Warhammer 40,000: Leviathan is nearly here, and it’s an absolute whopper of a box which contains an eye-watering 72 miniatures. With this many models packed inside, if you want to paint it all up and get gaming fast as you can, you’re going to need a strategy in place to ensure you don’t end up with a horde of grey models looming over you.
To help you out, Lizzie and Emma from the Warhammer Painting Team tackled the whole box in a detailed video. We caught up with them to find out what it takes to get Leviathan ready for the tabletop.
WarCom: You’ve got 72 miniatures that need painting. How do you even begin?
Lizzie: When you’re tackling a large box like this, it’s often best to do something called batch painting. This is painting a group of the same miniatures simultaneously, stage by stage. Doing this means you’re never sitting around waiting for paint to dry, and instead,you’re using your time efficiently. We’d recommend doing a squad or a handful of characters at a time rather than painting everything at once – it makes the whole box seem less intimidating this way!
It’s also helpful to start by undercoating your miniatures in a colour that will save you the most effort. We used the Citadel Spray primer version of Macragge Blue for the Ultramarines, Grey Seer for the Apothecary Biologis, and Wraithbone for the Tyranids. We also used pots of matching Base paint colours to tidy up mistakes later on – because we all make mistakes.
WarCom: Can you run us through the basic process?
Lizzie: I started this half of the box with the formidable Terminators because they look awesome, and there are only five of them, which is a good size for a first batch. I started out by using Abaddon Black to pick out the undersuit and gun casing, Corax White to pick out the helmets, and Celestra Grey for the Crux Terminatus and any rocks on their bases. Afterwards, I used Wraithbone to pick out the parchment and Mephiston Red for the eye lenses and the wax of the purity seals. For the metallics, I used Leadbelcher, Retributor Armour, and Balthasar Gold for each relevant part.
The next step is shading everything for that Battle Ready look. First I shaded the parchment with Agrax Earthshade thinned with Lahmian Medium in a 1:1 mix, then used it straight from the pot for the gold parts. For the silver metallics, the red eye lenses, and the Crux Terminatus. I used one part Contrast Medium to one part Basilicanum Grey. For the blue armour, I just used Basilicanum Grey for a recess shade, which is taking it straight from the pot and painting only in the recessed areas. Then I shaded the helmets with Calgar Blue thinned with two parts Lahmian Medium, just in the recesses. You can also use this to highlight your armour or just drybrush it on.
The last step is adding aTechnical paint of your choice to the base. Because this can take around an hour or so to dry, this is the perfect time to start working on other models from the box!
WarCom: Speaking of other models, Emma, can you tell us how you painted the Tyranids?
Emma: I’ll start off by batch painting Termagants because there are a lot of these in the box, and once you know how to paint these little biomass-devouring creatures, you’ll know how to paint the rest of your Tyranids, as they all feature the same constituent parts.
Firstly, I want to prime everything with Citadel Spray Wraithbone, but to ensure I get the right colour and finish, I’ll then paint everything again with Wraithbone from the pot, which I’ll also need to tidy up any mistakes.
For the flesh, I used one part of Magos Purple thinned with two parts Contrast Medium, using a large brush to apply heavily and ensure it gets all over the surface. This is followed by a quick, light drybrush of Corax White, which will catch any raised parts. I follow this with base coats of Naggaroth Night on the carapace, Abaddon Black for the hooves, and Mephiston Red for the eyes.
For the symbiotic weapons, the pipes attaching them to the body, and the tongue, I’ll use some Bugman’s Glow thinned with water to give these a fleshier tone. To achieve the signature Hive Fleet Leviathan carapace look quickly, I then apply some thin choppy lines with Slaanesh grey, though you could easily drybrush this if you want to speed through all 20 Termagants.
Finally, just as I did with the Terminator, I’ll apply some Technical paint to create a textured base and start work on the next batch while the paint is drying.
WarCom: There are many other miniatures in the box with some quite different looks. Any tips for these?
Lizzie: The Apothecary Biologis is quite different from the others, so I primed him with Grey Seer Spray to help build up the white. I then base coated this miniature with a few thin layers of Ulthuan Grey, which is a good base because if I’d started with a pure white, I wouldn’t be able to find a brighter colour to highlight with.
I applied a recess shade to the white armour with the aptly named Apothecary White and picked out some extra details with bright Contrast colours like Ironjawz Yellow, Striking Scorpion Green, and Frostheart. Everything else just matches how I painted the Terminator.
Emma: For the Tyranids, there are lots of variations of fleshy parts for their symbiotic weapons. The Barbgaunts’ bio-cannons get a Khorne Red basecoat and a highlight of Tuskgor Fur, and I used Gal Vorbak Red for the mouth and talons of the Psychophage. For the luminous brain matter of the Neurotyrant and Neuroloids, I applied some thinned Frostheart for a creepy blue glow.
There’s plenty of extra information in the full video to help you paint every single miniature in Leviathan. By applying all of these tips, you should be able to get your whole box completed in no time at all!
Thanks both for all the information! If you just want to focus on one particular miniature at a time, you can follow one of the many videos on the official Warhammer YouTube channel, which provides an in-depth guide for each miniature in Leviathan, taking you to Battle Ready standard, but also including optional steps to really help make your models stand out. You can also check out the ’Eavy Metal team’s approach to painting all of the miniatures for the incredible box art photos.