So I’ve been getting into Kill Team (KT) lately. And by ‘getting into’ I mean assembling and painting some of the minis that I’ve had on sprues for the three KT boxes I’ve accumulated over the years. I’ve always been attracted to the small scale skirmish game but never had the energy or impetus to get moving on it.
One of my biggest hobby conundrums has been ‘how to quickly get many minis painted to a standard that I can accept’ for gaming. I am a sporadic painter, with a fair old streak of perfectionism that limits my ability to get things done. Not traits or habits conducive to getting an army or even a squad completed.
This Genestealer Cult Wyrmblade Kill Team (feat. Kelermorph and Locus) took just over three days on and off painting to be completed, and frankly I love them. The secret it turns out, is under painting.
If you’ve been anywhere near Youtube mini painters lately you’ll have heard of ‘slap chop’ (look it up) and really all I have done is essentially, airbrush slap chop. I undercoat the model black, followed with a grey and then white zentihal highlight before finally dry brushing white over just the model’s edges. This is a really quick way of defining the model’s colour values with an overhead light source.
Once the values are done, I apply hues to the models via a very thin mix of paint 1:4 thinner. Glazes, essentially. For this unit, that meant firstly Xereus Purple from the bottom up (nadir) followed by Aethermatic Blue a GW Contrast colour from the zenith.
Because the airbrush lets you apply paint so sparingly and evenly, the transition between the turquoise and purple is so, so, smooth. It’s bordering on magical!
I masked off the heads and did them with a similar method, separately. I did a dry brush with pastel green over the model with a very, very unloaded brush to make sure just the very tips of the raised areas got covered, and then went over a few edges on each mini to add a bit of pop. That left just the gold areas, which I painted conventionally and that was it!
As much as this is my own method, Dana Howl’s underpainting and airbrush glazing videos are its undoubted genesis. Links at the bottom. They’re great!
I’m really excited to explore this way of painting further, it’s so fast and can deliver beautiful, vibrant miniatures that I’m proud to field on the table top.
The Kelermorph gun fighter, Neophyte Leader and his Locus bodyguard.
Heavy Gunners with seismic cannon and mining laser.
Gunners with flamer and grenade launch flank the team’s icon bearer.
Neophytes with shotguns and auto-guns.
And a shout out to the test models. I’ve found plastic mono-pose models that can be dunked in Dettol time and again invaluable for experimentation. This scheme would never have happened without these Blood Bowl linemen!
Underpainting (all models)
Vallejo Black Primer – airbrush
VMC French Mirage Blue – airbrush
Pro Acryl Titanium White – airbrush
Underpainting dry brush (body)
VMC White
Underpainting dry brush (weapons)
Scale75 Thrash Metal
Body (mask head prior)
GW Xereus Purple 1:4 Vallejo Airbrush Thinner – airbrush (spray upwards from nadir)
GW Aethermatic Blue – airbrush (spray down from zenith)
AK Pastel Green light drybrush
AK Pastel Green spot edge highlight
Head (mask around body prior)
VGC Rosa Pulpo (Squid Pink) 1:4 Vallejo Airbrush Thinner (spray down from zenith)
GW Druchii Violet 1:1 GW Lahmian Medium tint under areas of head
VGC Rosa Pulpo edge
GW Fulgrim Pink edge
Gold Detail (mask, insignia)
Scale75 Negro Gold base
GW Druchii Violet 1:1 GW Lahmian Medium wash
Vallejo Airbrush Polished Gold edge
Scale75 Speed Metal edge
Base
GW Nuln Oil wash
VMC Pale Blue drybrush
Bone details
AK Pale Sand drybrush/edge
Mini Makeovers 