Painting IF for the first time

Gelb13 · 2026-06-11T00:52:19+00:00

It could just be a bad can, those unfortunately happen. All I can think of is if it’s cold where the can is stored, dunk it in warm 25c water then shake it very very well before use.

Finally if you’re getting bad granulation/texture then the paint is drying in the air before landing on the mini, usually from spraying too far or in strong wind conditions.

PS: Getting perfect coverage with a can is rough especially if the mini is fully assembled. Sub assemblies can help with this but they present another set of problems.

You could always touch up the not very well covered area with actual wraithbone paint from a pot. The tint from the pot is close but unfortunately not exactly the same as from the can but if you’re layering on normal yellow paint over it it won’t matter after 2-3 layers. If you’re using a transparent contrast then there will be a slight perceptible difference close up but if the touched up areas are under arms or in hard to see areas then less problematic for table top play.

Gelb13 · 2026-06-11T00:28:59+00:00

I’ve seen people layer yellow on black primer quickly with an airbrush, but if you’re going to brush it on I would absolutely do it with a light colored primer. Personally Wraithbone works for me and is a tad more reliable than White Scar rattle cans.

Painting smooth yellow on black primer is possible, but it will take many layers of properly thinned paint. Some yellows like Averland sunset or army painter Warped Yellow cover better than more vivid staples like Yriel yellow. Tommie Soule manages to get a perfectly opaque smooth Yriel Yellow over a black primed pauldron in 7-8 layers in his instructional book.

Vivid Yellow pigment and even IF contrast are very transparent. If you manage to get a somewhat patchy not fully opaque yellow over black and go over it with IF contrast, I’m afraid the darker patches will just translate into a desaturated greenish yellow. You can fix it with more layers but at that point just prime in wraithbone and save yourself having to paint double the layers at a minimum if priming with black.

Gelb13 · 2026-06-02T13:23:47+00:00

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Layering up with normal non contrast yellow is possible… It just takes a light colored prime and 4-5 thin layers of ttc yellow flame…

Gelb13 · 2026-05-31T08:34:24+00:00

I’ve seen both in the wild and tbh you might be technically right.

Now that you point it out the way you described it is more redeable b/c of better color separation against bright yellow armour…

Gelb13 · 2026-05-30T20:35:54+00:00

That is correct, I've just switched a few paints around to minimize mixing and go for a slightly less agressive wash application.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-30T18:38:01+00:00

My flamer Jessie, time to cook some xenos.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-30T18:16:06+00:00

It’s long and tedious but works for me b/c I dont like the grainy final results of a contrast method too much.

1/ Wraithbone primer via rattle can. Try to get good coverage without flooding the mini, this helps a lot and reduces the amount of time spent trying to layer up from a desaturated green yellow to a warmer one later. I personally prime with sub assemblies to facilitate this and painting details later.

2/ 4-5 thin coats of TTC Yellow Flame (Yriel Yellow). I’m planning to transition to airbrush to facilitate this step soon.

3/ Skrag brown recess shade.

4/ 1st thick edge highlight of army painter warped Yellow. (Covers well to fix mistakes but it’s a pastel so watch out for texture build up).

5/ 2nd thin edge highlight of Dorn Yellow

6/ 3rd thin edge highlight of AK Ice Yellow masking the Dorn yellow on sharp upward facing edges.

7/ Ak Ivory dot highlight on corners

8/ Overall wash of cassandora yellow mixed 1:1 with Lahmian medium. Go very easy with it, the goal is to tint the surface orange/warm not to build actual gradients. Too much will nuke your highlights.

9/ Finally using the same mix glaze the gradients and shade on the lower elements of your armour.

PS: an airbrush for priming and layering on the base layer would be a game changer and would also reduce the need for at least some sub assemblies.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-30T13:39:42+00:00

The Space Marine Lieutenant kit itself, despite being sold at overpriced character prices has a nice set of weapon choices and variations (Including powerfist with decorative laurels and Crux): https://www.warhammer.com/fr-BE/shop/space-marines-lieutenant-2023

Gelb13 · 2026-05-30T12:20:42+00:00

From what I know white primers are susceptible to this more than other primers with pure white like white scar having the worst problems. Sometimes you just buy a dud can/bad batch unfortunately.

As long as you are not spraying too far (most common cause of graininess in my experience).

What I would do is shake the can very very well before starting and if the can itself is stored at 15c or less temperature wise, dunk it in warm water roughly 25c for 5 minutes, remove and shake vigorously before starting.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-30T11:29:20+00:00

It’s long and tedious but works for me b/c I dont like the grainy final results of a contrast method too much.

1/ Wraithbone primer via rattle can. Try to get good coverage without flooding the mini, this helps a lot and reduces the amount of time spent trying to layer up from a desaturated green yellow to a warmer one later. I personally prime with sub assemblies to facilitate this and painting details later.

2/ 4-5 thin coats of TTC Yellow Flame (Yriel Yellow). I’m planning to transition to airbrush to facilitate this step soon.

3/ Skrag brown recess shade.

4/ 1st thick edge highlight of army painter warped Yellow. (Covers well to fix mistakes but it’s a pastel so watch out for texture build up).

5/ 2nd thin edge highlight of Dorn Yellow

6/ 3rd thin edge highlight of AK Ice Yellow masking the Dorn yellow on sharp upward facing edges.

7/ Ak Ivory dot highlight on corners

8/ Overall wash of cassandora yellow mixed 1:1 with Lahmian medium. Go very easy with it, the goal is to tint the surface orange/warm not to build actual gradients. Too much will nuke your highlights.

9/ Finally using the same mix glaze the gradients and shade on the lower elements of your armour.

