MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus is a huge fan of and an expert on Warhammer 40,000, especially when it comes to the lore. He has always shied away from one thing: painting miniatures. Until now. And with the Slapchop technique, the result is much better than expected.
Back in high school, I chose to drop Fine Arts in favor of Music. Drawing and painting were just never my strength, and so I last used related tools over 16 years ago.
Still, painting is an important part of the Warhammer hobby, and I have owned my army for several years now – just „naked.“ My fear has mostly held me back: What if it looks terrible? After all, the community keeps showcasing their first steps in painting and newcomers ask if the horrible appearance is normal. The sobering answer is often: Yes. Improvement only comes with practice. But I want my army to look good.
The progress of friends and reports like those from colleague Caroline Fuller and her great results in painting have constantly built up pressure until I finally picked up a brush. And by the Emperor, I am proud of the result!
Slapchop – THE technique for brush dyslexics
Anyone who naively thought like I did that you could just grab a paint box and paint a miniature could not be more wrong. Behind the whole thing lies a lot of theory, such as:
- What brush do I use for what?
- How thinned is the paint?
- How many color pigments does the paint have? (Keywords: opaque, contrast, shade?)
- What color is the miniature base-coated with?
This seems daunting, especially for someone who otherwise has nothing to do with painting. A friend alleviated my fears by pointing me to a very simple technique: Slapchop. The great thing about this technique is that it forgives mistakes, as what is a mistake can simply be seen as an organic part of the miniature. As support, I found the explanatory video from The Honest Wargamer on YouTube.
Basically, the technique is very simple. You base coat a miniature black, then dry brush it first with a light gray and a second time with white. This procedure is called “dry brushing”: a brush is soaked with an opaque paint and then “dried” on paper until there is almost no paint… well, coming off.
The few remaining dry pigments are then applied to the miniature by simple “brushing”. Because not all areas can be reached and due to the three different colors (black, gray, white), natural contrasts emerge that make the figure look more three-dimensional. Subsequently, instead of working with opaque paints (Layer
), mainly contrast colors are used:
The right tool from the … cosmetics studio?
My friend, who had already advised me, provided me with colors and brushes (and who has painted dozens of miniatures of the Eldar Space Elves since he was a teenager). What surprised me the most: the brushes are really cheap.
You can really spend a lot of money on the appropriate tools in specialty stores for painting, modeling, and art. Or … you just buy the cheapest set of makeup brushes on Amazon. Those brushes are perfect for dry brushing.
For detail work, of course, other, more specialized and especially thinner brushes were used, and things like a wet palette that Caroline raves about are still on my list. But for a first attempt, I am more than happy.
Only in the pictures did I notice nuances that I hadn’t seen on the miniature – but that’s normal and „touching up“ is as much a part of the hobby as the painting itself. But that’s why I practice.
After 3 years of procrastination, I want more
Now that I have had a taste of it, I want more. Some of you may have noticed that the miniature (apart from the painting) looks a bit… strange. This is because I haven’t painted a miniature from Warhammer 40,000, but a Kharadron Overlord from the somewhat less popular Age of Sigmar.
I explain the differences between the worlds of Warhammer in this detailed special.
Warhammer stores give away a free miniature every month if you build it right in the store. I have several of those, and I use them to practice until I feel confident enough to paint my actual army: a force of the Adepta Sororitas, the fanatical warrior sisters from Warhammer 40,000.
It will certainly take some more time, but I want to keep going. For a long time, I avoided painting, looking for excuses, and only built all the figures I had to postpone the inevitable as long as possible. Now I constantly ask my group about the next painting session – we usually meet to paint and craft while discussing Warhammer.
Feel free to leave your thoughts on my first attempt in the comments and be strict! I want to improve. If you have tips: send them my way!
Even though I am a hardcore gamer, model building – and now also painting – has surprisingly established itself as a surprisingly entertaining hobby that regularly pulls me away from the screen and to the table, bringing my army to life with pliers, deburrers, glue, and now brushes. And it doesn’t have to be as unbelievably expensive as it is often said: With these 3 options, you can try Warhammer without having to sell your kidney
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