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How to paint white


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Hello all. So, I have a problem painting white. No matter what I do, it comes out TERRIBLE. Lol. Since I really like my first company veterans, I would like to get their helmets done right and not have this ugly and messy result I always get from painting white.

 

Any help would be much appreciated!

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Hello all. So, I have a problem painting white. No matter what I do, it comes out TERRIBLE. Lol. Since I really like my first company veterans, I would like to get their helmets done right and not have this ugly and messy result I always get from painting white.

 

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

Could you post pics? Anyway, when I do whites over other colors, I usually start with a gray or bright gray, then do a few thin layers of white over that. You have to be very patient with light colors like this.

Whatever you do DO NOT EXPECT IT TO COVER. Many, many THIN layers are the way to go. Yes, 10+ layers sometimes. Welcome to hell.

Last time I did that many thin layers it ended up looking thick, it would be better to just start with off-grays to minimize the layers needed?

Thin layers each one coat and no matter how tempting don't go over an area twice in one layer. Put that one coat down then leave it! Build up to white with grey - whatever you have to hand will be fine. I base with Skavenblight Dinge then layer with Celestra or Ulthuan Grey before even using a white.

 

I've long struggled with white (still do if I'm honest!) but the new paints certainly make it easier. Good luck!

Okay, thats what I've been doing wrong. Painting grey would definitely be the way to go. I'm gonna give it a go. Should I do anything in particular to make the recesses pop out more?

I’m still getting the hang of recesses because I find them so hard to do. But I’ve been using nuln oil for them myself

Okay, thats what I've been doing wrong. Painting grey would definitely be the way to go. I'm gonna give it a go. Should I do anything in particular to make the recesses pop out more?

 

 

Okay, thats what I've been doing wrong. Painting grey would definitely be the way to go. I'm gonna give it a go. Should I do anything in particular to make the recesses pop out more?

I’m still getting the hang of recesses because I find them so hard to do. But I’ve been using nuln oil for them myself

 

 

 

For recesses on white I would either: get a fine detail brush and paint nuln oil or a blue shade into the recesses carefully after the white has been applied.

OR alternatively, basecoat your grey up to a bright grey level, then shade the whole thing. Then, layer over most of it with white, one thin layer after another, taking care to not get white into any recesses.

 

Okay, thats what I've been doing wrong. Painting grey would definitely be the way to go. I'm gonna give it a go. Should I do anything in particular to make the recesses pop out more?

 

 

Okay, thats what I've been doing wrong. Painting grey would definitely be the way to go. I'm gonna give it a go. Should I do anything in particular to make the recesses pop out more?

 

I’m still getting the hang of recesses because I find them so hard to do. But I’ve been using nuln oil for them myself

 

For recesses on white I would either: get a fine detail brush and paint nuln oil or a blue shade into the recesses carefully after the white has been applied.

OR alternatively, basecoat your grey up to a bright grey level, then shade the whole thing. Then, layer over most of it with white, one thin layer after another, taking care to not get white into any recesses.

I like the sound of option number 2. Would I use Ulthuan Grey for the bright grey basecoat? Then shade with either Nuln Oil or a blue shade?

avoid using black washes with white at all cost unless you are going for a very dirty mini. The most important thing for painting white is not to paint white.  As every one else has already said thin layers are your friend but so are mid tones, i like to use a warm white so i start my white scars from a black undercoat > rhinox hide > screaming skull >agrax wash > SS/Off white > off white edge highlights

 

0Vb3vd6.jpg

I get reasonable results from Celestra Grey -> Ulthuan Grey -> White Scar. If you leave the darker greys in the recesses it can look fairly bright but still with distinctive darker areas. I use a Nuln Oil wash at times to darken it slightly for a more grey colour than bright white.
Also keep in mind that the biggest trick with white is that it leaves you nowhere to go with highlights, so you need to make sure you're painting in a way that the lightest areas are white, but you still have enough depth so that it doesn't look odd. I usually only use white for the highlights, and use an off-white for regular white.

I'm also going to say start grey then build up to white.

 

The white on this member of the Blades of Arawn is made from priming the mini in grey, then going with Celestra Grey as a base, Ulthuan Grey as an all-over layer, a recess shade of Drakenhof Nightshade with White Scar highlights.

 

6XZxD6F.jpg

  • 4 weeks later...

I use game color to do mine these days. Start from neutral grey primer, layer wolf grey 2 coats, layer ghost grey 2 coats and edge highlight dead white.

 

I'll put a pic up tomorrow so you can get an idea for how it looks.

 

Citadel equivalents would be munitorum grey prime, celestra grey layers, ulthuan grey layers and highlight white scar.

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