Painting Zombicide is a way to really make your games more exciting. In this first video, we will deal with Rolf the barbarian warrior. I decided to use a very cartoon style for these miniatures. Starting from a black primer, we are going to color the miniatures, accentuating the contrast a lot. This is to define more the shadows and thus set our miniatures in a world made of dungeons and darkness, which is well suited to Zombicide Green Horde.

At the beginning I was a little skeptical about this style, but then thinking about the setting I thought it was worth trying something new and I decided to apply it to all six miniatures. It is more of a test, a way to learn how to paint miniatures in a different way.

This series of videos is dedicated to all the friends of the Facebook group “Zombicide Italia” that I started personally as a game a few years ago, but that with the time and passion of the many active members, has become a point of reference for all players. of this addicting board game. If you are a passionate Zombicide player, do not hesitate to join, you will find here tips and custom material to use in your game group! And it applies to both the fantasy and urban versions!

Painting Zombicide: primer and basic colors

As always, before I started to paint, I cleaned up the miniature. If you decide to paint Zombicide, remember that the miniatures always have some signs of realization, better to give a clean with knife and file.

As already mentioned, for these miniatures we will use a black primer. I used the Vallejo one with airbrush (overlay image with color references). So I went to the basic colors which for this miniature are limited to little more than a series of browns.

For the complexion, I used a very dark base, mixing Dryad Bark with Khorne Red, two Citadel colors. Let’s say about… 70/30. I did not spread it evenly over the entire torso, but rather went to leave the innermost parts in black, such as the folds between one abdominal and the other. The brush used is a Citadel Layer XS, (superimposed image with brush references) good but not excellent, it must be maintained well to last for a long time. All in all it does its duty, also considering the decidedly lower price compared to brushes of more prestigious brands.

For the skirt sheet I still used Khorne Red, already present on my wet pallet. However, I limited myself to giving it on the outermost areas, leaving the black inside, just to create that contrast between light and shadow that I wanted to achieve. I then moved on to coloring the leather parts, giving a pair of Mournfang Brown hands to the skirt and bracelets. For the metal parts, such as studs and sword, I used Leadbelcher which is a dark metallic. As you may have noticed I’m using very dark bases. This will favor the contrast during the highlighting phase, when we are going to highlight the parts most exposed to the light with lighter colors.

Step 2: incarnate

I must say that I am not very satisfied with how it has faded this complexion, the contrast effect is pleasant because it marks the shadows more, but it has made it difficult for me to blend the colors. Sometimes it happens that some colors you can blend them more easily, others less. For example, it is much easier for me to make gradients from black to red, as for the cloth between Rolf’s legs, much less with browns when it comes to making bones or meat. But everything is experience and in this hobby it is fundamental. Nothing will make you progress more than painting new and different miniatures.

Step 3: shading and highlighting

I started by giving the shader first to the smaller parts, such as boots, skirt and bracelets. For these leather parts, I could only use Citadel’s classic Agrax Earthshade. Using the shader also helps you to make the shades of color more homogeneous.

On all the rest of the miniature, being essentially leather, I used Reikland Flashade, also from Citadel. I use this shader for faces and muscles very often, it is really effective!

For the final details, I used Nuln Oil for example on the blade of the sword and daggers. To try to catch the eye of the person who will look at Rolf, I tried to highlight the highest part of the miniature, that is, the bust and the face, using several thin and lighter layers. In this way the shoulders, face and biceps will be clearer than the legs and abdomen, giving light where we want the attention of those who will look at the miniature to focus.

I used a lighter version of Tallarn Flesh, already used for the complexion, to which I then gradually added Ungor Flesh to lighten and diversify the hue. Tallarn Flesh is an old Citadel color, I don’t think it’s still on the market, but any flesh-colored one will be fine anyway.

To complete the miniature, I added some detail to the gold parts and the eyes. Remember that new videos from this series will be published soon on my YouTube channel, subscribe not to miss one!

Painting Zombicide: conclusions

Making this video had a lot of fun. Painting Zombicide is really fun, the CMON miniatures are very detailed and quality and having them colored gives the games a decidedly different “flavor”!