Skulls, horns, tusks, claws, scrolls and bone-coloured armour turn up on almost every miniature range. Bone is a warm, off-white colour, and that "off" is the key. Pure white looks like plastic, while a creamy, slightly yellow or grey tone looks old and organic. Here are three methods, from fastest to most refined.
Choosing a bone tone
Real bone varies a lot, so think about the look you want before you start:
- Warm and yellowed: old, aged bone. Great for trophies and ancient relics.
- Cool and grey: sun-bleached, dry bone. Suits desert or deathly themes.
- Clean ivory: polished, ceremonial. Ideal for armour and decorative details.
Choose a base and wash pair that suits the mood: a brown wash for warm bone, a grey or sepia wash for cooler tones.
Method 1: The five-minute wash
Perfect for skulls on bases, belt trophies and rank-and-file models.
- Basecoat in a mid bone or khaki colour. Over a white or light grey primer, one or two thin coats is enough.
- Apply a brown or sepia wash all over. It settles into eye sockets, teeth and cracks.
- Once dry, drybrush or lightly layer the original bone colour back over the raised areas.
- Add a final, tiny highlight of off-white on the brow, cheekbones and tips of teeth.
That's it. The wash does the shading and the drybrush brings back the colour.
Method 2: Transparent paint over white
Even faster, and particularly good on heavily textured or busy areas like piles of skulls.
- Prime or basecoat the area white.
- Apply a single coat of a bone or skeleton-coloured transparent paint. It pools in the recesses for shading and leaves the raised areas pale.
- Pick out the very top edges with off-white.
This method pairs well with the slapchop approach, where a white drybrush over a black primer acts as your base.
Method 3: Smooth layered ivory
For characters, large bone armour plates and display pieces.
- Base: a dark khaki or light brown.
- Shade: a recess wash in brown, carefully placed in the deepest areas only.
- First layer: a mid bone tone covering most of the surface, leaving the darker base visible in recesses and lower areas.
- Second layer: a light bone on the upper half of each shape.
- Highlight: off-white or ivory on the top edges and most prominent points.
- Glaze: a thin glaze of the mid tone over the transitions to smooth them out.
Thin paint and patience make the difference here. Several thin layers look much smoother than two thick ones.
Painting skulls well
- Eye sockets and nose cavity: deepen with a dark brown or black wash so the skull reads instantly from a distance.
- Teeth: run a thin dark line between them to separate each tooth.
- Brow and cheekbones: these catch the most light, so put your brightest highlight here.
Bone armour and big surfaces
Large bone-coloured armour plates need more control than skulls, because flat areas show every brushstroke. Use the layered method and apply recess washes carefully rather than washing all over, which can leave tide marks. A smooth gradient from darker at the bottom to lighter at the top makes plates look lit from above.
Ageing and weathering
- Grime: a thin brown glaze around the base of horns or where bone meets flesh or metal.
- Cracks: paint a very thin dark line, then a fine light line just below it to suggest depth.
- Tips: horns and claws often look best darkening towards the tip, or towards the root, depending on the creature.
- Old relics: a little green or brown glaze in recesses suggests moss and age.
Bone and fur together
Barbarian warriors, beasts and trophy-laden characters often combine bone with fur cloaks and pelts. Keep the two distinct: if the bone is warm and yellow, a cooler grey or dark brown fur stops them merging. Our guide to painting fur covers recipes that pair well with bone.
Common problems
- Looks chalky: the highlight is too white or too large. Glaze the mid tone back over it.
- Looks dirty: the wash was too heavy. Layer the base colour back on.
- Tide marks on flat areas: the wash pooled and dried. Next time, use less and soak up the excess with a damp brush.
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