The Ultimate Guide to Warhammer Miniature Painting: From Assembly to Army Display

Publish Date: TBD | Last Updated: TBD | Reading Time: 15 min

Introduction

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of setting down a fully painted Warhammer army on the tabletop for the first time. Every edge highlight catches the light. Every OSL glow tells a story. Every basing detail — that chunk of cork you turned into a ruined cathedral wall — adds a layer of immersion that grey plastic just can’t deliver.

But let’s be honest: getting there isn’t always straightforward. Between choosing the right paints, figuring out which technique works best for which surface, and just trying not to flood your model’s face with Agrax Earthshade (we’ve all been there), the learning curve can feel steep.

This Warhammer miniature painting guide covers the complete journey — from your first sprue to a display-ready army. Whether you’re picking up a brush for the first time or you’ve been collecting for years and want to elevate your game, we’ve structured this guide so you can jump to the sections that matter most to you.

We’ll cover tools, assembly, priming, core techniques, surface-specific painting, protection, display, and — when you’d rather spend your time gaming than painting — what professional commission services can do for your army.

A quick note before we start: everything here comes from hands-on experience across hundreds of Warhammer commissions — the techniques we share are the same ones our painters use daily.

When you need a pro finish but don’t have the hours, check out Maxon Casting’s commission painting services →

Section 1: Getting Started — What You Need to Paint Warhammer Miniatures

Before you touch paint to plastic, you need the right kit. And no, you don’t need to mortgage your hobby budget to get started. Here’s what actually matters.

1.1 Essential Tools & Materials

Brushes — You need three brushes to start, not thirty:

Size 2 (your workhorse — holds more paint, keeps a good tip, and contrary to what beginners think, it’s actually better for fine work than a 00)

Size 1 (for mid-level detail — edge highlights, trim)

Size 0 or 1 drybrush (get a cheap synthetic or an actual makeup brush — this will wreck any good sable)

Brand recommendations: Winsor & Newton Series 7 (gold standard), Raphael 8404 (slightly softer, holds a killer tip), or Artis Opus for dedicated drybrushes. If budget’s tight, the Army Painter Wargamer range holds up well for the price.

Paints — You’ll hear strong opinions about brands. Here’s the honest breakdown:

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Wet Palette — This is not optional. A wet palette keeps your paints workable for hours instead of minutes, gives you better control over consistency, and saves you a ridiculous amount of paint. The DIY version (tupperware + damp paper towel + baking paper) works shockingly well. If you want to buy one, Masterson Sta-Wet is the classic, Redgrass Games is the premium choice.

Primers — We’ll cover priming in-depth in Section 3, but grab a can of Chaos Black (Citadel) or Black Primer (Vallejo Hobby Spray) to start. Either that or invest in a cheap airbrush setup — more on that below.

Lighting & Magnification — This makes more difference than any brush upgrade. A decent daylight LED lamp (5,000K+, 12W minimum) transforms how you see your work. For fine detail, a magnifying headset with LED lights is a game-changer — particularly for painting eyes and faces.

Quick tip: If your hobby budget only stretches to one upgrade this month, make it a wet palette and a good lamp. You’ll feel the difference immediately.

For a full comparison of the best miniature paint brands available right now, including side-by-side coverage tests and price per ml, check out our complete paint brand comparison →

1.2 Preparing Your Workspace

Your painting space doesn’t need to be Instagram-worthy, but a few practical considerations go a long way:

Ventilation — Spray primer, airbrush paint particles, and brush-on solvents (like enamel washes and varnishes) all release fumes. Even water-based acrylics are fine aerosol particles you don’t want in your lungs. Work near an open window with a fan pulling air out, or invest in a spray booth with an extraction fan.

Temperature & Humidity — Paint behaves differently at different temperatures. Cold paint (below 15°C/59°F) thickens and doesn’t flow well. Heat above 35°C/95°F dries paint on your brush mid-stroke. Humidity over 70% wrecks spray primer — expect a rough, dusty finish. Your Goldilocks zone is 18-25°C / 50-65% humidity.

Organization — You don’t need a pro setup, but having your paints organized (by color, brand, or frequency of use) saves incredible amounts of time. A simple nail polish rack on the wall or a $20 acrylic paint stand does the job.

Section 2: Assembly & Preparation — The Foundation of a Great Paint Job

Here’s the hard truth that took me years to learn: no painting technique can save a poorly prepared model.

