How to Paint Warhammer Miniatures — Complete Beginner G

Learning how to paint Warhammer miniatures is one of the most rewarding aspects of the hobby. Whether you have just bought your first box of Space Marines, a horde of Ork Boyz, or a warband for Age of Sigmar, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know to get your models painted and looking great on the tabletop.

Painting miniatures may seem daunting at first, but with the right tools, techniques, and a bit of patience, anyone can achieve impressive results. This guide covers the complete process from assembling your first model to applying finishing touches.

Essential Supplies for Painting Warhammer

Before you start painting, you need to gather a few essential supplies. You do not need to spend a fortune — a basic setup is sufficient for your first models.

Brushes

Start with three brushes: a medium layer brush for most work, a small detail brush for eyes and fine details, and a large brush for basecoating and drybrushing. Synthetic brushes are affordable and work well for beginners. As you progress, consider investing in sable hair brushes for smoother paint application.

Paints

Citadel paints from Games Workshop are the most commonly used paints for Warhammer miniatures. They come in several ranges:

Base paints — Thick, opaque paints designed for the first coat of colour
Layer paints — Thinner paints for building up highlights and smooth coverage
Shade paints (washes) — Thin, flowing paints that settle into recesses to create shadows
Contrast paints — All-in-one paints that provide base, shade, and highlight in a single coat
Technical paints — Special effect paints for blood, rust, texture bases, and more
Dry paints — Thick, chalky paints designed specifically for drybrushing

Alternative paint brands like Vallejo, Army Painter, AK Interactive, and Scale75 are also excellent choices, often offering better value for money. Any acrylic miniature paint will work on Warhammer models.

Other Supplies

Spray primer — Essential for paint adhesion. Chaos Black, Grey Seer, or Wraithbone are popular choices
Palette — A wet palette keeps paints workable for longer and is highly recommended
Water pot — For rinsing brushes between colours
Paper towel — For wiping excess paint and water from brushes
Plastic glue or super glue — For assembly
Clippers and a hobby knife — For removing models from sprues and cleaning mould lines

Step 1: Assembly

Before painting, you need to assemble your models. Carefully remove each component from the sprue using clippers, cutting away from the part to avoid damage. Use a hobby knife to clean mould lines — the thin ridges where the two halves of the mould met during manufacturing.

Glue the components together following the assembly instructions included in the box. Plastic glue creates a stronger bond for plastic models as it chemically welds the parts together. Super glue is necessary for resin and metal models, or when attaching different materials.

Some painters prefer to paint sub-assemblies — painting certain parts separately before final assembly. This can make hard-to-reach areas easier to paint but adds complexity. For your first models, assembling fully before painting is the simpler approach.

Step 2: Priming

Priming is essential. Primer provides a surface that paint adheres to properly. Without primer, paint will rub off and look patchy. Apply primer in a well-ventilated area, holding the spray can approximately 20-30 centimetres from the model. Use short bursts and rotate the model to ensure even coverage.

Choose your primer colour based on your intended paint scheme:

Black primer — Best for dark colour schemes, metallic models, and beginners (hides mistakes)
White primer — Best for bright colours and Contrast paints
Grey primer — A versatile middle ground that works with most colour schemes

Step 3: Base Coating

Base coating means applying the first layer of each colour to the appropriate area of the model. The golden rule of miniature painting is: thin your paints. Adding a small amount of water to your paint on the palette ensures smooth, even coverage without obscuring detail.

Two thin coats are almost always better than one thick coat. A thick coat will obscure detail, look lumpy, and dry unevenly. Two thin coats build up smooth, opaque coverage while preserving every detail on the model.

Work from the inside out — paint the areas that are hardest to reach first (skin, cloth under armour), then work outward to the areas on top (armour plates, weapons). This minimises the need to paint over areas you have already finished.

Step 4: Washing (Shading)

Washing is the single most impactful technique for beginners. A wash is a thin, heavily pigmented paint that flows into the recesses of the model, creating natural-looking shadows and depth. Games Workshop’s Shade paints are designed for this purpose.

Apply the wash generously over the base-coated area and let it flow naturally into recesses. Nuln Oil (black wash) and Agrax Earthshade (brown wash) are the two most versatile washes and are often called “liquid talent” because they instantly make models look dramatically better.

Allow washes to dry completely before moving to the next step. Disturbing a drying wash can cause tide marks and uneven pooling.

Step 5: Highlighting

Highlighting adds brightness to raised edges and surfaces, creating contrast and making details pop. The simplest highlighting technique is drybrushing: load a brush with paint, wipe most of it off on paper towel, then lightly drag the almost-dry brush across raised surfaces. The remaining paint catches on edges and textures.

For a more refined look, use edge highlighting: carefully paint thin lines of a lighter colour along the edges of armour plates, weapons, and other hard edges. This requires a steady hand but produces clean, striking results. Use the side of your brush rather than the tip for straighter lines.

Step 6: Basing

Basing your models completes the look and ties your army together visually. A good base grounds the model in a setting and adds narrative to your force. Basic basing techniques include:

Stuck on a paint scheme? Roll a colour scheme with Citadel paint suggestions.

