How I paint - Lumineth - Myari's Purifiers

Myari's Purifiers are a Lumineth warband in Warhammer Underworlds: Direchasm. They are the 22nd warband I have painted. I really like the Aelves in Underworlds for no other reason than 'I like the Aelves in this system'.

So far I have painted the Sylvaneth (resembling elves and currently my favourite warband), Skaeth's Wild Hunt (a group of Wood Elves in green and brown) and Morgwaeth's Blade Coven (good old fashioned Witch Elves in red and black). When I started painting Myari's Purifiers for Warhammer Underworlds, I knew I wanted a bright white colour scheme with additional blue, something akin to the High Elves from Old Warhammer Fantasy Battle.

How to paint Morgwaeth's Blade Coven - Daughters of Khaine

How to paint Skaeth's Wild Hunt - Wood Elves

How to paint Myari's Purifiers - Lumineth

Construction

When I started painting these miniatures, I wanted to paint them when they were partially constructed, in order to reach the more obscured sections of the model and also to allow for different undercoats. To this end, the 'stone' base, the bonsai tree, the grass, the backpack and the elf were all kept separate for undercoating and painting. 

Undercoat

For the undercoat of the elf and the backpack, I wanted a nice bright, smooth white but I have a regular problem with Corax White spray as it often leaves a powdery surface. To solve this problem, I used Wraithbone spray. When this was dry, I used a nice large basecoating brush to apply a thin coat of Corax White paint across the whole model.

The base for the miniature was sprayed Chaos Black. 

The bonsai tree and the grass plants were both painted separately from the bases and were undercoated with Zandri Dust.

White robes

I wanted these 'Light Elves', to be bright with a cold, crisp white. So I started by painting all of the robes with a mix of 1:4 Fenrisian Grey and Contrast Medium. The trick with this mix is to completely paint a section of the robes before moving onto the next. Once this base was dry, I highlighted the robes with multiple thin coats of White Scar (thinned with Lahmian Medium, so as not to change the properties of the paint). As this painting was thinned, it becomes somewhat translucent, so multiple coats were required to build up the highlight.

Take care to keep your painting water clean throughout this stage.

Light blue trousers, collar and the tassles

I wanted to paint the trousers on these 'elves' blue. The blue needed to retain the translucent nature of the white robes, so I started with the same base coat as the robes, a mix of 1:4 Fenrisian Grey and Contrast Medium (this coat should be applied at the same time as the robes). Once this coat was dry, a second base coat was applied, this time a 1:4 mix of Lothern Blue and Contrast Medium. The trousers were then highlighted with Blue Horror, again this was water down (this time with a little water) and the layers of the colour were built up.

Bright blue sash

With the sash, I wanted to add more strength to the colours on the palette in order to break up the white. So, I started with a basecoat of 1:4 mix of Lothern Blue and Contrast Medium. A second basecoat was then applied of a 1:1 mix of Talasaar Blue and Contrast Medium. This was then highlighted first with Lothern Blue and then with a 1:1 mix of Lothern Blue and Blue Horror.

Elf Leather

The leather is one my favourite colours on this miniature. I started with a basecoat of Mournghast Bone. This was then washed with a 1:2 mix of Skeleton Horde and Contrast Medium. This was followed with a highlight of thinned Ushabti Bone (I used water). Then a final highlight using thinned Screaming Skull (I again thinned this paint with water).

 

Elf flesh

I always imagine elf flesh to be quite pale. With this in mind I gave the flesh a basecoat with a 1:1 mix of Kislev Flesh and Lahmian Medium. This was then washed with a 1:1 mix of Guilliman Flesh and Contrast Medium. The final highlight was a 1:1 mix of Ushabti Bone and Lahmian Medium aimed at the cheek bones, nose and chin.

Elf hair

To go with the pale elf flesh, I wanted a classic blonde hair for my elf. The hair was basecoated with a 1:1 mix of Ushabti Bone and Zamesi Desert. It was then washed with a 2:1 mix of Agros Dunes and Contrast Medium. Finally, subtle highlights were applied  using Ushabti Bone thinned with a little water.

