FAQ: Painting White

[drumogedon]

If i were you, i would layer...

 

scorched brown then to

 

dark flesh then to

 

kommando khaki then to

 

bleached bone then to

 

skull white.

 

you will have to do almost 10 layers, and you will have to mix the paints inbetween colors and whatnot.

 

i hope you can understand what i just tryed to explain.....( i sure had trouble).

[Combat_Vet]

I understand the primer thing. I gave up on spray paint and primer 12 years ago.

 

Paint a thin layer of chaos black. Make sure it's not too think as this is the base coat. depending on what you are doing with the white you have two choices:

 

1)shadow grey, codex grey, skull white (several really thin layers)

 

2)snakebite leather, graveyard earth, rotting flesh, skull white (several thin layers)

 

Option 1 is good for most things and option 2 is decent for natural objects.

 

The real treick is to use thin layers of paint. The white will look much better if it has a smooth even coat. Hope this helps.

 

Better days,

[Khan of Soup]

Here is how I paint White Scars:

 

1) Fortress Grey base coat

2) A few thinned down washes of Codex Grey

3) 50/50 Skull White/Fortress Grey mix layered on

4) Water down some Skull White and build up many layers of the stuff

5) Extreme highlight with Skull White

[Shinohai]

i dont know why people are telling you to spray it because if your painting a few areas whote and the rest other colors then why spray. i dunno if thats what your doing but its still logical. first off to paint white, DO NOT use gw white. use P3 or vallejo. with p3 you can get solid white with 2 count them 2 thinned coats of paint.

[Spleenex]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but this topis is, as they say, relevant to my interests, as my DIY chapter is abot 50% white. It's been a long time since I've seriously painted anything and I'm just getting back into it, so my technique could use some work, but I have a couple of questions/observations right off the bat.

 

1) My basic method (as unsophisticated as it is) has been to prime white and then layer several thinned-down coats of Skull White on. One thing I've noticed is that in some areas, my primer got a little grainy or bumpy. I thought I did everything right, i.e. shook the can for 2 minutes, sprayed in several, thin coats, let each coat dry for 30 mins, did it outside on a dry, room-temperature day, but I still got odd results. Luckily, the worst areas seem to be on the back of their legs for some reason, so I decided to paint over it anyway. Is this 'fuzzing' common with white spray primer, or is there another problem?

 

2) I tried mixing a bit of gloss varnish into my white, but it seems to make the paint a bit prone to seperation and dry faster on the pallette. Is there another way to get rid of the slightly 'chalky' look of the white? I did pick up a couple bottles of Vallejo white, but I haven't used it yet, so if this solves the problem, please let me know.

 

3) What is P3? I've never heard of this type of paint. Where can one get it?

 

Thanks.

[Desert Eagle]

The trick is to use as little white as possible when painting white. And if you paint the white areas with a lot of skull white, make sure to use another colour than white to brighten up other colours. I have a bit of trouble explaining this properly in english, but white can really "kill" any colour. I paint my marines with elf grey from an earlier range of gw-colours for a very nice off-white apperance, and then mix it with other colours depending on if i want it to be cold or warm. Hope it's of some help.

 

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p35/tjuven52/marines3059.jpg

[isack iraticus]

im sorry but now im completly off the topic. those guys up there^^^^^^^^^^^ are amazingly well painted, i wish i could paint like that.

 

to Spleenex, my army is also 50% white, i'd love to see some pics of your army.

 

anyway thanks guys for all the advice and i'll give some of them of a try when i next get some money, so that i can buy paints <_<

[mr tough guy]

I agree with shinohai, whatever you do don't use GW white, now I stopped buying GW paint years ago anyway, but their white is really the worst paint EVER.

other then that I agree with what's been said, go for an off white and do a final highlight with white, and always paint white in several thin layers.

[mario]

The trick is to use as little white as possible when painting white. And if you paint the white areas with a lot of skull white, make sure to use another colour than white to brighten up other colours. I have a bit of trouble explaining this properly in english, but white can really "kill" any colour. I paint my marines with elf grey from an earlier range of gw-colours for a very nice off-white apperance, and then mix it with other colours depending on if i want it to be cold or warm. Hope it's of some help.

To say it with one word: Contrast.

 

If you want white to look white then don't have bright grays or anything else that is bright on the miniatures. Use darker colours for everything else and the contrast will make the white look brighter. You don't have to do anything except chose your colours the right way. Then you can pass off fortress gray as a basecoat for white and just highlight and shade it a little.