Mold lines, sprue attachment nubs, and visible glue residue will shout “amateur” louder than any advanced paint job can whisper “pro.” Spend 80% of your prep time on assembly, and painting becomes 80% easier.

2.1 Cleaning & Mold Lines

Mold lines are the raised seam where the two halves of the plastic sprue mold met. They’re not part of the model — scraping them off is mandatory.

Tools that work:

Citadel Mold Line Scraper — The back of this tool is perfect; the front scraper works too

Hobby knife (X-Acto #11 blade or similar) — Use the blade at a 90-degree angle to the surface, scraping rather than cutting

Flexible sanding sticks — Great for curved surfaces like pauldrons and power armor legs

Files (Tamiya or Gunprimer) — Fine-grit only; coarse files will gouge plastic

“A great paint job on a poorly prepared model is like makeup on a dirty face.”

Take your time here. Run your fingertip along every edge and curved surface. If you feel a bump, it’s a mold line. Remove it. Repeat.

2.2 Sub-Assemblies

Some models are nearly impossible to paint fully assembled. If you can’t reach a surface with your brush, you can’t paint it properly.

When to sub-assemble:

Models holding weapons across their chest (Space Marine Intercessors with rifles)

Characters with cloaks/capes that cover the torso (Roboute Guilliman, Abaddon)

Vehicles with enclosed cockpits or crew

Primarchs and large centerpiece models (any model you want to be competition-ready)

How to sub-assemble:

1. Build the model in logical pieces — torso/legs, arms/weapons, head, backpack, cloak, base

2. Don’t glue the contact points — use Blue Sticky Tack to hold pieces temporarily for priming

3. Paint each sub-assembly separately

4. Before final assembly, scrape paint off the contact points (super glue needs bare plastic or a pin vice to bond)

5. After painting, glue the sub-assemblies together with CA glue (super glue) — apply in small dots, not a flood

Pin vices: For larger models or joint-heavy assemblies (arms, weapons, wings), drilling a small hole and inserting a paperclip before gluing adds mechanical strength. This is non-negotiable for metal or resin models.

2.3 Basing Materials

Basing itself is covered in detail in Section 5.4 — this section covers what to prepare before you start painting.

Have these ready before you prime:

Magnetize your bases: A 3mm x 2mm neodymium magnet glued under the base (or in a recessed slot on the base) makes storage and transport dramatically easier

Pre-base if needed: If your basing scheme involves texture paste or sand, apply it before priming — primer will seal the basing material and create a uniform surface to paint over

Keep basing separate: Don’t glue the model to the base before painting unless you’re absolutely confident you can paint everything you need to

Section 3: Priming — The Make-or-Break Step

Priming serves two critical purposes: it gives the paint something to grip (acrylic on bare plastic will chip), and it establishes the first layer of your painting’s tonal foundation. Get this right and everything else is easier.

3.1 Spray Primer vs Airbrush vs Brush-On

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| Spray Can | Fast, cheap entry, great finish | Weather dependent, less control, expensive per can at scale | Beginners, single models, batch priming small units |

| Airbrush | Full control, works year-round, cheaper at scale, can do zenithal | Higher upfront cost ($100-300 for a basic setup), learning curve | Regular painters, display work, zenithal priming |

| Brush-On Primer | Works in any weather, no equipment needed | Slower, harder to get smooth, can be thick | Touch-ups, resin/metal models, hot/humid climates |

Weather warning: Spray primer below 10°C/50°F or above 70% humidity will give you a rough, chalky, or crackled finish. If you can’t wait for a good day, switch to brush-on or airbrush.

3.2 Primer Color Choices

Your primer color dramatically affects the final look of the model — especially if you use contrast or transparent paints.

Black primer — The classic choice. Deep shadows in recesses, forgiving of missed spots. Best for grimdark schemes, metallic-heavy models, and painting from shadow up

White/Grey primer — Brighter finish, needed for yellow, white, and vibrant colors. Grey (like Citadel Grey Seer) is more forgiving than pure white

Zenithal priming — This is where you start with a black base coat, then spray from above with white or light grey. The result is a natural gradient — dark in the recesses, light on the raised surfaces — that guides your painting. It’s the single best technique for beginners to get pro-looking results

“Zenithal priming is the closest thing miniature painting has to a shortcut. It does half your shading work before you even start painting.”

