The Final Valkyrie Base - Water Effect Tutorial

Just got back from my gaming club after taking the Elysian list out for another spin. I'm pleased to report another victory, after a pretty one sided battle with some Death Guard! The more i play this list the more it becomes my favorite!! I guess i should wait until i loose a few before making a final evaluation, early days!

I completed the final Valkyrie base this morning. As described in the last port, this base will resemble a cracked wadi with a small stream running at the base.

The paint scheme of the wadi itself was simple and applied quickly. The water is what i really wanted to focus on. In order to do this i referred to Imperial Armour Masterclass, as there is a nice piece on creating depth in pools of water. I've documented here how i went about it, but i have to admit it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped! I'm not unhappy with it, but i think it could be better!

The colours i used for this effect are: Scorched Brown, Dark Flesh and Beastial Brown, as well as a wash from the old-school Brown Ink, in that order.

Firstly i did the obvious and mask off the areas that i didn't want to paint, as id be using an airbrush.

I then carefully applied the first colour Scorched Brown to the whole riverbed using an airbrush. This colour will represent the deepest parts of the stream.

I then airbrushed the Dark Flesh onto approximately half of the riverbed. I was careful at this stage to blend the colours as seamlessly as possible. I had to apply about three coats Dark Flesh to get the right shade, as the Scorched Brown was a little dark! This colour represents the mid-depth section of the stream.

The final colour Bestial Brown was then added to the riverbed closest to the shoreline (not the base of the wadi) This colour represents the shallowest area around the stream, and was applied to about a quarter of the riverbed.

Next i added some watered down Bestial Brown to the extreme edge of the shoreline using a paintbrush. This will represent the shallowest part of the shallows!! Again i was careful to blend the colours together as much as possible.

And FINALLY, the whole riverbed was washed in old school Brown Ink. This stage really ties everything together, and the colours seem to blend together really well! By now you should get the impression of deep water at the base of the wadi and shallow water at the shoreline.

To complete the look i added some Citadel Water Effects to the riverbed. This is the end result of about three layers of Water Effects ensuring the brushstrokes follow the direction that the stream would roughly follow.

And there you have it! Again, this didn't turn out quite the way i wanted it to, but im not to unhappy. Now i look at it i wished i used a lighter set of colours, something more sandy rather than muddy! Anyways i hope some of you find this interesting, and i really do recommend investing in Imperial Armour Masterclass; its got a wealth of painting techniques that can transform your models!

Laters