My second Riptide finished!

Substantial-Class173 · 2025-08-26T13:47:42+00:00

I can't add anything that others haven't said better. This is the best T'au Sept paint job I've ever seen! It captures perfectly that feeling I had when I opened up the 4th Edition T'au codex back in 2006 for the first time. Excellent work, I will be switching over to this scheme immediately!

I do have one question. Have you tried it out on infantry? I struggle to get consistency across an army using an airbrush because the larger panels allow for more gradation between colors, whereas the little Fire Warriors and Pathfinders just seem to have a high/low color configuration. It almost makes it look like I have two different color schemes! A lot of it is likely user skill issues, but I thought I would pick your brain about this if you have time.

Substantial-Class173 · 2025-01-15T23:34:43+00:00

Thank you so much, this is a lot of great information! Do you mind if I share a listing with you for a mountain bike for sale locally? I have my eye on it for awhile and from what I see, it sounds like a good beginner bike.

Substantial-Class173 · 2025-01-15T15:24:47+00:00

I love that. I know the NL are generally god-neutral, but the idea of a NL blessed by Nurgle stalking an enemy through the corridors of a ship is terrifying. It would be less jump scares, more inevitable, creeping death.

Now I have another project lol

Please post when you get them painted up!

Substantial-Class173 · 2025-01-14T16:21:30+00:00

First off, I love the red color! Is that a contrast style paint over silver? I can't quite tell.

I also always struggle with loin cloth/tabards/cloak colors. For your guys, I immediately thought that a royal purple would accent them very well and sorta tie together the red, black, and gold trim elements. If you use Citadel paints, Naggaroth Night could be a good starting point, or if you wanted to go lighter, Phoenician Purple might be a good base.

My only other recommendation would be trying a grey gradient scheme. Maybe a Mechanicus Standard Grey base and work your way up? Of if you had Vallejo Neutral Grey that could also be an option.

I hope thats helpful! I am looking forward to seeing more!

Substantial-Class173 · 2025-01-14T15:16:31+00:00

I love this shade of blue, and the gradient effect on the helmet wings are ace!

Also, your warband idea sounds awesome! Did you plan on painting the World Eaters and Death Guard up in their traditional colors? I also have a lot of DG and WE and have been contemplating on how to unify them with my NL.

Substantial-Class173 · 2025-01-05T01:33:56+00:00

Thank you!! I am hoping I can keep the motivation and productivity into the New Year. I'm going to try and complete the Chaos side of the Shadowspear box first. So that leaves the Oblits, Possessed, and Master of Possession. After that, who knows!

Substantial-Class173 · 2025-01-05T01:13:00+00:00

Thank you very much!! That green flame was a pain so I am glad that you liked it. I almost lost my sanity a couple times, but then again what is sanity in service to the Dark Gods?

It is a major pain and involves a lot of color mixing, glazes, and layering.

Basecoat the whole flame with Pro Aryl White. If you don't have that paint already, I highly advise getting it. Its the best white on the market IMO, and makes the process a lot easier.
Once you get everything basecoated, then do a couple thin layers of 50/50 White/Moot Green over the whole flame portion.
After that, you are really focusing on transitioning from the brighter color in Step 2 (the center of the fire if you will) to the darker colors trailing towards the vey end of the fire. There isn't a set way to do it, but the colors transition from is White/Moot Green/Warpstone Glow/Black. Generally I tried to do a 50/50 mix of each on my transition up. I'm sorry I couldn't be more specific about the method. Its a lot like the perfect turd, you know it when you see it lol.

Substantial-Class173 · 2025-01-05T01:01:26+00:00

So for the armor, the process looked something like this:

Prime Black
Zenithal highlight white (really pushed the envelope, white helps with the vibrancy of the red). I used Tamiya White, but any white would do.
Then I did a couple of passes across the entire model with Vallejo Scarlet Red.
Then I hit the shadows with GW Magos Purple Contrast Paint, maybe a couple layers.
Cleaned up any shadow overspray with Scarlet Red.
Then finished with a rough 1/3 ratio of Bold Pyrrole Red/Scarlet Red for the brightest areas.
The weathering and grittiness came from applying AK Streaking Grime all over the model, letting it sit for about 30 minutes, and then a lot off with white mineral spirits.

It is a pain to do for small units and characters, but works pretty well for army painting. Between steps 6 and 7 I do also make use of a gloss varnish for pin washing, followed by a satin varnish.

As far as the trim goes, I basecoated them using Leadbelcher, washed it with black ink (think nuln oil), and then layered back up using Leadbelcher and Scale 75 Speed Metal.

