Recently I’ve been posting up Work in Progress stages of Grey Knights Purifiers I’m currently painting, on Facebook.
It’s easy to post there cause I can just snap some pics with my phone and upload them while I work. (Wanna see more WIP GK’s? Maybe its a good time to make sure you “like” Spikey Bits’ Facebook?
I got a comment the other day asking how I do the red shoulder pads, that really seem to stand out on the models.
So today I though I’d do a article about the technique and how easy it is.
First off I prep the shoulder pads by placing them on a paint stirring stick (from Home Depot) affixed with double sided tape.Then after priming them and giving them some time to dry, I bust out the colors I’ll use and the airbrush.
For the Red pads I use Vallejo Air Color, White, Red, and Burnt Cadmium Brown. The White gets a little wonky sometimes so I have to use a few drop of Vallejo Air Thinner from time to time.
Step one is to spray some White about 3/4 of the way down the pad. Make sure to get a good coat around the sides where the lip of the pad touches the flat round areas.
Next spray down your red over the white.
Now we get to fade back the dark areas with the Cadmium brown. Just spray up from the bottom of the pad now, slightly crossing over into the Red. The key again is to get a good coat into the filleted areas where the trim meets the flat round pad. You can use Black for this, but I think it looks too “stark” with the Red.
Last step for the fade is to load back up some Red and slightly spray back into the Brown, and fix any areas that encroached too far into Red territory.
From here on in it’s all brush work. With the pads still stuck to the stick, I paint Shining Gold onto the trim of the pad, making sure to not get any (or as little as possible) into the cracks. Then after it dries I wash the trim and then paint with a small detail brush Badab Black (or its new equivalent) into the fillet where the pad meets the trim.
After all that dries, just peel off the pad from the tape and glue onto your model! You may need some shining gold touch up where the underside is slightly exposed, but that is just personal preference.
You may want to also checkout some of the other detailing articles I did for these Grey Knights below.
They are pretty easy and can really put your models over the top in no time!
Easy Purity Seals, and Tabards
Quick Lightning Effects on Weapons
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
