Holy crap of all the videos I've watched yours is the only one that specified both your airbrush psi and ratios. That's always the biggest struggle for me, so you got a sub here. Looking forward to seeing more!
Funny enough, I just got the new Shadow & Pain box last week and have done something very similar to this with my Daemonettes using rattle can primers. Sprayed from below at an upwards angle with black, face on with a grey, and overhead with white. Then I used some Druchii violet to wash the whole model, then dry brushed with white. Now they have this great purple pre-shade and all it takes is a single layer of purple glaze to get the skin tones exactly the way I wanted them. I highly recommend experimenting with pre-shading your models even if you aren't an airbrush painter. It really does provide amazing results with far less time and effort.
Absolutely. The plastics in it and the solvent base means you can thin it down tons but still maintain lots of control. It’s why it’s been my go to for years. Tried white ink when it was getting a bunch of hype, but in my experience it’s inferior in every way for preshading.
I used Tamiya white my first time today. After a bit of trial and error with the pressure I must say I really like it through the Airbrush. But I must say I at first thinned it down 3 parts thinner 1 part paint as you described in one of your videos but I had a better control with slighty more than 2 parts thinner and 1 part paint.
Couldn't agree more with the tip on using the pre-shade to practice. It is 0 risk and as you do it you will improve getting the highlights much more specific/defined than you think you can the more you do it. Thanks for sharing and please stay safe!
Just wanted to drop a comment to thank you guys for the fantastic tutorials. Your airbrush series was the first entry-level, comprehensive guide to the subject that made it appealing to me. Picked up your Infinity brush for my birthday and absolutely loving it. Please keep these coming! Cheers from Belgium
Such a soothing voice and tune youre using. Perfect for an early saturday paint session. Might even try contrast for my spirit hosts now. And youve successfully sold tamiya flat white mate.
The Tamia paints are sooo much better through the airbrush, the lighter colours in particular speckle so much less than the equivalent water based acrylic. It's a shame they don't brush on so well.
I do a similar technique. Base coat mephoston red spray, zenithal highlight wraithbone spray and then paint on blood angels red contrast, no air brush needed!
Just popping back in here to give a huge thanks. I bought an airbrush kit that came with 3 brushes, proceeded to ruin a mini and clog the smallest brush so I was feeling a bit intimidated as I am brand spanking new to Airbrushing AND 40K. Watched your tutorial, especially liked the kind of satin candy finish you got with the metals, so I went that route with the medium sized brush and am stoked with the outcome! I did a Gunmetal basecoat, shining Silver highlights and Mantis Green contrast paint and he looks sick!
I’ve never seen anyone create a candy color scheme for Blood Angels and I absolutely love it! I was wondering if you could make another video that shows some details on what you used and your process. Thank you!
Another paint range to try the candy coat part of this technique with is Liquitex Soft Body paints. They tend to be more transparent than opaque, especially in the reds and blues. Naphthol Crimson is a personal favorite which I use on my Sons of Orar Space Marines in this exact way.
I've never painted a mini army in my life but this video made me wanna give it a go since I feel way more comfortable with the airbrush than with traditional brushes. Let's hope the world goes back to normal soon so materials can be shipped to my country
Before I learned about Tamiya X20-A thinner, I used Vallejo Airbrush Thinner with Tamiya XF-22, XF-20, XF-55 and XF-2 and XF-1 to build up layers for my World Eaters. I got excellent coverage and my airbrush never clogged. Tap or distilled water will definitely make your Tamiya paints split, but if your go-to thinner is Vallejo, you ought to get the same results as me with Tamiya.
Great stuff, as always! As for air brushing.. doing it looks amazing, especially the pre phases, but I just can't get into the finished results, as clean and smooth it may look. But I'm happy to learn about this, there are ways I can apply these techniques into my brush skills.
Essentially how I did my salamanders, Black, white zynathol, green, yellow. Though I was using Liquitex inks. Leaves you with 2 nice ways to finish them. Fast where you just keep them shiny or slow where you add some matt medium once done you can go in and push the highlights further to really make the volumes pop.
Ah another fan of Contrast for Aibrush ! I do use the blood red aswell for my Infinity models (i do use it pure), I tried to do a yellow-ish with Iyanden and adding a few drop of red ink in it, it turned out quite interesting as the ink didn't came right through and doing a gradient from yellow to orange to a red-dish colour :p
Having never seen this video before, I actually painted my CSM troops like that army of the dead using vallejo game ink. Super funny that this has the exact same paint scheme.
Lately I've been experimenting with zenithal priming, then building up layers final detail highlights with pure white with a brush. Once I've got all my tonal values I use washes over the top to tint it to the colour I want. The only problem is, since I'm using rattle cans, you see the speckles of the paint.