Colored primers: Citadel’s spray range (Wraithbone for Contrast paints, Leadbelcher for metallic armies, Macragge Blue for Ultramarines) and Colour Forge sprays are excellent for “cheating” the base coat layer. One less step is always a win.

3.3 Common Priming Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)

1. Too thick — The spray was too close or the coat too heavy. Result: obscured detail, a “stuffed” look. Fix: Strip with 99% isopropyl alcohol (soak for 10-30 minutes, scrub with a toothbrush) and restart

2. Too far — Paint dries in the air before hitting the model. Result: rough, dusty texture. Fix: Light pass with a damp brush in the other direction can sometimes smooth it; otherwise strip

3. Too humid — The dreaded “chalky” finish. Fix: Strip and wait for a better day

4. Missed spots — Particularly under the chin, armpits, and inside cloaks. Fix: Just brush-prime those spots after the spray dries. Don’t strip the whole model

Section 4: Core Painting Techniques — The Building Blocks

This is the heart of this guide. Every technique below builds on the ones before it — master the basics, and the advanced stuff becomes much more approachable.

Technique Difficulty Matrix

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4.1 Basecoating & Layering

“Thin your paints.”

The most famous three words in miniature painting. Not because it’s a meme (though it’s definitely that too), but because of all the things that separate a clean paint job from a chunky mess, paint consistency is #1.

The right consistency: Your paint should flow off the brush like semi-skimmed milk. Not watery (that’s a wash), not creamy (that’s too thick for a base coat). You want it to flow smoothly off the brush but still hold its opacity.

Two thin coats: Apply one thin coat, let it dry completely (30-60 seconds with acrylics), then apply a second. Two thin coats will always look smoother and more opaque than one thick coat, and the finish will be consistent across the model.

Layering basics: After your base coat, use progressively lighter shades to build up highlights on the raised surfaces. Each layer covers slightly less area than the last. This is the foundation of almost every painting style in the Warhammer hobby.

4.2 Shading & Washes

If basecoating is building structure, washing is where the model starts to look real.

A wash is a very thin, highly pigmented paint that flows into recesses by capillary action. When it dries, the pigment settles in the shadows, creating instant depth.

The legends: Citadel’s Agrax Earthshade (brown, warm, works on everything) and Nuln Oil (black, neutral, technical) are the most versatile washes in the hobby. Between these two, you can shade 90% of any Warhammer army.

“Agrax Earthshade is brown in the pot and talent in the bottle.”

Pin wash vs all-over wash:

All-over wash — Brush it over the entire model. Fast and effective for tabletop quality. Watch for pooling on flat surfaces

Pin wash — Carefully apply the wash only into the recesses using a fine brush. Cleaner finish, takes longer. Essential for display and competition work

Avoiding coffee staining: When a wash dries with ring-shaped tide marks. How to avoid:

Don’t overload the brush — wick excess wash on a paper towel first

After applying a wash, if you see a pool forming, touch it with a clean, damp brush to wick away the excess

Thin your washes slightly with flow improver (not water, which reduces surface tension and makes staining worse)

4.3 Drybrushing

Drybrushing is often dismissed as a “beginner technique,” and while it’s definitely beginner-friendly, it’s also one of the most efficient ways to produce stunning texture effects.

How it works: Load a brush (an old, beat-up brush or a dedicated drybrush — never use a good sable for this) with a small amount of paint, then wipe most of it off on a paper towel until the brush is almost dry. Lightly drag it across the raised surfaces of the model. The ridges catch the paint, the recesses stay dark.

Where it shines:

Space Marine backpacks and power armor edges

Ork skin and weapons (the rougher texture works in your favor)

Tyranid carapace chitin ridges

Chainmail and fur

Terrain — drybrushing is the single best technique for terrain

T’au battle suits

Pro tip: Use a makeup brush (flat top or domed kabuki brush) for drybrushing. They’re cheaper than hobby drybrushes, softer, and the dense bristle pack produces a smoother finish with less texture.

4.4 Edge Highlighting

Edge highlighting is the technique that separates tabletop-ready from genuinely impressive. It’s also one of the most satisfying once you get the hang of it.

The method: Load a fine brush (size 1 or 0) with a slightly lighter paint than your base color. Wipe off most of it. Brush the side of the brush along the edge of the armor panel, letting the paint catch only the raised edge. You’re not painting the edge — you’re dragging the brush past the edge.

