Space Dwarf Tenderisers Painting Guide

Learn how to paint Space Dwarf Tenderisers with this step-by-step miniature painting guide, covering colours, techniques and finishing details.

With the model primed grey, I start off with a few coats of AK Interactives Ducat blue as a basecoat on the jean

I then apply a wash of Warhammer Colour Nuln Oil shade to the jeans, avoiding excessive pooling where possible, but leaving enough to give the jeans a dirty and used look.

Back with AK Interactive’s Ducat Blue I apply a dry brush to bring back the colour on the high points on the jeans.

I then do two more dry brushes, making them lighter and more controlled with each step. Starting with Warhammer Colour’s Screaming Skull and then finishing with AK Interactive’s White.

Moving onto the skin, I start with AK Interactive’s Light Flesh for a basecoat.

I then apply a wash of Warhammer Colour’s Reikland Fleshshade. As the eyes are so small on these models, I don’t attempt to paint them, instead I apply the Fleshshade more heavily around the eyes, and if needed go in with a second pass if needed once its dry, this will give the eyes enough definition and depth to be believable.

With the wash completed, I come back with AK Interactive’s Light Flesh and highlight most of the skin on the model, making sure not to go into any of the recesses on the muscle definition. On the face I focus on the top of the chin, the top of the cheek bones, above the top lip, the high points on the nose and and across the top of the forehead where the light would hit the face.

Next I do a second highlight of AK Interactive’s Highlight Flesh, focusing more tightly to where I would expect the light to hit, again giving attention to the face in the same areas. Remember it doesn’t need to be perfect, if it looks good from arms length – its good.

If you are still unhappy with how it looks, then try a thin coat of Warhammer Colour’s Reikland Fleshshade to help blend the highlights together.

Lastly on the skin I apply AK Interactive’s Shadow Flesh on the dwarf’s lips.

That’s the hardest part out of the paint scheme out of the way!

Next I’m going to work on the shirt if the model has one and the hair. I start by base coating them with Warhammer Colour’s Ulthuan Grey.

I then lightly apply a coat of Warhammer Colour’s Agrax Earthshade, being careful not to let it pool. While a bit of pooling looks ok on the jeans, I don’t think it really had the same effect on the shirt. If it does pool, try spread it around, and if that doesn’t work then wick the excess paint off with a clean, damp brush.

Next I apply a first highlight with the basecoat colour of Ulthuan Grey.

I then finish with a second highlight of AK Interactive’s White.

Next up is the bandanas, hair ties on the beards and wires on the weapons. I start by applying a basecoat of Warhammer Colour’s Evil Sunz Scarlet.

I then apply a wash of Warhammer Colour’s Agrax Earthshade.

And finish with highlight of Evil Sunz Scarlet to bring the colour back on the high points.

With that done, I now look to tackle the leather on the gloves and boots.

I chose to do these a light tan leather to tie in with the brightness of the blues and whites, and start with a basecoat of Warhammer Colour’s XV-88.

Once done, I apply a coat of Warhammer Colour’s contrast paint Snakebite Leather.

I then get Warhammer Colour’s Garaghak Sewer, thin it about 50/50 with contrast medium and apply it to the recesses of the boots and gloves.

I think bring the leather back up and highlight with the XV-88 I started with.

For the soles of the boots, I simply paint these with Warhammer Colour’s Rhinox Hide.

Time to tackle the steel toecaps and the weapons. To start I apply a basecoat of Warhammer Colour’s Iron Warriors.

I then wash the toecaps and weapons with Warhammer Colour’s Nuln Oil. Finishing with a drybrush of Warhammer Colour’s Iron Breaker as a highlight

I keep the axe and hammer handles simple with a coat of AK Interactive’s Black. If you wanted to take it a step further, you could apply a thin highlight on the wraps on the handles with a medium grey colour.

The only thing that is left now is the axe heads. To tackle these I start by painting them an off white with Warhammer Colour’s Uthuan Grey. This is easier to apply than white, and brightens the paints that I’m going to apply next.

With that done, next is Warhammer Colour’s Flash Gits Yellow. I go fairly thin, its ok if theres some transparency, as most of the blade will be covered with the remaining colours, and the whiter something looks, the hotter it looks.

I thin Warhammer Colour’s Fire Dragon Bright a little more than I normally would and I glaze on the paint from the middle of the blade to the tip, to build up a gradient. As I apply more coats I get closer and closer to the edge of the axe blade each time.

Once I am happy with that I move on to the final colour, which is Warhammer Colour’s Evil Sunz Scarlet, again, thinned down more than usual and I glaze from around three quarters up the blade towards the edge, working successive layers closer and closer to the edge.

And with that gradient complete, we are done, the Tenderisers are complete, and looking awesome - ready to do battle in the mines. The Tenderisers available here, ready for you to have a go yourself, or you can browse the entire Space Dwarf range here!

 

You can watch the video version of this guide here: