Yes, I like greenskins so it is hard to pass up videos featuring them. Especially as I’m trying to finish my Dread Mob and start the Ork Blood Bowl Team. What I like about Em’s tutorial on painting these red Orruk Ironjawz Brutes is how simple each step is, yet the finished model looks great.

Below I embed the video from Warhammer TV where Em steps through each part of the miniatures and gives some great tips from using different types of washes to highlighting the bone spikes with lines.

I’ve tried to gather as many of these notes as I could below for those who like to read along to wanted to quickly grab all the colors she used.

Quick note: I am using this video and notes without permission, but wish to share this great tutorial and provide my own thoughts to it. In no way do I claim any copyrights to the video or any of Games Workshop’s trademarked colors below.

Watch How to Paint Ironjawz Orruk Brutes

My Notes

First I’m going to list the paints required as it is flashed rather quickly in the video. The paints also include the closest Vallejo equivalent for those who like dropper bottles.

 

• Waaagh! Flesh (Game Color Heavy Green)
• Warboss Green (Game Color Goblin Green)
• Biel-tan Green (Game Color Green Wash)
• Skarsnik Green (Game Color Scorpy Green)
• Mephiston Red (Game Color Heavy Red)
• Nuln Oil (Game Color Black Wash)
• Lahmian Medium (Airbrush Medium)
• Evil Sunz Scarlet (Game Color Bloody Red)
• Fire Dragon Bright (Game Color Orange Fire)
• Balthasar Gold (Game Color Hammered Copper)
• Agrax Earthshade (Game Color Umber Wash)
• Runefang Steel (Game Color Silver)
• Rhinox Hide (Game Color Charred Brown)
• Gorthor Brown (Game Color Brown)
• Zandri Dust (Game Color Khaki)
• Ushabti Bone (Game Color Bone White)
• Abbadon Black (Game Color Black)
• Eshin Grey (Game Color Heavy Charcoal)
• Leadbeltcher (Game Color Gun Metal)

So let’s dive right into how Em paints up this Orruk Brute:

1. She starts by painting the green skin:
   1. Basecoat of Waaagh! Flesh with a basecoat brush
   2. Remember: two thin layers!
   3. Paint Warboss Green over everything. The translucent nature works well over the Waaagh! base layer
   4. Shade with Biel-tan Green and let dry for 1/2 hour or so
   5. Brighten with Warboss Green, layering only the higher levels
   6. Hit the ridges with Skarsnik Green
2. Next is the red armor:
   1. Start with covering it with Mephiston Red
   2. Avoid the skin and it doesn’t need to be all the armor as they could be silver or brass
   3. Do a shade with a mix of Nuln Oil and Lahmian Medium, feeding it into the recess only
   4. Highlight with Evil Sunz Scarlet to bring out all the ridges and edges
   5. Final highlight with Fire Dragon Bright to add a nice contrast to the sharpest edges
3. Next step is the brass armor plates
   1. Start with a basecoat of Balthasar Gold, may need two coats to get good coverage
   2. Wash the plates all over with Agrax Earthshade to dirty them up
   3. Highlight/neaten up with Balthasar Gold
   4. Edge highlight with Runefang Steel
4. Paint the remaining armor plates black:
   1. Start with Abbadon Black, even if it still has the black primer as they are different shades of black
   2. Edge highlight with Eshin Grey
   3. Hit the sharpest points Runefang steel
5. To weather the red armor plates:
   1. With Rhinox Hide, rub it against a few sections of the edges
   2. Highlight the worn areas with Runefang Steel
6. The metal weapons, rivets, and other details were done next
   1. Basecoat with Leadbelcher
   2. Do an all-over wash with Nuln Oil
   3. Edge Highlight with Runefang Steel. Use the flat side of your brush to pick out the links in the chain mail and edges of the weapons
7. The clothes were painted with Abbadon Black highlighted with Eshin Grey. Fix any mistakes with more Abbadon Black.
8. All the wood, leather, and belt are painted using Rhinox Hide basecoat, shaded with Argrax Earthshade. Neaten back up with Rhinox Hide before highlighting with Gorthor Brown to bring out the details.
9. The teeth, bones, stitches, and bindings were all painted the same:
   1. Base coating with Zandri Dust – again two even coats
   2. Shade with Agrax Earthshade to add the recesses
   3. Highlight with Ushabti Bone. On the bones, highlight with stripes to show grow marks
   4. Final highlight with Screaming Skull but only on the bone, teeth and claws.
10. Touch the eyes with Mephiston Red with a tiny paintbrush.
11. The yellow flames were added next:
    1. Built up from Averland Sunset and Yriel Yellow to make them nice and bright.
    2. Start by marking where the base of the flames will go and the height of each flame.
    3. Paint squiggles between each base mark and the tip mark
    4. Fill in with Averland Sunset
    5. Brighten them up with Yriel Yellow

Queue the battle music and rotating model shots as this Brute is finished!

Final Thoughts

Em leaves us with some nice tips to remember:

1. Be as neat as possible with your washes so they don’t pool or mess up other layers
2. Build up weathering gradually so it doesn’t overwhelm the model and look goofy
3. Be patient with freehand markings, you can always neaten up later on

If you aren’t following Warhammer TV on YouTube, you are missing out on some great painting tutorials that typically feature Duncan Rhodes, so make sure you give them a follow and this video a big thumbs up.

If you want to see more of Em’s work, catch her over on Twitter where she shares he paiting progress and Twitch streams.