How I paint - Kharadron Overlords

It has been a few months since I painted a Warhammer Underworlds warband and it was time to clear some of the backlog; it is also one of my hobby goals for 2022. Additionally, I recently bought a set of metallic paints from army painter, which I want to try. So, with the metallic paints and a choice of warbands, I settled on Thundrik's Profiteers. These Kharadon sky duardin are covered in armour and would be perfect for me to try my new paints on.

Paints required:

The Army Painter paints are denoted with (AP). The Citadel paints are denoted with (Cit).

• Chaos Black spray (Cit)
• Mechanicum Standard Grey spray (Cit)
• Gun Metal (AP) - Cit alternative Leadbelcher
  
• Dark Tone (AP) - Cit alternative Nuln Oil
  
• Lahmian Medium (Cit)
• Plate Mail Metal (AP) - Cit alternative Ironbreaker
  
• Greedy Gold (AP) - Cit alternative Skullcrusher Brass
  
• Balthasar Gold (Cit)
• Reikland Fleshshade (Cit)
• Strong Tone (AP) - Cit alternative Agrax Earthshade
  
• Bright Gold (AP) - Cit alternative Auric Armour Gold
  
• Weapon Bronze (AP)
  
• Shining Silver (AP) - Cit alternative Stormhost Silver
  
• Barak-Nar Burgundy (Cit)
• Genestealer Purple (Cit)
• Zandri Dust (Cit)
• Soft Tone (AP) - Cit alternative Seraphim Sepia
  
• Abaddon Black (Cit)
• Morghast Bone (Cit)
• Ushabti Bone (Cit)
• Eshin Grey (Cit)
• Dawnstone (Cit)
• Corax White (Cit)
• Mephiston Red (Cit)
• Aethermatic Blue (Cit)
• Skavenblight Dinge (Cit)
• Athonian Camoshade (Cit)
• Agrax Earthshade (Cit)
• Grey Seer (Cit)
• Karak Stone (Cit)
• Screaming Skull (Cit)
• Caliban Green (Cit)
• Nuln Oil Gloss (Cit)
• Moot Green (Cit) 

When I assembled the miniature, I did not glue the miniature to the base.

I began by priming the miniature with Chaos Black spray (Cit). Once this was dry, I gave the miniature a light spray from above only with Mechanicum Standard Grey spray (Cit).

Using a medium base coat brush, I applied Gun Metal (AP) to all the metal on the miniature. I took my time to make sure all areas were covered. I tried to be neat (out of habit), but I did not worry if I got the paint onto other parts of the miniature. This will be tidied up later.

Once the base coat was dry, I applied a wash of Dark Tone (AP) across all the metal. I added a little Lahmian Medium (Cit) to improve the flow of the wash. This was given plenty of time to dry.

All the metal was then given a light drybrush with Plate Mail Metal (AP).

I then started to pick out various areas of the metal with Greedy Gold (AP). I chose the 'beard' and part of gun. I then used Balthasar Gold (Cit) to pick out other area of metal. This time I chose the 'face' the sword handle guard, the icon on the chest and the coils on the backpack.

When these metallics had dried, the Greedy Gold was washed with Reikland Fleshshade (Cit). The Balthasar Gold was washed with Strong Tone (AP).

The Greedy Gold was then highlighted with Bright Gold (AP). This was then given a second limited highlight with a 1:1 mix of Bight Gold (AP) and Shining Silver (AP).  The Balthasar Gold was highlighted with Weapon Bronze (AP). The Gun Metal was edge highlighted with Shining Silver (AP) in a small number of places. These were focuses on the sword and the upper edges of the armour.

With the armour complete, the overalls of the miniature were given a base coat of Barak-Nar Burgundy (Cit). Take care to remain neat. The overalls were shaded with a wash of Dark Tone (AP). The overalls were highlighted first with Barak-Nar Burgundy. Then with a 1:1 mix of Barak-Nar Burgundy and Genestealer Purple (Cit). A final limited highlight of Genestealer Purple was applied as a spot highlight.

The straps, gloves, pouches, and rope were given a base coat of Zandri Dust (Cit). The straps, gloves and pouches were shaded with Soft Tone (AP) mixed with a little Lahmian Medium (Cit). The rope was washed with Strong Tone (AP). The boots were painted with Abaddon Black (Cit).

The straps, gloves and pouches were highlighted with Morghast Bone (Cit), and then with Ushabti Bone (Cit).

The rope was given a second wash, this time with Dark Tone (AP). Once the wash was dry, the rope was painted with small bands of Karak Stone (Cit), to give the illusion of the rope pattern. The pattern was then further highlighted with thinner bands of Screaming Skull (Cit).

The boots were highlighted with Eshin Grey (Cit) and then with a 1:1 mix of Eshin Grey (Cit) and Dawnstone (Cit).

The miniature now needed the details painting in. I started with the gauges on the backpack and the glove. I painted a little clean water into the gauge. Before the water could dry, I added a small spot of watered Corax White (Cit). The water draws the white paint into the gauge. I repeated this step three times until, I gained a nice solid white. On the gauge, there is a small indent, into this I painted watered-down Mephiston Red (Cit). The needle on the gauge was painted with Abaddon Black (Cit).

The eye on the face mask was painted with Corax White (Cit). This was then given a coat of Aethermatic Blue (Cit).

The base was painted with Skavenblight Dinge (Cit). The base was then washed with a 2:1 mix of Athonian Camoshade (Cit) and Agrax Earthshade (Cit). Once the wash was dry, the base was lightly drybrushed with Dawnstone (Cit), then with Administratum Grey (Cit) and finally with Grey Seer (Cit). The soil around the edge of the base was painted with Agrax Earthshade (Cit). The soil was then carefully drybrushed with Karak Stone (Cit) and then with Screaming Skull (Cit).

The crystals on the base were given a base coat of Caliban Green (Cit). They were then washed with Nuln Oil Gloss (Cit). Once the wash was fully dry, the crystals were edge highlighted with a 1:2 mix of Caliban Green (Cit) and Moot Green (Cit).

With the base finished, the miniature was attached to the base. The edge of the base was painted with Abaddon Black (Cit).

The Army Painter metallics were very good, but I did want to use some other metallics from the Citadel range. This is because even though the AP metallics have great coverage, they do not have the range of colours available to Citadel. 

If you would like to ask me any questions, please put them in the comments.