How I Paint Aeronautica Imperialis - Imperial Navy

How I Paint Aeronautica Imperialis - Imperial Navy - Valkyrie/Vendetta

- December 01, 2023

I have been painting and playing Aeronautica Imperialis since the day it was released. I love this little game and believe it is one of Games Workshops' best. The Aeronautica Imperialis is the name of the Imperial Navy and as such the focal point of the game. Over the last few years, I have developed a nice simple uniform paint scheme for my Imperial aircraft.

Paints Used

Undercoat the aircraft with Chaos Black spray.

When this is dry, the upper surface of the aircraft was given a light spray of Mechanicum Standard Grey spray. The lower surface of the aircraft was given a light spray of Grey Seer spray. These second sprays serve to lighten up the miniature prior to applying the base colours in the next steps, which makes the coverage easier to achieve.

Take a medium size basecoat brush and apply a few thin coats of Celestra Grey to the underside of the plane. If you can, avoid the recesses between the panels (do not worry if you cannot this will be tidied up later). This will take a few coats to get nice and smooth.

Take a medium size basecoat brush and apply a few thin coats of Mechanicum Standard Grey to the upper surface of the plane. If you can avoid the recesses between the panels (do not worry if you cannot this will be tidied up later). After you have completed this, you will want to look at the edges of the plane and neaten them up using either Mechanicum Standard Grey or Celestra Grey.

Once you have nice solid base coats on both the upper and lower surfaces of your plane you need to darken the recesses between the panels on the aircraft. On the upper side of the plane paint Nuln Oil into the recesses between the panels using a small detail brush. On the lower surface of the plane paint 1:1 mix of Basilicanum Grey and Contrast Medium into the recesses between the panels. Be warned, this step can get a little tedious but do not apply the wash over the whole plane.

If you make a mistake with the Nuln Oil or the Basilicanum Grey, you can just tidy it up with either Mechanicum Standard Grey or Celestra Grey.

Most of the monotonous work is now done on these planes. Starting with the underside, as the colours are lighter, begin dry brushing Celestra Grey on to the miniature with a medium dry brush. The purpose of this step is to cover up tiny mistakes made with the Basilicanum Grey. Ideally, you should keep the drybrush strokes moving from the front of the aircraft towards the back. Once this step is complete repeat with Ulthuan Grey (there is no need to clean the brush). Again, make sure to dry brush in one direction from the front of the plane towards the back. This causes the lighter colours to build up on the leading edge of your miniature. Finally finish off with a light drybrush of a 1:1 mix of Ulthuan Grey and Corax White, again front to back.

Begin by dry brushing Mechanicum Standard Grey on the upper side of the miniature with a medium dry brush. The purpose of this step is again to cover up tiny mistakes made with the Nuln Oil. Ideally, you should keep the drybrush strokes moving from the front of the aircraft towards the back. Once this step is complete repeat with Dawnstone (there is no need to clean the brush). Again, make sure to drybrush in one direction from the front of the plane towards the back. This causes the lighter colours to build up on the leading edge of your miniature and gives you your highlights. Finally finish off with a drybrush of a 1:1 mix of Dawnstone and Administratum Grey, again front to back.

The base colours of the plane are now complete, and we are moving onto the details. The engine outlets, the exhausts, and intakes, along with the lascannon barrels and the landing feet were all painted with Leadbelcher. The lascannon muzzles and the tubes on the engines were painted with Abaddon Black. Once all the metal on the aircraft was painted and dry, it was given a wash with Nuln Oil.

The Imperial Eagle icon on the nose of the plane was painted with Balthasar Gold. This was washed with Agrax Earthshade. When the wash was dry, the eagle was highlighted with Hashut Copper.

The glass of the cockpit and the lamps were painted in with Corax White. Use a fine detail brush to apply the water watered-down paint. Then the muzzles of the lascannons were highlighted with a single line of Eshin Grey. The missiles in the rocket pods were 'picked out' with Mephiston Red.

The cockpit window was then painted with Gryph-Charger Grey. The aircraft was then turned upside down so that this contrast paint could dry. In this way, the Gryph-Charger Grey dries with a dark colour at the top of the window.

Finally, the then painted any lenses and lamps with Corax White. When these were dry, they were painted with Aethermatic Blue.

I really enjoy painting my Aeronautica miniatures. It is amazing how a few simple techniques can result in nicely painted tabletop miniatures. If you have any questions you would like to ask, please put them in the comments below. Thank you for reading and Happy Hobbying.

More of my Aeronautica articles can be found here.

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