How to Wet Blend Warhammer 40,000 Miniatures

October 14, 2026

How to wet blend Warhammer 40,000 miniatures: kit, paint consistency, slow-dry medium, the two-brush method and how to stop blends turning muddy.

Wet blending is the technique behind those cloaks and banners that fade from deep shadow to bright highlight without a visible step. Instead of building the gradient from many separate coats, you put two colours down while they are both wet and mix them on the model itself. It feels awkward at first because acrylics dry quickly, but a wet palette and a drop of slow-dry medium buy you the time you need.

The short answer: put a dark and a light colour (close in hue) on a wet palette with a tiny drop of slow-dry medium, paint the shadow colour on one half of the area and the light colour on the other half, then use a second clean, damp brush to feather across the join with light zigzag strokes. Stop as soon as it looks smooth; overworking is what turns blends muddy.

What is wet blending?

Wet blending is mixing two (or more) colours directly on the miniature while the paint is still wet, so they fuse into a smooth gradient. It is fast once you have the knack: a single sitting can produce a blend that would take many coats of glazing. The trade-off is that you have to work quickly and confidently before the paint sets.

How does wet blending compare with layering and glazing?

Each method gets to a gradient differently, and they combine well.

Method	Working time	Difficulty	Best surfaces
Layering	Each coat dries between steps	Beginner friendly	Armour panels, faces, most areas
Glazing	Slow, many dry coats	Moderate	Fixing transitions, colour shifts
Wet blending	A few minutes while paint is wet	Harder at first	Cloaks, banners, wings, large skin areas
Two-brush blending	Seconds per stroke	Moderate	Smaller panels and faces

What do you need for wet blending?

A wet palette, two brushes (one to apply paint, one clean and damp for blending), a slow-dry or retarder medium, and two colours that sit close together in hue. A size 2 brush or larger helps on cloaks because it holds enough paint to stay wet. A cool room without a fan blowing across the desk also slows drying.

What consistency should the paint be?

Slightly thicker than you would use for layering: creamy rather than milky, so it covers in one go and stays workable. Paint that is too thin runs into recesses and dries in tide marks. Keep each colour on the wet palette rather than a dry tile so it does not skin over.

How much slow-dry medium should you add?

Only a tiny drop per pile of paint; the aim is to stretch drying time from seconds to a minute or two, not to stop it drying. Too much medium leaves paint tacky, prone to lifting and slow to accept the next layer. If the blend starts dragging, add a touch more to the palette rather than to the model.

How do you wet blend step by step?

Paint the shadow colour on the lower or recessed half of the area and, immediately, the light colour on the upper half, leaving a small gap between them. Wipe your second brush so it is just damp, then gently zigzag across the gap to pull the two colours into each other. Once it looks smooth, leave it alone and let it dry before adding a final highlight or a light glaze.

Why does my wet blend go muddy or grey?

Usually the paint has been worked for too long, or the two colours are too far apart, such as complementary hues that mix to brown or grey. Choose neighbours on the colour wheel (two blues, a red and an orange) and limit yourself to a few passes over the join. If a blend dries patchy, tidy it with a thin glaze rather than reworking it wet.

Which parts of a model suit wet blending?

Large, smooth surfaces with gentle curves give the technique room to work: cloaks, tabards, banners, wings, and the skin of big creatures. Small, detailed areas such as faces or crowded armour are usually easier with layering. Vehicle panels can be wet blended, but many painters reach for an airbrush for them instead.

How do you practise wet blending without ruining a model?

Practise on a primed plastic spoon, an offcut of sprue or a spare model before trying it on a centrepiece. Paint the same two-colour blend a few times in a row and you will quickly learn how long your paints stay workable. If something goes wrong on a real model, let it dry and see our guide to fixing painting mistakes.

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