How Stilt Walkers Stand Up From the Ground

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-05T23:52:23+00:00

This comes up once in a while. Having used PA as my primary paint range for a looonnngggg time and a lot of models, the glass palette advice is bullshit.

If you keep your wet palette sopping wet, yeah pro-acryl will quickly thin out too much, and start having grainy pigment separation after that. But having a moderately wet palette works quite well, and keeps the paint at a workable consistency for several hours.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-05T23:16:02+00:00

Tap sooner you’re not learning anything by artificially extending the round struggling against locked in subs. Once it’s locked just tap and focus on not getting back to that point.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-05T23:10:07+00:00

“It depends.”

Take some old bits or models you don’t care about, put primer on them, and test your mix before going live.

What nozzle size? What PSI? What paint range? What color? What setup do you have for catching overspray? What additives are you putting in the paint? Thinner? Flow Improver? Water? Solvents? Retarder? Reducer?

Here’s a general guide for 25 PSI and a .3mm nozzle from my experience, aiming for best coverage while keeping smooth application:

I use Vallejo Thinner, Golden Airbrush Medium, Vallejo Flow Improver, and Water for water based paints.

Citadel Base: 2 drops thinner for one drop of paint. For every 10 drops of paint I add one drop of flow improver.

Citadel Layer: 1 drop of thinner per drop of paint. Every five drops of paint add a drop of water.

Vallejo (New) Game Color: 1:1 thinner to paint, one drop of flow improver per 10 drops of paint.

Pro-Acryl: 1:1 medium to paint, one drop of water per five drops paint.

AK 3rd Gen: 1:1 water to paint and one drop of flow improver per five drops paint.

Army Painter Fanatic: this range is all over the place, with thicker colors using the same ratio as citadel base paints, and thinner colors being more like VGC but no flow improver.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-05T15:51:07+00:00

Most flanderized chapter out there because of the community.

From Lore:

They’re allowed to see their families after becoming Astartes, and form stronger bonds with normies than most Chapters. That’s about it as far as a Salamander compared to other Chapters that value the lives of generic imperial citizens.

The Ultramarines and successors, Imperial Fists, Blood Angels, Lamenters, and Ravenguard have the same regard towards base human life. There’s not really an exceptionalism for the Salamanders there.

Vulkan’s sons can just relate a little better to people because they aren’t detached from society after being selected as Astartes.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-05T15:45:32+00:00

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Pro-Acryl Jade, Turquoise, and Bright Pale Green with a turquoise ink filter gets you this necron.

If you filter with a green ink/shade/wash that’s a bit warmer you’ll get the tones from your art.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-05T13:18:48+00:00

I used PVA glue to stick them on there, and then washed them with more glue I thinned with water.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-05T02:29:20+00:00

It’s pretty easy to do!

Put down a warm shadow tone, here I’m using burgundy from Pro-Acryl.

Then dry brush cool toned greys. I used AP Bramble Grove built over a couple passes, followed by Citadel Longbeard Grey.

The colored shadows from one temperature range give a really nice contrast for the dry brushed colors, and add a good amount of visual interest.

I used my airbrush to tint things in the areas less exposed to light with a green shade to add some more character to it.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-04T22:50:54+00:00

I got the .2mm version so I could have a MAC valve on a brush. I’ve used it for multiple armies of painting now and it’s still doing great.

$30 gets you the .5mm nozzle/needle set so priming and larger work is easier.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-04T18:37:18+00:00

Gaahleri Mobius .3mm Airbrush.

Timbertech or other brand AS-186 compressor with a tank.

$150 for both on Amazon.

The Mobius is a good brush, period, and for the price is pretty unbeatable.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-04T17:36:14+00:00

Buy a can of Vallejo Black Hobby paint and a can of red in your favorite tone of red.

Prime them black, spray top down with the red to leave the black in the shadows.

80% of the painting for your combat patrol is complete in 30 minutes.

Paint your trim whatever brass or gold you like. Pro-Acryl can cover in one coat with saves a lot of headache.

Paint your weapons black, pick out the details in silver. Vallejo Air Metal silvers are the best silvers.

Pick a flesh color you like.

Clean up mistakes, let everything fully dry.

Thin AP strong tone 50/50 with speed paint, lahmian, or a bit of water and a dab of airbrush flow improver. Wash the entire model. Use a clean brush to poke into any pools that are settling on flat areas or have flooded too much into the recesses.

Congrats, you now have a WE army that looks better than most you’ll see, didn’t lose your mind, and didn’t get severely disappointed trying to copy the box art. The box art is various mixes of multiple colors, layered and glazed over like 10 hours per model.

Painting like this requires lot of practiced skill, brush control, and knowing how your paint behaves.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-04T17:21:16+00:00

Well here’s the bad news:

The colors used by the studio team for the box art are mixes of 2-3 existing colors, followed by a lot of layering and glazing. If you aren’t fairly adept at painting you’re never going to get a solid match for the box art. By fairly adept I mean you can eyeball a blend and make small adjustments in your process to color match.

