Speed Painting Warhammer — Paint an Army Fast

Painting a full Warhammer army is one of the most rewarding achievements in the hobby — but it can also feel daunting. A typical 2,000-point army contains anywhere from 30 to 200 models, and the thought of spending an hour or more on each one is enough to keep many hobbyists’ armies in their grey plastic shame pile. Speed painting is the solution. By using efficient techniques, smart paint choices, and strategic shortcuts, you can paint your army to a great tabletop standard in a fraction of the time. This guide covers every major speed painting method, from the simplest three-step approach to advanced batch painting strategies.

The 80/20 Rule — Tabletop Standard vs Display Quality

The most important mindset shift for speed painting is understanding the 80/20 rule: you can achieve 80% of the visual impact with 20% of the effort. The difference between an unpainted model and a basic painted model is enormous. The difference between a basic painted model and a masterpiece is subtle — and requires exponentially more time.

Tabletop standard means your models look good at arm’s length during a game. You do not need perfect edge highlights, smooth blends, or freehand designs. You need clean base colours, effective shading, and basic highlighting. A full army painted to tabletop standard looks infinitely better than a half-painted army with some display-quality models and many bare plastic ones.

Method 1 — The Three-Step Method (Prime, Wash, Drybrush)

This is the fastest possible method for getting a complete, presentable army on the table. The entire process uses just three steps per colour area:

1. Prime: Apply a base colour through spray primer. For best results, use a coloured primer that matches your army’s main colour. For Ultramarines, use Macragge Blue spray. For Necrons, use Leadbelcher spray. For Death Guard, use Death Guard Green spray.
2. Wash: Apply a shade paint over the entire model. Nuln Oil is the universal choice — it works on virtually every colour and material. For warm colours (gold, brown, skin), use Agrax Earthshade instead.
3. Drybrush: Once the wash is dry, drybrush the model with a lighter version of the base colour. This restores brightness to the raised surfaces and creates automatic highlights.

That is it. Three steps. A Space Marine painted this way — Macragge Blue spray, Nuln Oil wash, Calgar Blue drybrush — looks perfectly respectable on the table and takes about 10-15 minutes including drying time.

For a slightly more polished result, add a fourth step: pick out one or two key details in a different colour. For Space Marines, paint the guns black and the eyes red. For Necrons, add green glow to the eyes. These small pops of colour add visual interest without adding much time.

Method 2 — Contrast Paint / Speed Paint Method

Contrast Paints (Citadel) and Speedpaints (Army Painter) are specifically designed for speed painting. They deliver a basecoat, shade, and highlight in a single application over a light primer.

Step by Step

1. Prime with Wraithbone or Grey Seer spray for the entire model.
2. Apply Contrast/Speed Paint to each area of the model, working panel by panel. One coat per area. Work quickly and do not go back over areas that have started to dry.
3. Pick out details: Paint metallics (Leadbelcher for silver, Retributor Armour for gold) and any other non-Contrast details.
4. Wash metallics: Apply Nuln Oil to the metallic areas.
5. Base: Apply texture paint, wash, and drybrush the base.

This method produces a more refined finish than the three-step method, with richer colours and more natural-looking shading. A Contrast-painted model takes about 20-30 minutes and looks very good on the table.

Method 3 — Slap Chop

Slap chop is a modern speed painting technique that has taken the hobby community by storm. It combines zenithal priming with Contrast Paints for maximum efficiency and visual impact.

Step by Step

1. Prime black: Spray the entire model with black primer.
2. Heavy drybrush grey: Aggressively drybrush the entire model with a medium grey (like Mechanicus Standard Grey or Dawnstone). This catches all the raised surfaces and edges.
3. Light drybrush white: Lightly drybrush the model with white (Corax White or Praxeti White). Focus on the uppermost surfaces — the tops of shoulders, the brow of the helmet, the top of the head. This creates a pseudo-zenithal lighting effect.
4. Apply Contrast Paints: Paint each area with the appropriate Contrast Paint. The varying undercoat (black in recesses, grey on surfaces, white on highlights) creates a natural gradient effect through the translucent Contrast Paint.

