How to Paint Harrowdeep's Stormcast Eternals as Anvils of the Heldenhammer

The Harrowdeep boxed set kicked off the fifth season of Warhammer Underworlds, making the game more accessible than ever thanks to the new Rivals format. Inside the box, you’ll find two stunning new warbands – Da Kunnin’ Krew, a group of vicious Kruleboyz, and Xandire’s Truthseekers, noble Stormcast Eternals clad in Thunderstrike armour. To get them ready for action, we asked painting expert Tyler Mengel to demonstrate how to paint the latter as Anvils of the Heldenhammer.

Tyler: Warhammer Underworlds warbands is the perfect excuse to try out some new colour schemes and techniques since they can be self-contained projects. I have painted the Anvils of the Heldenhammer before, and I find their black and gold armour with red and cream cloth to be one of the most striking Stormcast Eternals colour schemes.

The Armour

Step 1

I primed the model with Chaos Black and the base with Mechanicus Standard Grey to make them quicker to paint. I then went over all of the areas on the model that were going to remain black with a quick coat of Abaddon Black.

Step 2

All of the armour then got an edge highlight of Dark Reaper. I kept this slightly chunky.

Step 3

This was followed by a more refined highlight of Fenrisian Grey.

Step 4

Lastly, I used Blue Horror to add specular highlights to the points on all of the armour. These are just little dots at the corners to really make the armour pop.

The Black Cloth

Step 1

All of the black cloth under the armour, the boots, and the scabbards were highlighted with Mechanicus Standard Grey.

Step 2

This was followed by a more refined highlight of Dawnstone. 

The Cream Cloth

Step 1

The inside of the cloak was basecoated with Morghast Bone. This took several thin coats to get even coverage over the black primer.

Step 2

Next, I layered some Ushabti Bone on top, just leaving Morghast Bone in the recesses. If I felt like I went too far with the Ushabti Bone, then I took some watered down Morghast Bone and painted it into the recesses again. This also helped smooth out the transition, as this cloak has some rather shallow folds.

Step 3

I then took Seraphim Sepia and painted this into any hard recesses, such as around the inside of the hood and where it touches the armour. I also mixed a bit of this into the Morghast Bone and took the deepest shadows a bit darker in some of the folds. Again, keep this thin and build it up slowly – this way, you get smoother transitions and have more control over how dark you want to push the shading.

Step 4

Lastly, I edge highlighted with Pallid Wych Flesh. Make sure to pick out the tops of the most prominent folds as well, but keep your lines sharp and thin.

The Red Cloth

Step 1

The outside of the cloak was basecoated with Mephiston Red, which will take several thin coats to get solid coverage. The weapon hilts will be red too, but we’re going to paint those in a slightly different method, so we’ll tackle them later.

Step 2

This next step is a bit more involved, since the cloak is such a large area with some rather shallow folds. I made a mix of Mephiston Red and Abaddon Black, with some Lahmian Medium in there as well. At the same time, I watered more Mephiston Red down on my palette. I then painted the dark mix into the folds of the cloak. While this was still wet on the model (the Lahmian Medium will help keep it wet a bit longer), I took the pure watered-down Mephiston Red and blended it into the dark mix at the edge of the fold. 

As you can see, some of the folds have a more gradual transition, such as the large one on the left of the picture, while smaller ones tend to have a more abrupt transition. Just keep going back and forth with these two colours until you’re happy. 

You can paint more layers of the dark mix into the folds to push them darker if you want. You can also use the watered-down Mephiston Red as a glaze to lighten up some of the areas if they get too dark. This took a while, so take your time. Citadel Colour Masterclass on Warhammer+ has an excellent video on wet blending, which is essentially what this is, if you want to see it in action.

Step 3

I then took Wild Rider Red and picked out the edges and tops of all of the folds.

Step 4

Lastly, I took some Troll Slayer Orange and picked out the most prominent highlights, such as the corners of the cloak and little dots where some of the folds peak and intersect.

The Face

Step 1

I basecoated the face with Cadian Fleshtone.

Step 2

This was then given an all-over wash of Reikland Fleshshade.

Step 3

I then layered the skin with Kislev Flesh, leaving the shaded areas in the recesses.

Step 4

This was then highlighted with Flayed One Flesh.

