat.

Airbrushing and enamel wash on was super-simple and very quick. Then all I had to do was use paper towel/q-tips to remove the enamel wash on the surface areas, again super simple.

I believe AK Interactive enamel washes are oil paints thinned with enamel thinners. So I guess, having thought about this, I could thin some Sepia oil paint with enamel thinners and airbrush it on, and just simply wipe off.

After reading again no inks were needed

From the master himself, Mike McVey

 queen_annes_revenge wrote:
your options are oil washes, as already mentioned, or gloss varnishing before putting your washes down. However, I advise against this (although it seems to be much loved) as the gloss finish is a nuisance to remove once you're done, requiring lots of coats of matte to dull the shine.

Why do you want to do it quickly? why not take a little time and ensure your models are painted to the best standard possible?

Even if you desperately want to get your models to the tabletop, surely theres more satisfaction in having nice looking models over rushed efforts?

Depends on how much time you have, and if your local meta has a "All models must be painted" rule. Yes, there's more satisfaction in having nice-looking models over a rush-job. But if getting them 'nice looking' means it takes you years to accomplish and you like the gaming aspect more than the painting aspect of the hobby, you might find better value in the rush-job and playing a lot more.

Gloss coating the base and then washing, to help avoid the massive clean-up, is a valid technique. And there's nothing wrong with having a little shine on a figure that represents a person entirely clad in either metal or high-strength material. Especially given that all of them seem to eschew basic modern military concepts such as concealment, and instead flaunt their presence wearing bright colors. I could easily see someone vain enough to wear brightly colored power armor taking the time to touch up the paint and polish it to a glorious knight-in-shining-armor shine between campaigns...