The color trick: Don’t just add white to your base color — this creates a chalky, desaturated highlight. Instead, move up in both brightness and saturation. For a blue Space Marine armor (Macragge Blue → Calgar Blue → Fenrisian Grey), each step is both lighter and more vibrant.

Check your work: Hold the model under a side light before you start. The same light that catches the edge for your eyes is the light that will catch it on the tabletop.

4.5 Glazing

A glaze is a highly diluted paint (about 5:1 water-to-paint or even thinner) used to create gradual, barely perceptible transitions between colors. It’s the technique that takes your painting from “solid” to “smooth.”

When to glaze:

Transitions from shadow to highlight on large flat surfaces (power armor shoulders, vehicle panels)

Blending two contrasting colors gradually

Tinting a model (a blue glaze over a white base creates a subtle blue tint without losing the white highlights)

Process: Apply a very thin, almost tinted-water consistency layer to the area between dark and light. Let it dry fully. Repeat 3-8 times, each time bringing the glaze slightly closer to the dark end of the transition. Patience is everything here — glazing sessions take 30-60 minutes for a single panel, and you’ll do 5-10 layers.

Three tips for effective glazing:

1. Wring out your brush on a paper towel after loading — you want the brush damp, not wet

2. Use glazing medium (Liquitex, Vallejo, or Citadel) instead of pure water to avoid breaking the paint’s binder

3. Less is more — a single heavy coat of glaze looks worse than 10 perfect thin ones

4.6 Wet Blending

Wet blending is the opposite of glazing — instead of building up with many thin layers, you apply two colors side by side while they’re both still wet and blend them together with your brush.

The advantage: Speed. A wet-blended surface takes 2-3 minutes instead of 1 hour of glazing. The disadvantage is control — you need to work fast before the paint dries.

Best for: Large surface areas where a gradient is needed: vehicle armor plates, dragon wings, cloaks and robes, monster skin transitions (like Mortarion’s wings).

Process:

1. Lay down your two colors next to each other with good coverage

2. Before either dries, use a clean, damp brush to stroke perpendicular to the color boundary

3. The brush pushes the two wet colors into each other

4. Repeat a few times until the transition is smooth

5. Let dry completely before touching it (wet paint moves if you brush over it)

“Wet blending takes 3 minutes and 2 hours of practice. Glazing takes 2 hours and 3 minutes of practice. Choose your weapon.”

4.7 Advanced Techniques — Overview

The techniques below each have their own dedicated guides on this site. This section gives you enough to understand what they are and when you’d use them.

NMM (Non-Metallic Metal) — Painting metallic-looking surfaces using matte paints. Requires a minimum of 5-7 layered transitions from dark brown to pale yellow (for gold) or dark grey to pure white (for silver). It’s the most time-consuming technique in miniature painting, but the result is stunning. The key to NMM is extreme contrast — your dark areas need to be nearly black and your highlights pure white, with barely any midtone.

→ See our full NMM tutorial →

OSL (Object Source Lighting) — Painting a model as if a light source (plasma gun, force weapon, glowing rune) is actually casting colored light onto the surrounding model. The trick is saturation: the glowing element should be highly saturated (bright green, hot pink, electric blue), and the reflected light on the model should be desaturated versions of the same color.

→ See our full OSL tutorial →

TMM (True Metallic Metal) — Using actual metallic paints (Citadel’s Leadbelcher, Retributor Armour, etc.) with shadowing and highlighting techniques to make them look even more realistic. It’s faster than NMM and looks excellent on tabletop models.

→ See our full TMM tutorial →

Freehand — Painting designs, patterns, or symbols directly onto a model’s surface without a stencil. Chapter symbols, checkerboard patterns, tribal designs. The trick is sketching the design first with a very thinned paint, then refining the edges. Nobody gets a perfect Imperial Eagle on their first pass.

→ See our full freehand guide →

Weathering & Battle Damage — Adding chips, scratches, rust, dirt, and wear to make painted miniatures look like they’ve actually been to war. Sponge chipping (dabbing a small piece of foam with dark paint and lightly pouncing it on edges) is one of the easiest and most effective weathering techniques.