Slap chop produces results that are arguably better than either the three-step method or standard Contrast painting, because the underlying value sketch (the black-grey-white underpainting) creates more dramatic and natural-looking contrast. It takes about 25-35 minutes per model but produces genuinely impressive results.

Batch Painting — The Assembly Line

Batch painting is less about individual techniques and more about workflow efficiency. Instead of painting one model from start to finish, you paint a group of models simultaneously, completing one step on all models before moving to the next.

How to Batch Paint Effectively

1. Choose your batch size: 5-10 models is the sweet spot for most painters. Fewer than 5 and you do not save much time. More than 10 and the process feels tedious and overwhelming.
2. Organise your workspace: Set out all the paints you will need in the order you will use them. Have clean water, paper towels, and a wet palette ready.
3. Follow an order: Paint from the inside out — start with the areas closest to the body (skin, underclothing) and work outward to armour, weapons, and accessories. This minimises the risk of painting over previously completed areas.
4. Use paint drying time wisely: While paint dries on one model, work on the next. By the time you have completed a step on the last model in the batch, the first model is dry and ready for the next step.
5. Do not chase perfection: In batch painting, speed is the priority. Small mistakes will not be visible at arm’s length during a game. Fix only the most obvious errors.

Batch Painting Tips

• Attach models to temporary handles: Blu-tack models to old paint pots or use painting handles (like the Citadel Colour spray stick or a cheap alternative). This lets you hold the model comfortably without touching wet paint.
• Play music, podcasts, or audiobooks: Batch painting can be repetitive. Entertainment makes the time pass faster and keeps the process enjoyable.
• Set session goals: Rather than “I will paint the whole army,” set achievable goals: “I will basecoat 10 models tonight.” Small victories keep you motivated.
• Accept tabletop standard: Not every model needs to be a masterpiece. Save your best efforts for characters and centrepiece units.

Time Estimates Per Model

Here are realistic time estimates for different painting standards and methods:

Which Armies Are Fastest to Paint?

Some armies are inherently faster to paint than others due to their model count, surface textures, and colour schemes:

Fastest Armies

• Necrons: Simple metallic scheme with minimal details. Spray silver, wash, drybrush, add green glow. An army can be done in a weekend. The absolute fastest army to paint in Warhammer.
• Imperial Knights / Chaos Knights: Only 3-6 models in the entire army. Each model takes longer individually, but the total painting time is very low. A 2,000-point Knights army might take less than 20 hours total.
• Death Guard: The dirty, corroded aesthetic is incredibly forgiving. Heavy washes, drybrushing, and messy stippling all enhance the Nurgle look. Mistakes look intentional.
• Custodes: Low model count (15-25 models for 2,000 points) and a simple gold scheme. Gold spray, Reikland Fleshshade wash, and drybrush. Quick and impressive.
• Nighthaunt: Ethereal, ghostly models that look fantastic with a simple drybrush over a dark base. Prime black, heavy drybrush Celestra Grey, light drybrush white, done.

Slowest Armies

• Harlequins: Intricate diamond patterns on every model. Possibly the most time-consuming army per model in the entire game.
• Skaven / Tyranids / Orks (horde builds): Sheer model count (100-200+ models) makes these extremely time-consuming even with speed painting techniques.
• Imperial Fists / Lamenters: Yellow and quartered schemes are notoriously difficult and slow.

