m290006a Army Building

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A t White Dwarf we are lucky to havethe 'Eavy Metal team painting allthe models we feature in themagazine, which means you get to see themodels painted to the highest possiblestandards. For an example of this, take alook at the gob-smacking paint jobs in theHarry the Hammer article on page 95.However, most of us will not bepainting our models to that level. In fact, toget a lot of units or squads done in areasonable amount of time, you won't evenwant to attempt it! Instead, we often go forthe "batch painting" option, which usuallyconsists of a basecoat, a shade and twohighlights. This is perfect for an "assemblyline" approach, resulting in a good-lookingarmy which you'll be proud to field on thetabletop. The secret to good army-levelpainting is to be organised and create anassembly line style of painting, tackling a

batch of models in a single session. So, forinstance, you may paint the shoulder padtrim of your entire Space Marine squad inone go, or basecoat the breastplates of awhole unit Empire state troopers at once.Aim for neatness above all else - you'llneed to start with neat, flat basecoats if youare to get the best results.Before you even start painting, ofcourse, you'll need to clean up andassemble your models. As with painting,your miniatures can be assembled quicklyin large batches as long as you keep yourwork area tidy and organised.The Studio's hobbyists are constantlytasked with knocking out lots of units totight deadlines, so we turned to them foradvice on batch painting to a highstandard. Chad Mierzwa, and 'Eavy Metal'sNeil Green and Fil Dunn, were only toohappy to impart their knowledge.


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ConstructionWhen building a Warhammer regiment, there'smore to it than just sticking individual modelstogether in cool poses - you have to think abouthow the models will interact when groupedtogether into a unit. Tomake life easier, Fi I usedregiment bases where possible. These aredesigned to hold four models side-by-side, ratherthan a single model. Obviously, some models stillneed to be assembled on individual bases, suchas the command group, additional front-rankmodels, and the f if th model in each rank. This isgenerally rather useful in games, as you canswitch regiment bases for individual models whenyour unit takes casualties.When sticking the unit together, Fil broke theprocess into stages, gluing down all the legs first,then the torsos, then the arms, and so on (1).Building models from the ground up like thisal lows you to ensure that they rank up well - youcan twist torsos and change the positions of thearms so that they don't clatter into each other (2) .Finally, Fil used adhesive putty to temporarilystick the shields into position - this allowed himto test their positioning while keeping themseparate for the painting process (3).

ConstructionGetting the arms to line up so that the bolter sitscorrectly is made simpler by using Citadel Plastic Glueto attach them - just stick both arms roughly level,with the supporting arm slightly lower, and then dropthe bolter in place without glue, while the glueholding the arms on iss til l wet . You can then makeany alterations to the pose that you need to. Before

you glue the gun in place, you'll need to cut the pistolgrip and triggerguard away with a pair of PlasticCutters. Foran extra touch of realism, you can drillout the holes in the gun barrel with a Hobby Drill,although this stage is entirely optional. It's a good ideato leave the head unti l last to make sure that themodel is looking in a sensible direction.

AssemblyMost models for The Lordofthe Rings strategy battle gamecomprise ofjust one or twopieces, making assembly easy!

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The ornate horn was paintedwith a 1:1 mix of ScorchedBrown and Shining Gold.

oBasecoatFi I applied flat coats over theblack undercoat, taking care toachieve a smooth and veryneat finish with eachapplication. On theseSkeletons, the bones werepainted Dheneb Stone, theshields were painted MechriteRed, and the metallic areaswere painted Boltgun Metal.Khemri Brown, ScorchedBrown and Calthan Brownwere used for the rags, strapsand wood respectively.

oBasecoatThe prescription armour colourhere is a 1:1 mix ofUltramarines Blue and RegalBlue. The black areas arepainted with a 1:1 mix ofChaos Black and FortressGrey.The metal bits are basecoatedBoltgun Metal, while theshoulder pad rims are paintedwith a 1:1 mix of ScorchedBrown and Shining Gold.Finally, the eye lenses andpurity seal are picked out inMechrite Red.

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oBasecoatChad started by basecoatingthe skin with Bestial Brown.Next, he painted thepantaloons with a 1:1 mix ofChaos Black and Liche Purple,and the shirt with NecronAbyss, The buckler and swordhilt were basecoated with TinBitz, while the sword bladewas painted Boltgun Metal,Finally, the leather straps andpouches were picked out withScorched Brown.

86 WHITE DWARF ARMY BUILDING


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The dark shading wash bringsout the detail on the modelswith the minimum of effort.

@ShadingWith a unit of 20 models topaint, Filwasn't so concernedwith the intricacies of selectiveshading. Instead, he mixed upequal parts Scorched Brownand Chaos Black, then thinnedit down with water to theconsistency of ink. This mixwas applied over the entiremodel as a shading wash.Once this was dry, Fil applieda thin wash of Chaos Blackover the metallic areas forgood measure.

@ Defin it ionNeil gave the blue armour awash mixed from Regal Blueand Chaos Black, beforeapplying Ultramarines Bluehighlights. The gold areas werehighlighted Shining Gold,while the black areas receiveda very sharp highlight of CodexGrey. Finally,the wax seal andlenses were highlighted withBlood Red. Most gamers wouldbe perfectly happy to finish atthis stage, but Neil wanted togo a little further...

