Here’s a step-by-step guide to how I painted my Candy & Cola miniature for Super Dungeon Explore.
Primer
I spray prime all of my miniatures black. This is mostly because it’s what I arbitrarily chose the first time I bought primer and had a choice between white and black, and I’ve just kept using black since then.
Skin
For Candy’s skin, I started with a base of Ratskin Flesh. I then highlighted that with Ungor Flesh before washing with Riekland Fleshshade. At that point, I wasn’t really happy with how it was looking, so I ended up repainting most of her skin with Ungor Flesh again. The wash tends to look really nice on smaller minis, but with her big, smooth face it just didn’t seem to work out.
Hair
For her hair, I started with a base of Screamer Pink. I then painted highlights with Pink Horror and Emperor’s Children. Once those were in place, I washed all of her hair with Carroburg Crimson. Finally, I drybrushed the hair with Changeling Pink.
Clothes
For Candy’s blue clothes, I started with a base of Caledor Sky. I then highlighted with first Teclis Blue and then a drybrush of Etherium Blue. As the final step, I washed the clothes with Drakenhof Nightshade.
Metal
For the metal of Candy’s sword and armor plates, I did a pretty standard metal paint job. I started with a base of Leadbelcher, washed with Nuln Oil, and then painted everything other than the recesses with Runefang Steel.
Cola
For Candy’s companion Cola, I started with bases of Averland Sunset for fur, Mechanicus Standard Grey for outer robes, and Screamer Pink for inner robes. I then highlighted the robe with Emporer’s Children and Administratum Grey. For the fur, I used XV-88 to add dark tips to Cola’s ears and tail. I then washed the fur with Reikland Fleshshade, the grey with Nuln Oil, and the pink with Carroburg Crimson.
Eyes
For the eyes, I started with a base coat of Ceramite White. Then I painted the iris with an oval of Teclis Blue. Inside that oval, I painted a smaller oval with Lothern Blue. For the big eyes on Super Dungeon Explore minis, I like to use two colors like this with a darker shade on the outside to contrast with the white of the eyes and then a lighter shade on the inside to help contrast with the pupils. Speaking of pupils, I painted those with just a small spot of Abaddon Black. The final step is to add a highlight with White Scar.
Base
I wanted the base for this mini to look nice alongside the sculpted bases for my other Super Dungeon Explore minis despite it being a plain base. In order to do that I used the same brownish-grey color scheme as the other bases and hand-painted the rocks. First, I started with a base of Dryad Bark. Next, I painted the rocks using Baneblade Brown. After that, I washed the entire base with Agrax Earthshade and then drybrushed it with Terminatus Stone.
Finishing Touches
After painting a couple of the other minis, I retouched the base on Candy & Cola a bit to make the edges of the stones stand out a little more. To do that, I simply used a small brush to trace the edges with Terminatus Stone. That extra step ended up making the base’s look a much better match for the sculpted bases on the rest of the minis.
Paint List
- Abaddon Black
- Administratum Grey
- Agrax Earthshade
- Averland Sunset
- Baneblade Brown
- Caledor Sky
- Carroburg Crimson
- Ceramite White
- Changeling Pink
- Drakenhof Nightshade
- Dryad Bark
- Emperor’s Children
- Etherium Blue
- Leadbelcher
- Lothern Blue
- Mechanicus Standard Grey
- Nuln Oil
- Pink Horror
- Ratskin Flesh
- Riekland Fleshshade
- Runefang Steel
- Screamer Pink
- Teclis Blue
- Terminatus Stone
- Ungor Flesh
- White Scar
- XV-88
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