Speed Painting Tricks and Shortcuts

• Coloured spray primers: Use spray primers that match your army’s main colour to skip the basecoating step entirely. Citadel, Army Painter and other brands all produce coloured sprays.
• Wash as a global shade: Apply Nuln Oil or Agrax Earthshade over the entire model at once, rather than selectively. It is less neat but massively faster.
• Skip edge highlighting: For tabletop standard, drybrushing provides adequate highlighting. Edge highlighting is the most time-consuming step and has the least impact at gaming distance.
• Use transfers instead of freehand: Chapter symbols, unit markings, and heraldry take forever to paint freehand. Waterslide transfers look great and take seconds.
• Base everything at once: Do all your basing as a single batch session at the end. Line up all your models, apply texture paint to all bases, then mass-wash and mass-drybrush.
• Invest in good spray technique: A good spray primer job does 50% of the painting work. Take the time to learn proper spray technique — short bursts, correct distance, good ventilation.

Staying Motivated

Motivation is the biggest challenge when painting an army. Here are strategies to stay on track:

• Set deadlines: A tournament, a game night with friends, or a painting challenge gives you a concrete target to work toward.
• Paint what excites you first: Start with the models you are most excited about — the characters, the centrepiece, the cool unit. This builds momentum.
• Track progress: Take before-and-after photos. Seeing your unpainted pile shrink and your painted army grow is incredibly motivating.
• Join a community: Share work-in-progress photos on social media or with a local group. Positive feedback and accountability help enormously.
• Reward yourself: Finished a squad? Buy yourself that character model you have been eyeing. Positive reinforcement works.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the absolute fastest way to paint a Warhammer army?

Spray with a coloured primer matching your army’s main colour, apply Nuln Oil wash over everything, and drybrush with a lighter shade. For Necrons, this entire process takes about 10 minutes per model and produces good tabletop results. For a 2,000-point Necron army, you could have a fully painted force in under a weekend.

Is speed painting “cheating”?

Absolutely not. A painted army always looks better than an unpainted one, regardless of the methods used. Speed painting techniques like Contrast Paints and drybrushing are legitimate tools that even professional painters use. The goal of the hobby is to enjoy it — if speed painting helps you get a painted army on the table and enjoy your games more, it is the right approach for you.

Can I improve speed-painted models later?

Yes. Speed painting provides an excellent foundation that you can build upon whenever you feel inspired. Add edge highlights to a character model, freehand a banner, or improve the faces on your command squad. You can selectively elevate individual models without having to repaint the entire army.

Should I paint characters to a higher standard?

This is common practice and highly recommended. Characters, heroes, and centrepiece models are the focal points of your army. Spending extra time on these few models makes the whole army look better, while the rank-and-file troops can be speed painted to tabletop standard.

How do I speed paint vehicles?

Spray primer is essential for vehicles. Spray the base colour, wash the panel lines and recesses with Nuln Oil (using a fine brush to apply the wash precisely along panel lines rather than flooding the whole surface), and drybrush or edge highlight the panels. The large flat surfaces of vehicles actually speed paint very quickly because there are fewer small details to pick out.

What is “tabletop standard” exactly?

Tabletop standard means the model has all major areas painted with appropriate colours, has some form of shading (wash), has basic highlighting (drybrush or a single layer highlight), and has a finished base. The model looks good at arm’s length during a game. It does not need blending, freehand, advanced techniques, or competition-level finish.

For more painting guidance, explore our drybrushing tutorial, Contrast Paints guide, and beginner painting guide.

Should I varnish speed-painted models?

Yes, especially for gaming armies. A matt varnish protects drybrushed edges and thin Contrast layers from wear when models are handled. It also evens out the patchy shine that Contrast paints and washes can leave. Spray varnish in dry, mild conditions to avoid a frosted finish, and add gloss only on gems or lenses afterwards.

Can I speed paint with an airbrush?

Yes. An airbrush is one of the fastest ways to basecoat a whole batch of models or lay down a zenithal undercoat for slap chop. It’s especially quick on vehicles and large models. You don’t need one, though. Coloured spray primers and drybrushing get most of the same speed benefit for far less money.

Related Content

• Contrast Paints Guide — One-coat painting technique
• Best Paints — Paint brand comparison
• Painting for Beginners — Everything to get started
• Drybrushing Tutorial — Fast highlighting technique