5 ways to paint Heresy | 40K Special Weapons and effects | Duncan Rhodes

Plasma gun with Blue Plasm Glow.
Meltagun with Muzzle Burn.
Flamer with Scorch Marks.
Rotor Cannon with Red Hot Barrels.
Volkite Caliver with Orange Glow (Cause it looks cool!)
Wow, 5 different effects to add to either your Heresy Special Weapons or your 40K Squads. In fact, these effects shown here can be used on a wide variety of miniatures from your favorite games. Oh, and they are extremely fun to do as well as a great way to add some colour to your squads especially as all the Heresy weapons are the same base colour (We show how to paint that too.)
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Duncan Rhodes
Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy
Warhammer Painting
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Chapters:
Intro: 00:00
Base Weapon: 00:35
Blue Plasma Glow: 06:23
Meltagun with Muzzle Burn: 14:40
Flamer with Scorch Marks: 17:18
Rotor cannon with Red Hot Barrels: 19:29
Volkite Caviler with Orange Glow: 23:35
Paints used:
Base Gun:
Mechanicus Standard Grey Spray (Citadel)
Death Reaper (TTC) or Corvus Black (Citadel)
Sir Coates Silver (TTC) or Leadbelcher (Citadel)
Spartan Bronze (TTC) or Balthazar Gold (Citadel)
Oblivion Black Wash (TTC) or Nuln Oil (Citadel)
Dungeon Stone Grey (TTC) or Mechanicus Standard Grey (Citadel)
Mythril Blade (TTC) or Stormhost Silver (Citadel)
Glistening Gold (TTC) or Liberator Gold (Citadel)
Blue Plasma Glow:
White Star (TTC)
Baharroth Blue (Citadel)
Ahriman Blue (Citadel)
Stegaddon Scale Green (Citadel)
Spirit Medium (TTC) or Lahmian Medium (Citadel)
Muzzle Burn:
Drakenhoff Nightshade (Citadel)
Druchii Violet (Citadel)
Seraphim Sepia (Citadel)
Scorched Muzzle:
Carbon Black Pigment (Vallejo)
Pigment Fixer (AK)
Red Hot Barrels:
Evil Sunz Scarlet (Citadel)
Troll Slayer Orange (Citadel)
Flashgitz Yellow (Citadel)
Moon Dust (AP)
Orange Plasma Glow:
White Star (TTC)
Moon Dust (AP)
Fire Dragon Bright (Citadel)
Wild Rider Red (Citadel)
Khorne Red (Citadel)
Spirit Medium (TTC) or Lahmian Medium (Citadel)
#duncanrhodes
#horusheresy
#miniaturepainting

[@BarokaiRein]

Btw just as a tip to anyone who's planning to give plasma weapons to marines who wear metallic armour like gray knights for example: Metal is an extremely reflective surface, so if you've got a glowing plasma weapon that's going to colour every metallic surface that's in it's line of sight. So you know get that airbrush or round makeup brush ready because you're gonna have to tint those areas of the armour the same colour as the plasma glow in order to really sell the effect.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Good tip right there 👍

[@lumijo2407]

How do you get the makeup brush to simulate the airbrush for the purposes of a glow? Drybrushing, by design, usually has trouble getting into the nooks where an airbrush wouldn't. That exact sort of OSL is something I struggle with a lot, and I have glowing mushrooms and magic items both to paint up soon and lack an airbrush setup.

[@Vendpunkt]

@@lumijo2407 stippling probably. Artis Opus have great paining tutorials with round drybrushes

[@SparkSovereign]

​@@lumijo2407 that's actually a feature not a bug; you *don't* want to get in the recesses with OSL, you want that sharp fall off. The sharper the fall off, the more it looks like OSL and not a far off sunset or other diffuse atmospheric lighting. It's why airbrushed OSL frequently looks strangely unnatural or gimmicky. You only want the color on the surfaces facing the glowing object, not everywhere; it's a reflection, not a cloud.

[@thomascruise4966]

@@SparkSovereign that’s actually very helpful, thank you!!

[@ionminiatures]

I think this is the first video where your using a lot more of your paints with the occasional Citadel, at least for the main gun/weapon base colours. I hope this means that your paints are becoming available world wide to hobby stores as I’d love to get some since I missed out on the kickstarter.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

That's the plan for sure.