Generate a scheme →

Texture paints — Apply Citadel Texture paints directly to the base for instant ground effects
Sand and PVA glue — Apply PVA glue to the base, dip in sand, let dry, then paint and drybrush
Static grass and tufts — Add grass tufts and flock for natural-looking ground cover
Cork and rocks — Create rocky terrain with pieces of cork board

Paint the rim of the base a solid colour (black is the most common choice) for a clean, finished appearance.

Contrast Paint Method — Speed Painting

Games Workshop’s Contrast paints offer the fastest route to painted models. These paints combine base coat, shade, and highlight in a single application when painted over a light primer. The paint naturally pools in recesses and leaves highlights on raised areas.

To use Contrast paints effectively:

Prime your model with a light primer (Grey Seer or Wraithbone)
Apply the Contrast paint in a single, even coat — do not go back over areas that have started to dry
Work on one section at a time to avoid tide marks
Use metallic base paints for any metal areas (Contrast paints do not work well for metallics)

An entire Combat Patrol or Spearhead box can be painted to a good tabletop standard using Contrast paints in a single weekend. This method is particularly effective for horde armies like Orks, Tyranids, or Skaven where you need to paint large numbers of models.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Not thinning paints — The most common beginner mistake. Always add water to your paints
Rushing — Let each stage dry before moving to the next
Too much primer — Heavy primer obscures detail. Multiple light coats beat one heavy coat
Ignoring mould lines — Clean mould lines before priming for a professional finish
Comparing to experts — Professional painters have years of experience. Your first models will not look like theirs, and that is perfectly fine

Intermediate Techniques

Once you are comfortable with the basics, explore these techniques to improve your painting:

Glazing — Very thin, transparent layers of paint to smooth transitions between colours
Wet blending — Mixing two colours directly on the model while both are still wet
Non-metallic metal (NMM) — Painting metallic surfaces using non-metallic paints for a stylised look
Object source lighting (OSL) — Painting the effect of light emanating from a source on the model
Weathering — Adding battle damage, rust, dirt, and wear using sponges and stippling. See our sponge painting tutorial

For more advanced guidance, see our painting for beginners guide and our faction-specific painting tutorials in the painting section.

Faction-Specific Painting Guides

We have detailed painting guides for many Warhammer factions. These guides cover specific colour schemes, recommended paints, and step-by-step techniques tailored to each army:

Space Marine Colour Schemes — All chapter colours and techniques
Tyranid Colour Schemes — All Hive Fleet colours
T’au Empire Colour Schemes — All Sept colours
Necron Colour Schemes — Dynasty colours and metallic techniques
Ork Colour Schemes — Clan colours and skin techniques

Visit our complete painting guides section for the full list of painting tutorials and colour scheme guides.

Recommended Resources

Citadel Colour App — Free app with paint-by-numbers guides for every Games Workshop model
YouTube channels — Warhipster, Midwinter Minis, and Duncan Rhodes provide excellent video tutorials
Our painting guides — Explore our full painting section for more techniques and faction guides

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the easiest Warhammer army to paint?

Necrons and Space Marines are generally considered the easiest armies to paint. Necrons can be painted almost entirely with metallic sprays and a single wash. Space Marines have large, flat armour panels that are forgiving for beginners.

How long does it take to paint a Warhammer model?

A single infantry model takes 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on the standard you are aiming for and the complexity of the model. A full Combat Patrol or Spearhead box typically takes 10-20 hours to paint to a tabletop standard.

Do I need expensive brushes?

No. Inexpensive synthetic brushes work perfectly well, especially for beginners. As you develop your skills, investing in quality brushes can make certain techniques easier, but they are not necessary to achieve good results.

Can I paint models after assembly?

Yes, most models can be painted after full assembly. Some complex models with hard-to-reach areas benefit from sub-assembly painting, but this is optional and adds complexity to the process.

What primer colour should I use?

For most beginners, grey primer is the most versatile choice. Use black if your army has a dark colour scheme, or white/light grey if you plan to use Contrast paints or bright colours.

How do you paint Space Marines for beginners?

Prime the model with a spray close to your chapter’s armour colour, tidy the armour with two thin basecoats, then wash the whole model with Nuln Oil or Agrax Earthshade. Edge highlight the armour plates with a lighter shade, pick out details such as weapons, eye lenses and purity seals, and finish the base. Large, flat armour panels make Space Marines very forgiving to learn on.

What are the best time-saving tips for painting Warhammer miniatures?

Batch paint: work on five or ten models at once, applying one colour to all of them before moving on. Use a coloured spray primer that matches your main colour, lean on washes and drybrushing instead of fine layering, and use Contrast paints over a light primer for one-coat results. Save display-level detail for characters and paint rank-and-file to a tabletop standard.

How do I set up a painting station for Warhammer?

A good painting setup needs a bright daylight lamp, a stable desk with a cutting mat, a wet palette, two water pots (one kept for metallics) and a handle to hold models while you paint. Keep paints within reach in a rack or tray, and do your spray priming outdoors or somewhere well ventilated rather than at your desk.

Should I varnish my Warhammer miniatures?

Yes, if your models will be handled regularly at the gaming table. Varnish protects the paint from chips and rubbing; matt varnish removes shine, while gloss is tougher but very shiny. Sprays such as Citadel Munitorum Varnish or Army Painter Anti-Shine work well, but apply them on a dry, mild day, because humidity can leave a frosted finish.

How to Paint Warhammer Miniatures — Complete Beginner Guide