This video is so full of super useful info! Thanks Henry! I love the contrast paint over metallic paints effect, I've used it for my Khorne demons. I used Vallejo Metal Colors Copper and GW Contrast Flesh Tearers Red. I got quite a matte finish, almost like velvet. I like it, but would like to know why it lost almost all the snihe. Do you have any idea why?
Good to hear you enjoyed the video! The reason your red has a more matte finish is becasue thats the finish of the contrast paints. Whereas something like an ink or tmaiya clear has a gloss finish. if you want to bring back the shine then give the model a thin coat of gloss varnish.
Thank you for such great tutorial! The question I've been having is how do you then proceed to do shading for individual panels or crevices without messing up the air brushing? If I have a fairly flat (horizontally) model like a space ship with lots of panels, what would you suggest
I wonder if the reverse could also achieve something nice to look at, say Genestealers with a light from below to make it look like they jumped up from the floorboards into the lightsource, such as on a spacehulk that has limited lighting.
I'm anxious about using tamiya paints in my fancy airbrush. The idea of using solvents and stuff. Do you use the specific tamiya airbrush cleaner? Or does any cleaner work?
@@JazzToTheTwo use a bit of isopropyl to do the first clean, then normal cleaner. Check out our intro to airbrushing playlist. Also if your airbrush is fancy then it will be even better for using tamiya with!
Absolutely love your content. I painted up some Blood Angels using your method in your Army Painting series and overall I really liked it. Would you recommend the Contrast Paint method from this video over the traditional paint from the previous one? I'm trying to get that really great vibrant red that you guys pull off so well. Thank you!
Sooooo many red recipes. We’ve another coming out this week. We wouldn’t recommend one over the other, we try to make them different and interesting. You may even like this weeks more!
Really nice tutorial. I’d gloss varnished and oil washed, these models would look amazing in so few steps! Doing 40 of these doesn’t sound daunting any more. How about models with two colours? E.g. sisters of battle? Would you advice just brushing on the colour after the highlight phase, or there is some trick to speed it up?
Fantastic tutorial, thank you. Do you have problems when airbrushing Tamiya Flat White? Every time I use it, it spatters all over the place, no matter how I thin the paint.
Most airbrushcleaner works with Botylglycol and a bit of dish soap. You can buy it cheap and mix your own cleaner. Otherwise try windshield washer fluid. Dont buy the expensive products.
Hello and thanks for the video! I would like to know how you can do pre-shading with this kind of result, but with no air-brush. I use Artis Opus Series D brushes, and classics ones. Thanks and keep going !!!
@@cultofpaint Thanks for the reply. I "Try" painting Imperial Fist, do I prime black, then dry brush grey then white for apply next some yellow ? I'm afraid that the shadows won't be that sexy ^^
I really love this video and is my go to for reference when I try to paint with an airbrush, specially because I'm doing Blood Angels. However I've been wondering I it would be posible to get a similar effect using Basilicanum grey or Black Templar instead of Blood Angels red for making a black model like the Death Company marines. Would it work or be just too redundant to use a black primer, this kind of highlight and then darken it with grey or black again? I dislike edge highlights in general and drybrushing but I definitely love this kind of highlight for army painting
Another great tutorial guys - will definitely give this technique a go. As soon as you guys are able to start running classes again (hoping you pick Edinburgh or Glasgow) I'll be there! I have a couple of questions as always :-) Do you tend to use rattle cans or airbrush primers? That comment on Chaos Black at the start surprised me. And then, would you use this technique on blue (ultramarines) or does it only work on certain colours?
Hi Robert, we'll definitely be heading north of the wall next year for some classes. We use rattle can primers, we find they give us a better result than airbrush primer. Our 2 go to's are GW Chaos black and Halfords Grey. The pre shade works well for ultras, BUT it's worth saying that blue is such a strong colour that you can just work up from a dark blue to light blue instead.
This is an awesome tutorial! I’ve recently just started a white scars army and I’m just hanging onto my new paints arriving (Vallejo blacks, greys & whites along with apothecary white contrast). Would your steps be the same as the techniques used above on the matte space marine?
Absolutely. But for White scars you could simply work up to white, so your preshade its actually your finished paint job. You cant hen use that as the preshade for any red bits.
@@cultofpaint thanks so much appreciate it! One last question in your opinion am I better working from black to white as shown in the video, grey to white or black to grey to white?
We have indeed explored inks in this capacity. We prefer the contrast paints and Tamiya clears. But the application is the same, so hopefully people will have a go with a variety of products and see which they like best.
