Re: HeroQuest model painting questions

Posted by MortiS-the-Lost on Jul 01, 2011; 12:42pm
URL: http://the-lost-and-the-damned.71.s1.nabble.com/HeroQuest-model-painting-questions-tp6537260p6537625.html

Painting is vast subject, which we need to cover more of on the forum - here a quick and ready guide to getting the right paints ...

Firstly I recommend you get a dedicated range of acrylic  model paints, the commonly available are Citadel Colour from GamesWorkshop, but they are rather expensive - so if you can track down a supply of  Coat D'arms paints or Miniature painters MP range and use the equivalents. More on paint companies later, but here something to get you started

(I will give the names of the paints from the Citadel Range here for the sake of convenience)

++The Basics++

Black and White
Chaos Black (you'll need this for undercoating - Always start with a Black Undercoat, no Black Undercoat = No Shading)
Skull White (when needed you can mix a little white with a colour to use for highlights in an emergency)

Browns, you'll find you use a lot of brown on fantasy miniatures - Fur, leather, hair, wood, cloth
Bestial Brown
Snake Bite Leather
Bubonic Brown
Bleach Bone

Reds, I like painting cloth red and it can also be used in other places too, like the inside of big monster's mouths or bloody gaping wounds on some undead types
Gore Red
Blood Red

Brown Wash, very useful for shading and can be used over most colours to good effect
Any brown ink or wash will do, Citadel's 'Delvian Mud Wash' is by far the best though
Also pick up a Black ink or wash like Citadel's 'Badab Black'

Flesh colours, you'll need these!
a nice easy way to do flesh is with the following:
'Bronzed Flesh' to base coat the flesh/skin areas followed by a wash of 'Flesh Wash' for shading

Metals, the 2 main ones you'll need are:
Tin Bitz
Boltgun Metal
top tip: paint metal areas with TinBitz first and add layers of Boltgun Metal until you have it as bright as you want - then shade joins in armour and the holes in chainmail using you Black Ink or Wash

(the above should let you paint a wide range of figures assuming you want to paint any cloth red)
These colours listed so far will colour what's needed for Humans, Orges, Chaos Warriors, Skaven, Undead

of course that's not all your figures colours covered yet

for orcs and goblins you'll need ...
Snot Green
Goblin Green
Any Green ink or Wash
paint Orc or Goblin flesh with Snot Green, Dry-brush Goblin Green and shade using the Green Ink or Wash

For Dwarfs you'll need:
Dwarf Flesh
(use the same technique mentioned above for Human Flesh, but use Dwarf Flesh instead of Bronzed Flesh)

The following colours are also useful for painting Gold
Dwarf Bronze
Shining Gold

For Elves you'll need:
Elf Flesh
same as with Dwarf and Human flesh

you'll also find 'Chainmail' useful for making Elven weapons and armour look extra shiny

To paint stone/rocks use:
Codex Grey and highlight with Fortress Grey (shade with Black Wash if you feel the need)

I hope at least some of this I've said here is useful to you, I'll write more later when I have more time

mains things to remember are:

Always start with a Black Undercoat, no Black Undercoat = No Shading

Build up the colours in layers of progressively brighter shades, use at least 2 shades of each colour

Learn to dry-brush, dry-brushing is one of the most useful and effective techniques for highlighting, no matter what some so-called 'pro-painters' will tell you (in fact I've found that most people who dismiss dry brushing as bad technique can't/don't do it properly)

Citadel's 'Delvian Mud Wash' can be very useful for extra shading but don't over use it

and finally and most importantly PRACTICE! (if needs be pick up some cheap figures to practice painting on before you tackle your beloved HeroQuest Classics)