One-coat paints — translucent, heavily pigmented paints that colour and shade in a single layer — have changed how quickly a Warhammer 40,000 army can hit the table. Used well, they get a squad from grey to finished in an evening.
What are one-coat paints?
They're thin, glossy-ish acrylics designed to flow off raised areas and pool in recesses. That gives you a basecoat, shading and a natural highlight in one pass, rather than the traditional base, wash and layer steps.
What primer works best underneath?
A white or light grey primer is essential, because the paint is translucent and the undercoat shows through. Zenithal priming makes them even better. Our priming guide explains how to do it.
How do I stop one-coat paints looking blotchy?
Load the brush generously and apply in one confident pass, panel by panel. Don't go back into an area that's started to dry — that's what creates tide marks. Work on one armour plate or cloth section at a time so each dries cleanly.
Should I thin one-coat paints?
Use a medium designed for the paint rather than water. Thinning with medium lightens the tone and reduces pooling on large flat surfaces such as vehicle panels and cloaks, where neat paint can look patchy. Our guide to thinning paints covers consistency in more detail.
Do they work on big, flat areas?
That's their weak point. Large flat panels show streaks. Either use a lighter, thinned mix on those surfaces or basecoat them traditionally, shade with a wash, and save one-coat paints for detailed areas such as cloth, leather and skin.
How can I make one-coat paints look more advanced?
Add a few crisp edge highlights over the top once it's dry. It's the single biggest upgrade you can make and takes minutes per model — see our edge highlighting guide.
What should I do when the model is painted?
One-coat paints can be slightly glossy and rub off on handled edges, so a coat of matt varnish is worth doing once everything is dry. Then finish the model with our basing guide.
More painting guides
- How to Use Washes on Warhammer 40,000 Miniatures: Shading Made Simple
- How to Prime Warhammer 40,000 Miniatures Properly
- How to Thin Paints for Warhammer 40,000 Miniatures
- How to Edge Highlight Warhammer 40,000 Miniatures
- How to Base Warhammer 40,000 Miniatures: A Beginner's Guide
- Warhammer 40,000 Hobby Guides & Free Tools
Warhammer 40,000® is a registered trade mark of Games Workshop Limited. This is an independent hobby guide and is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Games Workshop.