AoS 4.0 is scurrying its way on to our doorsteps imminently, with much hype and reckless rat-tailed abandon! Games Workshop were supremely kind enough to send us a box for preview purposes, so we thank them heartily. In this article, I’m going to show you how to get your rat men upright and “stab-stab set to go” on your gaming tables. I approached this box using the techniques and methods I teach during my ticketed painting workshops, and these are perfect for getting an armi’s worth of models (in this case, 50… but technically 58 Skaven!) painted with precision, enjoyment and speed.

Key for Paints (there’s a complete paint list at the bottom of this article):

CP - Contrast Paints (Citadel)
C - (Citadel)
MHPA - (Monument Hobbies Pro Acryl)
APSP - (Army Painter Speed Paints)
DS - (Dark Star)

0) Prep and Priming

Get your RATtle cans at the ready! This army is the perfect subject to execute the excellence of zenithal primes, speed paints and shades. I didn’t plan very much at all how I was going to paint this force, but I settled on an affinity for red, Clan Verminus and something similar to the box scheme would suffice. I freestyle a lot of what I usually paint using a key base of neutral earthy paints like browns, bones, tans, greys etc. This will lend to the project wonderfully after they’ve been primed.

In terms of sub-assemblies, I didn’t glue the claw lord to his gnaw beast, the pegs provided perfect friction for a snug fit, but by the time I finished, I realized I hadn’t removed the Claw Lord once off his mount. The Mount likewise wasn’t glued to the base as I wanted to do some cool warpstone glowy goodness on the pool beneath him. Otherwise, keep the shield rats on the Jezzails unglued so that you can pull them off and paint them. The big blaster cannon wasn’t glued to its carriage so that I could paint the crew easier without working around the gun and wooden carriage that it sits on. Otherwise, get everything glued! Once everything was set, I PVA Glued some fine grit sand to the bases of every model. This is good to be done at the end of the day, so it’s got overnight to dry solid.

For the prime, everything was sprayed Matt Black from Colour Forge, and then heavily zenithaled with Matt White, also from Colour Forge. What this means is that the rats were glued to my spray stick, and once the black spray was dry, I sprayed them with Matt White in downward bursts, from top down to about 90 degrees around their fronts and back. This means they’re highlighted with a reflected source of light, while their underside is left anywhere from black to a smokey grey where the white has dusted. This is going to allow those speed paints to do all the work we need them to get this army looking the cheese, and quick.

1) First Layers - Skin and Cloth

The entire army was going to be painted in a uniform and production line manner. Starting with large surface areas, and materials where our paints will need good time to dry. In this case, shade/wash paints.

Skin can be a sod to paint on 50+ ratmen, it will be one of the main hurdles that we’ll be up against in this project. I wanted to spend as little time as possible on the flesh, and use as few paints as possible, while also have some diversity across the army for a nice naturally varied result. In the photo above, you’ll see the three main paints I used for skin. All from the incredible Monument Hobbies and their pro acryl range. Black Wash (MHPA), Brown Wash (MHPA) and Flesh Wash (MHPA). These were lovingly applied to all flesh elements of every model in the army, and that’s all I did for the skin. That’s it. Be messy here! The paints are so thin and transparent, we won’t need to tidy any overspills, our speed paints will cover our fluff-ups with no issue at all.

For the cloth and fabric, I emulated the art I’d seen to a degree, but again, freestyled with the paints I had and what I felt would look cool. A unifying colour across the army is that lovely purpleish-red burgundy colour, which I use Murder Scene (APSP). From there, I wanted to break up the 40 clan rats into two squads of 20, that could be easily separated on the tabletop. The low garments on these squads were spread equally between Palid Bone (APSP) and Ratling Grime (CP). The only variant away from all of this was the Grey Seer, who had his skin painted with Holy White (APSP) and his robes with Graveyard Grey (APSP).

And with that, we’ve painted the skin and clothing across every model in this army, using just 6 paints (8, including the pesky Grey Seer).

2) Shields, Wood, Teeth and Belts

The rest of our non metallic base layers are uniform across the entire force. The shields were painted with Blood Red (APSP), as was the armour on the boss rats and banners. When dry, I free handed a little Skaven symbol using Bold Titanium White (MHPA), just by painting three intercrossing lines with a thin brush. Very easy to do, and looks great across the force. The banners I painted a little circle using Iraqi Sand (AK3G) and painted the same symbol within that circle using Coal Black (MHPA).

