How to paint Sacrosanct Stormcast Eternals - Hallowed Knights

 

During the Age of Sigmar, the Stormcast Eternals are the main force of Order in the Mortal Realms. With each new edition of the game, a new set of Stormcast miniatures have been released. I have mainly been painting Stormcast for Warhammer Underworlds but I am starting to branch out into Warcry. So far I have completed: the Farstriders, Steelheart's Champions, the Cursebreakers and Ironsoul's Condemnors. Currently, I am working my way through the Storm of Celestus. When Age of Sigmar was first released I got my first Stormcast miniature in White Dwarf. Then reading through the Realm Gate War books, I found the Hallowed Knights battling the forces of Nurgle in the realm of Ghyran. 

I have continued to paint my Stormcast as Hallowed Knights ever since. For the Second Edition of the Age of Sigmar, the Sacrosanct Chamber was opened. This guide is my take on the Sacrosanct Stormcast Eternals of the Hallowed Knights. 

My other Stormcast painting guides include:

Aetherwings

Gryph-hounds

Stormcast Eternals - Hallowed Knights

Paints required:

• Chaos Black spray
• Iron Hands Steel
• Ironbreaker
• Stormhost Silver
• Lahmian Medium
• Drakenhoff Nightshade
• Nuln Oil
• Macragge Blue
• Altdorf Guard Blue
• Runefang Steel
• Rhinox Hide
• Skrag Brown
• Karak Stone
• Kantor Blue
• Alaitoc Blue
• Celestra Grey
• Corax White
• Administratum Grey
• Army Painter Matt White (alternatively White Scar)
• Screamer Pink
• Barak-Nar Burgundy
• Pink Horror
• Retributor Gold
• Reikland Fleshshade Gloss
• Auric Armour Gold
• Druchii Violet
• Dray Bark
• Agrax Earthshade
• Gorthor Brown
• Baneblade Brown
• Rakarth Flesh
• Lahmian Medium
• Seraphim Sepia
• Khorne Red
• Evil Suns Scarlet
• Wild Rider Red
• Trollslayer Orange
• Talassar Blue
• Contrast Medium
• Aethermatic Blue

Rather than a step-by-step approach to the miniature, in this guide I have decided to write how I painted each section/colour on the miniature.

The miniature was undercoat with Chaos Black spray. 

The silver armour and other silver metal

The metal of the armour was given a basecoat of Iron Hands Steel; any areas of the armour that you intend to paint gold or blue later should be left black. This basecoat should only be one layer thick and it does not matter if it is a little patchy. A second basecoat was applied to the armour using a 1:1 mix of Iron Hands Steel and Stormhost Silver. This basecoat should be nice and smooth with a solid finish. When this was thoroughly dry a 1:2:1 mix of Drakenhoff Nightshade, Nuln Oil and Lahmian Medium was applied to the silver armour (for the metal on weapons, I increased the quantity of Lahmian Medium in the mix). The armour was then highlighted with Ironbreaker. Before final edge highlights were applied with Stormhost Silver.

Blue shoulder pads

The inner sections of the shoulder pads were painted with Macragge Blue. This was then washed with Drakenhoff Nightshade. When the wash was fully dry, the should pads were tidied up with Macragge Blue and then highlighted with Altdorf Guard Blue.

The hammer icon on the shoulder pad war painted with Iron Hands Steel. This was given a wash with Nuln Oil before being highlighted with Runefang Steel. The lightning bolt icons were painted with Corax White and then were highlighted with Army Painter Matt White.

The leather

The gloves and leather between the plate armour were given a basecoat of Rhinox Hide. This was then washed with Nuln Oil. When the wash was dry, this was highlighted with watered down Skrag Brown and then with watered down Karak Stone. These highlights were first applied to follow the line of the creases on the leather. Then, tiny perpendicular lines were added to the highlights, to simulate wearing on the leather.