→ See our full weathering guide →

4.8 Building a Painting Sequence

Now that you know the techniques, here’s a practical sequence for painting a single infantry model (a Space Marine Intercessor, for example):

1. Assemble & prep — (from Section 2) Clean mold lines, decide on sub-assemblies

2. Prime — (Section 3) Black primer, or zenithal if you want head start on shadows

3. Base coat — (4.1) Paint the main armor color, then the secondary colors (purity seals, pouches, holsters)

4. Wash — (4.2) Apply all-over wash or targeted pin wash for the recesses

5. Lay first highlights — (4.1) Layer up the midtone on raised areas

6. Edge highlight — (4.4) Clean edges on armor panels

7. Detail work — Eyes (dot method: white dot, then a smaller colored dot), chapter badge (masking or freehand), metallic trim

8. Base — (5.4 — covered in detail in the full guide)

9. Varnish — (6.1 — covered in Section 6 of this guide)

Bookmark this section — it’s your cheat sheet for painting every infantry model, from start to finish.

Pause here: If this already sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is. A single Space Marine can take 4-8 hours at tabletop quality and 20-30 hours at display quality. An entire army? Multiply by 30-60 models.

Not enough hours in the week? That’s what Maxon Casting’s Tabletop Standard painting service → is for — from $28 per model, completed to the same quality standards shown across our portfolio →

Section 5: Painting Specific Surfaces

Different surfaces need different approaches. Painting a Space Marine’s power armor is nothing like painting a Necron’s metallic chassis or a Tyranid’s chitinous carapace. This section covers the five most common surface types you’ll face when painting a Warhammer army.

5.1 Power Armor (Workflow: Ultramarines Scheme)

[IMAGE: Half-painted Ultramarine Intercessor — left arm bare primer, right arm base-coated, torso with wash applied, showing the stages]

The classic Space Marine paint scheme is the most-painted surface in the hobby. Here’s a step-by-step workflow:

Step 1 — Base coat: Macragge Blue (Citadel) over a black primer. Two thin coats, letting each dry fully. Pay special attention to the shoulder pads and backpack — these need clean coverage.

Step 2 — All-over wash: Agrax Earthshade or Nuln Oil applied over the entire armor. Let it pool in the recesses (the joints between armor plates, around the backpack vents, under the gorget). Wick away any excess pooling on flat panel surfaces with a clean damp brush.

Step 3 — Layer: Reapply Macragge Blue to the raised panels, avoiding the recesses. This restores the blue tone where the wash dulled it while keeping the shadows from step 2 intact.

Step 4 — First highlight: Calgar Blue (Citadel) on the edges and raised areas. Use the side of a size 1 brush dragged along the armor edges.

Step 5 — Second edge highlight: Fenrisian Grey (Citadel) on the very top edges — just the top rim of each shoulder pad, the crest of the helmet, the raised ridge of the greaves.

Step 6 — Details: Leadbelcher for the weapon casing (boltgun), Retributor Armour for the gold trim (shoulder pad rims, chest eagle), Abaddon Black for the joints and backpack vents.

Step 7 — Transfers: Micro Sol + Micro Set for smooth decal application over curved pauldron surfaces. Apply Micro Set first, position the decal, then brush Micro Sol over the top — it softens the decal film so it hugs the curved surface without silvering.

[IMAGE: Ultramarine shoulder pad decal application — before/after Micro Sol showing the decal conforming to the curved surface]

Want your Ultramarines army painted to this exact standard? → See our commission gallery for work-in-progress examples → | Get a quote →

5.2 Cloth & Robes

[IMAGE: Space Marine Librarian cloak — half painted showing base coat and glazing transition]

Cloth is one of the most forgiving surfaces to paint because fabric texture hides brushstroke imperfections. It’s also where glazing really shines.

Base color recommendation: Zandri Dust (bone robes), Mephiston Red (red cloaks), or Mechanicus Standard Grey (neutral cloaks).

The wash-first method for cloth:

1. Base coat two thin coats

2. Apply a generous wash (Agrax Earthshade for warm tones, Nuln Oil for cool/grey)

3. Wait for the wash to dry fully

4. Layer the base color back onto the raised folds, leaving the wash in the deepest creases

5. Add a lighter mix for the highest fold ridges

Optional — Glazed transitions: For display-quality cloth (characters, HQ units), replace step 4 with 4-8 thin glazes going from your base color to a highlight color, each one covering slightly less area. The result is a smooth gradient that looks like real fabric under light.

Want your army’s cloaks and robes to look this smooth? → We apply the same glazing techniques to every cloth surface. See our cloth painting examples → | Get a quote →

5.3 Flesh & Faces

[IMAGE: Space Marine helmetless head — base coat, wash, layer progression shown in 3 side-by-side versions]

Faces are the focal point of any model. A well-painted face elevates the entire piece; a muddy, flat face drags everything down. The good news: the face is only about 2% of a model’s surface area, so you can afford to spend disproportionate time here.

