How I paint - Nighthaunts - tabletop standard.

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I love fully painted armies in Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 but they often require a different style of painting compared to single miniatures; otherwise they take far too long to finish. The main focus of army painting is the overall look of the whole rather than individual miniatures.  

As I was beginning to paint my Nighthaunt Army for Age of Sigmar, I quickly realised I was going to need a fast but effective paint scheme for the table-top. The Nighthaunts are a horde army, so I have lots of minions to paint. Each individual rank and file miniature does not need to be perfect but I do want them finished to a reasonable standard. So, over the last year, I have developed this Nighthaunt painting scheme. Different pieces of the puzzle have been taken from around the internet and developed/added-to through my own experience.

Paints Required:

  • Grey Seer Spray
  • Corax White
  • Lahmian Medium
  • Nihilak Oxide
  • Coeliac Greenshade
  • Nighthaunt Gloom
  • White Scar
  • Ulthuan Grey
  • Leadbelcher
  • Nuln Oil
  • Black Templar
  • Skrag Brown
  • Ironbreaker
  • Skavenblight Dinge
  • Agrax Earthshade
  • Wyldwood
  • Karak Stone
  • Balthasar Gold
  • Temple Guard Blue
  • Brass Scorpion

Priming

I began by undercoat the miniature with Grey Seer Spray. I then watered down some Corax White and then effectively re-undercoated the miniature. It does not matter if some of the deeper recesses remain Grey Seer as this will add to the shades later on. Before you ask 'why did you not just undercoat with Corax White spray?'

  1. Firstly, Corax White Spray frequently leaves a powdery finish to the undercoat that basically ruins the miniature. Grey Seer rarely (it has never happened to me but just in case) gives a nice smooth finish.
  2. Secondly, I found the next step applies better over a brush applied undercoat.
  3. Thirdly, this also helps to prevent the spray undercoat being too thick.
Robes/spirit


The miniature was then given a wash with a 1:2 mix of Nihilakh Oxide and Lahmian Medium (you could vary this mix depending on the depth of colour you require). I have made a stock of this mix using an old Lahmian Medium pot. Do not allow the wash to pool, if it starts to just remove it with a clean damp brush.

After the previous step dries fully, paint the eye sockets and nasal cavity with Coeliac Greenshade. OPTIONAL Thin some Nighthaunt Gloom with Lahmian Medium and using a thin brush paint it into the recesses between the layers of robes to distinguish each layer.

The majority of the highlights on the robes were achieved through drybrushing. The miniature was lightly drybrushed with a 1:1 mix of White Scar and Ulthuan Grey (alternatively use Corax White instead of this mix). This was then followed by a light drybrush of White Scar. In both cases, you can always drybrush a second time if you want a 'brighter' highlight but you cannot remove it if the initial drybrushing was too heavy. For characters, I water-down the White Scar:Ulthuan Grey mix to a glaze with Lahmain Medium and build up the highlights without drybrushing. This clearly takes longer but looks better for my heroes.

With the robes complete it is time to move on to the rest of the miniature. WARNING you cannot really go back and fix the robes if you get paint on then. So you must be careful and neat from now onwards.

Steel/iron metal

Any steel/iron metal on the miniature was given a basecoat of Leadbelcher. This was then given a wash with a 2:1 mix of Nuln Oil and Black Templar (recently I have been using Army Painter's Dark Tone instead). Once this was dry, Skrag Brown was heavily watered-down (until it was basically brown water) and then this was washed over the metal. Finally, the metal was given very limited highlights with Ironbreaker. 

Wood

Any wood on the miniature was given a basecoat of Skavenblight Dirge. This was then given a wash with a 2:1 mix of Agrax Earthshade and Wyldwood  (recently I have been using Army Painter's Strong Tone instead). . This was then highlight with a very light drybrush of Karak Stone. For Characters, I use  a more complicated wood recipe similar to that used on my terrain pieces.

Bronze and gold metal

Any golden/bronze metal (sword hilts etc.) was given a basecoat of Balthasar Gold his was then given a wash with Agrax Earthshade. Once this was dry, Temple Guard Blue was heavily watered down and applied to the recess of the metal. This step really dulls the gold and makes it look old. The metal was then highlighted with Brass Scorpion.



Finally, base as desired.

I have also put together an article for some of the extra details I do in my Nighthaunts.
👉Nighthaunt - extra details👈

While I realise this scheme is never going to win any painting competitions, it is simple and effective. A unit of ten Grimghast Reapers or Glaivewraith Stalkers can easily be painted in a couple of hours. 

Be warned, the sheer number of chains on the Chainrasps had me questioning my life choices! I have 80 finished so far. 

Have you used this scheme? Do you have any questions? Please put them in the comments below. Happy Hobbying.


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