Quick painting Averland Empire (and Nuln!)

Greetings folks, today, we get a little sneak preview of my next Warhammer project. Something I've been waiting to get started for a while but have been constantly distracted away from, the army of Averland in The Empire.

This venerable metal drummer is my chosen test model for determining the optimum batch painting method before the conveyor belt starts and hundreds of state troops begin marching across my workbench. Partly to document this process and partly to share my findings I thought I'd share the process with you all! After the step by step below (which if you ignore the yellow works for nuln too) I'll share a few thoughts on the choices I made:

Step 1: Over a black undercoat, sequentially drybrush the steel areas. I used three quick layers, AP Gun Metal, Plate Mail Metal and Shining Silver. Basecoat the fabric in Val German Grey.

Step 2: When the first layers have dried, wash the entire figure in a 1:1:1 mix of Black Ink, Lahmian Medium and Water. Creates a decent but not perfect replacement for Badab Black.

[note, if you want to paint Nuln rather than Averland skip forward now to Step 6]

Step 3: Basecoat all the yellow areas with Val Tan Yellow.

Step 4: Two wash steps now, first a Seraphim Sepia shading wash and then a glaze of Casadora Yellow to deepen the yellow tone a little.

Step 5: Edge highlight all the yellow areas with Val Tan Yellow

Step 6: Basecoat all the areas requiring a brown wash, Val Beige Brown with streaks of Val Deck Tan for woodwork, Val Deck Tan for strings and ropes. Rhinox Hide highlighted with Mournfang Brown for the leather. On this one there was also a Val Stone Grey drumskin.

Step 7: Wash all the areas painted in Step 6 with Agrax Earthshade.

Step 8: Skin (my usual Cadian Flesh, Reikland Fleshtone, then highlights of Cadian Flesh to Flayed One Flesh through Kislev Flesh) and details

Done!

One of the reasons that this project has been much delayed was discovering which yellow to use. I was desperate not to have a very bright, modern yellow dye colour. I wanted a natural yellow, something you could achieve with natural yellow dyestuffs like onion skins. I tried dozens of combinations with most being too bright or too earthy or just needing too many layers to achieve the effect. Remember, this isn't character method. This is churn out hundreds method. The Vallejo Tan Yellow was a lovely finish and needing just that colour and the two wash steps makes it properly economical as well. Very happy.

Hope this inspires a few of you, happy painting!

TTFN