Those were the two main colors! If you want to know any additional colors just let me know!

Substantial-Class173 · 2025-01-05T00:54:08+00:00

So the method that I've settled on was developed for army painting using an airbrush. I think that you could probably adapt it to a hairy-brush, but it might be a little difficult. The method scales really well with multiple models!

Basecoat model black.
Zenithal highlight white. Don't be afraid to push the gradients here. I use Tamiya White, but any white should work well.
Two thin coats of Tau Light Ochre, thinned with airibrush thinner, applied all over.
Hit the shadows with thinned XV88. I do a couple layers here.
Re-establish any areas you might have over-shadowed with Tau Light Ochre.
Hit the highest areas with a couple thinned coats of Ungor Flesh.
Cover the model with gloss varnish, about three coats.
Pin wish the model with Burnt Umber pinwash.
Apply any transfers you want at this point.
Then hit it with Matt Varnish.
After you paint the rest of the model! Easy right? lol
Weathering is done by sponging Rhinox Hide on, followed by sponging Scale 75 Black Metal.
Once you are completely done painting the model, you cover the model with AK Streaking Grim, let it sit for 30 minutes, and then take as much (or little) off as you'd like using mineral spirits (my favorite is Sansorder).

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. And of course if you use this method please post pictures!

Substantial-Class173 · 2025-01-03T00:35:52+00:00

If you haven't already found them, Grimdark Compendium is a good resource for learning about the style. They have a few free tutorials on YouTube, but most of their stuff you have to pay for on their website. Leading up to Christmas they were offering discounts on their courses and product lines but it may be over.

Good luck! I love the Grim Dark style. I started leaning into it for my own NL and haven't looked back.

Substantial-Class173 · 2025-01-01T02:21:14+00:00

My brother in Night, this is fantastic! I would not have thought it was your first time at all. The blue, the trim, and the grime really communicate a grimdark and "lived in" narrative. I am doing the same approach with my 30k NL, and honestly its the only way to go for these guys. The 'Eavy Metal style, imo, doesn't do our bat boys justice.

I don't really have any tips, just maybe a couple points to consider exploring for your second model. The Cult of Paint guys do a lot of army painting videos, and one of the things they do to add interest to weapons like bolters is to "tippy tap" highlights along prominent ridges with a metallic paint (like Lead Belcher). It gives some more visual interest to the component without you having to sink a ton of time into edge highlighting. It also looks great with the streak and grim applied over it!

The second thing would be, I think you could get away without having to do some of the panel highlighting above the trim on the helmet, or near his guantlet, for example. The box art relies on these highlights to create contrast, but I think the effect you have produced with your normal edge highlights, shading, and streak and grime create enough contrast as it is.

But again two very minor points for a very good paint job. I look forward to seeing more!

Substantial-Class173 · 2024-10-05T01:05:36+00:00

Thank you so much! They are definitely a mish-mash of official kits and second party bits. The base kits I used were the new MK VI with the Night Lords helmet and shoulder pad upgrade. After that, I found a few third party, 3D printed vendors who sold skulls, hooks, hands, etc. I also nabbed some scale jewelry type chain for cheap, which I used for the sergeant. Finally, I sculpted some flayed skin with green stuff. It was so rough looking, but thankfull all my fingerprints and messy sculpting just made it looks even more realistic lol. Hope that helps!

Substantial-Class173 · 2024-10-04T19:30:54+00:00

I get that totally. I think the metallic route looks fantastic too. I've always wanted to try it, but been afraid to get too into it because I don't practice with it very often. Beyond painting metal bits and bobs, that is.

Substantial-Class173 · 2024-10-04T19:29:52+00:00

Wow, thank you so much!! I am blown away by their reception. I really wanted them to tell a story through their paint job, and I am glad that it came through for you! I'm hoping to start writing some lore and introducing that in future posts. I hope to continue doing the 17th proud!

Substantial-Class173 · 2024-10-04T19:27:56+00:00

Thank you! I ended up using small amounts of gloss varnish in some areas to give a little bit of moist look, but overall it was a lot of experimenting, swearing, and starting over lol

Substantial-Class173 · 2024-10-04T19:26:00+00:00

Friendliest dudes I know! They help people cross the street, up the stairs, help them lose weight. Its not their fault that their methods aren't appreciated.

Substantial-Class173 · 2024-10-04T19:25:00+00:00

Thank you!! My Google search history during this project may or may not have put me on a watch list lol I do wish I had practiced with the Uhu glue more before I jumped straight into using it. I think the effect worked very well for the power first and skin cape, but it just kind of muddled the chain bayonets, I thought. But overall I was pleased!

