How to Paint Ghostly White Nighthaunt Miniatures
How to Paint Ghostly White Nighthaunt Miniatures
In this guide, I’ll show you how to paint Nighthaunt miniatures using a smooth and effective white scheme that creates a ghostly, ethereal finish.
This approach focuses on layering, subtle shading, and controlled highlights to build up clean white tones while maintaining depth and contrast across the model.
It’s ideal for both batch painting large Nighthaunt armies and for painters who want a simple, repeatable method that still looks striking on the tabletop.
If you're looking for an easy way to paint white ghosts, spectral effects, or Nighthaunt models for Warhammer Age of Sigmar, this method will give consistent results every time.
When painting a full Nighthaunt army, the aim is to create a strong overall effect rather than perfectly finish each individual miniature. This approach allows you to work quickly while still achieving a consistent and striking spectral look.
When I began painting my Nighthaunt army, I realised I would need a method that was both quick and effective. Each individual miniature does not need to be perfect, but the army still needs to look cohesive and striking on the tabletop. Over time, I developed this approach by combining ideas from various sources with my own experience.
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Brushes and Tools Used
- Medium layer brush
- Medium shade brush
- Small drybrush
- Fine detail brush
For this scheme, most of the work is done quickly using washes and drybrushing, so a good general-purpose brush and a reliable drybrush are the most important tools.
Paints Used
- Ghoul Grey Spray (Amazon Affiliate Link)
- Corax White
- Lahmian Medium
- Nihilakh Oxide
- Coeliac Greenshade
- Nighthaunt Gloom
- White Scar
- Leadbelcher
- Nuln Oil
- Skrag Brown
- Ironbreaker
- Dryad Bark
- Agrax Earthshade
- Karak Stone
- Screaming Skull
- Sand
- PVA glue
- Gamer Grass Dry Tufts (Amazon Affiliate Link)
Base Process
The miniatures were primed with Ghoul Grey Spray (or you could use Grey Seer spray). Once this was dry, a thinned layer of Corax White was applied over the model.
Using this approach instead of a straight Corax White spray helps avoid the powdery finish that can sometimes occur, while also improving how the following layers behave.
Painting the Robes and Spirit
1.Basecoats
The robes were painted first, as they form the majority of the model.
A wash was made using Nihilakh Oxide mixed with Lahmian Medium in roughly a 1:3 ratio and applied across the robes. This creates the main spectral tone of the miniature.
Lahmian Medium maintains the properties of the paint, water does not.
Care should be taken to prevent pooling. If the wash begins to collect, it can be removed with a clean damp brush.
2. Shading
Once dry, the skull and the arms were painted with Nighthaunt Gloom thinned with a little Lahmian Medium. Nighthaunt Gloom was also carefully applied to define the different layers of the robes. The eye sockets and deeper recesses were painted with Coeliac Greenshade to increase contrast.
3. Highlight
The highlights were primarily achieved through drybrushing. A light drybrush using of Corax White was applied first, followed by a lighter drybrush of White Scar.
For characters, a more controlled approach can be used by glazing highlights rather than drybrushing. This takes longer but produces a cleaner result. (My example miniature was painted with glazing).
At this point the robes are complete. It is important to be careful in later stages, as it is difficult to fix mistakes on the robes once finished.
4. Painting the Metals and Wood
Metal areas were basecoated with Leadbelcher. Wooden areas were basecoated with Dryad Bark.
The metal was then washed with Nuln Oil. Once dry, a second wash of Agrax Earthshade was applied across the surface to give the metal and aged look.
The wood was washed with Agrax Earthshade.
The metals were then lightly highlighted with Leadbelcher, focusing only the edges and sharp tips of the weapon.
The wood was given a very light drybrush of Karak Stone to pick out the texture. Be careful to not discolour the 'white' robes.
Finally, heavily thinned (with water) Skrag Brown was applied to the flat of the blade. The brush was then washed, before it was used to feather the edges of this paint out across the blade a little more.
7. Basing
The bases are completed in a separate stage using your preferred basing method. The key is to keep the base relatively muted so it does not distract from the spectral glow of the miniature.
For my bases, I add sand to the base with PVA glue and left to dry overnight. This is then painted black. Once, dry it is given a drybrush of Dawnstone. The base is then washed with Athonian Camoshade. Finally, it is drybrushed first with Karak Stone, and then very lightly with Screaming Skull.
To give the base more interest, I add some Gamer Grass Dry Tufts to the base.
Key Points
- Focus on the overall effect rather than individual perfection
- Thin washes and controlled drybrushing create fast results
- Keep robes clean, as they are difficult to fix later
- Use colour tinting to add variation to metals
- Batch painting improves both speed and consistency
Related Guides
Discussion
How do you approach painting large armies?
Do you prioritise speed, or do you use more detailed methods even on rank and file units?
Let me know in the comments. I would be interested to hear what has worked for you.
Happy hobbying!
This guide is part of my Miniature Painting Guides collection.
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