MINIATURES

RAY LAROSE|MINIATURES

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Or browse: Schemes Recipes Gallery Paints Conversion Chart

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Gold 4 steps The basecoat, wash, highlight sequence most metal is built on. Ultramarine Armour 4 steps The same idea with an edge highlight, which is what makes armour read as armour. Rust 3 steps Stippling and drybrushing, and hard to get wrong. Ork Flesh 9 steps The whole ladder: a basecoat, two layers, a highlight, then glazes to blend it together.

Every miniature I have painted, with the paints and the steps to paint it again.

Paint Schemes

How I painted each model: the exact paints, the order they went on, and the finish they gave.

What the technique words mean
basecoat
The first solid colour over primer. Two thin coats beat one thick one.
highlight
A lighter colour on the parts that would catch the light.
layer
A slightly lighter colour over part of the coat below, leaving its edges showing.
wash
Thin, watery paint that runs into the recesses and shades the whole area at once.
edge
A highlight along a sharp edge only, painted with the side of the brush.
shade
Darker paint placed deliberately in the shadows rather than left to flow.
glaze
Heavily thinned paint over dry paint, to tint it and soften the join between two colours.
stipple
Dabbed on with the tip of the brush for a broken, rough, mottled surface.
drybrush
Almost-dry paint dragged across raised texture so it catches only the high points.
blend
Two colours worked into each other while both are wet, so there is no visible line.
special
Anything that is not one of the above. The step note says what it is.

Recipes

Methods I reuse across models - skin, metal, armour, cloth and the rest. Each step is one named paint, one technique and a note. Unless a step says otherwise, every recipe here starts on a primed model - the scheme that uses it usually says which colour.

What the technique words mean
basecoat
The first solid colour over primer. Two thin coats beat one thick one.
highlight
A lighter colour on the parts that would catch the light.
layer
A slightly lighter colour over part of the coat below, leaving its edges showing.
wash
Thin, watery paint that runs into the recesses and shades the whole area at once.
edge
A highlight along a sharp edge only, painted with the side of the brush.
shade
Darker paint placed deliberately in the shadows rather than left to flow.
glaze
Heavily thinned paint over dry paint, to tint it and soften the join between two colours.
stipple
Dabbed on with the tip of the brush for a broken, rough, mottled surface.
drybrush
Almost-dry paint dragged across raised texture so it catches only the high points.
blend
Two colours worked into each other while both are wet, so there is no visible line.
special
Anything that is not one of the above. The step note says what it is.

Gold

🔗🖨
Metal
Simple gold recipe - think Ultramarine Aquila
Paints Used
Retributor ArmourCitadelReikland FleshshadeCitadelSilver (72.052)Vallejo
Steps
  1. 1
    basecoatRetributor ArmourCitadel
    Base gold·Artis Opus Series S 3
  2. 2
    washReikland FleshshadeCitadel
    Light wash·Artis Opus Series S 3
  3. 3
    highlightRetributor ArmourCitadel
    Bring back the edges·Artis Opus Series S 1
  4. 4
    basecoatSilver (72.052)Vallejo
    Dot highlights·Artis Opus Series S 1
Used in: Tomb Kings Blood Bowl, Ultramarines 4th Company, Kronus Hegemony Black Scheme, Legions Imperialis, Dreadnought, Death Riders, Noise Marines, Jump Pack Intercessors, Death Korps Artillery, Commissar Yarrick, Armageddon - Flesh Tearers

Rust

🔗🖨
Metal
Quicky, nasty ass rust
Paints Used
Dark UmberPro AcrylTyphus CorrosionCitadelRyza RustCitadel
Steps
  1. 1
    basecoatDark UmberPro Acryl
    Artis Opus Series S 3
  2. 2
    stippleTyphus CorrosionCitadel
    Vallejo Detail 2
  3. 3
    drybrushRyza RustCitadel
    As light as possible·Artis Opus Series D Small
Notes
The trick is to lay down good but not necessarily even coating of the dark umber over a black primer. Then a sporadic placement of Typhus. The final touch is using the lightest amount (almost none) of the Ryza Rust. Just for that hint of rust.
Used in: Wazdakka Gutsmek, Imperial Knights - Knight Questoris

Tank Tracks

🔗🖨
Metal
Latest recipe for doing my tank tracks
Paints Used
Rhinox HideCitadelDark Steel PigmentVallejoTrack WashAK InteractiveGun MetalMigEarth (72.062)Vallejo
Steps
  1. 1
    basecoatRhinox HideCitadel + Dark Steel PigmentVallejo (3:1)
    Mix a touch in to give a slight reflection of pigments in basecoat·Vallejo Detail 2
  2. 2
    washTrack WashAK Interactive
    Apply evenly across tracks·Vallejo Detail 2
  3. 3
    specialGun MetalMig
    Apply with finger, lightly over all tracks
  4. 4
    stippleEarth (72.062)Vallejo
    Add some dried mud on tracks·Artis Opus Series S 3
Used in: Leman Russ Battle Tank, Maulers

Paint Inventory

The paints I actually own - every pot on my shelf, not a catalogue of what exists. This is what the schemes and recipes are painted with.

PaintBrandTypeHueUsed in

Paint Conversion Chart

Citadel colours matched to their closest Vallejo, Pro Acryl and Two Thin Coats equivalents, by eye, over time. Nothing here is a measured colour match - the dots say how close each one really is.

How close the match is: near identical usable avoid

CitadelVallejoPro AcrylTwo Thin Coats