How I paint Aeronautica Imperialis - Bases

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Painting Aeronautica Imperialis Bases

One thing I’ve never understood about Games Workshop’s Aeronautica Imperialis range is why they don’t paint the bases. The sculpted radar screens and industrial-style riveted metal details give a fantastic thematic vibe—but left unpainted, they make the miniatures look unfinished.

So, here’s my personal take on painting these bases to bring them up to par with the rest of your models.

Paints Required

  • Leadbelcher Spray

  • Nuln Oil

  • Abaddon Black

  • Caliban Green

  • Warpstone Glow

  • Moot Green

  • Warplock Bronze

  • Agrax Earthshade

  • Balthasar Gold

  • Hashut Copper

  • Leadbelcher


Preparing the Bases

Before painting, disassemble the bases to protect the altitude and speed dials.

Use a Citadel greenstuff modeling tool to carefully prise off the backs of the bases and remove the dials. Spray both the top and bottom parts with Leadbelcher.

Step-by-Step Painting Process

1. Rivets and Metal Wash

  • Using a small detail brush, apply a dot of Nuln Oil to each rivet.

  • Then apply a diluted wash of Nuln Oil across the metallic sections.

2. Painting the Radar Panels

  • The front three sections get a basecoat of Caliban Green (2–3 coats for opacity).

  • The rear section gets a basecoat of Abaddon Black (2 coats recommended).

  • Once dry, wash all green and black sections with Nuln Oil, ensuring it settles into the grooves.

3. Drybrushing the Panels

  • Drybrush all green and black sections with Caliban Green using a circular motion.

  • Follow up with a drybrush of Warpstone Glow, focusing more toward the center.

  • Then drybrush Moot Green, again concentrating in the center for a glowing effect.

4. Bronze Details

  • Basecoat the final two sections (the ones with holes) with Warplock Bronze (2 coats).

  • Paint the triangle on the middle green section and the "A" and sword hilt on the black section with Warplock Bronze as well.

  • Wash all bronze areas with Agrax Earthshade.

  • Drybrush these with Balthasar Gold, using circular strokes.

  • Then drybrush again with Hashut Copper, focused toward the center.


5. Final Touches

  • Paint the sword, rivets, and altitude/speed indicators with Leadbelcher.

  • Clean up the metallic edging between the painted sections using Leadbelcher for a tidy finish.

Once everything is dry, reassemble the base. I like to set the dials to their maximum values for display purposes.

Alternative Color Schemes

Want something different? Try these swaps:

Red Radar Panels

  • Red = Khorne Red

  • Highlight = Evil Sunz Scarlet

  • Final Drybrush = Wild Rider Red + Trollslayer Orange

Blue Radar Panels

  • Blue = Thousand Sons Blue

  • Highlight = Ahriman Blue

  • Final Drybrush = Baharroth Blue + very light White Scar

I really enjoy painting my Aeronautica Imperialis miniatures—simple techniques can go a long way toward making a tabletop model look finished and polished. If you have any questions or want to share your own painted bases, feel free to leave a comment.

More of my Aeronautica articles can be found here.

Return to my home page.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Hobbying!




Comments

  1. Dutch_Law20 May 2023 at 00:36

    Thank you for that, I've been looking for some pointers to paint up my bases. This will be very helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous24 May 2023 at 17:39

    No worries, glad it was helpful and thank you for saying hello.

    ReplyDelete

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