From there, I made a start on the wood, which I used Snakebite Leather (CP) across all weapon hafts, wooden beams, inside of shields etc. I used the same colour on the inside of every open mouth, and exposed teeth on each model. Then, Wyldwood (CP) for all leather straps, belts and bindings.

3) Fur and a couple of highlights

This is another way we can add some nice varied splashes of colour to diversify our rats, especially those 40 Clan Rats! I separated the army across the three skin tones we applied earlier and applied the following colours to the fur of each:

Black Wash Rats (Now a nice ashy grey tone): Black Templar, Basilicanum Grey, Ratling Grime (All CP)
Brown Wash Rats (Now a very pallid murky brown/tan): Dark Wood (APSP), Black Templar and Ratling Grime (CP)
Flesh Wash Rats (Now an almost healthy is pale fleshy tone): Gore Grunta Fur (CP)

These paints were all applied in a stabby (Stab-stab) like motion gently with a brush, for a scratchy and naturally sketchy break between the sculpted fur and non furry skin. The paints are heavily pigmented so cover the fur wonderfully and without having to go back and highlight each individual strand of hair.

From here, I Highlighted the teeth and claws of every model with Pale Yellow (MHPA) and dotted each eye with Bold Pyrrole Red (MHPA).

4) Rat Tails (And snoots)!

Dead simple. Any flesh contrast or speed paint will do. I recommend Darkoath, Guilliman or Fyreslayer Flesh (All CP), or Crusade Skin (APSP). You should also apply a small amount of any of these colours around their little noses to define them more against their skin.

5) The Back is Broken. Grab some Protection!

There’s a LOT of the work done. At this stage, you can optionally apply a varnish across the entire army. I recommend Colour Forge Matt Varnish if you rattle, if you airbrush, Ultra Matte Lucky Varnish from Ammo Mig. This is for a couple of reasons. It helps protect those sometimes delicate speed paints that can be prone to wear when handled, and it also unifies the finish across all our painting. Some of the paints we’ve used will have a slightly shinier finish that others. This protective and consistent finish will tie the army together, and will help our metallics look even more pungent against the matt finish on everything else. Of course, this is purely optional.

6) Gleaming Metallics (…And Teeth again!)

This is where it will pay to be a bit more delicate and precise with our brush work. I decided I wanted an emphasis on a worn pale brass across the armour of my rats, a murky silver for their weapons and the main gun for the Blaster to have a nice prominent corroded copper to really stand out. Renaissance Gold (DS) and Baroque (DS) were perfect for what I wanted here. For the panels on the Blaster, I used Copper (DS).

This is where I found the REAL grind of this job. The clan rats have a LOT of chainmail under their robes. I was as precise as I could be, but I was 9 hours-in at this point and was ready for some sleep. If you make any mistakes and get metallics on your robes, tidy up with:

Burgundy Robes - Burgundy (MHPA)
Bone - Iraqi Sand (AK3G)
Ratling Grime - Dryad Bark (C)

All the armour panels were painted with the Renaissance Gold (DS), and the weapons with Baroque (DS), the shield rims and trim were mixed with one or the other. Don’t forget all those bolted on panels and cuffs/chains on the Rat Ogres, they’re riddled!

At this stage, bar bases and smol rattos, we should have all our base layers down!

7) Shades, Weathering and Critters!

Give your DS paints plenty of time to dry! They’re very thin and very pigmented with metallic particles. The last thing you want to do is hit these with a wash and have it run and leave the surrounding skin and fabrics sparkling.

Grab your Brown Wash (MHPA) again, and apply this to:

Shields, entirely.
Weapons.
Chainmail
Rat Ogre augments, chains etc. Anything metallic.
Teeth and mouths (It knocks the brightness of that highlight back just a bit)

Once dry, we can go in and do some weathering. Grab Bright Jade (MHPA) and thin this down A LOT. 4/5 water to paint. Apply this to all brass and copper details. With the Blaster gun, I ran this into the recesses of the armour panels as I didn’t want to change the whole thing to be blue. It’s always better to apply this in moderation. It’s infinitely easier to add more rather than to take it away. I went a bit mad in some spaces, but it adds a lovely spot of colour to the army and further unifies the narrative of the force. Now, for another eye-straining exercise…. Look for the rats.

All the little critters around the models can be painted with any brown/grey/black speed paint of your choosing, and their tails to match the Skaven.

