The New Citadel Technical Paints

The New Citadel Technical Paints

Recently, Citadel released 6 new Technical paints.  They have various applications and uses individually and in conjunction with each other.  We are going to take a look at the 4 paints that I have picked up since their release.  We will talk about what each paint does and how to use it.  First, a brief overview of each paint.

Agrellan Earth - This is a medium brown crackle effect paint.  When applied thickly and let to dry, the paint will shrink and give a crackle effect.

Typhus Corrosion - This is a dark brown wash paint with small particles mixed in to give it some texture.  Can be thinned and applied like a normal wash.

Ryza Rust - This is a dry compound that is used to give a rust effect.  Used with Typhus Corrosion it gives very quick and nice rust looks.

Blood for the Blood God - This is a glossy dark red wash.  It is used to simulate the effect of wet blood.

Nurgle's Rot - This is a glossy green paint that can be quite transparent when applied, like a wash.  It gives the effect of wet, slimy, pestilence effect.

Nihilakh Oxide - This is a wash used to give the effect of weathered bronze and brass.

The first of these technical paints that I saw and wanted to try out was the Agrellan Earth.  This is so far my favorite paint out of the new technical paints, in fact I'm using it to base my Necrons instead of standard "sand and gravel" mixtures.  To use this paint, you're going to need to apply it much thicker than you normally would.  You may be thinking that this is a waste, but the thicker the paint the larger the cracks will be.  If you have a thin layer you will get fine hairline cracks that are barely noticeable, but can add a lot of detail to the base.  I recommend varying the thickness of the paint on the base as you apply it to have some high and low areas, this will give a more natural crackle effect when it dries.  It is recommended by Games Workshop that you let it dry for at least a hour, which is great if you have something else to work on or it's the last thing you're doing for the night.  I found that using a heat source like a hair dryer on "Low" gives it just enough heat to speed the drying process up to 1-2 minutes, and allows for the crackle effect to be seen as it dries!  Once the Agrellan Earth paint has cracked you will be able to see the color beneath it, so it is highly recommended that you paint your bases a darker color first!  I like the look of black or a dark brown under them as it gives good contrast.  To finish it off I added tufts from Games Workshop Midland Tufts which gave a good natural contrast and compliment to the crackle effect.  I have also had some success in using my airbrush over the crackle effect to give it a different color.  I tried to mix in the paint colors to Agrellan Earth and it thins out too much to achieve the crackle effect.  Using greys can get you a moonscape effect, and reds/oxides will get your a mars landscape effect.

Now, Agrellan Earth did have a bad batch run in the UK, so if you are not achieving the desired results, try a thicker layer of paint first.  If this still isn't working for you, check with your local GW store and see if they are doing a replacement offer for the paint.

The next two paints work as a pair to give a great effect to vehicles and metal pieces.  Typhus Corrosion and Ryza Rust are the two you're looking for.  Typhus Corrosion is to be applied like you would a normal wash, allowing the grittiness of the paint to build up in areas where dirt and dust would normally collect over time.  As this is drying you can use a paper towel, cloth, or even your finger to blend the wash into the paint so you don't get the stark contrast that normally happens when you don't blend.  This paint actually dries very quickly for the consistency it has in the bottle, so you don't have to wait too long before you can go to the next part of the effect, Ryza Rust.  Ryza Rust is a bright orange dry compound that is used to simulate the effects of metal rusting.  Using a drybrush, get a little bit of the paint onto it and wipe it around on your towel to get most of it off.  There should be a very light layer of paint left on the brush.  Brush in the direction that water would flow on the model and rust would form, I usually do a downward direction.  This is a paint where less is more to get the effect.

The last one that I have gotten is Blood for the Blood God.  This is a wet looking blood effect paint that can be applied in two ways.  The first is by brushing it onto the areas in which you want to have a blood effect, such as Ork teeth or weapons.  For the use on weapons such as cleavers and swords, determine where the cut occurred and blood would start flowing from, this is where you're going to pull the paint away from so it looks like it streaked down/further onto the weapon.  Slowly build the paint up at the edge to give it a bit more gory look at the point of contact.  The second way to apply this paint is to get a splatter effect by "flicking" the paint onto the model.  To do this you will need a stippling brush.  This is a brush with very short stiff hairs.  Here's where it gets really messy.  You get some of the paint onto your stipple brush and hold it like you're giving a thumbs up to someone.  Using your thumb pull back on the bristles and let them flick the paint onto your desired location.  This will end up with paint going everywhere, so make sure you do it in a location that won't result in you getting into trouble.

Each of these paints will take some experimentation to get the effect that you desire out of them, but with practice and patience you will have great results for very little work.  I highly recommend that you pick them up if you are looking for a quick way to achieve any of these effects.  I will be continuing to experiment with them and enjoy their abilities.