For the first post in our new How To series we’re going to revisit an old favourite and show you a step by step guide for painting faces. A miniature’s face is one of the first areas your eyes are drawn to so it’s crucial you get it looking it’s best. However, painting skin is often something people struggle with but we’re going to show you just how easy it can actually be. Lets get started!

Paints used:



Vallejo Beige Red

Reikland Fleshshade

Dryad Bark

White Scar

Flayed One Flesh

Pallid Wych Flesh



Equipment used:



H&S Evolution AL Plus Airbrush

Windsor and Newton Series 7 Size 0 Brush

1. After undercoating the model with a Black Primer basecoat all of the skin with Vallejo Beige Red.

2. Wash the skin all over with Reikland Fleshshade.

3. Pick out the deepest recesses with Dryad Bark. For this model that included the mouth, eye sockets, under the nose and between the ridges of his furrowed brow.

4. Pick out the eyes with White Scar while leaving a small line of Dryad Bark around the edges.

5. Add a vertical line of Dryad Bark from the top of the eye to the bottom. Don’t worry if you make a mistake here as you can just reapply White Scar and try again.

6. Layer the skin with Vallejo Beige Red while making sure to leave darker areas from the wash still visible in the recesses.

7. Highlight the skin with Flayed One Flesh focusing on all the raised areas.

8. Highlight the most prominent points of the face with Pallid Wych Flesh.

With that the face is all done and you’re one step closer to a great looking finished model. We’ve used a Space Marine’s face from Warhammer 40,000 for this tutorial but the steps can be used for any type of miniature and for any skin tone by simply substituting in the appropriate colours.



Was this tutorial helpful? Do you think you’ll use it for painting your own miniatures? Let us know in the comments.

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