The drums of war ring throughout The Army Painter offices as our warlords within the Mortal Realms rally their armies. In the last instalment of the Arena Challenge, we saw everyone’s test model, an important first step. Now with that hard-won painting knowledge acquired, they’ve begun expanding their burgeoning Spearheads. Fearsome warriors, nefarious villains, and heroic leaders alike have arrived on their respective painting desks, all decked out in vibrant coats of Warpaints Fanatic, Air, and Speedpaint!
But lo, what is this?! New warlords have arrived? More armies have begun their muster within Games Workshop's Age of Sigmar, with Sarah and Rune joining their cohorts in the fantasy realms. The winds of change that blew so readily through the Arena last time have also taken on a rather rancid smell. What could this portend for the forces of Chaos? Read on, daring traveller, and venture forth through the Realmgate to discover what our contestants have conjured up with the alchemical might of painting ranges three!
Thomas: I jumped ship and left Warhammer 40,0000 to try my way in the Mortal Realms of Age of Sigmar, and I have always wanted a Nurgle/Maggotkin army!
This test mini, from the new Warhammer Underworlds team, was a fun and challenging model to paint. I am still struggling a bit with my colour scheme for the army as I don’t want it to be too cartoony.
This model has been painted without an airbrush, but going forward, I’ll try to incorporate that to get things moving a bit faster. (to catch up to the other AoS people!)
You can follow Thomas' progress on his Instagram @coltaupainting.
Danni: I greatly enjoyed the process of painting my Chainrasps. I'm thrilled with where I ended up with my colour scheme and the effects I'm adding to the models and their bases. Speedpaint Pallid Bone and Battleship Grey did all the groundwork for the cloth and bones, and then a drybrushing of Warpaints Fanatic Ancient Stone and Brainmatter Beige got a nice gradient overtop. I'll probably highlight even further with Warpaints Fanatic Matt White.
In the previous Arena of Escalation, I focused a lot on the actual painting part and nailing that, whereas this is more about getting comfortable with our Warpaints Fanatic Effects range, mainly Dry Blood, True Blood, Dark Rust, Fresh Rust, and Disgusting Slime. As you can see, I'm not done at all, but I am saving the rest of the models for a spooky surprise later this year.
You can follow Danni's progress on his Instagram @beertasticbear.
Sarah: I’m probably the greenest of the bunch in terms of painting armies, because this is my very first one! I’ve chosen the Daughters of Khaine, because they are gorgeous, bad-ass warrior women. They were the only army comprised solely of female characters, and I wanted that female, ass-kicking touch to be my contribution to the Arena!
I still have no idea how I am going to paint them, except I know I want to use Speedpaint. I’m still a beginner, and I want to be able to keep up with my seasoned co-painters of the Arena, so Speedpaint will give me a leg up! Besides, I still have no idea how long it will take me to paint 21 miniatures, and with all the many hobbies I practice on a weekly basis, I need to save all the time I can!
Rune: I wanted to try and paint skeletons since I first saw the Tomb Kings. For my army, I wanted a nice and easy way to paint bones and put more focus on the armour panels.
I wanted to keep it close to the official box art, as I’ve never really painted blue. For the armour I chose the new Warpaints Fanatic The Darkness from the John Blanche Masterclass Paint Set Volume One, and highlighted it up to Warpaints Fanatic Abyssal Blue. The bone was done with a coat of Speedpaint Pallid Bone overtop our Ash Grey Colour Primer, and then drybrushed with Warpaints Fanatic Bony Spikes.
Jonathan: Taking a colour scheme from a test model to batch painting is exciting. Figuring out your process is just as important to me as figuring out your colour scheme! My process was quite simple. First, I basecoat the armour and then the skin. From there, I layered and highlighted in the same fashion. When the armour and skin were completed, I hit the rest of the model—weapons, leather straps, pants, shoes—all in Speedpaint. It helped me get results FAST!
This was also the first time I finished basing on these models. If I’m being honest, I overcomplicated it. I used our tutorial for a dark rust base with Battlefield Snow and Warpaints Fanatic Dark and Fresh Rust. When that was dry, I used Warpaints Fanatic Wash Strong Tone all over and then drybrushed Warpaints Fanatic Pale Sand on top. I used our tufts and then finally, a ring of Warpaints Fanatic Matt Black on the edge of the base. It’s that last important step to finishing your model.
Adam: With every lick of the brush, I’m reminded that I’m an army painting paradox. I’ve completed more painted armies than I can count but also repainted more halfway through than I care to admit. When you break it down, army painting is really about tactical painting: discipline. I've never been the best at that...generally. Sometimes motivation strikes in the middle of a distraction, like a new paint set (JB Masterclass), or a yet-to-be-revealed super top-secret project (more on that next year). Discipline, Adam! Focus!
For this Arena Challenge, I wanted to push beyond my comfort zone with heavily blended magenta wings and pulsating fluorescent spots. But I’ve also long dreamed of a Grimdark Wood Elf army. So, after drooling over Empyrean’s twisted tree spirits with Tyler, I decided to root these tree demons in a darker, more grim direction.
I tried something new: moss using a custom mix of Battlefield Snow, Warpaints Fanatic Greenskin and Leafy Green, and then shaded with Speedpaint Charming Chartreuse. That sat over a quick airbrush/drybrush base of greys and browns to set the tone. For the dark bark, I used simple stippling and antizenithal glazes with Speedpaint Noble Skin and Occultist Cloak.
Now, can we have a moment of silence for Grimdark Shadow Wash? Thomas and JB crushed it, and I put it to use as a unifying wash. Since Speedpaints dropped, I’ve barely touched traditional washes, but this one’s going on eeeee’rythang.
To finish it off, I followed the same process for the magical fae weapons and mushrooms that I used in my test model write-up, added some simple birch warpaint with a sponge, and my trademarked gloss black accents. On to my next distraction!
You can follow Adam's progress on his Instagram @tacticalpainter.
Check back soon as we travel to the grim darkness of the far future to see how our Warhammer 40,000 contestants are doing with their expanding Arena collections.
Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to stay abreast of all the latest updates and bookmark our Arena hub on the blog. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, BlueSky, Threads, and TikTok to see all the latest news and tutorials.
We encourage you to participate in the Arena Challenge at home by painting your own Combat Patrol or Spearhead with Warpaints Fanatic, Air, or Speedpaint. Be sure to tag your posts with #thearmypainter and #arenachallenge so we can follow along with your progress!