Reaper’s triad works well for faces:

1. Base: Bugman’s Glow (warm skin tone)

2. Wash: Reikland Fleshshade (warm wash that doesn’t muddy skin like Agrax)

3. Layer: Cadian Fleshtone (most of the raised area — cheeks, nose, chin, forehead)

4. Highlight: Kislev Flesh (tip of nose, cheekbones, brow ridge, upper lip)

Eyes — The most feared detail in miniature painting.

Paint the eye socket entirely black or dark brown

Paint a white stripe across the center (use very thinned paint, this might take 2-3 attempts)

Paint a thin black or dark-colored line down the center (the pupil)

If you mess up, re-apply the skin tone to the edges to clean the shape

Pro tip: Many award-winning competition painters don’t paint individual white + pupil. Instead, they paint the eye socket black, then add two tiny angled white dots (like ) that suggest eyes without trying to render them at microscopic scale. It reads as eyes from tabletop distance and avoids the “cross-eyed Space Marine” trap.

Faces are the hardest part for most hobbyists. Our painters are trained specifically on face and eye techniques. See our character painting portfolio → | Get a quote →

5.4 Basing & Bases

[IMAGE: 3 finished bases — urban rubble (cork + sand), desert (texture paste + drybrush), jungle (turf + tufts + small foliage)]

Your model’s base completes the story. A well-based model looks grounded in its world; an empty black base looks like a toy on a plinth.

Good basing doesn’t need to be complex. Three approaches cover most Warhammer armies:

Urban / Ruins — Cork sheet broken into irregular chunks, glued with PVA, painted Mechanicus Standard Grey → washed Agrax Earthshade → drybrushed Dawnstone. Add a few pieces of plasticard or sprue offcuts painted as rebar. Perfect for Imperial armies, Space Marines, Chaos.

Desert / Wasteland — Texture paste (Vallejo Earth Texture or AK Interactive Desert Sand) spread with an old brush. Once dry, base coat Steel Legion Drab → drybrush Baneblade Brown → light drybrush Karak Stone. Add static grass (winter tuft) for contrast. Works for Astra Militarum, Orks, Necrons.

Jungle / Overgrown — Stirland Mud texture → drybrush Gorthor Brown → add static grass tufts (Army Painter meadow mix) and small clump foliage (gamer’s grass or woodland scenics). A few 2mm flowers add pop at tabletop distance. Tyranids, Dark Eldar, Death Guard.

Step-by-step for a cork ruin base:

1. Break cork into rough shapes

2. Glue to base with PVA or super glue

3. Cover the remaining base surface with fine sand or texture paste

4. Prime the whole base (same black primer as the model — you can do them together)

5. Base coat cork: Mechanicus Standard Grey

6. Wash: Agrax Earthshade

7. Drybrush: Dawnstone

8. Drybrush highlight: Administratum Grey (just the top edges)

9. Add static grass tufts with a dot of PVA

10. Seal with matte varnish before gluing the model (you can’t reach the base edges cleanly with the model in place)

Want perfectly painted bases without the mess? → All our commission armies include custom basing matching your chosen theme. See basing options → | Get a quote →

5.5 Vehicles & Large Models

[IMAGE: Repulsor tank — half painted showing airbrush gradients on the hull panels]

Vehicles are a different beast entirely. The painting principles are the same, but the scale changes everything — brush size, paint quantity, technique selection.

Airbrush is your friend — If you have an airbrush, vehicles are where it earns its keep. Base coating a Land Raider with three thin brush coats takes 45 minutes; with an airbrush it takes 4 minutes. More importantly, airbrush zenithal highlights on vehicle hulls create smooth gradients that are nearly impossible to achieve with a brush on flat surfaces that large.

Panel lining — Vehicle panels are separated by crisp raised edges. Use a fine brush with Nuln Oil (or Tamiya Panel Line Accent for the cleanest results) to run along every panel gap. This takes a vehicle from “big model” to “scale model” instantly.

[IMAGE: Rhino tank side panel — close up showing panel line accent before and after]

Decals at scale — Larger vehicles need more decals, and the curved surfaces (front panels, turret sides) require Micro Sol for the decal to conform without silvering. Seal with a gloss varnish layer before applying decals, then a final matte varnish to blend them into the paint.

