Testing a Red-over-Gold Recipe on a Blood Warrior
We love these hobby moments when a quick test model suddenly turns into a really promising paint recipe. This time, pegie shared a Blood Warrior experiment and honestly — it already looks great.
The idea was to follow the recipe we had been talking about: start with a metallic gold contrast over the whole armour, then put red contrast on top, and finally add Nuln Oil on the gold elements. The result is a rich, warm red armour with a metallic depth underneath, and it gives the miniature a very characterful look straight away.
Pegie said he was very happy with the overall effect, but also felt that in some places the model still needs a bit more depth. That sounds very fair — the recipe is already doing a lot of heavy lifting, but once the base effect is there, the next question is always: how do we push it further?
Our first thought was simple: maybe this is the point where highlights start to matter more than another wash. A good shade on the red areas and in the transitions between red and gold could definitely help, but edge highlights might be what really makes the armour pop and gives all those plates more definition.
Pegie is already thinking ahead for the next models too. The current idea is to drybrush the armour with a gold base paint before applying the red contrast, which could create even more texture and variation under the transparent red layer. That sounds like exactly the kind of experiment we like: small tweak, potentially big payoff.
And of course, one test miniature usually means the next one is already waiting on the desk.
We are very curious where this recipe goes next. Even at the test stage, it already has that classic Khornate feel: heavy armour, deep red, warm metallic shine. Now it is just a matter of deciding whether the next step is more shading, sharper highlights, or both.
Honestly, this is one of our favourite parts of painting — not chasing a perfect result immediately, but iterating on a model, seeing what works, and slowly building a recipe that feels right for the army.
If the next round of experiments lands as well as this one, these Blood Warriors are going to look fantastic on the table.