Of course, here is a detailed and lengthy post on painting Skitarii Vanguard, complete with a step-by-step guide, styling, and FAQs.
How to Paint Skitarii Vanguard: A Comprehensive Step-by-Step Guide
Welcome, aspiring Tech-Priest! Ready to bring the glorious Omnissiah's forces to life on your tabletop? Painting Skitarii Vanguard can seem daunting with all their intricate details and robes, but fear not! This guide will take you through the process from start to finish, helping you achieve a tabletop-ready or even a stunning display-quality model. So, grab your brushes, your paints, and let's get our hands dirty with the holy oils of creation!
Step 1: The Ritual of Preparation - Assembling and Priming Your Skitarii Vanguard
Before the first stroke of paint is even applied, we must perform the sacred rites of preparation. Have you assembled your Skitarii Vanguard yet? If not, do so now! Take your time, trim the mold lines carefully, and use plastic glue for a strong bond. Once assembled, it’s time to prepare the canvas.
What you'll need:
Miniature: Your assembled Skitarii Vanguard.
Hobby Knife/Clippers: For removing parts from the sprue and cleaning up mold lines.
Plastic Glue: For assembly.
Primer: A spray primer or brush-on primer. A good primer is crucial as it provides a uniform surface for your paint to adhere to. For a classic Mars-themed army, a black or dark grey primer is excellent, as it provides natural shading in the recesses. A red primer can also work well if you want to speed up the process of painting the robes.
The process:
Clean your miniature: Give your assembled model a gentle wash in soapy water and let it dry completely. This removes any release agent from the manufacturing process that can prevent paint from sticking.
Prime the model: In a well-ventilated area, shake your primer can vigorously for a minute or two. Hold the can about 8-12 inches away from the model and apply a few thin, even coats. Don't rush it! A thick, gloopy prime coat will obscure details. It's better to do several thin layers than one thick one. Let it dry completely before moving on.
Step 2: Laying the Foundations - Basecoating the Model
Now for the fun part! We're going to apply the base colors to all the different parts of the model. Think of this as coloring in the lines of a coloring book.
What you'll need:
Paints:
Main Robes: Mephiston Red, Khorne Red, or a similar dark red.
Metal Parts: Leadbelcher or a similar dark silver.
Bronze/Brass Details: Balthasar Gold or Retributor Armour.
Rifles: Abaddon Black.
Energy Coils/Plasma: White Scar or Ulthuan Grey.
Boots & Gloves: Mechanicus Standard Grey.
Lenses: Caliban Green or Warpstone Glow.
The process:
Paint the Robes: Using a medium-sized brush, apply a smooth, even coat of your chosen red to all the fabric areas of the model. This includes the cloak and the underskirt. Don't worry about being perfectly neat; we'll clean up mistakes later. A smooth, consistent layer is more important.
Paint the Metal: Now, using your metallic paint, cover all the metal parts: the backpack, the legs, the torso, and the gun's casing. Leadbelcher is a fantastic choice as it's a deep, dark silver that takes shading well.
Paint the Details: Use a fine-tipped brush to pick out the smaller details.
Use Abaddon Black on the rifle’s stock and barrel.
Use Balthasar Gold on the trim of the robes, the cog-tooth icon on the chest, and any small mechanical bits you want to have a brassy look.
Use Mechanicus Standard Grey for the boots and the gloves.
Use White Scar on the plasma coils of the radium carbine.
Use a bright green for the lenses on the helmet.
Step 3: The Holy Unction - Shading with Washes
This is where the magic happens! Washes are thin, watery paints that flow into the recesses of your model, creating natural shadows and adding depth. This step will make your model pop!
What you'll need:
Shades/Washes:
For Red Robes: Agrax Earthshade or Nuln Oil.
For Metal: Nuln Oil.
The process:
Wash the Robes: Using a generous amount of your chosen shade, apply it all over the red robes. You want to make sure it pools in the deepest parts of the folds. Don't let it pool on flat surfaces, as this can leave ugly tide marks. Use your brush to wick away any excess. Agrax Earthshade will give a grimy, dusty look, while Nuln Oil will give a more stark, mechanical shadow.
Wash the Metal: Apply Nuln Oil to all the metallic parts. This will darken the recesses and give the metal a grim, oily look, which is perfect for the gritty, industrial feel of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Let it dry completely: Washes can take some time to dry. Be patient and let them cure for at least an hour before moving on.
Step 4: The Illumination - Highlighting and Layering
Now we bring out the details and make them shine. Highlighting is the process of painting a lighter color on the raised parts of the model to simulate light hitting it.
What you'll need:
Paints:
For Red Robes: Evil Sunz Scarlet and Wild Rider Red.
For Metal: Runefang Steel or Stormhost Silver.
For Black: Eshin Grey and Dawnstone.
For Lenses: A lighter green like Moot Green.
For Plasma: Aethermatic Blue or Baharroth Blue.
The process:
Highlight the Robes:
Using Evil Sunz Scarlet, paint a thin line along all the raised edges of the robes. This is called edge highlighting. Be neat and use the side of your brush to make it easier.
