Heresy & Heroes

More than a couple of people have complimented me, or asked me about the weathering that I did on my recent Blood Angels rhinos. The compliments were very happily received and in order to answer the questions about how it was done, I thought I’d force myself to do one more blog post featuring these rhinos. So below, we have a step by step guide on how this is done.

Before we go into this though, I should say that this isn’t necessarily the best way to learn how to do weathering – it’s kind of a ‘cheat’ even though I don’t really believe that there’s such a thing as a ‘cheat’ when it comes to painting. If it works, it works. If you want to learn how to do this properly, Forge World books and a number of vids on Youtube will help you a lot more. This is a relatively fast method that looks pretty good (at least I think it does anyway). Here goes.

I started off by painting up this rhino door. It’s in basic red with a white stripe (not perfectly straight but it will do for us now. It’s been washed and highlighted too. Now let’s mess this stuff up.

Step 1

Using Mephiston Red, we put in some basic splodges around the white line. Don’t water this down as much as you might do normally or it’ll look pink against the white background. It will look a bit weird when it’s dry, but there’ll be enough going on that it’ll be fine by the end.

Step 2

The classic technique. A bit of Abaddon Black on a sponge – seriously, just a bit. Dip the sponge in the undiluted paint, wipe/dab off the excess on a paper towel, and apply lightly and sparingly over the model. Make sure you get a little on the white line – it’ll look great. Also, I was a little more liberal but focused around the grate like some fumes have come out (I know you wouldn’t have an exhaust in a door, but let’s pretend for now).

Step 3

It’s hard to see but I’ve added a couple of little drips to that vent. A mix of Rhinox Hide and Abaddon Black does the trick here. This is going to get covered up by what we do next, but it’s a nice little touch to add in areas where things aren’t going to get all dusty.

Step 4

If the dust and dirt is coming from the bottom (which it nearly always will be in my experience), start off by using Typhus Corrosion. Dab it around the bottom of the mini in a rough manner. This technical paint will add a bit of texture and shadow beneath our dust.

Step 5

This is why you don’t throw knackered old brushes away. This Pro Arte brush is far more useful to me in its current state than it ever was when it had a point. Take some Dawnstone and remove most of it from the brush with a paper towel. Then lightly brush it around the lower part of the door in a random pattern.

Step 6

Now take a bit of Administratum Grey and do the same thing that you did with the Dawnstone, only a little less so.

Step 7

Finally, touch up a any highlighting that you might need to, and you’re done! That’s it.

Simple as that, and it works well enough for me. I hope that’s helped out anyone who wanted to know. I shall now go and get on with painting up another tank using similar methods. Onwards!