How I paint - Stormcast Ethernals - Aetherwings

I have been adding miniatures to my Warhammer Underworlds warbands to convert them into Warcry warbands. I started first with the Farstriders and added some Gryph-hounds. The leader of the Farstriders has a Star Falcon on his wrist. I wanted to continue the bird theme through the rest of the warband, so I added the Aetherwings. I decided to paint the Aetherwings blue, to fit in with the Realm of Heavens, Azyr. So, I did some research on the Internet and found some pictures of parrots to use as a guide for colours.

Real life examples can help to make you creatures more believable. If you are after bright colours, consider tropical animals.

The Aetherwings were painted sub-assembled. The bird was painted separately from the tree stump. To paint the tree stump, I used my How to paint terrain - Dead Wood guide.

My other Stormcast painting guides include:

Aetherwings

Gryph-hounds

Stormcast Eternals - Hallowed Knights

Paints required:

• Mechanicum Standard Grey spray
• Kantor Blue
• Thousand Sons Blue
• Ahriman Blue
• Coelia Greenshade
• Temple Guard Blue
• Baharroth Blue
• Macragge Blue
• Guilliman Blue
• Lahmian Medium
• Kabalite Green
• Sybarite Green
• Zandri Dust
• Cassandora Yellow
• Reikland Fleshshade
• Ushabti Bone
• Screaming Skull
• Black Templar
• Corax White
• White Scar
• Retributor Gold

The miniature was undercoated with Mechanicum Standard Grey spray (although I do not think it would matter if you only had Chaos Black spray).

The bird was given a basecoat of Kantor Blue.

The middle row of feathers was given a basecoat of Thousand Sons Blue.

The feathers that cover the leading edge of the wing, the birds back and breast were given a basecoat with Ahriman Blue. 

All the feathers were then given a wash with Coelia Greenshade. Do not allow the wash to pool on the feathers. If it does, use a damp brush to wick any excess away. The wash is primarily there to help define the feathers on the bird.

When the wash had fully dried, the feathers painted Thousand Sons Blue and those that had been left Kantor Blue, were drybrushed with Thousand Sons Blue. Then all the feathers on the bird were drybrushed with Ahriman Blue. The drybrushed was moved in a motion to allow the paint to adhere to the edges and tips of the feathers.

Drybrush the feathers originally painted Thousand Sons Blue and Ahriman Blue with Temple Guard Blue. Avoid getting this paint on to the Kantor Blue feathers. Then the Ahriman Blue feathers were given a drybrush with Baharroth Blue. Having finished the drybrushing, I was not particularly happy with the finish on the miniatures.

Using a small detail brush, small lines of Baharroth Blue were painted on the tip of each feather in the Ahriman Blue region of the wing, back and breast of the bird. This step will take some time and the highlight will look quite stark.

Do not forget the underside of the bird.

Water down Ahriman Blue with Lahmian Medium until the paint is translucent. Paint this over the Ahriman Blue section of the bird. As the paint is now translucent, the Baharroth Blue will show though but the highlight will be more muted.

Once the Ahriman Blue has dried, lightly drybrush this section with Temple Guard Blue and then with Baharroth blue. 

Using a small detail brush, paint a thin line of Thousand Sons Blue around the edges of the Kantor Blue feathers. I used a little Lahmian Medium to help this paint flow more easily from the brush. 

Again, using a small detail brush, paint a thin line of Ahriman Blue around the edges of the Thousand Sons Blue feathers. I used a little Lahmian Medium to help the paint flow more easily from the brush.

The majority of the Aetherwing has now been painted.

The top of the Aetherwing's head was painted with Macragge Blue. The feathers around the lower half of the head were painted with Kabalite Green. Once the paint on the head and neck is dry wash the feathers with a 1:1 mix of Coelia Greenshade and Lahmian Medium.

The beak and feet were painted with Zandri Dust.

The top of the head was drybrushed first with Ahriman Blue, then with Temple Guard Blue and finally with Baharroth Blue. 

The feathers around the neck were highlighted with Sybarite Green.

Paint the eyebrow with Temple Guard Blue. This helps to define the crown of the bird's head.

The beak and feet were washed with Cassandora Yellow. Once this was fully dry Reikland Fleshshade was painted into the recesses of the feet and beak.

The top of the head was glazed with Guilliman Blue, this draws the various blues used to drybrush the head together.

The beak and feet were highlighted with Ushabti Bone and then with Screaming Skull.

The ribbon was painted with Corax White.

The ring attaching the ribbon to the bird's leg was painted with Retributor Gold.

The eyebrow was highlighted with Baharroth Blue.

To finish off the miniature, the eyes and the talons on the Bird were painted with Black Templar. The ribbon was highlighted with White Scar.

When you attach the ribbon to the dead tree on the base use super glue to avoid damaging the paint.

These are great miniatures but a little fragile. I have placed magnets under the base: 

1.  to store them in a magnetic case so as not to damage them, 
2. the extra mass lowers their centre of mass, reducing the chances of them falling over.

If you have any questions about this guide, please feel free to leave a comment. Happy Hobbying.