Don’t have an airbrush? Don’t have the patience? → Vehicle commissions are some of our most popular services. See vehicle painting portfolio → | Get a quote →

Section 6: Protecting & Preserving Your Army

You’ve spent dozens (or hundreds) of hours painting your army. Now make sure it survives the journey from the painting table to the game table and back, and the one after that.

6.1 Varnishing

Varnish is your army’s armor against the real world. Paint chips easily on sharp edges — backpack fins, pauldron rims, weapon barrels — and the first time you set a painted model into foam tray, you risk scraping paint off. Varnish prevents this.

Three types of varnish:

Matte varnish — Flattens the surface to remove shine. This is the default finish for 90% of models. It makes the model look like painted armor rather than painted plastic. AK Interactive Ultra Matte Varnish is widely considered the best — it’s dead flat and doesn’t cloud.

Gloss varnish — Leaves a reflective shine. Used for gemstones, lenses, wet effects (blood, slime, water bases), and as a pre-decal layer (decals stick better to gloss).

Satin varnish — In between. Used for leather, visors, and some cloth textures. Most people skip this; fine.

Application methods:

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Crucial — never mix gloss and matte in your varnish layer: If you apply a gloss wash over a matte surface, the wash will “crawl” and bead up instead of flowing evenly into the recesses. Apply gloss varnish before applying gloss washes or decals, then seal everything with matte varnish.

The rattle can warning: Shake your varnish can for at least 2 minutes — longer in cold weather. Spray from further away than you would for primer (30-40cm / 12-16 inches). Two light passes, not one heavy one. Humidity ruins varnish just like primer — wait for a dry day.

Don’t want to risk ruining months of work with a bad varnish coat? → Our finishing process includes professional airbrush varnishing with the varnish we hand-pick for each client’s army. Learn about our finishing process →

6.2 Storage & Transport

[IMAGE: Magnetically stored army in a storage case — models arranged in a tray with magnetic bases]

The second biggest threat to painted miniatures — after clumsy fingers — is inadequate storage.

Foam trays — Standard approach. Choose high-density PE or PU foam with pre-cut slots. Risks: foam snagging on sharp points (antennae, banner tops, spear tips), foam shedding dust that abrades paint over time.

Magnetic storage — The pro choice. Glue a 3mm x 2mm neodymium magnet under the model’s base (recessed if possible). Store models on steel sheets in stackable storage boxes (Really Useful Boxes + steel sheets from MagnaRack or DIY). Advantages: no foam snagging, you can see all models at once, fast deployment to the tabletop. The initial cost (~$50-80 for steel sheets + magnets + boxes) is worth the long-term protection.

Transport tips:

Let varnish cure for 24-48 hours before packing a model into a case

Transport models base-down whenever possible — the base absorbs impact

Wrap delicate components (banner poles, spindly weapons, Tyranid scything talons) in cling film before placing in foam

Never stack foam trays on top of metal models — the weight deforms the foam and presses into the models below

Want your army packed and shipped professionally? → For commission clients outside Sydney, we pack every army in custom foam with double boxing. See our shipping process →

6.3 Repairs & Re-coating

Paint chips happen. A model drops off the table, a storage tray shifts, a transport case gets jostled. Here’s how to fix common damage:

Small chips — A dab of the base color paint applied with the tip of a toothpick (not a brush — too much paint). Let dry, re-highlight the area if needed. Two minutes per chip.

Broken parts — Pin the break (drill 1mm holes on both sides, insert a paperclip, join with CA glue). Repaint the joint area. If the original paint is unavailable, a strategic dirt/weathering patch hides it.

Re-stripping — If a paint job is beyond repair or you want to start fresh, 99% isopropyl alcohol will strip any acrylic paint from plastic models in 10-30 minutes. Don’t use acetone, lacquer thinner, or brake fluid — these dissolve or damage polystyrene plastic.

Section 7: Taking It Further — From Hobby to Army

7.1 Batch Painting Fundamentals

Painting a single model is a hobby. Painting 40 models is a project. Batch painting is how you get a full army on the table without burning out.

The assembly line method:

1. Prep and prime all 40 models at once

2. Apply base coat color #1 to all 40 (paint one, set aside, repeat)

3. Apply base coat color #2 to all 40

4. Continue through each color and technique

Each time you pick up a color you’re already mixed, you’ve cleaned and loaded the brush once. This saves 30-50% of total painting time compared to finishing each model one at a time.

