Battle Sisters Painting Guide

Gareth Nicholas
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing this painting guide. Your support enables me to make more tutorials like this in the future! This guide is intended to
be at an attainable high-end “tabletop” rather than a display standard, since I realise that not everyone wants to spend countless hours
painting a miniature up to competition level! (I have admittedly used non metallic metal techniques on the power sword, but it would of
course be fine to use metallic paint instead.)

The feedback I’ve had suggests that most people prefer it when I stick to Citadel paints, so the vast majority of paints used in this guide are
from this line. I have used Vallejo paints in a couple of places where I think it necessary, and I do recommend trying ​Warcolours standard
white paint if you’re struggling with your usual brand. There is a full list of paints used towards the end of the guide.

For this guide I used a Winsor & Newton size 1 brush to paint everything, but there are of course many other purveyors of fine kolinsky sable
brushes! I don’t think the brand matters a great deal. I tend to reserve my newest brushes for the fine detail work, as many of the stages of
painting a miniature do not require a brush with a sharp point. I use a homemade wet palette so that I can keep all my mixes available when
I’m painting.

I’m always happy to hear any feedback you have (positive or negative) so that I can try to make future guides better. You can contact me via
any of the ways below to give me your views or ask any questions.

Blog:​ ​https://garethnicholasblog.wordpress.com/contact/
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Email: gareth.nicholas@gmail.com

© 2020 Gareth Nicholas All Rights Reserved

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Recess shading
Rather than using a forced light source such as zenithal highlighting, the miniatures in this guide were painted in a similar way to the Games
Workshop ‘Eavy Metal style. This approach places shades towards the recessed areas of the miniature and places highlights on the raised
edges that will naturally catch the light. The exception to this is faces, which are generally lit from above.

When shading, the paint should be thinned so that a few applications are needed to build up the full opacity of the shade. Unfortunately
dilution is not an exact science, as the amount of thinner needed will vary from paint to paint. For most paints I would recommend starting
with approximately 1 part thinner to 1 part paint and adjust from there. It’s fine to use normal tap water to thin your paint, but for shading
across relatively large areas (like the habits on the battle sisters) I find that using lahmian medium can sometimes give a smoother result
(although some paints seem to react better to it than others).

The brush should initially be placed close to the recess and then the stroke is inwards towards the deepest part. The first layer is allowed to
dry fully before the second application, which will start closer to the recess than the first; this helps to ensure a smooth transition. Sometimes
I find that dampening the surface a little before applying the shade can help the paint to flow a little more smoothly. I do this by rinsing my
brush in water and then removing most of the water on a paper towel before dampening the area where I will be shading. Then I quickly apply
the shade before the moisture begins to dry.

If the result after shading is not as neat as you would like then it is possible to use glazes of the mid tone in the transition region to tidy up. To
make the glaze add a generous amount of water to the paint and then use a brush with a decent point to apply the glaze in a focused way to
any areas where it is needed. For example, if there is a visible line between the base coat and where your shade started, then just run a glaze
of the base coat down this line a few times (allowing it to fully dry between applications) and this will blur the transition. Be sure to wick most
of the glaze out of the brush before applying it to the miniature.

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Edge highlighting
Edge highlighting (and highlighting creases in cloth) exaggerates the natural strong light reflections that typically occur in these areas and
makes the miniature more eye catching by introducing value contrast.

When highlighting, it’s important to make the first highlight quite broad, often wider than you think it should be. This then allows the
subsequent highlights to sit within the area of the first highlight, leaving some of it showing. In the right hand image below there are three
distinct bands of colour but when we shrink this down to the scale of our miniatures, the eye no longer perceives these bands and instead
sees a smooth gradient getting brighter towards the edge.

As with recess shading, the paint should be thinned and each highlight built up gradually in a few passes, rather than trying to do it all in one
go. This will yield a smoother end result.

For final extreme highlights it is often helpful to use the side of the brush rather than the tip, and just run it gently along the edge. This should
result in the thinnest possible line, and is much quicker than trying to use the tip of the brush to accurately catch the very edge.

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Metallic paint and base coating
Although metallic paint doesn’t generally photograph as well as non metallic metal techniques, the shine and reflections can really add an
extra level of contrast and interest when the miniature is viewed in person. It’s usually much quicker to use metallic paint than attempt non
metallic metal too!

In order to make the most of the reflective properties of metallic paint it is critical to ensure that the base coat is applied smoothly. The best
way to do this is with an airbrush, but this is not always an option. In this guide the metal details have all been painted with a brush. In order
to achieve the best result I would advise against using a spray can to prime or base coat the miniature - in my experience this always results in
some surface texture that will affect the shine of any metallic paint applied over the top. When base coating with a brush, use the largest
brush you are comfortable with and thin the paint with water so that three or more coats are needed to build up total coverage. The aim is to
avoid leaving any brush marks in the paint.