@HighlightChad layered on the highlights,leaving the basecoats visible inthe recesses. The skin washighlighted Dwarf Flesh, theshirt with Regal Blue, thepantaloons with Liche Purple,and the leather areas withSnakebite Leather. The hairwas carefully highlighted witha 1:1 mix of Chaos Black andCodex Grey. Finally, Chadhighlighted the metal areas -the sword with Chainmail andthe buckler with Dwarf Bronze.



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The war horn was given a washof a 1:1 mix of Dark AngelsGreen and Hawk Turquoise.

@)Highl ightsFi I simply applied a stronghighlight to all the raised areasof the models. The bonesreceived a Bleached Bonehighlight while the shieldswere highlighted Blood Red.The straps and cloths werehighlighted Snakebite Leather,and the wooden areas wereedged with Bestial Brown.Finally, the metal bits werehighlighted with Mithril Silverbefore being washed withVermin Brown.

@)F ine H ighli gh tsThe edges of the SpaceMarine's armour were pickedout with a 1:1 mix ofU1tramarinesBlue and SpaceWolves Grey. FortressGreywas used as a sharp highlighton the boltgun casing, whilethe eyes were highlighted witha spot of Blazing Orange. Themetal bits were highlightedwith Chainmail and, finally,Mithril Silver was added toShining Gold for the edginghighlights on the gold areas.

@)Highl ightsThe final highlights wereapplied only to the mostprominent areas. The facereceived a highlight mixedfrom Bleached Bone andDwarf Flesh. A 1:1 mix ofLiche Purple and FortressGreywas applied to the pantaloons,while FortressGrey was alsoadded to Regal Blue for theshirt highlights. Finally, a smallamount of Mithril Silver wasadded to Dwarf Bronze for thehighlight on the buckler.



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Basing You r Models

primer, although it does mean thatyou'll need to basecoat the sandrather than colour it with ink. Inthis example, Chad has paintedthe base as he's gone along.

Warhammer 40,000Neil based the Space Marinesby covering the top surface ofthe slottabases with PVA Glue(1)and dipping them into a tubof sand (2). He shook off theexcess sand and left the glue todry, before painting the sandwith Scorched Brown. Oncethe basecoat was dry, hedrybrushed the sand withBleached Bone (3), and finallypainted the rims of the baseswith Graveyard Earth (4).

WarhammerFil used the same sandtechnique as Neil, above, totexture his bases. Rather thanbasecoat the sand with paint,Fi t flooded the area withBrown Ink, leaving it to drythoroughly before applying theBleached Bone highlights. Fi tthen applied blobs of PVA tothe base with a cheap, oldbrush (1), and stuck CitadelScorched Grass to the surface(2).After tapping away theexcess grass (3), the model isready to join its regiment.

The Lordof the RingsChad based the Corsairsinexactly the same way that Neilbased his Space Marines.However, Middle-earth ismuch more conducive toimages of lush vegetation andverdant plains than the harshalien landscapes ofWarhammer 40,000, so Chadused blobs of PVA (1) to stickdown clumps of static grassand coarse turf (2) - the latteris available from mostspecialist model shops ormodel railway suppliers.

Alternative AproachMany players like to base theirminiatures before undercoatingthem, rather than wait until theend. This has the added advantageof sealing the sand with the black



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Add itiona l De ta ilsWarhammerAll that remained was to paint aMovement Trayfor the unit. Filfinished the edges of his tray inthe same was as the unit's bases.

Un it S ta nd ar dFilpainted a design onto theunit's banner, although youreally don't need to go this far.

Warhammer 40,000Once the chapter badge transfershave been applied, your SpaceMarines are ready to report for duty.

MarkingsNeil used a mix of waterslidetransfers and freehandtechnique (show offl) to addhis squad markings.

The Lord of the RingsGroups of Corsairs tend to look like adynamic bunch of individuals rather thana regimented unit, regardless of howthey've been painted.

Chad used a fine detail brushto paint on a variety of tattDosand warpaint markings,inspired by the Corsairs fromThe Return of the King movie.



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Once you've mastered the basictechniques of army building andbatch-painting, there'll be nostopping you! To illustrate how quickly agreat-looking army can be built, we got FilDunn to paint up an entire Battalion boxset in just a few days.Of course, not many of us can lay

claim to being an 'Eavy Metal-standardpainter, but Fil 's approach and basictechnique can be applied regardless ofyour experience or ability level. The tr ick,as described earlier, is a methodicalapproach. Fil began by assembling andundercoating the entire Battalion at once.This approach is fine for blocks of an army- about 500 points or so at a time - ashaving all of those undercoated modelsstaring at you is a very visualrepresentation of how much you have leftto do. However, don't be tempted to bite

off more than this in one go; too manymodels sitting on your workstation willhave the adverse effect and becomedaunting rather than motivational.Once the models were prepared, Filstarted blocking in the base colours for hisunits, using Foundation Paints wherepossible to speed up the process (theycover a black undercoat in one coat,whereas Citadel Colour paints often requireseveral applications).

Fil applied every stage covered earlierto his models, and soon found theregiments stacking up. However, being oneof the world's best figure painters, hecouldn't resist going the extra mile at thedetai l stage, as you can probably tell !Finally, he painted a Vampiress to lead thefledgling force. Saving character modelsuntil last is a great way to treat yourselfafter the hard work of unit-painting.

Battalions and BattleForces are ideal ways tostart a new army. Each boxcontains at least theminimum core units ofcore troops you need toget started, providing astrong foundation for yourforce and a good supply ofmodels for yourproduction line!


m290006a Army Building

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