Batch size: 5-10 models is the sweet spot. 5 models gives you enough repetition to build muscle memory without getting bored. 10 is the max before the process becomes tedious.

The two-tray system: Paint all models in sub-assemblies. Tray 1 has the bodies, Tray 2 has the arms/weapons/backpacks. Paint all of Tray 1 through to the edge highlight stage, then paint all of Tray 2. Assemble at the end. This avoids the constant brush-switching that kills batch painting efficiency.

[IMAGE: A painting desk with two batches — 5 Intercessors in a line, each at a different stage of completion]

Batch painting is faster, but even at peak efficiency, a 30-model army takes 100-200 hours. Let our team paint your next army while you focus on the characters →

7.2 Display & Competition Painting

If you’ve mastered the techniques in this guide and want to push further, display painting opens a different world.

What changes:

Time per model: From 4-8 hours (tabletop) to 40-100+ hours (display)

Technique depth: Every surface gets the full treatment — glazed cloth, NMM or TMM, detailed OSL, ultra-fine edge highlights, custom freehand

Basing: Extended scenic bases (diorama elements, resin water effects, custom-built ruins)

Composition: Models are posed and scenic to tell a story, not just to look good from 3 feet

The Golden Demon standard: Any model entering Games Workshop’s Golden Demon competition needs:

Perfect clean assembly (zero visible mold lines or glue marks)

Seamless color transitions (airbrush or 20+ glaze layers)

Smooth finish (no texture, no brush marks visible under 5x magnification)

Face and eyes executed to photo-realistic standard

Custom scenic base that complements the model’s story

Not everyone has 100 hours per model — and that’s fine. Our display-level commission service delivers Golden-Demon-standard execution without you spending the hours. See our display portfolio → | Get a quote →

7.3 When to Commission — Making the Right Call

This is the question every Warhammer hobbyist asks themselves at some point: Should I paint this myself, or pay someone?

The honest answer depends on three things: time, budget, and what you actually enjoy about the hobby.

Your Army, Our Painters — A Realistic Comparison

| Factor | Paint It Yourself | Hire a Commission Service |

–|

The hybrid approach — what most experienced hobbyists actually do: Paint the characters yourself (they’re the fun ones, the ones you want to learn on). Commission the 20-40 troops that would take 80-160 hours of your life. You get the satisfaction of painting the centerpiece models, and you get a fully painted army on the table in 4-6 weeks instead of 6-12 months.

“I love painting my chapter master. I don’t love painting 30 identical Intercessors.”

This is the honest truth: painting troops is a grind. Characters are a joy. Commissioning the rank and file frees you to do the painting you actually want to do.

What We Do at Maxon Casting

Our commission painting service covers three tiers:

Tabletop Standard (from $28 per infantry model)

Three-color minimum + basing

Shaded and highlighted with consistent batch quality

Protected with matte varnish

Ready for tournament legal play (matches GW 3-color standard)

Premium (from $75 per model)

Full edge highlighting on all armor

Advanced shading and layered transitions

Display-quality basing (custom texture, tufts, details)

Ideal for character models, HQ units, centerpiece models

Ultra / Display (from $150 per model)

NMM or TMM execution where requested

OSL, glazed cloth, and competition-ready finish

Extended scenic base design

Golden-Demon-quality standard

[IMAGE: Side-by-side of Tabletop Standard vs Premium vs Ultra — same model type showing the quality difference]

The right time to commission is now. We’re booking for [Month+2] delivery.

→ Choose your painting tier →

→ Browse our full portfolio →

→ Get a free quote for your army list →

→ Have questions? Contact us →

Section 8: War-Specific Showcase Articles — coming soon in our blog series.

This guide is updated regularly with new techniques and examples. Last updated: [Date]

[Alt text summary for images: This page contains position markers for approximately 9 images — see below for the image brief handed off to our design team.]

Image Position Summary

Image brief transmitted to design team — all images should be high-res, well-lit, neutral or matte background, 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratio.

Featured Commission Examples

Illuminor Szeras
$650.00

Ushoran, Mortarch of Delusion
$800.00

Ork Kommando Boss
$85.00

Black Templars Emperor’s Champion
$220.00

Horus Ascended – Alternate
$750.00

Adeptus Custodes Shield Captain
$220.00