In this guide I have used metallic paints from Vallejo, in particular some of the paints from the metal color line. Although these are described
as airbrush paints, they can be applied using a brush straight from the pot with no dilution. I have found that no primer is necessary when
using these paints on plastic miniatures - they paint very nicely onto bare plastic and this often gives the smoothest finish. You can of course
use paints from another manufacturer, but I find that these give a superior shine (although the gold is not a particularly useful tone, so often
needs to be mixed with another paint). If you want to base coat your miniatures with a spray can you could consider using some poster putty
to cover the areas that will be painted with metallic paints to retain the smoothest possible surface.

I don’t generally like to use all over washes to shade metals as this affects the shine. The Citadel gloss washes are better in this respect but I
find that they have a long drying time and require many applications to build up the shade sufficiently for a good level of contrast. Instead I
prefer to place non metallic paint directly into the recesses in the same way as the rest of the miniature is shaded. I try to minimise the area of
metal that receives the shade in order to preserve as much of the shiny base coat as possible.

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Purple habit

1. The habit was base coated with a 1:1 mix of xereus purple and magenta (70.945) from Vallejo model color. The recesses were then
shaded with naggaroth night thinned with lahmian medium and a little water.
2. The deepest recesses, the button holes and area around the buttons were shaded with 1:1 naggaroth night and black.
3. The first highlight of 1:2:1 xereus purple, magenta and white was applied to any raised areas of the cloth, around the button holes and
along the edges. It is important that this highlight should be broad to allow room for subsequent highlights. The paint was thinned
with enough water that 4 or 5 applications were needed to build up this highlight gradually.

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4. The highlighting continued by adding white to the previous highlight mix (1 part white to 1 part previous highlight). Again this was
thinned with water and was applied within the area of the previous step so that some of the first highlight remained visible.
5. Some very thin glazes of the basecoat were applied in the regions where the basecoat meets the first highlight. This helps smooth the
transition a little but more importantly restores some of the vibrancy that can be lost when highlighting.
6. A final highlight of white with a touch of the mix from step 4 added was used very sparingly (mostly just at the corners and the bottom
of folds).

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Here the same steps are shown for an area on the back of the habit.

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Black armour

1. The armour was base coated black and then the first thick edge highlight of 1:1 incubi darkness and mechanicus standard grey was
applied. The extra light spot on the shoulder pad is not necessary and is a matter of personal preference.
2. A second highlight of 1:1 administratum grey and the previous mix was applied, trying to leave some of the previous highlight visible.
3. The final edge highlight was pure administratum grey. At this stage the side of the brush can be used to just catch the extreme edges
of the armour.
4. 2:1 white and administratum grey was used as a spot highlight on the corners of the armour and in the very centre of the light spots.

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Here the same steps are shown for the right leg. In this case, I added an extra line highlight on the thigh and a spot highlight on the knee.
Again, these extra highlights can be omitted depending on personal preference.

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Leather

1. The leather areas were base coated with a 1:1 mix of rhinox hide and black and then the recesses were shaded with black.
2. A first broad highlight of pure rhinox hide was applied.
3. The next highlight was a 3:1 mix of stormvermin fur and rhinox hide.
4. The final highlight was a 2:1 mix of pallid wych flesh and the previous mix.

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Gold

1. The gold areas were base coated with a 1:1 mix of Vallejo metal color gold (77.725) and retributor armour. The recesses were then
shaded with naggaroth night.
2. The very deepest recesses were shaded with black.
3. The base coat was reapplied to any areas where there was too much shading and then an edge highlight of Vallejo metal color silver
(77.724) was applied with no dilution.
4. A final extreme highlight of 3:1 Vallejo metal medium (70.521) and silver was applied to the corners.

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Bolter casing

1. The first highlight was mechanicus standard grey over a black base coat. With small areas like this it is the initial highlight
can’t be as broad as we would ideally like or it will cover too much of the basecoat.
2. A second highlight of administratum grey was applied, trying to remain within the area of the first highlight.
3. The final highlight of 1:1 white and administratum grey was applied sparingly at the corners of the casing. A very thin glaze of
black paint was also used to neaten up the some of the transitions between the base coat and the first highlight, which were a
little too stark in places.

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Face

1. Initially the head was airbrushed white. The hair was then base coated with 1:1 slaanesh grey and white. The face was base
coated with 2:1 XV-88 and ratskin flesh and then shaded with the base coat mixed 1:1 with rhinox hide.
2. Pure rhinox hide and then 1:1 rhinox hide and black were used to deepen the shading, with the darkest shade reserved for
the mouth and the eyes. With female faces it is important to apply shading sparingly, or the end result may look masculine.
3. Highlighting began with a 1:1 mix of the base coat and screaming skull. Initially I didn’t apply this fully in the creases under the
lower eyelids but I brightened this area later so I would recommend highlighting this whole area equally at this stage.

