Learn how to paint Grim Dark Skin with this easy and awesome Horus Heresy painting tutorial from Lil’ Legend Studio.
Lil’ Legend Studio has a ton of great painting tutorials, and they are always easy to follow and get your minis on the table with awesome quality.
This time around, we’re focusing on getting your Grimdark minis for Warhammer or Horus Heresy ready for the tabletop! Now that the new edition of HH is here, it’s time to get ready and your forces painted. Let’s jump into the tutorial!
How to Paint Grim Dark Skin: Lil’ Legend Tutorial
He will also be painting the book simultaneously, but we’ll mainly focus on the skin aspect (but still give some tips for painting the book). To start, he puts Rhinox Hide onto the book as a Base coat and Cadian Fleshtone for the skin. Next, he layers Coal-black onto the shadows before the Cadian dries and mixes in a deep red for some speckles and such.
Now, this is all a little bit of wet blending, so before both those dry, he paints Ice Yellow onto the highest points to show sweat.
Step 2:
Once that’s dry, he turns Rhinox Hide into a glaze and paints that all over the face to help bring everything together. Now, he moves on to Sunny Skin Tone and highlights the parts where the sun would actually hit the skin.
Step 3:
For the speckle highlights, he blends Ice Yellow and Thunderhawk blue. With this, he hits just the very top highlights of the skin. Do not go overboard here, it’s just a very thin highlight over the top of the most raised edges. And that’s really it for the skin!
It takes some wet blending techniques, but overall is quick and will get you some amazing-looking skin tones.
Finished Model
Be sure to watch the whole thing if you also want all the tips on how to paint the book and other details.
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What’s your favorite way to paint Grimdark skin?
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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!
