Welcome, Hand Cannon Readers, to another article in the Basics Series of Painting Tutorials!

In this article I will demonstrate how to paint your troopers to a high standard, and yet, keep the amount of time you spend painting them to a bare minimum. With the methods outlined in this article, you can have a full unit of 10 troopers completely painted in a few hours time (not including assembly, prep, and priming), and to a much higher standard than ‘tabletop’ quality.
This method required me to do some research, and I tested out a number of techniques in order to come up with the tutorial you’re reading right now. I dug around into various underpainting methods, and came across several different ways to go about it. The main reason that I decided on a monochromatic method was actually inspired by one of the Privateer Press Forum members, contemplating if this method would be viable. After doing a bunch of reading, research, and tests, I felt it was time for me to share it with our readers. The information that I’m sharing with you in this article was a result of a long, and arduous journey. Use this knowledge well. The primary leg-work is done for you, good reader, now all you have to do is apply it, and you’ll have fantastic-looking troopers in no time!
All paints used in this article are Formula P3, unless otherwise stated. Other paints used are; Games Workshop (GW), and Vallejo Model Colour (VMC).

The first thing to note; you will need two colours of spray primer, black, and white. Or, you can prime black, and use a white spray paint for your second layer. Make certain that the white, if you’re using spray paint, will not obscure the detail on your models, as they will be primed black initially.

The type of Underpainting I use in this article is similar to Grisaille, developed in the Renaissance, which was used in Fresco painting to simulate three-dimensional sculpture. I figured if this method was used to imitate sculpture, then surely it must be a viable method for sculpture.

The basic concept is that you build monochromatic shading, and highlights on the model first, and then glaze colour over it.

This makes painting the model to a high standard very fast, and very easy, even for a beginner. All you need to know is how to make a glaze, and to have good brush control. The most difficult step of the method is getting your paint to stay put, and not slosh all over the model, getting into the crevices and cracks of previously glazed areas. So, the most important thing to learn to utilize this method of speed painting is building a proper glaze, that is thick enough to stay where you put it, and to not obscure the shading and highlighting that is underneath it.

The main consideration here is this; your shading that is already present after your two layers of primer are applied, should be visible after the glazing of colour.

If it isn’t, then you haven’t utilized the underpainting monochrome shade, and you might as well begin by layering your highlights to get a proper transition of shade to highlight.

For this tutorial, I’m using some Reaper Warlord miniatures. They’re Blood Gnomes for the Warlord game; they’re tiny, and ridiculously detailed.
I chose these miniatures because I needed to complete them quickly for a commission client without sacrificing quality, and they have a ludicrous amount of detail. This will allow me to show you readers how easy it is to make extremely detailed models look awesome with very little effort.

For all of the Glazes I’ve used in this article, I have made every single one with a 1:1 ratio of paint to acrylic flow release/improver solution. If you’re unfamiliar with flow release, or any of the other more common Additives and Their Uses, then you have a bit of reading to do. I make extensive use of flow release in this article, and familiarizing yourself with its uses is a must before you begin. Of course, you can build a glaze using glaze medium as well. I found using a 20% flow release to water solution worked best for this method, as you can adjust the thickness of the paint much easier. Flow release and paint will also dry much quicker than glaze medium as well, facilitating the need for speed we’re aiming for in this article.

Let’s begin!

The first few steps are quite simple:

1. Clean, assemble, and prep your models. Since we are aiming for speed here, completely assemble and base your models.
2. Prime them black. I used Army Painter Matte Black, but any quality brand will do.
3. Spray your white primer/spray paint on the Zenith of the model. In layman’s terms; spray the white layer from directly above the models.

The key in this step is to not completely cover the models in white. You want to spray from a little farther away than usual; 1″ to 2″ should be enough. After all, you don’t want the paint to ‘fuzz’. You want the tops to be white, and the undersides to be black. If necessary, spray from the sides, but do it carefully, and very lightly. You’re just building a monochromatic shade, and highlight with the black and white.