[Heru]

Ok so I'm painting my Black Falcon 5th Company Captain, and because the colourscheme involves most black, I had to prime him in black. Problem is I need to make his helmet white, and perhaps also his Loincloth (it's the limited edition Veteran Sergeant from the Space Marine Army box).

 

I have the mega paint set (so I have all but the Foundation paints) if that helps... I was going to paint on some Codex Grey, followed by Fortress Grey, and finally Skull White, but if there's a better way I'd love to hear it.

 

So anybody got any ideas?

[Merkava]

That works perfectly well. I do the same and but the time the white goes on it's nice and bright. I use thinned blue ink in crevices to get a "colder" look to it.

[Legacy40k]

Although I havent tried it.. I recall there being a grey foundation paint? I'd start with that.. then add 50% white to it.. then you could probably go pure white.

[battle captain corpus]

2 watered down coats of Codex, then 50/50 Codex and Skull white followed by 2 coats of watered down skull white. I had the same problem when painting my Apothecary for my Shadow Ravens, who are all black except of course the Apothecary! :rolleyes:

[Elchimpster]

There is a light grey foundation paint (I'm at work and don't have it handy) but it works fantastic. Seriously, I've used several layers of other colors to cover black primer and it will invariably end up showing, but the foundation paints...one layer, maybe two...maybe and you're done. No loss of detail.

 

I didn't think I'd like the foundation paints; thought it was a GW scam...but seriously they work very nicely.

Now I swear by them.

 

Cheers!

[Feor]

I've been doing bleached bone followed by Skull White on my black primed Grey Knights and I get a remarkably pure white out of it. (may take a couple of coats of white to get it pure, however)

[chaplainmikey]

hey,

i did mine with a base coat of astronomican grey(foundation paints previously mentioned),then several layers of watered-down skull white.This is how it looks:

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s301/mikeymouatt/nnnn-1.jpg

Its simple,effective and not too difficult.

 

cheers

[LoneSniperSG]

Although I havent tried it.. I recall there being a grey foundation paint? I'd start with that.. then add 50% white to it.. then you could probably go pure white.

 

Astronomican Grey, yes. Best for metal surfaces, like power armor and tank hulls. Otherwhise Dheneb Stone ( I believe) makes a better base for white cloth like standards and robes, or even purity seals and other parchments.

[the_cheat137]

There are two different techniques I use to paint white on black primer, and they both work well for their different uses.

 

For my Sisters, I paint white power armor. I've found that instead of highlighting up with the traditional grey tones, using Shadow Grey and Space Wolves Grey leaves that nice cool blue in recesses, for a 'cool white' effect. This also allows me to forgo the use of a blue ink, which in my experience always has tinted the entire armor blue,. not just the recesses.

 

For white cloth, or a 'warm white' effect, I make use of the Astronomican Grey foundation color. After applying, a watered down flesh wash, and then coats of white will leave a nice warm brown in recesses, providing a neat warm white look.

[Shinohai]

first off, dont use GW paints. that will give you a great start. use P3 marrow white and youll cover that black in no more then 3 coats, and thats thinned.

[krieger haggoroth]

a quick coat of ether spacewolves grey or a bleached bone can also work really well, but requires a few more layers of white on top...

[Obliterator]

Depends what white tome you're after. Codex Grey > Fortress Grey > Skull White covers the black really well and gives you a nice, neutral white. Shadow Grey > Space Wolves Grey > Skull White gives you a cool, blue-ish white.

[Lagrath]

When applying the foundation paint/greys/whites, do you still thin the paint at all? How much?

[Berzerker Pezz]

For a warmer white, I use Dheneb Stone foundation paint and Galleria Titanium White liquitex. It's artists canvas acrylic, and comes a little thicker in the bottle. Which is 3 dollars for practically a half gallon.

[Beef]

When applying the foundation paint/greys/whites, do you still thin the paint at all? How much?

 

 

Yes you can thin them but i have found that thinned they do not cover as well as they should.

[Narthecium]

Anyone have any tips for painting a good white? I either end up with brushstrokes in it, or it comes out kinda gritty...and then I have no idea how to highlight it! Being as I'm just painting a macragge marine or two atm, I have room to experiment before I start painting my real tac squads...any tips would be appreciated, to make my White Scars look the best when they ride to battle.

 

Yes, I know I picked a tough color. ><