Just tried some old eldar minis with this in a two tone fade scheme - amazing. I just want to know how do you varnish to preserve the shine of the metallic?
This was very helpful, but I do ultramarines and own lots of pots of macragge blue base paint not contrast. Could I still use those paints or do you recommend going for contrast?
Is there a contrast or ink color you would recommend above the black metal to produce a gold suited for a Custodes color scheme? Love the look you got on the red candy one.
The old GW glaze worked quite well for this. But I've not tried it with the two yellow contrasts. I'd be inclined to try and work from a gold base and alter that with glazes of inks/contrasts/clears.
I've been previously candy painting my blood angels with a solid blast of gold. Previous attempts at appreciating had not worked out for me but this looks fantastic! I'll have to pick up that scale 75 paint. How well through an airbrush does it run without thinning?
Henry, sometimes when I think something too much, it comes out really "watery" and doesn't quite stick to the model, but rather seeps into the recesses almost like a wash, do you know why this could be?
Nice video. I was wondering, what is the benefit of doing this white preshade before the red, instead of just doing red over the black? If you're deliberate with your application and build up the layers wouldn't it achieve the same result? Thanks.
Red is a particularly weak colour. So by using the preshade we get a brighter red than we ever could over black, as well as using fewer layers of paint, therefore improving the finish. Something like blue doesn't really need a preshade and you could just work up from black with successively lighter blues.
How would you suggest doing this with - mainly off white (Ulthuan Grey) primary color scheme (Sons of the Phoenix is the chapter)? Would it be a black primer coat followed up with several thin coats of progressing grey -> white? Or a white primer that’s then base coated grey then built up from there?
There's no real need to preshade grey. Here's a recent video where we look at painting a light grey Space Wolf. Follow the same steps but just pick lighter greys for you Sons of the Phoenix ua-cam.com/video/vZ_Mx3Kk6Zo/v-deo.html
I’m currently dreaming up a new paint scheme for an army. After seeing this I definitely want to zenithal my miniatures before hand. However I am wondering if it would make such a big difference if I was to go with a khaki/sand paint, maybe like a zandri dust or a contrast equivalent?
I'm getting ready to paint up a Flesh Tearers army, and I think I'm going to give this method a try. The Blood Angels Red contrast over the metallic undercoat looks dark enough to be a Flesh Tearers armor, but I'll probably test out Flesh Tearer's Red Contrast to see how it looks. Do you have any advice?
I'm a complete newbie to this, I am about to start painting a 40k army for the first time. What colour pre-shades would you recommend for Ork skin? I know I want the creases of their skin etc to be a purple colour because I was told their blood is a dark purple in colour so it makes sense to me to do that and green and purple compliment each other well. Lastly, in keeping with this scheme, I was going to replace the pale flesh highlights that I see a lot of tutorials recommend with a very pale purple or pinky purple. With this in mind what pre-shades for zenithal and dry brush highlighting would you recommend?
Is it worth pre-shading if you're applying your base coats with a brush rather than an airbrush or would it not make a noticeable difference? I haven't sorted an airbrush set up yet and wondered if if doing it with rattle cans would be better than just black.
Absolutely. Especially for weak colours like red. Just keep your layers thin enough and build them up. But a preshade with a white rattle can over grey would be worthwhile for sure.
Never thought of using contrasts as a filter! My only question is, how do you fix mistakes when you're painting the other details, like the black or the leather?
@@cultofpaint Apologies, I wasn't specific. I was hoping there was a contrast paint you'd suggest that would work similar to the candied process demonstrated here. I've looked at the other black schemes on the channel and most are not what I'm looking for. I'll keep looking though.
do you have to use white for a preshade? could I perhaps use blue for example and then use a contrast paint like black templar so I can easily get those blue highlights
You can use any colour for a pre shade when airbrushing. But some will have more impact than others. If you want that blue/black you’re talking about then check out the heresy dark angels video, and substitute the green.
With the metallic tinting, is there a reason why there wasn't a third, brighter highlight applied (like an aluminium/very bright silver)? Is the brighter silver/metallic colour lost when the colour applied or can be done but is an extra step in the process?
Simplicity. This is an introduction to preshading and it's concept. You can do tons more, such as a third silver, or edge highlights, or more shading etc.
I paint black armour using a preshade in one of our recent Patreon series. Alternatively check out the Black Templars video for a different way of painting black armour. ua-cam.com/video/PwFXLUcYQiQ/v-deo.html
First time painter here. I just built my Space Marines from the Indomitus box set, plus purchased a Primaris Repulsor. I was wanting to know if you could give me your opinion on what Citadel color scheme would best fit the *Brazen Skulls* (warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Brazen_Skulls ). They are listed as a Loyalist chapter of Unknown Founding and there is virtually no information on them in regards to painting schemes. I personally like their simple design (blue and gold/bronze), but I would like your professional opinion as well.