Blue Gems

I wanted the gems to have a nice deep blue. I wanted them to keep with the overall colours of the miniature but be darker so that they would standout from the lighter clothing. Each gem was basecoated with Kantor Blue. When highlighting gems the lighter colours go towards the bottom of the jewel. So the first 'highlight' of Calgar Sky was applied to the lower half of the jewel. Then Teclis Blue was applied to the bottom quarter. The final 'highlight' was to paint a thin line around the bottom of the gem with Lothern Blue. To give the illusion of a shiny surface, a small dot of White Scar was applied towards the top of the gem. A layer of gloss varnish finishes the illusion.

Elf gold

In keeping with the overall light colour of the model, I wanted a nice light gold. I cannot remember where I saw this 'recipe' but I saw it on YouTube a few months ago. The gold areas were basecoated with a 2:1 mix of Retributor Armour and Stormhost Silver. This was then washed with a 1:4 mix of Wyldwood and Contrast Medium. The Wyldwood dries to give a nice dark, defining edge to the gold. This was followed by a  highlight using the 2:1 mix of Retributor Armour and Stormhost Silver. Further highlights were added to the sharper edges by adding additional Stormhost Silver into the previous mix.

Elf steel

This was actually one of the harder colours to get right for this miniature. Initial, test ideas had been far too dark. The metal was given a basecoat of Stormhost Silver over the white undercoat. As Stormhost Silver is a layer paint it remains a little translucent and is not overpowering. The metal was then washed with a 1:3:2 mix of Drakenhof Nightshade, Nuln Oil and Lahmian Medium. The metal was finally brightened up with subtle highlights of Stormhost Silver.

White staff

This was just a very simple re-coat with Corax White. The blue rings were painted on with Talasaar Blue and then highlighted with Lothern Blue. A steady hand and neatness was the main idea here.

Base

The base is my standard basing technique for all my stonework. I wanted it to be nice and dark so that the elf would appear very 'light' in comparison. The base was drybrushed with Mechanicum Standard Grey followed by Dawnstone. The base was then washed with Athonian Camoshade. This was followed with a further drybrush with Dawnstone followed by Administratum Grey. The soil around the edges of the stone was painted with thinned Rhinos Hide. This was then lightly drybrushed with Karak Stone and then very lightly with Screaming Skull.

The bonsai tree

The trunk of the tree was basecoated with Dryad Bark. The foliage was basecoated with Deathworld Forest. The foliage was then washed with Athonian Camoshade. The trunk was washed with Agrax Earthshade. The trunk was highlight by painting lines of Gorthor Brown to simulate the texture of the bark. The foliage was highlight by painting each leaf with Deathworld Forest. A further highlight of Elysian Green was applied to the tip of each leaf.

The grass

The blades of grass were painted with Deathworld Forest, with the ears of the corn and some of the stalks being left Zandri Dust (the undercoat colour). All of the grass was then washed with Athonian Camoshade. The ears of the corn were highlighted with Ushabti Bone and then very subtly with Screaming Skull. The blades of grass were highlighted with Deathworld Forest and then Elysian Green. The Elysian Green was painted over some of the stalks to give the transition from green to beige.

The owl

The owl was given a basecoat of Zandri Dust. The face and underbelly were then painted Ushabti Bone. The owl was then washed with Seraphim Sepia (more heavily on the back than the front). The feathers on the back were then highlighted up with Zandri Dust, Ushabti Bone and then finally Screaming Skull. With each colour, less of the feather was highlighted, until Screaming Skull was only used for the tip. The face and front feathers were highlighted, by painting little vertical lines for the front and radial lines moving from the beak for the face, first with Ushabti Bone, then Screaming Skull and finally with Wraithbone. The talons were painted Zandri Dust, and then washed with thinned Cassandora Yellow. These were then highlighted with watered down Ushabti Bone. The talon claws were painted with Black Templar. The ear feathers were painted with Rhinox Hide and then Gorthor Brown. The beak was painted with Wyldwood. Finally, I picked out the eyes with Black Templar, before painting them with Jokaero Orange and then Trollslayer Orange. The pupils were dots of Abaddon Black.

Final thoughts.

I have really enjoyed painting these models, especially the challenge of keeping the whites clean. This required neatness to keep all of the colours in the correct places. This scheme does not allow for tidying up later! You also need to change the painting water very regularly, otherwise the whites start to become a dirty grey.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the guide. Leave a comment below and please come back soon. Happy hobbying.