How I paint Aeronautica Imperialis - Asuryani Aeldari - Biel-Tan

I have always wanted to play Aeldari in some form or another, but I have never quite got around to it. For Aeronautica, however, I finally have some miniatures and so I decided I wanted to paint them for my favourite Craftworld, Biel-Tan. These aircraft are going to be primarily white with some emerald green. I also want this to be an exceptionally clean paint job, so changing the painting water will be key.

More of my Aeronautica articles can be found here.

Paints and Materials required:

• Revell Masking Tape 6mm

 

• Grey Seer spray
• Revell Spray Colour White Matt
• Apothecary White 
• White Scar 
• Army Painter Matt White
• Dawnstone 
• Iron Hands Steel
• Basilicanum Grey
• Gryph-Charger Grey 
• Aethermatic Blue
• Deathworld Forest
• Warpstone Glow
• Biel-Tan Green
• Moot Green
• Mephiston Red
• Evil Suns Scarlet 
• Retributor Gold

Begin by giving each plane a light undercoat with Grey Seer spray. This was then followed with a sprayed basecoat of Revell Spray Colour White Matt. Note, with the Nightwings, put the wings in the forward position before you spray them.

Apothecary White was then painted into the deep grooves between the panels. Try to avoid getting this onto the white of the plane, if you do wipe it off with your finger. I also painted the Shuriken Cannons with Apothecary White.

Once the Apothecary White was full dry, the plane was drybrushed with White Scar. To keep the white as clean as possible a brand-new drybrush was used. Additionally, I put the White Scar onto a piece of dry baking paper to prevent any contamination of the paint. The plane was then drybrushed with a circular motion. Some areas of the plane did not pick up the drybrush, for these a glaze of the white paint was painted onto these areas. 

After the drybrush, the hard edges of the panels were painted with a thin line of Army Painter Matt White (you could use White Scar).

The engine grills and exhausts were painted with watered down Dawnstone, this was to provide an undercoat for the next steps. The engine exhausts were then painted with Iron Hands Steel. 

The Dawnstone and then Iron Hands Steel was then painted over with Basilicanum Grey. Once this was dry, the edges of the engine exhausts were edge highlighted with Iron Hands Steel.

The cock-pit glass was painted with Gryph-Charger Grey. The glass was then given a second coat with Aethermatic Blue.

The next step is to add the patterns to the wings and nose of the aircraft. Masking tape was used to create the pattern for the wings. I used Revell 6mm Masking Tape. Take your time with this step. Once you have applied the tape carefully check to see if any hairs have been trapped underneath. If they have, carefully remove them, otherwise they get stuck in the paint. 

Once you have applied the tape, the pattern was painted in with a 2:1 mix of Deathworld Forest and Warpstone Glow. This will require two coats. Once the second coat is dry paint over the area with Warpstone Glow. Be very careful not to flood the gaps between the panels or the green will bleed onto the white. Warpstone Glow does not cover very well, so lots of thin layers are required.

Once the green paint is dry, carefully paint Biel-Tan Green into the gaps between the panels. Again, do not flood the gap with the shade paint. Less is better here.

The hard edges of the panels were then highlighted with Moot Green. Once all the green paint was thoroughly dry, the masking tape was removed. If any green has bled under the tape, tidy it up with Army Painter Matt White. 

The gems on the plane were then painted with Mephiston Red. Each gem was then highlighted with a dot of Evil Suns Scarlet. The ends of the gun barrel on the underside of the plane were painted with Retributor Gold.

I am really pleased with the look of these Aeldari aircraft. The same technique can be applied to the Phoenix Bomber. 

Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions. Bye for now and 'always watch your six'.