I keep trying this with inks but after anything else goes over the pre shade it just seems to wash off, even if I leave it overnight. I hope I can get it to work soon!
Yeah give the Tamiya a go. One of the reasons we dislike using ink for preshade is that it normally dries glossy. This means that paint finds it much harder to adhere to the surface, hence it rubs off.
Can't see the front and back at the same time, so just change your light source...... so now that my mind has been blown and I call into question everything I thought I knew about painting, let's proceed with the video
Holy crap of all the videos I've watched yours is the only one that specified both your airbrush psi and ratios. That's always the biggest struggle for me, so you got a sub here. Looking forward to seeing more!
That's great, hope it was useful.
Funny enough, I just got the new Shadow & Pain box last week and have done something very similar to this with my Daemonettes using rattle can primers. Sprayed from below at an upwards angle with black, face on with a grey, and overhead with white. Then I used some Druchii violet to wash the whole model, then dry brushed with white. Now they have this great purple pre-shade and all it takes is a single layer of purple glaze to get the skin tones exactly the way I wanted them. I highly recommend experimenting with pre-shading your models even if you aren't an airbrush painter. It really does provide amazing results with far less time and effort.
Henry, do you think Tamiya White lends itself to less spiderwebbing than other acrylic products (paints, inks)?
Absolutely. The plastics in it and the solvent base means you can thin it down tons but still maintain lots of control. It’s why it’s been my go to for years. Tried white ink when it was getting a bunch of hype, but in my experience it’s inferior in every way for preshading.
Was just writing out the same question
I used Tamiya white my first time today. After a bit of trial and error with the pressure I must say I really like it through the Airbrush. But I must say I at first thinned it down 3 parts thinner 1 part paint as you described in one of your videos but I had a better control with slighty more than 2 parts thinner and 1 part paint.
Nice one! We use it at a variety of dilutions depending on the task. It’s great that you can dilute so much if needed.
For the best results you should thin Tamiya acrylics with their lacquer thinner.
Couldn't agree more with the tip on using the pre-shade to practice. It is 0 risk and as you do it you will improve getting the highlights much more specific/defined than you think you can the more you do it. Thanks for sharing and please stay safe!
Thanks Rob
Just wanted to drop a comment to thank you guys for the fantastic tutorials. Your airbrush series was the first entry-level, comprehensive guide to the subject that made it appealing to me. Picked up your Infinity brush for my birthday and absolutely loving it. Please keep these coming! Cheers from Belgium
That's great to hear! Thanks a lot Pieter
I loved my intro to airbrush course. Can’t want to do some more cult of paint classes!
Neither can we mate!
Such a soothing voice and tune youre using. Perfect for an early saturday paint session. Might even try contrast for my spirit hosts now. And youve successfully sold tamiya flat white mate.
It's such a good paint!!
The Tamia paints are sooo much better through the airbrush, the lighter colours in particular speckle so much less than the equivalent water based acrylic. It's a shame they don't brush on so well.
Why am I watching this, I don't even own an air brush lol.
I do a similar technique. Base coat mephoston red spray, zenithal highlight wraithbone spray and then paint on blood angels red contrast, no air brush needed!
Good idea.
I want to learn to air brush sooo badddd
Never occurred to me to do this. I'm looking forward to try it when I'm able. Great video
Good luck!
I'm just here cause his voice is super relaxing and same with the music.
Fantastic demonstration of this amazing technique!
I recommend the transparent Schmincke Aero paints for that true candy, almost automotive finish.
Thanks!
Just popping back in here to give a huge thanks. I bought an airbrush kit that came with 3 brushes, proceeded to ruin a mini and clog the smallest brush so I was feeling a bit intimidated as I am brand spanking new to Airbrushing AND 40K. Watched your tutorial, especially liked the kind of satin candy finish you got with the metals, so I went that route with the medium sized brush and am stoked with the outcome! I did a Gunmetal basecoat, shining Silver highlights and Mantis Green contrast paint and he looks sick!
@@Radxcor83 nice one!
I’ve never seen anyone create a candy color scheme for Blood Angels and I absolutely love it! I was wondering if you could make another video that shows some details on what you used and your process. Thank you!
Another paint range to try the candy coat part of this technique with is Liquitex Soft Body paints. They tend to be more transparent than opaque, especially in the reds and blues. Naphthol Crimson is a personal favorite which I use on my Sons of Orar Space Marines in this exact way.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Wow your some sort of painting scientist! Great video.
Wish i was a scientist!
i searched for so long for a vid like this one, ty :D
Very underrated channel great videos. Subbed!