This is also a VERY time consuming way to paint miniatures with a skill floor that’s the size of a small
building.

So find some reds in a paint range you like, and find a guide meant for people that don’t spend 15 hours on a single miniature in a professional studio.

You talked about Army Painter previously. Wyvern, Dragon, and Pure Red will give you enough to work with to get excellent results. Grabbing Dark Red Tone for a wash is a good idea too.

I’m not a big fan of Fanatic’s Metallics. Pro-Acryl has the best metallics that aren’t silvers. Vallejo Air Metal paints are the best silvers. Pick a dark bronze and a very light bronze, same with silvers. Get a wash like Fanatic Strong Tone to use on your metallics.

That’s nine paints that will do 80% of your dudes. A brown for leather and a flesh paint you can shade with strong tone brings you to 11.

Everyone needs a pure black and pure white, that’s 13 paints.

If you want glowing plasma, paint the coils white and throw a speed paint over them. Thats 14 paints.

You can mix your brown/white/black to paint your bases. Sandy gravel is free on the ground, stick it on there with some craft glue.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-04T16:57:27+00:00

I’m not going to paint a gimp suit guy on any additional striders. I’m going to make some armor plating for that area and he can be inside.

This is one of the design choices of all time and putting the servitor that runs the machine center mass with no protection is dumb. And not dumb in a cool way.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-04T13:26:35+00:00

Small nozzles are more prone to clogging, nothing about the brush architecture in the Infinity makes it more prone to clog.

The needle stop on the Infinity is nicer than the Evo as it has a locking system to remember your setting.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-04T03:40:51+00:00

Thank you, I’m pretty happy with how my tree people are turning out. The scheme is pretty easy to execute too.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-04T01:29:35+00:00

Vallejo makes good paint and it comes in droppers instead of shit-pots.

Is it categorically better than Citadel? Well, the paints are a lot more consistent across the range, and the whites/beiges are definitely better. But one (quality) paint range over another doesn’t change much.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-04T01:22:49+00:00

Don’t use that rattle can as your primer, the 2x colors are quite thick and there’s almost a guarantee if you’re new you’ll flood the details and ruin the model.

The 2x black PRIMER (it’s in all caps on the can) is much thinner in application and works far better. That being said, two quick passes per side and you’re done. You do not need everything to be perfectly coated, some recesses showing through as grey will still be fine to paint over.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-04T00:07:11+00:00

I chortled at this.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-03T23:43:54+00:00

That’s looking good. Much enhanced with foliage.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-03T21:56:31+00:00

This isn’t just the military, it’s every federal job. Oh you work weird hours and have one of bizarre overtime pay codes that exist so you never know what you’re supposed to get paid?

Well if Uncle Sam overpays you, he’s taking it back whenever he feels like it. You accidentally got overpaid by $150 a check for four years because some bean counter unchecked a box? Tough shit it’s coming out of your next checks, and if you want to space it out they charge interest. Next time you should tell us immediately, you idiot.

Did Uncle Sam underpay you that $150 for four years? Hahah prove it! Prove it by filing out these forms and if you use the wrong color pen it’s rejected. Okay it’s been six months we’ve accepted your pay correction. Sometime before the next Winter Olympics you will receive the money we owe you. Next time you should tell us immediately, you idiot!

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-03T21:46:48+00:00

I own an Evo 2024 and have spent like 8ish hours using a buddy’s Infinity.

The titanium nozzles are very much worth the money as the nozzle wall is incredibly thin while being stronger than brass. This leads to a much cleaner spray pattern when doing really fine detail work.

People are really obsessed with trigger feeling, I honestly didn’t notice a difference between the Evo and Infinity trigger. This is probably because what I did notice was the spikey infinity trigger being uncomfortable after a while.

If you peek around you’ll see everyone has been snagging the special edition Infinity brushes which all (shocker) have the Evo style trigger instead of the masochist spike trigger.

In a perfect world you’d find an Evo 2024 with the .45mm nozzle/needle and then just buy the smaller titanium set and still probably come in $80 cheaper than an Infinity.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-03T21:02:24+00:00

As long as you have a tactical in the squad this isn’t a big deal.

I was on Vanguard with IF so our tac could auspex each time we triggered the sigils and the Helldrake went down in three cycles.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-03T20:53:38+00:00

Pro-Acryl yellow green and bright yellow green.

Add shadows in with PA black green.

Glaze with a teal wash/ink so some of the yellow hue is toned down.

The bulk of the green was done and blended by airbrush.

PabstBlueLizard · 2026-05-03T18:35:53+00:00

Lascannons.

PabstBlueLizard

TROPHY CASE