8) Characters, and additional details.

The Characters (of which there are 3) deserve a little bit more TLC and flash when surrounded by their lowly kin. There’s a few things you can do here to step them up with little effort:

Claw Lord on Gnawbeast - Highlight the edges of the Lords armour with Orange (MHPA), apply some Targor Rageshade or Berzerker Bloodshade (C) to any scars, boils, and the recess between eyes, cheeks, lips and maws. This makes the Gnawbeast look absolutely feral and haunting. You can do the same thing in the scars and torn flesh for the Rat ogres.
Grey Seer - Paint his book in the Murder Scene (APSP) just to add that unifying colour to the otherwise starkly different model. Enhance the recesses on his haggard face with some Brown/Black Wash (MHPA) mixed 1:1. Hit the lower 1/3 of his horns with Wyldwood (CP) and then, from the tip of the horn down, apply Pallid Bone (APSP) until the two wet colours meet, where they’ll blend beautifully.
Engineer - Pick out his lenses with a bright white or silver, and add the Speed/Contrast Paint of your preference.
Fur - Maybe if you fancy, pick out some of the fur strands around their faces to one-up them a touch.
Warpstone - This is lovely to sort! Apply Pale Yellow (MHPA) to any and all Warpstone (Drummer Clan Rats stick, Rat Ogres, Blade on the Claw Lord etc). Once dry, add some Striking Scorpion Green (CP). Done! You can emulate how I painted the green on the Blaster by running White Ink (Liquitex) into recesses (carefully) that you want to glow. Once dry, add Striking Scorpion Green (CP).

Do as much of these, or as few, as you’d like. Season to taste!

9) Basing

Remember that zenithal we applied with our sprays? It’s going to do the (horned) Lord’s work again! Don’t worry if it’s got any paint on it, it’s going to get covered. Apply Grim Black (APSP) to the base, it’s VERY thin and flows rapidly. It will have the sand look dark, ashen and scorched like the realms of Aqshy itself. Once dry (give it an hour at least), drybrush with Warm Grey (MHPA) gently. PVA Glue some Army Painter Scorched Earth Tufts sparingly, and paint the base rims Coal Black (MHPA).

Grab a block of cheese, shank your leader in the back while he retreats, lick that brick of warpstone that’s rumbling…. YOU’RE DONE!

X) Overview

This was a LOT of models. I was able to paint them over 18 hours across a weekend. I’m not in a hurry to do that again…

I’d recommend breaking the army down into segments of:

10x4 Clan Rats
Rat Ogres and Jezzails
Blaster
Heroes

My biggest ‘Watch Out’s are the Chainmail, the smol rats... Otherwise, the sculpts are grand and very painter-friendly. My favourites are indisputably the Claw Lord on Gnawbeast and the Rat Ogres. I did a tiny bit of airbrushing using Striking Scorpion Green (CP) to get a glow effect on my Grey Seer and Gnawbeast, just to tart them up and stand-out in the hordes of clan rats. I am eager to see what you all do with your own clans, and for upcoming Skaven releases to join the Skaventide!

PAINT LIST:

Monument Hobbies Pro Acryl

Black Wash
Brown Wash
Flesh Wash
Coal Black
Burgundy
Orange
Pale Yellow
Bright Jade
Bold Titanium White
Bold Pyrrole Red (MHPA)

Army Painter Speed Paints:

Murder Scene
Pallid Bone
Graveyard Grey
Grim Black
Dark Wood
Holy White
Blood Red

Citadel:

Snakebite Leather
Striking Scorpion Green
Fyreslayer Flesh
Guilliman Flesh
Darkoath Flesh
Ratling Grime
Wyldwood
Berzerker Bloodshade
Targor Rageshade
Dryad Bark

Dark Star Metallics:

Rennaissance Gold
Baroque
Copper

Misc:

Liquitex White Ink
Colour Forge Matt White & Matt Black
Mig Ammo Ultra Matt Lucky Varnish
Army Painter Scorched Earth Tufts
AK Interactive 3rd Gen Iraqi Sand

Enjoy this article?

Be sure to head to my social media outlets for daily hobby content. If you’d like help getting your collections painted, then head to my commissions page link up in the menu bar, and if you’d like to see other tutorials like this around what I’ve painted then get in touch and let me know!

Facebook

Instagram

Youtube

Peace!

Chris

Skaventide - Splat the Rats… with paint! - Painting Tutorial