I've never painted a mini army in my life but this video made me wanna give it a go since I feel way more comfortable with the airbrush than with traditional brushes. Let's hope the world goes back to normal soon so materials can be shipped to my country
Yes! Do it!
Nice Henry. Love the Army of the dead fella. So simple yet effective.
Cheers mate. Definitely not been slowly getting people to paint me an army of them on the classes ;)
@@cultofpaint im tempted to get a box. Can I have an army of purely these, Aragon, Legolas and Gimli?
@@mikefrench178 Yes, as long as you get the King Of The Dead too. Its a Legendary Legion (think Rite Of War). Pretty good one too.
@@DAN_OOTFP God damn you Henry! I have enough stuff to paint as it is 😆
@@DAN_OOTFP The Stallard army tm
Before I learned about Tamiya X20-A thinner, I used Vallejo Airbrush Thinner with Tamiya XF-22, XF-20, XF-55 and XF-2 and XF-1 to build up layers for my World Eaters. I got excellent coverage and my airbrush never clogged.
Tap or distilled water will definitely make your Tamiya paints split, but if your go-to thinner is Vallejo, you ought to get the same results as me with Tamiya.
Pink and white pre-shade for yellow gives you a fantastic looking yellow in the end
Sure does, and very trendy right now.
Awesome video. Looking forward to more.👍
Thanks 👍
This is amazing. I feel like I understand how air brushing works now.
That’s great to hear
Great stuff, as always! As for air brushing.. doing it looks amazing, especially the pre phases, but I just can't get into the finished results, as clean and smooth it may look. But I'm happy to learn about this, there are ways I can apply these techniques into my brush skills.
Absolutely, You can achieve a very good preshade with a dry brush
Essentially how I did my salamanders, Black, white zynathol, green, yellow. Though I was using Liquitex inks. Leaves you with 2 nice ways to finish them. Fast where you just keep them shiny or slow where you add some matt medium once done you can go in and push the highlights further to really make the volumes pop.
This one just found a place in my heart. About to paint deathwatch with this. Will take 5 hours. Lol
Nice!
Great video! This content is superb. 👏
Glad you enjoyed it!
Ah another fan of Contrast for Aibrush ! I do use the blood red aswell for my Infinity models (i do use it pure), I tried to do a yellow-ish with Iyanden and adding a few drop of red ink in it, it turned out quite interesting as the ink didn't came right through and doing a gradient from yellow to orange to a red-dish colour :p
They are a great addition to the collection.
Amazing work man!!
Thanks!
I like the metallic marine. interesting technique.
It’s good fun, certainly makes them stand out on the tabletop.
Having never seen this video before, I actually painted my CSM troops like that army of the dead using vallejo game ink. Super funny that this has the exact same paint scheme.
Lately I've been experimenting with zenithal priming, then building up layers final detail highlights with pure white with a brush. Once I've got all my tonal values I use washes over the top to tint it to the colour I want. The only problem is, since I'm using rattle cans, you see the speckles of the paint.
starting with the highlight glaze first, before doing the base color makes sense when doing air brush glazing.
Great guide! Got so much from that!
That's great!
This video is so full of super useful info! Thanks Henry!
I love the contrast paint over metallic paints effect, I've used it for my Khorne demons. I used Vallejo Metal Colors Copper and GW Contrast Flesh Tearers Red. I got quite a matte finish, almost like velvet. I like it, but would like to know why it lost almost all the snihe. Do you have any idea why?
Good to hear you enjoyed the video! The reason your red has a more matte finish is becasue thats the finish of the contrast paints. Whereas something like an ink or tmaiya clear has a gloss finish. if you want to bring back the shine then give the model a thin coat of gloss varnish.
Makes sense. Thanks!
Great tutorial
Thanks, glad it was helpful!
Thank you for such great tutorial! The question I've been having is how do you then proceed to do shading for individual panels or crevices without messing up the air brushing? If I have a fairly flat (horizontally) model like a space ship with lots of panels, what would you suggest
You could go in with a hairy brush to further refine your highlights/shadows.
Spazstix makes 100s of Candy Coats are great for mini painting specially armor
I wonder if the reverse could also achieve something nice to look at, say Genestealers with a light from below to make it look like they jumped up from the floorboards into the lightsource, such as on a spacehulk that has limited lighting.
Yes 100%, do that and tag us in it, sounds very cool :)
Great video! Thanks
You're welcome!
I'm anxious about using tamiya paints in my fancy airbrush. The idea of using solvents and stuff.
Do you use the specific tamiya airbrush cleaner? Or does any cleaner work?
