Adeptus Titanicus Knight

House Malinax
by Richard Gray

This PDF shows how to paint the Adeptus Titanicus knights of House Malinax as shown in the
photograph above.

The following paints and materials were used:

Games Workshop: Balor Brown, Ushabti Bone, Ceramtite White, Agrax Earthshade, Mephiston
Red, Wild Rider Red, Lothern Blue, Rhinox Hide.

Vallejo: Black, Gunmetal Grey, German Grey, Pale Blue Grey, Neutral Grey.

Scale 75: Victorian Brass

Forge World: Aged Rust and Orange Rust weathering powders.

Baking Soda, AK Interactive Ultra Matte Varnish, Cork Bark, Micro Sol, Micro Set

Transfers/Decals from the knight boxed set

AK Interactive Ultra Matte Varnish, Gloss Varnish.

The first stage is to clean the model up, removing mould lines and making sure to drill any barrels.

Once the model is glued together prime it and leave it for 24 hours at least so that the primer has
time to set properly.

The primer was applied with an airbrush to get fast, even coverage.

Note* The model was completely stuck together before priming. Some people prefer to paint the
model in sub assemblies to make certain parts of the model easier to reach with the paint brush.
In the photograph above you can see that the model has been airbrushed using Balor Brown. If you
look carefully you will see that the paint has been focused on the panels. If you wanted to take your
time you could mask off black areas on the body.
Here you can see how the paint has been applied to the shoulders and carapace, focusing on the top
of the model and fading down the sides.

The next stage is to use Ushabti Bone to highlight on top of the Balor Brown. The idea is to
airbrush a transition while still allowing some of the Balor Brown to be seen. This is very similar to
layering with a paint brush, but instead using an airbrush.

If you look at the centre of the leg plates and lower section of the shield you can see how the
Ushabti Bone has been used to enhance the original transition while still leaving some of the Balor
Brown and even the black primer being visible.
This photograph clearly shows the highlight with the Ushabti Bone with the transition being visible
as shading.
The photograph above shows how all of the black areas have been filled in using Vallejo Black.
This means all of the armour trim, which will be highlighted from the black, and all of the skeleton,
which will be painted metallic.

You should notice how adding the black provides a high amount of contrast, allowing the bone
armour to stand out. It also makes the models look much neater.

The above photograph clearly shows how the black paint has made the transition on the carapace
seem clear and accurate.

Also in the photograph above Agrax Earthshade has been carefully painted into all of the details on
the bone armour. This again created contrast and definition.
The next stage is very simple and just involves painting all of the skeleton areas on the model in
Vallejo Gunmetal Grey.

Don't worry too much about getting perfect coverage as and black left in the recesses will work as
shading. It is important to make sure the large, flat and curved areas are covered, particularly the
hips.

After that all of the metal areas are given a coat of Nuln Oil and left to dry.
The above photograph shows how the model will look after all of the black trim has been
highlighted, in comparison the model which hasn't been. You can see the vast difference it makes in
detail. The following steps will show how to achieve it.
In the palette photograph you can see all of the colours which have been used for painting the trim.
The colours are as follows: Vallejo Black (bottom left), Neutral Grey mixed with German Grey (top
left), Neutral Grey (bottom right), Pale Blue Grey (top right), Pale Blue Grey mixed with White
(centre), White (centre bottom).

Here you can see where highlight positions have been sketched out with the German Grey and
Neutral Grey mixture. This should be carried on over the entire black trim. The positions of the
highlights are picked for maximum contrast (light next to dark) and will allow more blending space
going towards the dark areas.
Here you can see where the rest of the paints on the palette have been used to make the transitions.
To help with the transitions between colours the brush is dipped into the next paint without wiping
off the paint from the previous colour, this will allow the paint to mix as you apply it, creating softer
transition without hard lines separating the colours.

For Example, when blending the German Grey and Neutral Grey mixture towards the black, after
painting down the colour in the previous picture, a small amount of black was put on the tip of the
brush and then applied onto the model covering the section where the two colours meet. This same
process was done for each colour transition until a Pale Blue Grey edge highlight was applied. A
small white highlight was applied to the very highest edge highlight points.
The same process has been applied to the black trim on top of the model. You should pay particular
attention to the position of the highlights so that they match up with the highlight transitions on the
bone armour.

Also on top of the knight you can see that the small window and the golden domes have been
painted. The window is just Lothern Blue in a curved line at the bottom of the window, no
transitions are necessary as the window is so small. Next a tiny dot of white is applied to the top left
of the window to show a light reflection.

