Hello everyone,
This short tutorial, created by Myles David from Lil Legend Studio, shows you how to paint the distinctive wear marks on a chainsword. While the example features a Deathwatch Space Marine weapon, the same technique can easily be applied to many other miniatures, whether you’re painting weapons, armour, or scenic elements.
This step-by-step guide takes you through the entire process, from choosing your paints to the finishing touches, helping you recreate this effect on your own miniatures and achieve a realistic metallic finish full of depth and contrast.
For this first step, which will also be the most time-consuming, apply an even base coat of Vallejo Japanese Uniform. Next, build up the highlights using Citadel Yriel Yellow, painting fine scratches and areas of wear to give the surface more character. For smooth transitions and strong contrast, don’t hesitate to apply three or four thin layers.
To finish the yellow, apply a final highlight to the areas that would naturally catch the light, using a mix of Citadel Yriel Yellow and Citadel Ushabti Bone.
For this second step, carefully apply thin bands of Vallejo Dark Grey across the blade. Try to keep a relatively consistent spacing between each band while slightly varying their thickness to achieve a more natural and realistic result.
For this third step, deepen the shadows of the grey bands by applying fine touches of a black paint of your choice. Focus on the darkest areas to enhance the contrast and add more depth to the overall effect.
Finally, for this last step, use a small sponge to gently dab a few touches of Yriel Yellow onto the black areas, and vice versa. This technique helps simulate chipped paint and adds convincing weathering, further enhancing the realism of the piece.
We hope this simple and quick method will be useful to you and help you achieve increasingly convincing results on your miniatures. Feel free to adapt these different steps to your own style, experiment with other paint ranges, try different intensities of highlights and washes, and above all, enjoy bringing your models to life.
Happy painting!
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