@@JazzToTheTwo use a bit of isopropyl to do the first clean, then normal cleaner. Check out our intro to airbrushing playlist.
Also if your airbrush is fancy then it will be even better for using tamiya with!
Thanks for the tips!
New to the Hobby and curious if there is a way or technique to have the same effect with a brush? I don't own an Airbrush yet.
You can stipple or drybrush
@@cultofpaint thanks a lot!
Absolutely love your content. I painted up some Blood Angels using your method in your Army Painting series and overall I really liked it. Would you recommend the Contrast Paint method from this video over the traditional paint from the previous one? I'm trying to get that really great vibrant red that you guys pull off so well. Thank you!
Sooooo many red recipes. We’ve another coming out this week. We wouldn’t recommend one over the other, we try to make them different and interesting. You may even like this weeks more!
@@cultofpaint that's awesome! I can't wait to watch it!
Really nice tutorial. I’d gloss varnished and oil washed, these models would look amazing in so few steps! Doing 40 of these doesn’t sound daunting any more.
How about models with two colours? E.g. sisters of battle? Would you advice just brushing on the colour after the highlight phase, or there is some trick to speed it up?
Yeah just AB the majority colour and brush paint the other.
Fantastic tutorial, thank you.
Do you have problems when airbrushing Tamiya Flat White? Every time I use it, it spatters all over the place, no matter how I thin the paint.
Hello! How do you clean the airbrush after using the Tamiya Flat White? :D Should I use mineral spirit or something? Awesome video btw!
in addition to your normal airbrush cleaner, you can use a drop or two of isopropyl alcohol or the tamiya x20a thinner.
Most airbrushcleaner works with Botylglycol and a bit of dish soap. You can buy it cheap and mix your own cleaner. Otherwise try windshield washer fluid. Dont buy the expensive products.
Hello and thanks for the video!
I would like to know how you can do pre-shading with this kind of result, but with no air-brush. I use Artis Opus Series D brushes, and classics ones.
Thanks and keep going !!!
Dry brush grey, then white. Then apply your paint in thin layers so that you can see the preshade.
@@cultofpaint Thanks for the reply. I "Try" painting Imperial Fist, do I prime black, then dry brush grey then white for apply next some yellow ? I'm afraid that the shadows won't be that sexy ^^
So helpful!
I really love this video and is my go to for reference when I try to paint with an airbrush, specially because I'm doing Blood Angels.
However I've been wondering I it would be posible to get a similar effect using Basilicanum grey or Black Templar instead of Blood Angels red for making a black model like the Death Company marines. Would it work or be just too redundant to use a black primer, this kind of highlight and then darken it with grey or black again?
I dislike edge highlights in general and drybrushing but I definitely love this kind of highlight for army painting
Another great tutorial guys - will definitely give this technique a go. As soon as you guys are able to start running classes again (hoping you pick Edinburgh or Glasgow) I'll be there!
I have a couple of questions as always :-) Do you tend to use rattle cans or airbrush primers? That comment on Chaos Black at the start surprised me. And then, would you use this technique on blue (ultramarines) or does it only work on certain colours?
Hi Robert, we'll definitely be heading north of the wall next year for some classes. We use rattle can primers, we find they give us a better result than airbrush primer. Our 2 go to's are GW Chaos black and Halfords Grey. The pre shade works well for ultras, BUT it's worth saying that blue is such a strong colour that you can just work up from a dark blue to light blue instead.
This is an awesome tutorial! I’ve recently just started a white scars army and I’m just hanging onto my new paints arriving (Vallejo blacks, greys & whites along with apothecary white contrast). Would your steps be the same as the techniques used above on the matte space marine?
Absolutely. But for White scars you could simply work up to white, so your preshade its actually your finished paint job. You cant hen use that as the preshade for any red bits.
@@cultofpaint thanks so much appreciate it! One last question in your opinion am I better working from black to white as shown in the video, grey to white or black to grey to white?
You should explore using inks in combination to metallics or glazing over your preshades.
We have indeed explored inks in this capacity. We prefer the contrast paints and Tamiya clears. But the application is the same, so hopefully people will have a go with a variety of products and see which they like best.
Great video
How would you highlight the metallic red Space Marine ? Just with a sliver on the edges ?
Bright silver during the preshade
Just tried some old eldar minis with this in a two tone fade scheme - amazing.
I just want to know how do you varnish to preserve the shine of the metallic?
Satin
Hi Henry, what do you pinwash the blood angels with? Flesh readers red or an umber oil?
i like black oil for them
brilliant video thanks alot really helped
Glad to hear it!
This was very helpful, but I do ultramarines and own lots of pots of macragge blue base paint not contrast. Could I still use those paints or do you recommend going for contrast?