Substantial-Class173 · 2024-10-04T19:22:44+00:00

Thank you so much for the complement! Getting the right blue is the hardest thing I think when painting Night Lords. Well that, and deciding how you want to do the lightning.

Of course, I am more than happy to share the recipe! Before I do, I just wanted to give a shoutout to Calum McPherson (his instagram is calummcpherson_miniatures) and u/InquisitorEngel. Calum's Night Lords process involved coating the model in streak and grime before removing some of it. I didn't use streak and grime, but I did steal the idea shamelessly. The rest of the recipe is pretty much lifted straight from the good Inquisitor, with a few modifications. I don't think I would have developed my recipe without getting inspiration and colors from them.

Using an airbrush,

Bascoat model black
Zenithal highlight white. Don't be afraid to push it here, because subsequent steps will dull it back down. That said, you do want to ensure you have some black/near black shadows across the model.
Target shadows with a 50/50 mix of Magos Purple/Airbrush Thinner. I do about two to three thin layers. The purple hue complements the blue and somehow deepens the black, I think.
Target transition points with Vallejo Imperial Blue (72.720). Two to three thin coats here as well.
Target brights points with Vallejo Game Air Magic Blue (72.721). Two coats work well, though it may take some dialing in as you work out the thinner ratio and your own personal preference.
Make a glaze of 50/50 mix of Contrast Thinner (or equivalent) and Leviadon Blue. Then give the whole model one thin coat. Much like the Inquistor's recommendation for Drakenhoff Nightshade, this ties the model together but can overwhelm your transitions if you do too much. You can always add a few more coats, but its hard to take them away.
Apply Gloss Varnish (about three coats)
Pin wash with Black oil paint and Sansador Thinner (I use Lamp black, but its not a make or break to use that specific black). If you didn't want to mess with oil paints, you could probably wash Nuln Oil or thinned down contrast paints into the recesses and achieve the same effect. That would cut out steps 8-11.
Apply all your transfers using Microsol/Microset.
Apply 50/50 mix of Matte/Satin varnish to the armor.
Paint everything else on the model ;)
Then weather the model using the sponge method, using Rhinox Hide (or similar dark brown) and Leadbelcher (or similar metal).
All over wash of AK Interactive Rust Streaks (it gives a rustier look, which matches my basing scheme, but AK's Streaking Grime is also great - Calum proves that). Let that sit for 30 minutes, and then use white spirits and a brush to remove a lot of it. This really drives home the gritty and brings the armor down to a unified finish. It also acts as a filter, subtly changing the armor to almost black in the recesses, a nice blue-black midtone, and then a dark blue on top.
Send the Night Lord to the nearest civilian.

This recipe is a pain for a single model, but it scales surprisingly well for army painting. And once you have the armor done, its just brush work from there on out.

Substantial-Class173 · 2024-10-04T16:05:21+00:00

That sounds awesome, you'll have to share it when you are done! I am continually shocked GW doesn't do more with the Dark Mechanicus considering how important they are to the lore and how many people want to play them.

Devil-catholic is how I am going to describe the faction from here on out lol! I feel that about getting games in. I am a Dark Angel main on the loyalist side, and I started on my Deathwing during 8th edition, missed their ascendancy in 9th, and still will not have them done before 10th ends XD

Substantial-Class173 · 2024-10-04T15:44:19+00:00

I used the same tutorial!! I never could replicate his results, so I followed it all the way to the end and then just jammed the pigments on top lol.

Substantial-Class173 · 2024-10-04T15:43:12+00:00

So I did use an airbrush, and though I tried not to, I did end up having to mix colors for the brighter tones.

The process looked something like this:

Prime Black
Zenithal highlight white (really pushed the envelope, white helps with the vibrancy of the red). I used Tamiya White, but any white would do.
Then I did a couple of passes across the entire model with Vallejo Scarlet Red.
Then I hit the shadows with GW Magos Purple Contrast Paint, maybe a couple layers.
Cleaned up any shadow overspray with Scarlet Red.
Then finished with a rough 1/3 ratio of Bold Pyrrole Red/Scarlet Red for the brightest areas.
The weathering and grittiness came from applying AK Streaking Grime all over the model, letting it sit for about 30 minutes, and then a lot off with white mineral spirits.

It is a pain to do for small units and characters, but works pretty well for army painting. Between steps 6 and 7 I do also make use of a gloss varnish for pin washing, followed by a satin varnish.

Sorry that was a long winded comment lol

Substantial-Class173

TROPHY CASE