We run down the top grey paints on the market, and show you three easy steps to painting the overcoat on a Death Korps of Krieg (DKoK) model in this tutorial!
With so many brands of paint available, selecting your colors can be difficult. And with the new Death Korps of Krieg rules coming out, now seemed the perfect time to revisit this painting tutorial! A lot of lines have extremely similar shades of grey paint, so knowing some of the ins and outs of each one can be helpful. Take a look at this quick overview then be sure to watch the video below for a more comprehensive discussion of each grey and how to effectively work with them. Let’s go!
Painting Grey in 3 Easy Steps: Death Korps of Krieg Tutorial
Introduction to Greys
Every brand of paint has its own line of grey paint, which can get a little confusing when selecting colors. Here is a quick overview of some of the greys in Army Painter, Vallejo, and Games Workshop Citadel paint lines.
- Army Painter Blue Greys: Gorgon Hide, Wolf Grey, Uniform Grey
- Army Painter White Greys: Stone Golem, Ash Grey
- Vallejo White and Neutral Greys: Stonewall Grey, Cold Grey, Grey
- Vallejo Blue Greys: Sombre Grey, Wolf Grey
- Citadel White Greys: Ulthuan Grey, Celestra Grey
- Citadel Neutral Grey: Mechanicus Standard Grey
But how do you start a project using greys? The best way to start is by using a neutral primer such as Chaos Black by Citadel or Matte Black by Army Painter. Army Painter also has some of their greys in rattle cans, which color match with the greys in dropper bottles. Vallejo paints are very versatile and come in Model Color, Model Air, Game Color, and Game Air varieties.
Citadel paints are available wherever Games Workshop products are sold and have good pigments in them. They can be pricey, however, compared to Army Painter.
Working with Greys: Step One
This tutorial focuses on using Vallejo paints and will cover painting with both an airbrush and a normal brush. To start, the models were primed with Army Painter Uniform Grey spray and one was airbrushed with Vallejo Stonewall Grey, sprayed from the top down to give the model a pre-shade. Stonewall Grey can be applied via a dry brush technique as well, if you don’t have an airbrush, to give a similar effect.
Working with Greys: Step Two
Once the pre-shade is completed, either via airbrush or drybrush, getting contrast is important and will be easiest with a wash. Nuln Oil Gloss by Citadel, mixed with some Vallejo Flow Improver, is a fantastic wash to get great contrast with greys.
Mixing the wash with Flow Improver makes the wash thin enough to move over the model easily and prevent that coffee stain effect that sometimes happens with pure wash. Pro tip: test your wash prior to applying it to the model to see what the opacity is! To apply, use a brush that holds a decent amount of liquid and wash from top to bottom, letting gravity help draw the wash into cracks and folds. Be sure there isn’t a lot of pooling as well.
Working with Greys: Step Three
Once dry, the model will have contrast in folds but also be tinted over the other parts of the model. It will be a bit glossy, due to the gloss wash, but can be adjusted with a flat coat. It can also be painted over directly here. The next step is to highlight with Vallejo Cold Grey, applying a thin coat over the raised edges of the coat to apply a natural highlight where the fabric would be naturally lighter than other areas.
Once dry, Stonewall Grey by Vallejo is applied as a hyper highlight, getting a brighter highlight where the light would hit or in areas that have a straight edge.
In summary, this is a really easy way to get a great looking cold grey appearance. Using some limited colors and a wash, the greys look fantastic. You can use other tones in the same techniques to get different feels to your models and greys but overall it is fairly easy. Now go get those DKoK troopers ready for battle!
Be sure to check out the video above to see the entire tutorial get all the details on how to paint those Death Korps of Krieg models. For information on how to paint the rest of the details check out our Death Riders tutorial below!
What paints are your favorite for painting grey? Are you at all happy with the Krieg rules so far?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