@@Grey-Knight-5 you could use "normal" paint.
@@cultofpaint alright cheers brother
Great video thanks a lot.
Glad you liked it!
Amazing!
Is there a contrast or ink color you would recommend above the black metal to produce a gold suited for a Custodes color scheme? Love the look you got on the red candy one.
The old GW glaze worked quite well for this. But I've not tried it with the two yellow contrasts. I'd be inclined to try and work from a gold base and alter that with glazes of inks/contrasts/clears.
I've been previously candy painting my blood angels with a solid blast of gold. Previous attempts at appreciating had not worked out for me but this looks fantastic! I'll have to pick up that scale 75 paint. How well through an airbrush does it run without thinning?
which S75 paint in particular?
@@cultofpaint the black metal.
Henry, sometimes when I think something too much, it comes out really "watery" and doesn't quite stick to the model, but rather seeps into the recesses almost like a wash, do you know why this could be?
Nice video. I was wondering, what is the benefit of doing this white preshade before the red, instead of just doing red over the black? If you're deliberate with your application and build up the layers wouldn't it achieve the same result?
Thanks.
Red is a particularly weak colour. So by using the preshade we get a brighter red than we ever could over black, as well as using fewer layers of paint, therefore improving the finish. Something like blue doesn't really need a preshade and you could just work up from black with successively lighter blues.
How would you suggest doing this with - mainly off white (Ulthuan Grey) primary color scheme (Sons of the Phoenix is the chapter)? Would it be a black primer coat followed up with several thin coats of progressing grey -> white? Or a white primer that’s then base coated grey then built up from there?
There's no real need to preshade grey. Here's a recent video where we look at painting a light grey Space Wolf. Follow the same steps but just pick lighter greys for you Sons of the Phoenix ua-cam.com/video/vZ_Mx3Kk6Zo/v-deo.html
Awesome 👏🏻
I’m currently dreaming up a new paint scheme for an army. After seeing this I definitely want to zenithal my miniatures before hand. However I am wondering if it would make such a big difference if I was to go with a khaki/sand paint, maybe like a zandri dust or a contrast equivalent?
Brown then white
@@cultofpaint any recommendations on a brown primer? And would you still use a contrast through the airbrush?
I'm getting ready to paint up a Flesh Tearers army, and I think I'm going to give this method a try. The Blood Angels Red contrast over the metallic undercoat looks dark enough to be a Flesh Tearers armor, but I'll probably test out Flesh Tearer's Red Contrast to see how it looks. Do you have any advice?
Agreed, I think it would work great for tearers. I’d go blood angels all over then hit the shadows with flesh tearers.
For red instead of white and black you might wanna try brown and yellow or orange so your model turns out less pink and chalky
I have seen people use the colour wheel to determine the under paint. Ie Yellow to start and greens.
Absolutely you can get some lovely effects doing that.
I'm a complete newbie to this, I am about to start painting a 40k army for the first time. What colour pre-shades would you recommend for Ork skin? I know I want the creases of their skin etc to be a purple colour because I was told their blood is a dark purple in colour so it makes sense to me to do that and green and purple compliment each other well. Lastly, in keeping with this scheme, I was going to replace the pale flesh highlights that I see a lot of tutorials recommend with a very pale purple or pinky purple. With this in mind what pre-shades for zenithal and dry brush highlighting would you recommend?
You could basecoat purple and then preshade white.
@@cultofpaint would it still make sense to use the purple contrast as well, prior to layering up the green?
Would you then be able to use AK's streaking grime or Oil washes over the top of this? Or would the wash diminish or ruin the effect?
You certainly could. Any weathering will dull it down, so start bright!
Is it worth pre-shading if you're applying your base coats with a brush rather than an airbrush or would it not make a noticeable difference? I haven't sorted an airbrush set up yet and wondered if if doing it with rattle cans would be better than just black.
Absolutely. Especially for weak colours like red. Just keep your layers thin enough and build them up. But a preshade with a white rattle can over grey would be worthwhile for sure.
@@cultofpaint Thank you, I'll give it i try 👍
great video. You thin contrast in the airbrush?
I usually add a drop or two. More to help smooth it out rather than dilute it.
really thanks!!
Found the way to paint my dark angel
Never thought of using contrasts as a filter! My only question is, how do you fix mistakes when you're painting the other details, like the black or the leather?
definitely one of the draw backs. I just paint battle damage over any mistakes.
Do you have a recommendation for paints to use when doing black armored Space Marines? Worried they'll just turn out gray. Thank you.
Have a look through our videos, we've done a heap of different black schemes.
