Tutorial – How to paint: Stormcast Eternals (Lions of Sigmar colors)

by | Aug 1, 2015

Stormcast Eternals is fun to paint, and quite easy as well as you don't need 100 different paints. You paint them up much similar to how you paint Space Marines, focus on the main color of the armor and then paint up the rest of the stuff.


So here's my tutorial on how I painted up my first unit of Liberators. And I painted these in the 'Lions of Sigmar' colors, so purple. Also I'm not a huge fan of golden armor, even though the new Citadel gold colors seem quite nice. So I went more of a bronze look instead, still shiny but more pale.

Colors I used:

Citadel - Base colors; Warplock Bronze, Rakarth Flesh, Screamer Pink, Mephiston Red, Mechanicus Standard Grey, Zandri Dust, Leadbelcher, The Fang. Layer colors; Evil Sunz Scarlet, Xereus Purple, Genestealer Purple, Ushabti Bone, Pallid Wych Flesh, Pink Horror Shade colors; Riekland Fleshshade, Druchii Violet, Agrax Earthshade, Carroburg Crimson Technical colors; Lahmian Medium Dry; Longbeard Grey

Army Painter - Shining Silver, Plate Mail Metal, Matt White, Matt Black, Weapon Bronze, Soft Tone Ink, Dark Tone Ink

Vallejo - Bright Bronze, Airbrush colors etc. Black Primer, Thinner

Step 1 - Armor

First up is the armor, I used an Airbrush (Harder & Steenbeck Evolution) for this, it makes it much quicker. Also I'm doing a method here that keeps some of the shadows, which comes natural as you layer on the first layers of paint.

I primed the models using Black Primer with my airbrush
I then painted them all with Warplock Bronze, also with an Airbrush. I had to dilute the paint with thinner to get the right consistency.
I then did the same thing with Weapons Bronze, and here's where I start to keep some the previous paint to get some natural shadows. I do this holding the airbrush in aprox 45 degree angle so most of the paint hits the top of the model. I also did this but keeping the angle even more with Bright Bronze.

I'm now done with the airbrush. Next step was to wash the models with Riekland Fleshshade.

I then go over the raised up and flat areas with Bright Bronze again, being careful not to get into the recesses or where the 'shadows' are. I do however do some edge highlights in the darkest areas to blend it together.
Step 2 - The rest of the base colors

So with the armor done we now have to paint up the rest to paint up. Thin the paint with sufficient water to keep all details and the surfaces smooth. In most cases it takes two coats of paint to get enough cover. This step is probably the most time consuming but already the miniatures is starting to look really nice. 

All purple parts is painted with Xereus Purple. Hammer head, scale mail, buttons, and bolts on the armor are painted with Leadbelcher. The leather straps, belt, sword cloth beneath the armor is painted with Matt Black. Parchment is painted with Zandri Dust. Haft on hammer and sword is painted with Screamer Pink. The lightningbolts on shoulder pads and shield are painted with Celestra Grey.

The plume on Liberator Prime is painted with Mephiston Red and the stone he stands on (and stones on two others) is painted with Mechanicus Standard Grey. The scroll and inside of the cloth on the Liberator Prime is painted with Rakarth Flesh.

Step 3 - Wash
Now you wash all parts except the armor. Remember to let it dry before going to the next step and be careful not to get to much in the same spot. As the wash runs down the model, you might need flip the model upside down with your hands so the wash gets where it should be, and remove excess paint as needed. When there's large areas like the shield and cloth I thin down the paint with Lahmian Medium and not water to get a smoother result.

All purple, hammer head, scale mail and stones is washed it with Dark Tone Ink (Citadel Nuln Oil works just as good here if you want to stay with GW colors). The red plume is washed with Carrobrug Crimson. The pink parts are washed with Drucchii Voilet. Wash the parchment and the inside of the Prime's cloth with Light Tone Ink (Seraphim Sepia if going with Citadel) and the scroll on the Primes shield with Rakarth Flesh.



Step 4 - First Highlight
After step 3 you really have nice tabletop standard. But to get back some nice contrast and brighter colors again you need to re paint all the washed areas with their original color, leaving the recesses of course.

This step takes a lot of time as well. For the metal parts on the hammer head and scale mail I instead used Plate Mail Metal, but only on the most raised areas. I skipped reapply Xereus Purple on the insides of the shields as you wont see them much anyway. Be extra careful when you reapply Screamer Pink on the hammer and sword hafts as the details here are easy to mess up. 

All the black parts are edge highlighted with The Fang. If to bright or to much just wash it down with Dark Tone Ink or Nuln Oil. 
Step 5 - Second Highlight
Now you do edge highlights on all the colors accept the armor, weapons and lightning bolts which I saved for last. Be careful in this stage not to mess up, you only want highlights on the edges and thin lines.

Genestealer Purple on the purple areas, Pink horror for the hammer and sword hafts (again, be extra careful here). Palid Wych Flesh on parchment, scroll on the shield and inside of the Prime's cloth. The red plume is highlighted with Evil Sunz Scarlet and the stones are painted with Longbeard Grey.

Step 6 - Final Touch ups
Now I do the final things before the models are completed. I highlight the edges of the armor, and all the metals with Shining Silver, be careful not to overdo this, you don't need to paint all edges. The lightningbolts on the shield and shoulderpads are highlighted with Pallid Wych Flesh.

I based the models and put on transfers, done!