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Step 5

Next, I added some colour by glazing the eyes with Druchii Violet and the bottom lip and mouth with Carroburg Crimson.

Step 6

The hair was then basecoated with Grey Seer.

Step 7

Lastly, the hair was highlighted with White Scar. At the same time, I picked out the eyes and teeth with the same colour, then dotted the eyes with Abaddon Black.

The Silver

Step 1

All of the silver areas were basecoated with Leadbelcher.

Step 2

These areas were then given an all-over wash of a 1:1 mix of Nuln Oil and Nuln Oil Gloss.

Step 3

Lastly, this was highlighted with Stormhost Silver along the edges.

The Gold

Step 1

All of the gold areas were basecoated with Retributor Armour.

Step 2

These were then given an all-over wash with a 1:1 mix of Reikland Fleshshade and Reikland Fleshshade Gloss.

Step 3

Next, I edge-highlighted it with Liberator Gold.

Step 4

This was then finished off with a more refined highlight of Stormhost Silver.

The Brown Leather

Step 1

All of the leather straps on the model were basecoated with Thondia Brown.

Step 2

This was then shaded with Agrax Earthshade.

Step 3

I then highlighted it with Mournfang Brown.

Step 4

This was followed by a more refined highlight of Mournfang Brown with some Screaming Skull mixed in.

Step 5

Lastly, I mixed in more Screaming Skull and picked out the corners of the leather and the folds in it with little dots.

The Red Handles and Cloak Detail

Step 1

The handles on her weapons were base-coated with Mephiston Red. I also took this opportunity to paint the freehand design on the inside of her cloak, copying the design that the ‘Eavy Metal team used on the studio model. Keep your paint a little thinner than you normally would so it flows freely off of your brush, and make sure you use a brush with a good point. 

For the designs in the corners, I filled in a red circle then added the point on the inner part. I then went back with Ushabti Bone and “cut out” the smaller circle on the side opposite the point. I also used the Ushabti Bone to tidy up the straight lines along the edge. That’s it for the cloak design – no highlights or shading needed.

Step 2

The weapon handles were then shaded with Nuln Oil.

Step 3

Lastly, they were highlighted with Wild Rider Red.

The White

Step 1

The symbol on her armour and the lightning bolt hanging from her sword were basecoated with Ulthuan Grey.

Step 2

These were then edge highlighted with White Scar.

The Rope

Step 1

The rope was basecoated with Baneblade Brown.

Step 2

This then got two coats of Agrax Earthshade to shade it. Let each coat dry completely before doing the next.

Step 3

This was then layered with Baneblade Brown, leaving the shade in the recesses.

Step 4

Lastly, I highlighted it by mixing in a little Screaming Skull with the Baneblade Brown.

The Lantern Light

Step 1

The light on the lantern was basecoated with Corax White.

Step 2

This was then given a coat of Aethermatic Blue Contrast paint.

Step 3

Lastly, I highlighted it with White Scar. I watered this down a bit and gradually built it up, so there was a bit of a gradient, with it being the brightest the closer it got to the centre of the lantern. I also went back with a bit of Aethermatic Blue mixed with Lahmian Medium and did the same going the other direction to darken it a bit more and pump up the blue near the side furthest from the centre.

With that, Xandire is done! I was going to show the step-by-step for how I painted her base, but I actually finished it, put her on the base, decided it didn’t work, and went back and repainted the whole base!

A model’s base should frame the model properly, and in this case, I originally made it too dark using Incubi Darkness as my main colour. I repainted it with a more traditional stone and dirt look, so her black armour would really pop against it. 

The stone is a basecoat of Dawnstone washed with Agrax Earthshade to make it slightly warm. This was then heavily drybrushed with Dawnstone, followed by a lighter drybrush of Grey Seer. Grey Seer was then used as an edge highlight. I then picked out some stones with a glaze of either Seraphim Sepia or Athonian Camoshade to give the stone some variation. Lastly, I used Ulthuan Grey to pick out the corners with little dots.

Thanks, Tyler! If you want to paint your own Xandire’s Truthseekers, pick up a copy of Harrowdeep. Don’t forget that you can also unleash Xandire and her companions in the Mortal Realms with their free Warhammer Age of Sigmar warscrolls. To learn more about Warhammer Underworlds, visit the updated website.