@@cultofpaint Apologies, I wasn't specific. I was hoping there was a contrast paint you'd suggest that would work similar to the candied process demonstrated here. I've looked at the other black schemes on the channel and most are not what I'm looking for. I'll keep looking though.
@@adammotter you could try some slightly thinner Black Legion. The other black co trast paint Black Templar is a bit grey
do you have to use white for a preshade? could I perhaps use blue for example and then use a contrast paint like black templar so I can easily get those blue highlights
You can use any colour for a pre shade when airbrushing. But some will have more impact than others. If you want that blue/black you’re talking about then check out the heresy dark angels video, and substitute the green.
What dilution and thinner did you use with the GW Contrast paint to run it through the airbrush?
roughly 50/50. I spray at 25psi. So you may need to adjust.
Sorry if this has been answered before but do you think that can primer is better/quicker than airbrush primer?
Yes. We use can primer.
I wonder if the candy method could be done with yellow, like for Fists or Lamenters. Or would it just end up looking like gold?
It looks cool. It's not full on gold for sure.
Whats the ratio of paint to thinner used for the army of the dead model to get the dry brush edge highlights to come through still?
It will vary depending on the paint. Try 50/50 and adjust from there.
With the metallic tinting, is there a reason why there wasn't a third, brighter highlight applied (like an aluminium/very bright silver)? Is the brighter silver/metallic colour lost when the colour applied or can be done but is an extra step in the process?
Simplicity. This is an introduction to preshading and it's concept. You can do tons more, such as a third silver, or edge highlights, or more shading etc.
@@cultofpaint Thank you so much Henry!
Do you have to thin contrast paints before running them through an airbrush?
I tend to thin them at least 50/50 depending on the effect I want.
How much do you recommend thinning the contrast paint? ….. and the metallics?
It will vary between paint and what you want to do with it, and your own airbrush setup. I’d recommend starting 50/50 and adjust from there.
Yup that worked must send you my photos of my test mini, looks ace.
Is there a way to achieve that candy finish with white? Like a metallic or pearl white?
I'll be covering a pearlescent white armour soon,
Love this very educational video. Question: how would you do this method for a black armor pattern? Say, Raven Guard, Iron Hands, or Black Dragons?
I paint black armour using a preshade in one of our recent Patreon series. Alternatively check out the Black Templars video for a different way of painting black armour. ua-cam.com/video/PwFXLUcYQiQ/v-deo.html
Would it work well to base the mini purple before the zenithal to get saturated shadows?
Sure. Purples, reds, pinks etc can be nice to use under certain colours if you want to add that type of contrast in at that stage.
@@cultofpaint thanks, it seems easier that way to not go over the highlights!
Thanks cuz
any reasonable alternatives to Tamiya flat white as it is hard to get at the moment where I am?
Not that we use. There's ComArt that is decent.
What PSI do you personally pre shade with?
25-30
@@cultofpaint Thank you for the information and reply. Appreciate it. I learned a lot. Nice work you brought it to life!
Would candy work with black?
@@Oldmaite not great
First time painter here. I just built my Space Marines from the Indomitus box set, plus purchased a Primaris Repulsor. I was wanting to know if you could give me your opinion on what Citadel color scheme would best fit the *Brazen Skulls* (warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Brazen_Skulls ). They are listed as a Loyalist chapter of Unknown Founding and there is virtually no information on them in regards to painting schemes. I personally like their simple design (blue and gold/bronze), but I would like your professional opinion as well.
Kantor followed by Hoeth looks close www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/paint-slice_03.jpg
I've tried this with Scale75 Black Metal+Vallejo 77.707+Space Wolf Contrast but didn't work as it worked with Blood Angel Red Contrast :(
Presumably it just looked like a more dull silver?
What happens if we highlight and pin wash before final color?
It works fine doing it that way.
How about using ink instead of contrast paint?
yeah just dilute it
Would this work for grey armour at all?
Yes. But generally when doing grey armour we just work up from black to light grey. Our two recent space wolf videos demonstrate this.
I keep trying this with inks but after anything else goes over the pre shade it just seems to wash off, even if I leave it overnight. I hope I can get it to work soon!
Do you mean ink for a preshade?
@@cultofpaint Yeah was trying just liquitex white through your lovely airbrush as a preshade, but might have to try some tamiya.
Yeah give the Tamiya a go. One of the reasons we dislike using ink for preshade is that it normally dries glossy. This means that paint finds it much harder to adhere to the surface, hence it rubs off.
What's the silver prepaint
Black metal and chrome. Is in video.
Can't see the front and back at the same time, so just change your light source...... so now that my mind has been blown and I call into question everything I thought I knew about painting, let's proceed with the video
HahHa perhaps that comment needed some clarification!