Terminator captain, painted in the colors of the Scythes of the Emperor chapter. Painted the tyranid head at the base in the colors of Hive Fleet Kraken due to their history.
The pages in the Miniature Painting section of the Gallery tend to include a special section: a “Paint Formula”.
For almost as long as I’ve been painting, I’ve kept a mini-journal logging every paint and technique that I use for each and every miniature.
I developed a shorthand that I use for space efficiency, including the Technique, Paint Brand, and ratios. This page breaks that down.
Example:
Tongue H1: Wurm Green [P3] + W (1:1) <corners>
The first part lists the area or particular color on a model.
Next there is a letter followed by a colon indicating the technique. If there is a number after the letter, that means there are multiple coats for that technique.
B: Basecoat. Color applied to the entire section.
Sh: Shade. Typically a wash or darker color applied to only recesses.
H: Highlight. Usually brighter colors only added to raised areas. Most often has multiple stages indicated by numbers (i.e. H1, H2, H3, etc.) as they build up to a brighter color.
D: Drybrush. Technique of using a broad brush (usually makeup brush) dipped in paint with most wiped off on paper towel, then quickly brushed against model to only pick up raised details.
Gl: Glaze. Typically achieved by greatly thinning down a color and applying it to the entirety of an area.
C: Contrast. A Citadel Contrast paint applied to the entire area. Uncommon.
T: Technical. Usually when a paint with a special consistency created to achieve particular effects is applied. Fairly rare.
Next is the name of the paint, followed by letters/numbers in [brackets] indicating the brand. Brands are as follows:
C: Citadel, made by Games Workshop. (officially renamed to Warhammer Paints in 2026, but I still use C)
C-C: Citadel Contrast paints, made by Games Workshop.
P3: Formula P3, created by Privateer Press / Steamforged Miniatures
AP: Army Painter
V: Vallejo
S75: Scale 75
S75-Tube: Scale 75 made a line of ‘artist acrylics’ in tubes, indicated by this
PA: ProAcryl
R: Reaper, made by Reaper Miniatures
If multiple paints are listed, the numbers in (parenthesis) is the ratio. For example (1:2) would mean one drop of the first paint and 2 drops of the second.
Lastly and somewhat uncommon are words in <angle brackets>. These are usually notes to myself on special steps used to achieve the effect, such as <corners only> if it’s a later Highlight stage, or <build> if I use multiple coats to build up a color.