[@hoos87]

30 minutes of quality content. Duncan you are an absolute star. Thank you.

[@quiggsy8571]

I've watched so many of your videos over the years that I can predict what citadel equivalent paint you'll say. Help.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

😂😂😂

[@marcelbehncke900]

@@DuncanRhodesDRPA wow how arrogant 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@qwertyqwrtyqwertyuio]

​@@marcelbehncke900 What is arrogant about it?

[@tyraniddude6241]

has not much to do with Duncan, but with paint knowledge

[@dimitris2936]

@@marcelbehncke900?

[@tomemaster1744]

Duncan’s growing a beard! The lost Second Primarch has been found!

[@brewer86]

He’s married now - can get that beard going now

[@MadScienceOpie]

Duncan, whichever of your boys are going through my KZbin search history... Well done. I literally was searching this last night. I appreciate you.

[@Teufeltusken]

I've started watching your videos. For years I've heard folks say "thin your paints!" But no-one I've seen shows exactly what that means! I had visions of partly emptying paint pots or bottles and filling them back up with water. But why would no-one say what the best ratio of water to paint was? But here you are just adding a dab of water and pulling some of the paint from your palette into it... Thank you so much!

[@max16]

just so people know. muzzle burn is not just for heat based weapons. they are massively effective for weapons that use sustained fire, like miniguns and such or large based weapons like auto cannons. think if the weapon can sustain a constant fire for at least 20 seconds then you will probably start to see muzzle burn after a while.

[@anneliseolsen6896]

This video will definitely get added to my favourites for painting techniques.

[@gomezzara_creative]

Duncan. Always delivering the best of the best for all miniature bois and gurls.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thank you

[@D3ADmanWA1KING187]

He delivers the best of the best for us regular sized folk as well.

[@AllThingsCubey]

This is the most comprehensive weapon effects tutorial on KZbin. The Volkite in particular looks amazing, and your way to explain the process is superb, even as a viewer who already paints weapon glows in (basically) this method.

[@pentacade]

Oh, this is fantastic. Absolutely lovely plasma tutorial, glowing plasma guns have always been an absolute fav of mine and seeing such an easy-to-follow guide on getting that perfect glow is a delight.

[@gdmunn83]

Great video Duncan. This can be replicated to so many 30k/40k weapons

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thank you and it sure can 😊

[@ryekongstad]

Amazing tutorial. I have just bought my first set of WH40 miniatures and have watched so many videos of plasma effects all with different techniques. Yours is the first one that makes the effect that makes sense to me. Also your video about painting faces in 3 ways is a life saver. Thanks!

[@williamludlow1793]

I've got my titanicus starter set built and painted up to the point of doing weapons-this is the perfect video at the perfect time!

[@andresperedo1275]

I used to paint my plasma weapons in orange, because they gave better contrast to my space wolves. They look quite cool like that

[@thomascruise4966]

I used to use Scorpion Green for exactly that same reason - REALLY made them stick out in an army with literally nothing else green!

[@andresperedo1275]

@@thomascruise4966 The advantage is that orange/yellow is complementary with the grey blue of the SW. But you can achieve good results using many different methods! :D

[@RogalDorn01]

This vid has me even more excited to get my full set of your new paint line! Can't wait

[@roberthickerty390]

I have been painting warhammer for a couple of years now. Before that I painted WW2 figures. Watching these videos are my go to and I really like the way you present and describe the techniques. I believe my abilities have gotten better through your tutelage. Thank you.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

That's awesome news and thank you

[@alexalbiston5675]

Literally just been sat thinking ‘how will I paint my Primaris hellblasters weapons! Not quite identical, but now I have a perfect step by step from my favourite painter!

[@mityakiselev]

I would love to see some OSL tutorials, like expanding the glow effect to the entire miniature

[@ethane1149]

I normally do green plasma as it contrasts well with my Iron Warriors for 40k, but I’ll be using this for my plasma equipped Sons of Horus for 30k. Quality content as always, Dunc!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Awesome, and it's our pleasure :-)

[@chadfreakinL]

In my time of need, Duncan appears like Gandalf. love you bro.

[@hossdelgato6098]

The legend himself. The Gawd of Rhodes

[@whofreakincares1000]

The techniques and effects advanced videos are my fav. Also glad to See you using your range

[@Mr.Smerples]

Got to say I love these. I dont think ive seen a vid on this channel were I didnt learn something i can use on either my terrain or army(necron).