The tabard

The reverse of the tabard was painted Kantor Blue. The front of the tabard was then given a basecoat of a 1:1 mix of Celestra Grey and Corax White. This was followed up with a basecoat of Corax White.  Multiple thin coats or paint were used to build up the this basecoat in order to achieve a nice smooth finish. At this point, you might need to tidy up the edges of the Kantor Blue. To shade the front of the tabard, watered down Administratum Grey was painted into the recesses between the folds. The tabard was then highlighted with Army Painter Matt White (equally you could use White Scar). The white paint was watered down. Highlights were then built up on the folds of the cloth. When painting the white tabard keep you painting water clean. The reverse of the tabard was highlighted with Alaitoc Blue.

The robes

The robes were given a basecoat with Screamer Pink. The robes were then shaded with Barak-Nar Burgundy. This was watered-down and painted into the recesses between the folds of cloth.  When I paint cloth I do not like to use washes. Washes build up in regions of the miniature due to gravity. Gravity rarely if ever represents where the light would not be falling on a miniature. As such, I like to paint the shade into the recesses of the cloth. For the next step I am trying to build up a nice transition between my Barak-Nar Burgundy recesses and the Screamer Pink cloth. To do this a 1:1 mix of Barak-Nar Burgundy and Screamer Pink was applied on the edges of the recesses I then use a little Screamer Pink to tidy up my shading. The folds of the cloth were then highlighted with a 1:1 mix of Screamer Pink and Pink Horror. Before a final, subtle highlight of Pink Horror was applied to finish.

The gold

All the gold details were given a basecoat with Retributor Gold. Wash with Reikland Fleshshade Gloss. Highlight with Auric Armour Gold. Highlight with a 1:1 mix of Auric Armour Gold and Stormhost Silver.

The weapon hafts

The strapping on the weapon hafts were given a basecoat of Screamer Pink. This was then washed with Druchii Violet and allowed to dry. Using a small detail brush fine lines of Pink Horror were painted onto the strapping to denote the edges of each strip.

Helmet plumes

The helmet plume was painted with the same paints as the weapon hafts. The plumes were given a basecoat with Screamer Pink. This was then washed with Druchii Violet and allowed to dry. Using a small detail brush fine lines of Pink Horror were painted onto the hairs of the plume. I prefer not to drybrush hair.

Red gems/crystals

These gems are found on the helmets and weapons of some of the Stormcast. They are often located next to an area I have painted gold and I think red and gold complement each other very well. The gems/crystals were painted Khorne Red. When this was dry, the central cross was highlighted first with Evil Suns Scarlet. Then with Wild Rider Red and finally with Troll Slayer Orange. Each time the cross was highlighted the it was painted smaller and smaller until the Trollslayer Orange was focus onto the central point/tip.

The wooden weapons

I wanted the bows and crossbows of my Stormcast to be made of wood. I gave the weapons a basecoat of Dryad Bark. This was then washed with Agrax Earthshade. When this was dry, I used a small detail brush to paint thin lines of Gorthor Brown (thin this paint down with water to make it flow from the brush more easily) across the weapon to simulate the wood grain. This step was then repeated with Baneblade Brown. The corners of the wood were highlighted using a 1:1 mix of Rakarth Flesh and Baneblade Brown, by running the the side of my brush along the edge of the miniature (be careful not to overload your brush for this step). The browns I have used are all have a grey tone but I wanted to warm these up to match the brightness of my Stormcast. To do this the wood was washed with a 1:2 mix of Seraphim Sepia and Lahmian Medium. 

Thunderhead great bow weapon head

After the metal on the weapon head was painted, very carefully, the glass was given a basecoat of Corax White, using a fine detail brush. When this was dry, the white was painted over with Aethermatic Blue and left to dry. I really like the glass effect that is easily produced with this simple technique.

Spirt Flasks

The spirit flasks were painted in a similar way to the Thunderhead great bow weapon heads. The flask was given a basecoat of Corax White. This was then painted with Talassar Blue (if you want a slightly lighter blue add some Contrast Medium to the Talassar Blue before you apply it).

Having written up this method I suddenly realise how many paints are involved. If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments. Happy Hobbying.