Painting white is secretly easy!
ComStar is a secretive and technologically advanced faction within the BattleTech universe, originally established to maintain and control the vast interstellar communications network known as the HPG (Hyperpulse Generator) grid. Publicly, they present themselves as neutral stewards of knowledge and communication, but behind the scenes, ComStar operates with quasi-religious fervor, guarding ancient Star League technology and influencing the course of interstellar politics. Their elite military arm, the Com Guards, is known for discipline, advanced equipment, and their distinctive white-painted BattleMechs; a symbol of both purity and enigmatic power.
While many modellers shy away from painting white due to its reputation for being unforgiving and difficult to work with, this short guide will show that achieving a clean, striking white finish is not only possible, but easier than most expect, using only a few simple techniques and a step-by-step approach.
The tools and materials we will be using to paint the white are:
- White Primer (any brand will do)
- Citadel White Scar (or any other white paint)
- Citadel Ulthuan Grey (or any other off white grey)
- Citadel Contrast Apothecary White (or any other pale grey wash)
- Citadel Contrast Space Wolves Grey (or any blue-grey, thinned to a glaze consistency (optional))
- Citadel Nuln Oil (or any black wash)
- Citadel Contrast Medium (or other acrylic medium)
- A large drybrush or small makeup brush.
- Some standard paintbrushes for details.
We use other colours for details, but as this is primarily an article on painting white, they are up to you.
We will be painting a Marauder MAD-5CS, but for sake of efficiency, will be batch painting him alongside the rest of his Level II (a total of 6 mechs), completing each step on all six units before moving to the next step.
Clean and prime the miniature, then paint the whole thing with a thin layer of Ulthuan Grey. Over this base, paint a heavy layer of Citadel Contrast Apothecary White. Make sure it flows into all the recesses, but be sure to wick away any pooling on panels. Don’t worry about any blotching as we will deal with this in the next step.
Drybrush / overbrush the entire miniature with Ulthuan Grey. Use fairly heavy coverage but ensure not to fill in the shadows.
Drybrush the entire miniature with a light drybrush of white. Hit all of the edges and avoid the panels. Build up gently with soft pressure.
Paint all of the details with your choice of colours. We did the metal parts silver, the joints black and the cockpit blue.
Shade the silver and black bits with Nuln Oil. Thin some Contrast Space Wolves Grey with Contrast Medium and glaze this into some of the recesses and most shaded white areas. The white is done! See, easy!
At this point you could stop and finish the base and you have a finished unit, done to a decent tabletop standard… but we went a little further.
We added a few additional optional details with red stripes, transfers, cockpit jewelling and weapon glows. We also added some basing texture to match our other forces. We won’t cover those here but look out for a future article on them.
And here is the finished Marauder along with the rest of his Level II.
A ComStar Level II is a tactical military unit typically consisting of six Level I units; either BattleMechs, combat vehicles or infantry platoons, organized to operate with high cohesion and flexibility. Designed for both offense and defense, Level IIs are the core combat formations of the Com Guards, often tailored to specific battlefield roles such as recon, assault, or support.
Our Level II consists of the following Battlemechs (left to right, front to back):
- Shadow Hawk SHD-2H
- Marauder MAD-5CS
- Spector SPR-5F
- Archer ARC-5CS
- Thunder Hawk TDK-7x
- Rifleman RFL-5CS