I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

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Daeron
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I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by Daeron »

As I'll be painting more skulls to decorate my Khorne warband (I mean, I got to have models for my dark elves to beat, right?), it's an interesting opportunity to try out some recipes for painting bone and/or skulls.
So I'm asking you, what is your recipe for painting skulls, or which recipe for painting them would you like me to try. I bought a bag of skulls and I'll be painting each one in a recipe given by the community.
I'll try to give close-up shots of every stage as I try your recipe.

While we may not all be as obsessed with skulls as GW, as dark elves it's quite likely we'll be painting a skull sooner or later :)
Perhaps we can make a short library of skull painting recipes.


Tested Recipes
Recipe 1
Source: GW tutorial on painting Blood Reavers (link will follow)
PIctures: (will follow)
Recipe:
- Basecoat: Zandri Dust
- Shade: Agrax Eartshade
- Layer: Ushabti Bone
- Highlight: Palid Wytch Flesh


To be tested recipes

Recipe 2 (not yet tested)
Source: White Dwarf #xxx
Pictures: (will follow)
Recipe:
- Basecoat: Zandri Dust
- Layer: Ushabti Bone
- Shade: Agrax Eartshade
- Layer: Ushabti Bone
- Highlight: Scar White

Recipe 3: Amboadine's skulls
- Undercoat: Abaddon Black
- Basecoat: XV-88
- First Layer: Ushabti Bone
- Wash: Reikland Fleshshade
- Second layer: Screaming Skull
- Highlight: Scar white

Recipe 4: Cult of Khaine's clean skull
- Undercoat: Chaos Black Spray
- Basecoat: GW White Scar
- Wash: Army Painter Strong Tone (Awesome Paints these)
- Drybrush: GW White Scar
- Highlight: GW White Scar

Recipe 5: Cult of Khaine's Dirty Skull
- Undercoat: Chaos Black
- Basecoat: Rakarth Flesh
- Wash: Army Painter Strong Tone (Awesome Paints these)
- Drybrush: Ushabti Bone
- Highlight: GW White Scar


Recipe 6: 6th Ed Tomb Kings
- Undercoat: skull white
- Wash: brown ink
- Drybrush: Bleached Bone
- Highlight: skull white

Recipe 7: Malys the younger
- Base: Rakarth Flesh
- Wash: Agrax Earthshade
- Highlight: Rakarth Flesh
- Final wash: Seraphim Sepia

Recipe 8: Lord Hajjij
- Base: Gorthor Brown
- Wash: Agrax Earthshade
- Layer: 1:1 watered down Vallejo Bone White
- Highlight: Bone White

Recipe 9: anthalont
- Base: Bone white
- Wash: Agrax Earthshade
- Highlight: Bone white
- Highlight: vallejo off white

Recipe 10: Gnosis
- Base: Steel Legion
- Wash: Agrax Earthshade
- Highlight: Rakarth Flesh
- Highlight: White

Recipe 11: direweasel
- Base: Vallejo Iraqi Sand
- Layered to: Reaper Master Series Creamy Ivory
- Layered to: Linen White
- Wash recessed Agrax Earthshade
- Highlight: Linen White

Recipe 12: Brad's speedy skulls
- spray black
- Drybrush: bone
- Drybrush: white.

Recipe 13: Vulcan
- Base: black,
- Drybrush: Kommando Khakhi
- Drybrush: Bleached Bone
- Drybrush: Antique white
- A touch of Skull White.
- Glaze: brown ink, thinned down

If you're after something fresher, a bit more Skull White and some strategic shading with Scab Red, Red Gore, or even Blood Red does the job. (Or 'Blood For The Blood God'...)
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

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Amboadine
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by Amboadine »

Had to look up on the GW website as they have changed all the names and paint descriptions (when did wash become shade?)

Typically for Skulls / Bone I use the following;

Undercoat - Abaddon Black
Basecoat - XV-88
First Layer - Ushabti Bone
Wash - Reikland Fleshshade
Second layer - Screaming Skull
Highlight - Scar white
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by cultofkhaine »

I have two different ways I have used in the past...