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

That's the idea. Even though we paint a specific miniature, we always think about the fact that techniques or even colour palettes can be used on a wide variety of mini's and games.

[@filippoamezcua9953]

Thanks for teaching these great techniques , love your work

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

You are so welcome and thanks for watching

[@9daywonda]

Nice use of colours and nice colours in the 1st place...

[@scantrahan]

Duncan, just fantastic work, it inspires me.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Awesome and thank you for the kind words.

[@kyIethefish]

Really cool video! especially the plasma glow. currently very much stumped on how to do a red glow NVM that volkite will work splendidly (:

[@bearded_death_machine3592]

Found this extremely useful. What a fantastic video!

[@tundrakrusher]

I enjoyed learning tips from your vids. Appreciate that!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Glad you like them! And thank you

[@micheldroste5619]

Thanks God of Painting. Best Paints on youtube!

[@Iaminyourwalls-fi4dm]

Duncan Rhodes: The living saint of James workshop

[@wolowizard4441]

Loved that intro music, reminded me of something from Firefly ❤️

[@N.I.C.K-]

Dang, that volkite gun is awesome, wish they were around in 40k!

[@yuchenyou3040]

Beautiful, beautiful effects!

[@carlh8731]

Nice, simple and effective.

[@Mantonization]

Love to see it! How do you prefer your grav weapons? I've always thought it weird that GW made them green, personally

[@squidopedia_]

I’ve always thought they should be purple

[@Mantonization]

@@squidopedia_ Agreed! Everyone knows that gravity is purple

[@mirage809]

@@Mantonization My mind instantly went to Super Metroid. Beyond that, a purple glowing gun would look so cool!

[@Dragor91]

Awsome just Perfect Timing 😁needed that and Thank You. 👍

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , DRPA . 🐺

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thank you 😊

[@DickWindu]

I've never seen Duncan do this type of effect painting, I assumed he was able to but this is awesome. I wonder why gw painters don't so many of these tutorials

[@joeyn985]

Because official GW paint jobs are designed to look cartoony or like a comic book. It's just clean with edge highlights..no fancy effects, no osl, no damage or wear

[@anthonygenejones6744]

I've been waiting for this!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Yay!

[@chaserv5240]

Brilliant tutorial, thanks!

[@nickdavis5420]

Need too try some of your paints

[@Fulgrim2]

*Sees all that dakka* I feel the urge to play borderlands again….

[@jmc7034]

Going to give this a go

[@bojoggs-ik8tq]

For the glow hot metal on the assault cannon, because the heat is internal, you should edge highlight in a darker colour, if you look at glowing metal, the corners are always cooler because the have more surface area to lose heat.

[@dahuskey81]

HERE IS WHERE YOU WENT!!! I was wondering where you went when you were painting for GW. OMG I am so glad I found your page!! I took a break from all things WarHammer and when I got back there was so many different things that changed and there was no Duncan, just a bunch of other non-Duncans posers. Well you know what that means right? HITTING THAT LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE!!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Awesome, thanks and welcome back! In the meantime, we've set up our own painting academy too (duncanrhodes.com)

[@RickardLejonhjarta]

hot damn thats some tasty plasma

[@lonstrickland6571]

Cool video!!

[@TheBobbytables]

Gizmo MVP! ❤

[@thesmokyunicorn619]

now i understand why half of the armies I crossed were so ... meeeeeh painted ;)

[@HotelCharliHill]

"...games like Battletech." aaw yeah, baby, growing in recognition....

[@zhufortheimpaler4041]

my only grief would be the glowing muzzle of the chaincannon.... the muzzle is one of the last parts to glow. The glow would start at the chamber side of the barrel and then slowly creep towards the muzzle

[@KelRiever]

Apparently, my day job has to be painting miniatures...to keep up with all the miniatures that I need to paint.

[@RanZZbert]

damn really cool methods and paints could even go further and paint the inside of the plasma gun like with the last one the volkite or how its called i wanna try/see that

[@dan8924]

Super ! Merci

[@ricksanchez3204]

What kind of wet palette is that? Does too-thin coats have a pallet now?

