How I paint - Flesh Eaters Court - ghouls.

How to Paint Crypt Ghouls 

In this guide, I will show you how to paint Crypt Ghouls with a pale, desaturated skin tone to reflect their unnatural, troglodytic existence. Inspired by my old Vampire Counts army from Warhammer Fantasy Battles, I wanted these ghouls to look distinctly different from living humans by removing warmer tones and creing a cold, corpse-like finish. This method focuses on mixing greys into flesh tones, controlled washes, and soft highlights to build a sickly, unnatural look. The approach is simple, effective, and ideal for painting small warbands or full Flesh-eater Courts forces.

New to painting Warhammer Miniatures → Start here: Warhammer Painting Made Simple

For other miniature painting guides → Faction Painting Hubs

Paints required:

• Mechanicum Standard Grey Spray
• Mechanicum Standard Grey
• Dawnstone
• Administratum Grey
• Cadian Fleshtone
• Kislev Flesh
• Flayed One Flesh
• Morghast Bone
• Skeleton Horde
• Lahmian Medium
• Ushabti Bone
• Screaming Skull
• Mournfang Brown
• Skrag Brown
• Leadbelcher
• Ironbreaker
• Nuln Oil
• Agrax Earthshade
  

Undercoat with Mechanicum Standard Grey Spray.

The Flesh

Basecoat the flesh with a 8:1 mix of Cadian Fleshtone and Mechanicum Standard Grey. This will require two coats to achieve a nice solid finish. When the base coat was fully dry wash the flesh with Agrax Earthshade. Do not allow to pool. Redefine the muscles with the 8:1 mix of Cadian Fleshtone and Mechanicum Standard Grey. Take care to leave the Agrax Earthshade showing in the recesses. Continue to highlight the flesh with a 3:8:1 mix of Kislev Flesh, Cadian Fleshtone and Mechanicum Standard Grey. Then a further highlight with a 3:1 mix of Kislev Flesh and Dawnstone. A final highlight can be applied with additional Kislev Flesh added to the previous mix. This final highlight should be used sparingly. Any scars should be highlighted with Kislev Flesh before a final highlight of Flayed One Flesh.

The Hair

Basecoat the hair with Mechanicum Standard Grey. This was then given a wash with Nuln Oil. To highlight the hair either carefully drybrush or paint first with Mechanicum Standard Grey then with Dawnstone and finally with Administratum Grey.

The Metal

There is a very limited quantity of metal on these miniatures. I, therefore, kept this very simple. The metal was basecoated with Leadbelcher. This was then given a wash first with Nuln Oil and then with Agrax Earthshade. The metal was highlighted with Ironbreaker.

The Fur 

This is again a very small section of the miniature. So again, I have kept the stages very simple. The fur was given a basecoat of  Mournfang Brown. This was then washed with Agrax Earthshade. To highlight, the fur was drybrushed with Skrag Brown and then very lightly with Ushabti Bone.

The Bone

The bone was given a basecoat with Morghast Bone. This was then washed with a 2:1 mix of Lahmian Medium and Skeleton Horde. The bone was then highlighted with Ushabti Bone and finally with Screaming Skull.

The Blood

The blood was added using Blood For The Blood God. I always find less is more with blood. 

Final Thoughts

This method creates a cold, lifeless flesh tone that helps distinguish Crypt Ghouls from living miniatures. By muting the reds and introducing greys into the skin, the models appear more unnatural and feral, which suits the Flesh-eater Courts aesthetic perfectly.

Related Articles

• How to Paint Flesh-eater Courts Models
• How to Paint Crypt Horrors
• How to Paint Bloodletters of Khorne
• Warhammer Painting Made Simple

Discussion

How do you paint your Crypt Ghouls? Do you prefer a more traditional flesh tone, or do you aim for a pale, corpse-like finish?

I would be very interested to hear your approaches, especially when it comes to achieving convincing skin tones for undead or corrupted miniatures. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Happy Hobbying!