The gold is Victorian Brass which has been given a wash of Agrax Earthshade.
Here you can see the final stage of painting before any decals or weathering. At this stage it is
perfectly fine to use the models for gaming if you do not wish to weather them.
You can see that all of the trim has now been highlighted with the various grey colours. You can
also see that certain parts have been painted red. These are over an area of black. The red used is
Mephiston Red and then highlighted with Wild Rider Red. On the chain swords just the edges have
been picked out with the Wild Rider Red. On the red cloth the transition has been mixed really
quickly between the two reds , this is because this area will have a decal to cover it.
Above you can see how the knights have been given a coat of gloss varnish wherever you want to
put decals. This will allow the decals to have a very smooth surface to attach to, meaning a better
contact.

Here you can see the decals that came with the models have been applied.

The process was as follows:

Apply decals on top of gloss varnish while using Micro Set to soften the decals and allow them to
fit the surface shapes better and leave to dry.

Cover all of the decals in Micro Sol, this will dissolve the film holding the decal. You may need to
do a few coats. Once this has dried it should look like the photograph above. The decals will look
shiny but you should not be able to see any edges to them. Make sure you have left it to dry for a
few hours at least.

Airbrush a coat of gloss varnish over all of the decals. You can apply it using a normal brush but
you will get a smoother finish using an airbrush.

Finally airbrush a coat of AK Interactive Ultra Matte Varnish.

It is very important that you keep the marks very small so that they work with the scale of the
models. With this scale scratches should be kept to an absolute minimum, if used at all.

When applying the ships try and focus on the front of the model and around the shins as they would
knock against things while the knight walks. Do not paint too much shipping on the carapace.

It is best to keep the paint a little thicker than single cream so that the marks are very definite. If the
paint is too thin the chips will not look solid.

Once you are happy with the chipping it is time to move onto the base.

This photograph shows all of the basing materials before they are mixed together. The mixture is
baking soda, matte varnish, brown and red paint. The exact colours are not important as they will be
airbrushed over with weathering powders.

In some of the previous photographs you should have noticed small rocks have been glued to the
base. These are tiny amounts of cork bark that have been glued on using super glue.
Here the photograph shows all of the base covering mixed together. It should be quite thick and not
very runny so that it doesn't run off of the base when you apply it.

Don't worry that it looks smooth as once the liquid evaporates it will show the fine grains of the
baking soda.

IMPORTANT!! When using the Micro Sol it is made of vinegar, which reacts strongly with baking
soda. Keep them apart, if you get any on the base it will fizz and will turn white and foamy,
destroying your base.
Above you can see how the mixture was applied to the base. You can see that it is still wet. Make
sure you cover the small rocks and also take it right up to the edges of the feet. This will represent
the weight of the models sinking into the ground, rather than resting on top of it.

At this stage you should also see there has been more work done on the metals of the knights, as
well as some oil staining on the bone armour. This was achieved using watered down Winsor and
Newton Burnt Umber water soluble oil paint. Make sure all of the metals are given a coat of this, it
should work as a wash. You can also apply it roughly into the shadow areas on the bone armour. If
you apply too much then use a damp brush and remove the excess. It will dry slightly lighter. Make
sure you get a good application into the ribbing on either side of the groin armour to show grime
buildup. Once it's dry, if you feel that any of the metal areas are now too dark, you can highlight
them again picking out the highest points using the Gunmetal Grey that you originally used to paint
the metal skeleton.

Once the base is dry, again this will take a few hours, it is time to airbrush Forge World weathering
powder onto the models. Above you can see that Aged Rust has been used . To apply it with an
airbrush mix a small amount of powder in with the water. A ratio of around 15 to 1 should be fine.
Make sure you mix the powder and water before putting it into the airbrush cup or the powder could
block the airbrush.

Airbrush the wet powder all over the base, trying to catch just the very lowest sections of the model,
like the feet and shins. This should represent mud and grime on the model. You you spray any
higher you will wipe out a lot of hard work, so if you don't feel confident them try masking off the
model above the knees.
Forge World Orange Rust is applied to the base using a large, soft brush. Do not cover the base, but
just apply it in patches, particularly around the small cork bark rocks. To pick the rocks out a little
more then a soft drybrush of Ushabti Bone is applied to the tops of them.

Finally the rims of the bases are given a coat of Vallejo Model Colour Black. This really finished of
the models and gives definition to the base and some contrast.

On the final page you can see the two knights above next to the original model which had all of the
bone armour hand painted. This process with the airbrush is much faster and achieves a very similar
look.
I hope you fine this guide useful!

Kind regards,

Richard