How I paint Moonclan Grots

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I have a large Ork army for Warhammer 40k, but it has been a few years since I have painted any Greenskins. Thanks in part to my backlog of Warhammer Underworlds warbands and a desire to paint some Destruction miniatures for Warcry I have been painting up my Ironjaws and the Gloomspite Gitz. I love Moonclan Grots as, with most Greenskin armies, they are played primarily for fun and if you win any games with them, so much the better. I wanted to paint my Gitz in a classic style, like 'back in the day' when I was using Night Goblins in the world-that-was. So here is my take on these nasty little backstabbers. I hope you enjoy and I would love to hear any comments.  

Other guides you might find useful:

How I paint Moonclan Grots

How I paint Rockgut Troggoth

How I paint Squigs

How I paint Orruk Armour

Army Collection - Gloomspite Gitz

Paints required: 

    • Chaos Black spray 
    • Abaddon Black 
    • Stormvermin Fur 
    • Rhinox Hide 
    • Leadbelcher 
    • Nuln Oil (or Army Painter Dark Tone)
    • Deathworld Forest 
    • Averland Sunset 
    • Athonian Camoshade 
    • Elysian Green 
    • Ogryn Camo 
    • Kislev Flesh 
    • Cadian Fleshtone 
    • Mephiston Red 
    • Evil Suns Scarlet 
    • Zandri Dust 
    • Agrax Earthshade 
    • Karak Stone 
    • Yriel Yellow 
    • Screaming Skull 
    • Cassandora Yellow 
    • Seraphim Sepia 
    • Iron Hands Steel 
    • Stormhost Silver 
    • Gorthor Brown

  • Start by undercoating the miniature with Chaos Black spray. 

    The first step is to paint the robes of the grot. A 1:1 mix of Abaddon Black and Stormvermin Fur was applied to the raised areas of the robes. This highlight can be quite crude as later steps will tidy it up.


Then add additional Stormvermin Fur to the previous mix and apply more precise highlights on the folds of the cloth.

The final highlights to the robes were applied using just Stormvermin Fur. At this point the highlights look quite stark. The next step will knock them back and give an overall dark look to the cloth.

To basecoat the metal a small quantity of Rhinox Hide was added to Leadbelcher. This was then painted over all the metal on the miniature: the sword blade and the shield rim. 

Once the basecoats were dry, the robes and the metal were given a wash of Nuln Oil (I prefer Army Painter Dark Tone for the robes).

To finish off the black cloth, the hem of the robes was given a highlight with Stormvermin Fur. This makes the hem look old and worn, as though it has been dragged along a damp corridor over a lengthy period.

After the black robes, the next most prominent colour on the grots will be the green skin. The face and the hands of the miniature were given a basecoat with a 3:2 mix of Deathworld Forest and Averland Sunset.  

The rope around the waist of the grot was painted with Zandri Dust.

The boots were given a basecoat with Rhinox Hide. Small patches of brown on the miniature help to give additional points of interest, without comprimising the overall dark feel of the character.

The basecoats from the previous step now need shading. The rope was shaded with Agrax Earthshade. The metal was given also wash with Agrax Earthshade. The metal has now been washed twice once with Nuln Oil and once with Agrax Earthshade. This starts to create a nice weathered look to the metal.

The face and hands were washed with Athonian Camoshade. I like this shade paint as the green has been dulled down with some brown tones giving the flesh a more dirty and grimy feel than either Biel-Tan Breen or Coelia Greenshade would achieve.

Once the washes were full dry, the flesh was tidied-up/highlighted with Elysian Green. The idea here is to leave the Athonian Camoshade in the recesses and paint the majority of the flesh with the Elysian Green.

The Bad Moon Symbol, on the shield, was given a basecoat with Averland Sunset (this will take two coats to get a nice smooth, solid finish). I also paint the eye on the shield Averland Sunset as a nice bright base layer for later. The teeth in the Bad Moon were painted with Zandri Dust. Any mistakes can be tidied up with a little Abaddon Black.

The rope was then highlight by applying thin lines of Karak Stone to stimulate the cord.

The flesh was further highlighted with a 1:1 mix of Elysian Green and Ogryn Camo. This should be used as a true highlight to pick out the raised areas of the flesh.

The teeth in the grot’s mouth were painted with Zandri Dust.

The boots were highlighted with a 1:1 mix of Rhinox Hide and Gorthor Brown.

The Bad Moon was washed with a 1:1 mix of Cassandora Yellow and Seraphim Sepia. Take care to avoid the teeth. 

Once the wash on the Bad Moon had full dried the yellow was highlighted first with Yriel Yellow and then with a 1:1 mix of Yriel Yellow and Screaming Skull.

The teeth were highlighted first with Karak Stone and then with Screaming Skull. The Screaming Skull was focused more towards the tip of each tooth.

The nose and chin were highlighted with Kislev Flesh. This was focused on the end of the nose.

The eyes of the grot and the Bad Moon were painted with Mephiston Red. These were then highlighted with Evil Suns Scarlet.

Cadian Fleshtone was then applied to end of the nose, making sure to leave some of the Kislev Flesh showing. Finally, the tip of the nose was painting with a mix of Cadian Fleshtone and Mephiston Red. The addition of these red tones helps to give a nice organic feel to the face and, I think, really adds some character.


The sword blade was drybrushed with Leadbelcher. The sword was then edge highlighted with a 1:1 mix* of Iron Hands Steel and Stormhost Silver. This mix was also used to paint perpendicular lines to indicate the sharp edge of the blade.

*I use this mix instead of using Ironbreaker as even though it has a similar colour it has a better coverage due to the inclusion of Iron Hands Steel (a base paint) in the mix. 

I do not believe that grots look after their weapons very well. To indicate this, I wanted to add some grime and weathering to the metal. To indicate this Agrax Earthshade, Seraphim Sepia and Athonian Camoshade were stippled onto the metal. Note the highlights will show through this ‘grime' but will be significantly dulled. I avoided applying the grime to thevery edge of the sharp edge of the blade. Once the washes had fully dried, I used a little of the Iron Hands Steel and Stormhost Silver mix to carefully re-establish the sharpness of the blade with obscuring the grime. A final edge highlight of Stormhost Silver was used on the sharpest part of the blade.


The sword handle strapping was painted with Zandri Dust. This was then
given a wash with Agrax Earthshade. This was then highlight with Karak
Stone and the Screaming Skull. I should have done this step a lot earlier, when I was painting the flesh.

I love these little miniatures; they are nice and simple but still have plenty of character. Variety can be added to the unit by painting the boots and/or hood with various shades of brown. 

Night goblin

Wooden Spear Hafts



The wood on the spears were basecoated with Dryad Bark.This was then washed with Agrax Earthshade. The wood was then highlighted first with a 1:1 mix of Dryad Bark and Gorthor Brown and then a second, more limited highlight of Gorthor Brown was applied.

The Nets



The string of the net was painted with Zandri Dust. I removed most of the paint from my brush and used the side of the bristles to paint the net. The net was washed with Agrax Earthshade. The strings were then highlightlighted with Karak Stone and then with Screaming Skull.

All that remains is to base your miniature. I hope you found this guide useful. Let me know your thoughts. Happy Hobbying


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