Space Hulk Tactics Hobby Challenge: One step beyond. (now inc. Space Hulk: The Movie....)

So I got a cheap airbrush a year or so ago, and though I remain very much an amateur user, I’ve found it invaluable for getting down basecoats and using zenithal highlights to set the ground work for more detailed, traditional brush painting.

I have a massive pile of tyranids that I picked up in a bring & buy sale a few years ago but have been too intimidated to touch until recently when the arrival of Kill Team gave me the incentive to paint a few up as a trial.

I wanted quick, easy, and in contrast to some of the tyranid schemes you see, something that looked organic and natural – so I broke out the airbrush and was pleased with the results on some warriors and gaunts.

So in keeping with the Space Hulk theme, and getting genestealers painted up quickly, I’ve tried it on a genestealer with the steps and techniques below (and also include a video of the whole thing).

Paints used:

First step was to prime – here I went for a black base with a strong white zenithal prime for contrast between upper and lower surfaces

Next step was to get the base coat down – in this instance Army Painter army Green. It’s a fairly thick paint so the video shows me thinning it down for airbrush use.

Then I started on some highlight colours, Game Air Dead Flesh, Burned Flesh and Goblin green. The idea was to get a mottled effect, so this was done at random over the carapace, focusing on the visible upper surfaces, making sure that there was some overlap for blending purposes.

The effect is OK, but a little stark, and needs both some shadows and a filter to pull it together, so the next step is washes.

I also used this as an opportunity to try out a technique for home made washes that I first saw on the Luke’s APS youtube channel. Effectively Pledge Floor Polish and artists inks allowed me to make 750ml of wash.

In the following picture I have used a black wash for shadows and then a brown wash to warm the tone back up a bit.

Once dry I used Army Painter Matt Black, with a dry brush of Game colour Warlord purple for the claws, and then to tie the scheme together, used an Army Painter purple tone wash on the head.

So there you go, a second quick and easy way to paint up your Space Hulk genestealers and all the above steps are covered in the handy video after the pictures