[@dyslexichitman]

How dare you Duncan. I've been heavily contemplating getting the Heresy starter box (+box of special weapons) to paint marines when I get your kickstarter full paint range. This only makes me want to get the starter more.

[@Randomman992]

Great effects Duncan! For any viewers who would prefer a bit more realism, normally gun barrels get hot starting at the back as that is where the actual explosion happens.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

True, but it looks cool 😁

[@w4rpf1nnlad]

Yes but chamber is usually much more sturdy for this reason. You can watch videos where people destroy guns by shooting massive amounts of ammo through them and usually muzzle device is first to turn color and burn.

[@WraithOfMan]

True, that's why I would probably more likely use such an effect but more reddish on for example the Meltagun. To see what red hot rotary barrels actually look like, KZbin provides the answer: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHeokpmDn9efhdk (Volume warning!)

[@Smilomaniac]

Great effects that look much better than the effort needed to make them. Duncan, can you give me the recess and edge colors to go with just Mechanicus Standard Grey as the base (the paint, not the spray)? I'm struggling to define it nicely and end up with too subtle results.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Administratum Grey and maybe Celestra Grey for a spot highlight.

[@Smilomaniac]

@@DuncanRhodesDRPA Thank you kindly sir _o_/

[@thomascruise4966]

I really appreciate you giving multiple options for the colors you use, the Citadel and at least one non-Citadel option! I generally stick with Vallejo paint, with Army Painter making appearances. Unfortunately I need to be rather selective with my paint options and can’t opt in for a full paint set to have everything on hand. I have an app and a chart that I compare things with, but it’s not always the easiest or most accurate comparison. Is there a resource you use for color comparisons between ranges, or is it just your experience and knowledge from painting as you have? Thanks for doing what you do, I’ve learned a lot from watching just a few of your videos!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

We do have a conversion chart for Citadel on our website: www.duncanrhodes.com/ttc-paints/

[@Thunderking-zc8gg]

Very good video! Any chance one day soon you'll have a tutorial on painting the Genestealer Cult Goliath Rockgrinder/Truck? I've only recently started play the cult, and I've been struggling trying to find a guide for painting it that goes as in detail as you do.

[@cataclysmuswind78]

How about an Iron Hands Devastator Squad with Grav-cannons? How do you get that green glow?

[@tom20023800]

Excellent guide. with the hot barrel guide, would the colors not be revered, as the heat is from the center of the barrel, cooling toward the outside. i.e. yellow first, orange, red, then black for the points furthest form the point of the heat

[@MangyForestCat]

Please show us how you would approach building, assembling, and painting a Gundam from Bandai. If you need recommendations on which one to try I have several which fulfill different criteria from beginner friendly to more complicated, from 1/144th to 1/100 to 1/60th scale.

[@DanniShadow]

If we're talking gunpla, I'd love to see Duncan paint a HMM Zoid!

[@Devorum]

Love the tutorials, they've been a massive help...but the gun barrel colors should be reversed. The barrel will be hotter towards the rear where the propellant is exploding and will cool toward the end of the barrel.

[@addedcheese]

Been struggling with the AdMec ark weaponry myself, they turn out ok but just not quite what I'd want, which is the style from the box art (yes I know I'm boring like that) would be nice to see a quick video for that and other non astartes weapons

[@SWATDRUMMUH]

any thoughts for a tutorial for graviton weapons (or grav-weapons) for 40k?

[@TheIronRyan]

Do the washes of your Two Thin Coats range match what is now considered the old noun oil, Agrax earthshade etc ?

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Almost but not quite. They flow into the recesses a little easier too.

[@TheIronRyan]

@@DuncanRhodesDRPA thanks very much.

[@warpangel8879]

@@DuncanRhodesDRPA sounds good enough for me!

[@HarryBates96]

More Middle Earth Duncan!

[@TredecimMusic]

I use a black undercoat- Do I need to use the black basecoat for the casing?

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

In most cases when using black layer or base coat. The reason is because they have a different finish to the primer and if you need to neaten up a black area and you haven't given it a coat of acrylic black, you end up with a messy, mottled finish as the light catches it.

[@Tyler-jq7rv]

Any chance of a Sons of Horus paint tutorial?

[@auzor5900]

The Volkite is the best, meltagun second imo. Volkite makes me think Plasma gun could look great with it, or with a hellish green instead of 'regular, boring default blue'. IIRC, between all the different variants supposed to exist in WH40k, there are cases with different glowing colours, so entirely justified. After all, the plasma gun is essentially also 'heat-based'.