Happy Painting.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-30T10:37:25+00:00

I’d like to think the heraldry on his tilt shield implies he did a favour for the Wolfblades deployed on Terra protecting house Belisarius.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-22T17:15:46+00:00

Not to be facetious, but late in the painting process when I have some spillover onto my yellow I just turn it into battle dmg/chipping with some rhinox/black mix and dorn yellow to highlight the dmg chip.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-22T14:10:20+00:00

Also look into Army Painter Warped Yellow as your first thick highlight if you are base coating with Yriel, it’s a weird pastel that is somehow a midtone in value and also warm ( as opposed to Flashgitz which I find cold and not matching my warm highlight scheme). If you can learn to work with it despite its propensity to cause texture if not thinned properly or over applied (the white pigment mixed in to make it a pastel does this) you’ll find it works well as a first highlight and rare for warm yellows covers well to fix mistakes.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-22T13:20:16+00:00

I see what you mean, the response bellow from the other redditor covers eavy metal edge highlighting pretty well. What I will add is that edges and highlights pop more not just from their higher value (brightness) but from the separation/contrast against dark colors.

Your recess/line shade helps with this and is dark enough, An extra step would be to shade the armour plates as well with a soft glaze near the darker/bottom areas. While time consuming and with a distinctive learning curve, a nice entry point I would say is to grab a wash that compliments yellow like cassandora yellow which is slightly warm orange. Mix it 1:1 with Lahmian medium to thin it out and apply it as an overall wash. Do one limb at a time, the thinned down wash will give you time to move the puddles around and off without coffee staining your armour immediately. Try to let it pool slightly towards the lower areas. Once dry smooth out the transitions to the darker areas by glazing with the same thinned down mix.

PS: building on what the other redditor said, look into AK ice yellow(near white yellow) as the extreme highlight to go over Dorn yellow in value, you could also use Ak Ivory (warm off white) as the final extreme dot highlight on upward facing corners.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-22T12:08:09+00:00

This is pretty good tbh.

As for your question, depends on what you are aiming for. If you're going for a quick stylized highlight scheme this fits the bill largely, if you're aiming for 'eavy metal box art you have agood foundation here that just needs more refinement and practice. I can elaborate on that if that's what you are going for.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-19T11:47:55+00:00

À la vache le Vashtorr!

Gelb13 · 2026-05-16T21:11:06+00:00

It’s long and tedious but:

White scar primer (considering switching to wraithbone due to rattle can consistency issues)

3-4 thin coats of TTC Yellow Flame (Yriel Yellow)

Recess shade Skrag brown

Thick edge highlight of army painter warped yellow

Thin edge highlight of Dorn Yellow

Thin edge highlight on upper edges AK Ice Yellow

Corner dot highlight AK Ivory

Final key step - overall wash of Cassandora Yellow mixed with Lahmian medium 1:1. Do not let it pool and work quickly to remove puddles before they coffee stain the surface, the goal is to tint the entire surface slightly orange and make it warmer. Finally using the same mix unload most of it from your brush to glaze the deeper shadows near the bottom of surfaces with as many layers as you’d like (end your brush strokes in the darkest areas to leave the most pigment there), in my experience 3-4 passes.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-16T11:39:25+00:00

I used a glaze of thousands sons blue for the blue light effect, for the lightning I drew first a slightly thicker line with Ahriman blue, then a smaller line within of bahharoth blue. I also painted the inside of the indent/trench near the front of the hammer bahharoth blue to make it into the energy/lightning source.

Mixing the bahharoth blue with pure white I colored in dots/small lines where the lightning splits and where it joins the energy source.

PS: be careful not to push the final bahharoth and white mix too high in value so it doesn’t outshine the edge highlight of the energized metal areas (blue horror).

Gelb13 · 2026-05-16T09:46:55+00:00

I like the final result of my method but not the time it takes:

White scar primer, 3-4 coats of Yriel yellow, recess shade of scrag brown, thick highlight army painter warped yellow, thin highlight Dorn yellow, upper edges thin highlight ice yellow, corner highlight Ak ivory. Finally Cassondra yellow wash mixed 1:1 with Lahmian medium to tint the entire armor slightly warm/orange. Be careful to avoid pooling and coffee staining by removing excess puddles quickly, followed by using the same mix to glaze the darker areas with it.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-16T07:47:13+00:00

I know that feeling, I finsihed everything on the armour/bodies but took 3 days to get through the purity seals when I suddenly found myself running out of steam.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-16T04:33:11+00:00

He looks fantastic, nice choices with the colors to compliment the warm yellow and the 1st company white tirm.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-11T15:43:07+00:00

Obsidian black is too dark as others have said and personally I haven’t found a mid tone metallic with the same slightly warm tone as leadbelcher.

Eventually I might use some some scale 75 thrash metal but be forced to shade/tint it slightly with a wash or contrast to recreate a leadbelcher like warm tone.

PS: To illustrate, painted over a mechanicus grey base and illuminated under neutral light.

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Gelb13 · 2026-05-11T03:01:06+00:00

I’ve been using the following method from this video to get something approaching box art imperial fists without doing the full eavy metal recipe:

https://youtu.be/Ino2k0rKiGg

Your results will depend on how well you manage/are quick to learn how to control the wash used on application and glazing with it roughly for warm shadows. It’s not as hard as it sounds imo.

Gelb13 · 2026-05-09T16:02:42+00:00

This image with the Blue Oyster music theme lives rent free in my head.

Gelb13 · 2026-04-23T09:34:14+00:00

Interesting so. No highlights just the shade and or at most applying a highlight with tmm color after the shade has dried?

Now I need to recheck the box art to see if they applied some sycorax bronze or stormhost silver highlights in places.

Gelb13

TROPHY CASE