Version 1
Undercoat Chaos Black Spray
Basecoat GW White Scar
Wash Army Painter Strong Tone (Awesome Paints these)
Drybrush GW White Scar
Highlight GW White Scar

Version 2 (Dirty Skuls)
Undercoat Chaos Black
Basecoat Rakarth Flesh
Wash Army Painter Strong Tone (Awesome Paints these)
Drybrush Ushabti Bone
Highlight GW White Scar
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Daeron
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by Daeron »

I got me another recipe from my old TK book. It needs Brown Ink, but I still have some of that :P
Image

So that puts me at 6 recipes but I have plenty more skulls! Does anyone else want to throw in their trick?
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

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"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
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Malys the younger
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by Malys the younger »

This is what I use on my beastmen:

Base: Rakarth Flesh
Wash: Agrax Earthshade
Highlight: Rakarth Flesh
Final wash: Seraphim Sepia
Image

Image

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Lord hajjij
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by Lord hajjij »

Not sure if you have Vallejo, it may not matter, but I've been doing bone with:

Gorthor Brown
Agrax Earthshade
1:1 watered down Vallejo Bone White
Highlight Bone White

The combination of the watered down Bone White over the Brown make a solid looking skull, in my opinion.
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by anthalont »

I have been using two methods, they are very similar though.
One is the same as Lord hajjij's except I use Vallejo Off White as final highlight.
And second is like
Bone white Base
Agrax Earthshade
Bone white highlight
And vallejo off white (I think a few times I have used pallid wych flesh instead of off white, but I usually go for off white)
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by Gnosis »

Basecoat Steel Legion
Agrax Earthshade wash
Rakarth Flesh highlight
White highlight

Distinctly sombre and not yellow.
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by direweasel »

I use Vallejo Iraqi Sand as a base, then build up to Reaper Master Series Creamy Ivory and Linen White as highlights. Linen White is just not QUITE pure white, but real close.

Then I go back into the recessed areas with GW Brown Wash - Agrax Earthshade I think it's called. Then touch again a few spots with the Linen White in case raised areas aren't bright enough.
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Daeron
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by Daeron »

I may have trouble getting all those paints, but I'll see if I can get a few. Either way, that's becoming an impressive list of recipes! I'll prep the skulls and the compile the list this weekend (probably Sunday).
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by direweasel »

Daeron wrote:I may have trouble getting all those paints, but I'll see if I can get a few. Either way, that's becoming an impressive list of recipes! I'll prep the skulls and the compile the list this weekend (probably Sunday).


Yeah sorry, I use some kind of off-the-wall paints. My paint collection is 5 or 6 companies wide, so it's kind of all over the map.
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Brad
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by Brad »

How smooth do you want the finish? Personally I go for speed with skulls - spray black, heavy drybrush bone, light drybrush white.
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by Vulcan »

Mine is similar. Black basecoat, drybrush of Kommando Khakhi, Bleached Bone, Antique white, and then just a touch of Skull White. A VERY thin glaze of brown ink brings it all together and 'ages' it a bit so it doesn't look freshly stripped. If you're after something fresher, a bit more Skull White and some strategic shading with Scab Red, Red Gore, or even Blood Red does the job. (Or 'Blood For The Blood God'...)
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Daeron
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Re: I'll try your recipe for painting skulls

Post by Daeron »

Whow, we have an astounding list of 13 recipes! Who would have thought?
I guess it's a bit like pancakes. Everyone has their version on it.

Well I'll start preparing the skulls and report on the progress.
I love me a bowl of numbers to crunch for breakfast. If you need anything theoryhammered, I gladly take requests.

Furnace of Arcana, a warhammer blog with delusional grandeur.

"I move unseen. I hide in light and shadow. I move faster than a bird. No plate of armour ever stopped me. I strike recruits and veterans with equal ease. And all shiver at my coldest of whispers."
- The stiff breeze
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