For an even more dramatic effect, use a very fine brush and apply a smaller, brighter highlight of Wild Rider Red on the most prominent edges, like the corners of the folds.
Highlight the Metal: Pick out the most prominent edges of the metallic parts with Runefang Steel. This will give them a sharp, polished look.
Highlight the Black: Use Eshin Grey to highlight the edges of the gun and the boots. A little goes a long way here.
Paint the Lenses: Apply a dot of a brighter green in the center of the lenses, leaving the darker shade in the surrounding area. Add a tiny dot of white in the top corner for a convincing shine.
Glow of the Plasma: This is a fantastic step to add some special effects!
Apply a thin coat of Aethermatic Blue to the plasma coils and around them, creating a glowing effect.
Once dry, drybrush or carefully paint the raised parts of the coils with Baharroth Blue, leaving the blue in the recesses.
Finally, a tiny touch of white on the very tip of the coil will make it look like it's glowing with incredible power.
Step 5: The Sacred Oils and Final Touches - Finishing the Model
We're almost there! Now for the final details that bring the model to life.
Paint the cables: Use a bright color like a blue, green, or yellow on the cables on their backpack and legs to add a pop of color.
Paint the Purity Seals/Scrolls: Use Ushabti Bone for the parchment and a bright red for the wax seal. Add a small black line for the script.
Varnish: To protect your paint job, apply a coat of varnish. A matte varnish is great for a non-reflective finish, while a satin varnish gives a slight sheen. Use a spray varnish for an even coat.
Step 6: The Sanctified Ground - Basing Your Miniature
Your model isn't complete without a base! This is the foundation upon which your warrior stands.
What you'll need:
Texture Paint: Agrellan Earth, Martian Ironearth, or Stirland Mud are great choices.
Paints for Drybrushing: Ushabti Bone, Zandri Dust.
Static Grass/Tufts (Optional): For added detail.
The process:
Apply texture paint: Using an old brush, apply the texture paint to the base, leaving some space around the feet.
Drybrush the base: Once the texture paint is completely dry, use a large, old brush to drybrush a lighter color over it. Dip your brush in the paint, wipe most of it off on a paper towel, then lightly brush the bristles over the raised parts of the texture. This will pick out the details and give it a dusty, realistic look.
Add details: Glue on some static grass or a tuft for extra flair.
Paint the rim: Paint the rim of the base with a color like Steel Legion Drab or a crisp black for a finished look.
Congratulations! You have completed the ritual and painted your first Skitarii Vanguard. Now go forth and conquer in the name of the Omnissiah!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How to paint the Skitarii Vanguard robes quickly? Apply a basecoat of Mephiston Red, and then generously apply a wash of Agrax Earthshade or Nuln Oil. You can then stop there for a quick, tabletop-ready finish, or add a simple edge highlight of Evil Sunz Scarlet for a little extra pop.
How to get a good metallic finish on Skitarii Vanguard? Start with a basecoat of Leadbelcher. After the Nuln Oil wash has dried, apply a second, thin coat of Leadbelcher on the flat surfaces to bring back the shine. For a brighter look, apply a final highlight of Stormhost Silver on the very edges.
How to paint glowing plasma coils on the radium carbine? Basecoat the coils with white. Then, apply a thin coat of a glowing blue or green technical paint (like Baharroth Blue or Tesseract Glow). Once dry, apply a brighter highlight on the raised sections and a dot of white at the very center for a convincing light source.
How to paint the lenses on the helmet? Paint the entire lens area with a dark green. Then, paint a smaller dot of a brighter green in the center. Finally, add a tiny dot of white in the top corner to represent a light reflection.
How to assemble Skitarii Vanguard without breaking the tiny parts? Use a sharp hobby knife to carefully cut the parts from the sprue, and a pair of clippers for the larger parts. Take your time trimming the mold lines, and use a small amount of plastic glue, as too much can melt the plastic.
How to magnetize the weapon options for Skitarii Vanguard? This is a more advanced technique. You'll need tiny magnets (1mm x 1mm or 2mm x 1mm) and a pin vise drill. Drill a small hole in the shoulder and the weapon's arm, and glue the magnets in place, ensuring the polarity is correct so the arm can attach easily.
How to paint the tiny cog-tooth symbol on the chest? Use a very fine-tipped brush, a 'detail' brush, to carefully paint the cog-tooth. You can also use a dot of a contrasting color and then clean up the surrounding area with the robe color.
How to make the cables on the model pop with color? Use a vibrant base color like Caledor Sky (blue), Moot Green (green), or Averland Sunset (yellow). Then, apply a dark wash like Nuln Oil to the recesses and highlight the raised sections with a lighter color of the same hue.
How to achieve a gritty, weathered look on my Skitarii Vanguard? Instead of just Nuln Oil, use a more brown-toned shade like Agrax Earthshade on all the metallic parts. You can also use a sponge to dab on some metallic paint to simulate chips and scratches.
How to clean up painting mistakes on my Skitarii Vanguard? Don't worry! Everyone makes mistakes. Let the paint dry completely, then use a fine-tipped brush and the original color to carefully paint over the mistake. If the mistake is small, you can sometimes just apply another layer of the correct color over it.
