The Chosen Axes set is from Games Workshop’s easy-to-build range and so putting these together was very simple. However, this did mean that there wasn’t any options with how I put them together and the bases were already modeled—I usually like to create a different textured base that fits through the whole warband and ties the models together, so I would have to decide if I wanted to keep these pre-modeled bases or remove them and add my own later. With regard to Zenithal, I've never personally done it yet but I actually plan to with an upcoming orc army. I'm planning on doing White Zenithal over a gray primer and use Ork Flesh Contrast over all the skin, or maybe Astra Militarum Green. I think the Contrasts could work really well over Zenithal. Although I could also see maybe having to dilute some of the darker Contrasts because they may not ideally show up if the Zenithal has a lot of darker gray behind it. Next, highlight the face with Kislev Flesh. Kislev Flesh is a paint with a lower opacity, so build up the highlight in a couple of thin layers for a smooth transition. Vallejo Desert Tan is interesting because I thought it would darken the Contrast colors more, but it actually didn't. Same goes for another Vallejo primer I didn't mention, Skeleton Bone.

Make up a 4:1 Carroburg Crimson:Khorne Red mix and then thin the hell out of it. You want it almost transparent. Then get some on your brush, wipe most of it off, and carefully glaze anywhere that’ll be flushed (eyes, nose and mouth are the key ones). You can just use Khorne thinned way way way down, but I think carroburg gives a nice tone to it. Then re-highlight with your last flesh mix just on the most raised parts. Left: VMC Flat Earth mixed with VMA Medium Olive, highlighting to pure Flat Earth. Watered down Nuln Oil to emphasize scars and brand.The Contrast spray primers also come with matching base paint versions. I tested Wraithbone and as you can see, the result is pretty close. However, even though Wraithbone is a base paint, the coverage is as you would expect from a light, almost white bone colour – not that great. It took me about 6 or 7 thin layers for perfect coverage over a medium grey primer. Because of the number of layers, I had to apply the result wasn’t perfectly smooth and I noticed the Contrast paint dried noticeably more uneven. Contrast paints really benefit from a perfectly smooth base coat. Experimenting with Contrast paints & Contrast Medium Seraphim Sepia makes things yellow – beware of overdoing this lest your skin take on a jaundiced look. The Tamiya gray spray primer is so light that it practically qualifies as being white. It's actually whiter than GW's Corax White even though its labeled as a gray primer, lol.

With something like zombies, you can push the envelope very far. You can use pretty much any color. Green, Purple, Blue. Any color mixed with flesh tone, and then highlighting up with increasing quantities of a light flesh tone added will look great on a zombie. Just don’t push them too far or they will just read as whatever color you tinted with instead of as oddly colored flesh. Finally, came the beards and hair. This is the stand-out element of the Fyreslayers and I wanted to spend a bit more time on getting this right. I used almost all of my orange, yellow, and red paints in a combination of dry-brushing, contrast, and highlighting techniques, and was pleased with the finished look. Don’t apply Contrast paints too thinly or else the medium can’t do its magic. Apply them generously and soak up excess paint instead. so the short answer to all of the Zenithal stuff is that you would probably have to heavily dilute the Contrasts to make them really work over Zenithal. You can do that of course, but at that point you're really just using the Contrasts as ordinary washes or inks. I would personally just get like Army Painter washes and inks instead. I've got lots of models I painted with Contrasts over the past year, and I honestly can't tell or remember what primer I used!So, I’ve talked about a lot of theory and paint mixing. I don’t typically mix up my own flesh tones in painting. Hell, I’m not as good a painter, nor do I spend as much time on individual models as my co-authors. If you’re looking for display models or to win painting awards, go listen to them. If you’re looking for a flexible technique that will do some pretty nice skin for high tabletop level models, then I may have something useful to impart. I've got a bunch of models on my gaming table right now that I painted over the past month where I used tan primers and also a bunch I did using Wraithbone, White, etc. I'll try to get some pictures taken and will post them here so you can actually see some examples and see if you can tell any major difference. You can easily paint over Contrast paints to tidy up pooled areas, deepen the shading, or add highlights by layering or drybrushing.

Those two talk a lot about all kinds of theory and blending and so on. But I’ll level with you: I didn’t learn to paint skin in art classes, I learned to paint skin on minis, so my approach is a little different.

In other words, because of how Contrasts work Zenithal might be a waste of time. The Contrasts kind of already do on their own what Zenithal and shade washes would do. http://www.wargamesfoundry.com - also do a range of similar to Citadel paints, will update when can get chance. Green can be added in tiny amounts to desaturate the colour mix if it becomes too bright, counteracting the reds. You can then push that further and get a more pallid look, verging on your sea elf colors. Playing at the very edge of what looks reasonable can be a great way to sell something as inhuman. With my Custodes skin, I tend to push towards grey from a flesh tone base, to really push that these are massively genetically altered giant men in golden armor, and you can use a similar effect to emphasize the otherness of eldar or elves. Actually, you don’t necessarily need Games Workshop’s Grey Seer and Wraithbone primers – in fact, any light basecoat will do. I successfully tested Corax White or Matt White Color Primer from The Army Painter.