Spray the white in short bursts. Don’t hold your finger on the nozzle and hose the tops of the models with paint. Short controlled bursts from the tops, and slightly to each side, all around the miniature will give you a good single light source from above. By short bursts, I mean less than a second. It’s best to build up the highlight slowly with several layers, instead of trying to get it all in one go.

When you’re done, your underpainted models should look something like these little fellas:

As you can see, all of the shadows and highlights are already clearly defined for you. All you have to do now is add some colour, and flesh out the details.

All glazes in this article use a 1:1 ratio of paint to Flow Release solution (20% flow aid, to water). Some may require slightly more water, others might need to be thicker. Use your personal taste, and ‘feel it out’ for yourself.

To make it quick and easy, don’t custom mix any colours. Use your paint already mixed, straight out of the pot.

Adhering to the standard method of painting miniatures, deepest parts first. The skin was glazed with Trollblood Highlight.

You want to keep your painting neat, and tidy. Slopping paint all over will ruin the glazing of the areas you paint last. Good brush control is key with this method, and if you paint the models sloppy, you’ll likely have to highlight most areas again. Stay within each area you’re painting, so you can make use of the Zenithal lighting the black and white primers have provided for you.

The leathers, and under armour wear was glazed with Bootstrap Leather. The longest part of painting the models will be the eyes. Spend a bit of time on them to get them looking right. Nicely painted eyes will go a long way to giving your models expression, and ‘pop’.

The sections of leather were further glazed with Umbral Umber.

The upper areas of leather were given a small highlight of Hammerfall Khaki.

All the metal armour wash glazed with GW Boltgun Metal. I used just plain water with all of the metallics, and made the glaze a bit thicker.

These areas were then washed with a mix of equal parts Armour Wash, Thamar Black, and water, with a spot of Matte Medium.

Then were then given a light drybrush of GW Chainmail, and then GW Mithril Silver.

The metals were then glazed with Bloodstone, and VMC Smoke, in a 2:1 ratio. Make this glaze a bit thicker, and apply it spotty, and uneven.

The reds were glazed with Sanguine Base, and then just the upper folds were glazed with a thicker mixture of Skorne Red, and flow release solution.

The blue scrolls, and details were given a light glaze of Cygnar Blue Base, and then Exile Blue to define the detail.

The golds were given a thick glaze (2:1 paint to solution) of GW Dwarven Bronze, and then washed with Brown Ink, Turquoise Ink, and Matte Medium. See my additives article linked above for this ratio. I thinned it with a little more water, so that it would keep the white highlights showing underneath

To give the details of the blue a bit more punch, I thinned down the Brown/Turquoise Ink glaze (3:1 water to glaze mix), and washed the blue areas again.

The golds were lightly drybrushed with GW Shining Gold, and P3 Radiant Platinum.

At the same time, I glazed the base with Ironhull Grey, and then glazed with a thinner glaze of Thamar Black (1:2 paint to flow solution). I covered the metal banding on the stones with both glazes as well.

The base wash then lightly drybrushed with successive layers of Ironhull Grey and Morrow White.

The chaos arrows in the stone were glazed with Necrotite Green, the metal areas were then drybrushed with GW Chainmail, and GW Mithril Silver. They were then glazed with a thick solution of Bloodstone/VMC Smoke.

The skin was given a final, very thing glaze of Sanguine Base (3:1 paint to flow release solution).

And after three hours, I had 6 troopers painted!

Roughly 30 minutes per model, and you have a very solid looking unit to put on the table.

Here’s all 10 together with the character/leader (who was my test for the method, and scheme), who took about two hours on his own, and the other unit of four troopers to add to the army.

The character leader, who was my test model for the method, and scheme. Always test everything on a single model first, to make certain the colours you’ve picked are going to work, and so you can get some practice with the techniques required.

The other unit of 4, which only took me about 20 minutes per model.

Until next time, Cannoneers!