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4. A brighter highlight of pure screaming skull was applied sparingly, staying within the areas of the previous highlight.
5. A 1:1 mix of white and screaming skull was used as an extreme highlight on the face and was also used to paint the eyes and
teeth. At this stage I did not realise that the lower teeth could also be painted, and had to correct this later when the head had
been glued to the rest of the miniature. I also thinned the previous mixes that I used to paint the face to a glaze consistency
and smoothed some of the transitions and adjusted the lighting where necessary.
6. Black paint was used to paint the eyes and the eyebrows. Painting the eyebrows is certainly optional, and it can be quite
difficult to get right. It’s important to catch the lower edge of the brow or the expression can look quite surprised. I used a size
1 brush with a good point throughout the painting of the face. Using a large brush prevents the paint from drying out too
quickly and as long as the tip is good then very fine lines can be achieved by applying the paint very gently.
7. For the final stages, pure white was used to paint reflection points in the eyes and some more adjustments were made to the
lighting on the sides of the nose. Glazes of Vallejo magenta were applied to the lower lip, cheeks and above the eyes. The
hair was painted as described later in this guide.

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Power sword

1. The sword was base coated with mechanicus standard grey and then the glow region was defined with xereus purple.
2. The areas around the glow region were shaded with naggaroth night with a touch of black added.
3. The glow was strengthened with Vallejo magenta, with a touch of xereus purple added.
4. A 1:1 mix of magenta and white was used to define the lightning effect. The shade from step 2 was used to define the node.
5. White with a touch of the previous mix was applied very sparingly to strengthen the lighting towards the node.

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6. The rest of the blade was highlighted with 2:1 administratum grey and incubi darkness or naggaroth night or rhinox hide, using
different colours in different areas for visual interest. The lightning effect was also glazed with magenta away from the power node.
7. The blade highlights were increased using 1:1:1 white, administratum grey and each of the previous 3 mixes. The lightning effect was
repainted with the mixes from steps 4 and 5. By glazing back and repainting in this way a more vibrant lightning effect is acheived.
8. The shading was intensified with 2:1 black and naggaroth night and pure white was used sparingly towards the tip of the sword.
9. The blade was refined by using glazes of the previous mixes (in particular the reflections on the flat of the blade were toned down
with mechanicus standard grey) and adding some additional small reflections using the previous mixes to add visual interest where
needed.

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Details

1. The hair was base coated with 1:1 slaanesh grey and white, then shaded with slaanesh grey and then daemonette hide. The same
paints and pure white were used to define some hairs (some of the lines are sculpted detail and some have been added by brush).
2. The rosary beads and other small details such as the fleur de lis were base coated with pallid wych flesh, shaded with stormvermin fur
and skavenblight dinge, and highlighted with white.
3. The steel parts were basecoated with Vallejo metal color steel (77.712), shaded with black, and highlighted with Vallejo metal colour
silver (77.724), with extreme highlights having some Vallejo metal medium mixed in.
4. The freehand design on the front of the habit was first sketched in using very diluted pallid wych flesh and then built up gradually
using less dilute paint and correcting mistakes with the underlying purple colours. It would be easier to use a transfer if you stick to
one of the usual orders militant!

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Base

The base was constructed using cork and thin plasticard, with metal wire pushed into the cork to represent rebar concrete. The plasticard
was roughened with sandpaper and a scalpel (although this can’t be seen on the unpainted image) and rough white pumice Vallejo ground
texture was applied around the pieces, together with some small stones (some additional texture and stones were added after the picture
was taken).

After priming with Vallejo black primer, the base was painted with stormvermin fur, and given a drybrush with pallid wych flesh. The ground
was painted with cygor brown contrast paint and the concrete with seraphim sepia. The ground was then drybrushed with cadian fleshtone
and the concrete with stormvermin fur and pallid wych flesh. The base was finished with some focused washes of skavenblight dinge and
reikland fleshshade.

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Helmet

The black parts of the battle sister’s helmet were painted using the same paints as the black armour described earlier.

The face plate was base coated with 1:1 administratum grey and white, then shaded with administratum grey, and then skavenblight dinge.
Pure white was used to edge highlight.

The eye lenses were base coated with 1:1 xereus purple and magenta, then highlighted towards the bottom with Vallejo magenta, before
adding increasing amounts of white to the magenta. Naggaroth night was used to shade the opposite corner before finishing with a white
reflection spot.

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Paint list
All paints are Citadel unless indicated otherwise

Xereus purple Base only

Magenta 70.945 (Vallejo model color) Seraphim sepia shade
Naggaroth night Cygor brown contrast
Abaddon black Reikland fleshshade
White (​Warcolours​) Cadian fleshtone
Incubi darkness
Mechanicus standard grey
Administratum grey
Stormvermin fur
Skavenblight dinge
Rhinox hide
Pallid wych flesh
XV-88
Ratskin flesh
Screaming skull
Slaanesh grey
Daemonette hide
Retributor armour
Gold 77.725 (Vallejo metal color)
Silver 77.724 (Vallejo metal color)
Steel 77.712 (Vallejo metal color)
Metal medium 70.521 (Vallejo)

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