Broken Paintbrush

Step 1: Primer

I always prime my Iron Warriors black. If any one has tried to paint metallic over a white base coat, you know why.

Step 2:Silver

This is by far the messiest stage. Depending on how fast I’m trying to paint the model I some times water down Mithril Silver and coat the whole model silver in one go. For most of the models though I try and only paint the areas I know will be silver as extra paint can quickly cover up details.

I paint this layer smooth using Mithril Silver. I use Mithril Silver since I later lather two washes onto the model and I don’t want it to look too dull.

Step 3: Gold

For my gold areas I use a mix of Shining Gold and Iyanden Darksun. I add the Iyanden because I do get a bit lazy, pure Shining Gold doesn’t cover well, especially when I get spots of silver on areas that should be gold. To do it right I should go back and repaint the gold areas black but I found adding a bit of the foundation paint doesn’t change the color much but great improves the gold’s ability to cover.

It doesn’t come through much on the picture but at this point the model looks like a 5th grader painted it: nice and shinny with no depth.

Step 4: Black Wash

This is where the magic starts. Ever since the wash sets came out I’ve bought more washes than paints because I use so much of them. This is why in part I stopped buying Badaab Black wash and made my own using Chaos Black, lots of water, and a drop of dish soap.

I take the big wash brush and liberally apply the black wash all over the model. I really slosh it on there at first so that it gets into the deeper crevices. Once the model is dripping black I clean off the brush and begin to “pull” the extra wash off the flat areas of the model.

Step 5: Mud Wash

Once the black wash fully dries (2+ hours) I’ll then apply a second wash using Devlan Mud. This wash is used more for it’s coloring than adding depth. It gives a more tarnished look to the metals that is perfect for warriors fighting for centuries in the Warp.  When I apply this wash I don’t put on as much as the black, but spread the color around the model to get good coverage. Large flat areas I purposely streak the wash along the lines of the model, such as the arm guard on this model would be streaked down its length.

Step 6: Dry Brush

Once the mud wash is completely dried (another 2+ hours) I then Mithril Silver and very lightly dry brush the full model. This helps bring back some of the shine to the hard edges and tarnishes the gold a bit more. I often skip this step for my core marines but for the “eye catching” units I spend the little bit of extra time to do this step.