[@bjokke33]

Hey Duncan, I'm Currently working on a primaris lieutenant with neo volkite pistol myself, I was wondering if you have a technique to drill or carve out the non-circular muzzle like on the volkite weapon? Hope I can paint him as neat as yours after!

[@Zahandi]

I know this video is a year old, but would the rotor barrel one work for a knight as well or would it not look as great on a much bigger weapon?

[@BittermanAndy]

How would you do Adrasite weapons? I'm lost for making them look different from Volkite and Plasma.

[@caiusheh]

Very helpful video ! Love how you show the way to manage the amount of paint on the brush. Question here though : my army's guns are traditionaly painted red. If i add a "green" plasma effect, should the red be tinted green or should it behave differently since it is a color lit up with a different light. I'm procrastinating painting my plasma guns because of this 😢 any advice ?

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

It depends on how realist you want to go. I'd normally just paint the green glow, thinned down over the red and build it up slightly to give the illusion of a plasma glow. There are some amazing painters out there you will demonstrate realistic glows, colour theory etc if you want to go down the more realistic route but if you just want to create the feel, then the simple method will work. Just test it out on a spare model until you are happy

[@T3HM4N244]

What's the reason for putting the metallic paint on a tile instead of the wet palette?

[@thecountbrothers2287]

From where i from i can only get Citadel, what is an alternative for White Star and Moon Dust?

[@supersublimegenki9432]

The music makes me think, better call Duncan

[@georgemartinez1720]

Is White Star similar to Green Stuff Flour White

[@hendersonx]

I always thought it was Surcoat silver!

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

See what we did there ;-)

[@InquisitorBot]

i prefer to do the plasma glow in the opposite of lighter on the top and darker in the bottom

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

They work great either way. We like it when it's brighter and hotter at the source 😊

[@chrisl4999]

Great tips. I feel like it would be better if you didn’t cut away so fast though.

[@Baja-B]

23:36 friends call these the mcdonalds guns. I've started simply not using yellow so I don't have that effect

[@yourlocalswarmofmoths]

Ive started to watch clips on mute to guess the paints , i have ascended from a mere mortal, help, ive gotten almost all of them correct

[@FireWarrior2013]

A question for all involved: I'm doing Dark Angels which usually have red weapon casings, will the suggested approach for the glow still work and "Look Right" on a weapon casing done with Mephiston highlighted by Evil Suns Scarlet.

[@Daniel-km5me]

Only one way to find out!

[@FireWarrior2013]

@@Daniel-km5me it kinda works, kinda didn't. I think it'd need a lot more coats.

[@sweatilaa5325]

so are these Duncan paints releasing anytime soon? or are the released and none of the stores in my area got them?

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

They will be soon. Now that the paint filling factory has been set up and paint has been bottled, it's been packed and shipped to all the KS backers around the world at the moment. Once that's complete, then the process starts of getting them to retailers and distributors around the world.

[@sweatilaa5325]

​@@DuncanRhodesDRPA Very exciting! Sadly I missed out on the Kickstarter but I am looking forward to trying the paints and washes when they find their way to friendly local gaming stores. Would be very cool of you guys if you made sure to prioritize getting paint to Alphaspel in Stockholm :p

[@Mr.Smerples]

Love the idea of ysing pigment powders. However since im painting most of my minis with my 5yo son i can see that going HORRIBLY wrong.

[@robertjensen1438]

Just a comment for the algorithm

[@SgtMaj22]

All Hail the You Tube Algorithm Gods

[@GoldBawls]

Yer guns won’t work m8, no holes in the barrels.

[@Basil_Ghothickovitch]

Still I'm not impressed. This miniatures are good, but I don't see many people doing something original with them. Also, I don't want to support this "pick and copy one of the 18 SM legions" game. Otherwise greedy bloody GW will someday turn my beloved Warhammer 40,000 into a supplement to the Horse Heresy.

[@aperson7552]

Nice techniques/ effects, but way too much work to paint a whole army in any reasonable time.

[@DuncanRhodesDRPA]

Thats why you save it for that one squad member who has that special weapon.

[@aperson7552]

@@DuncanRhodesDRPA unfortunately support squads are a thing, with 5-10 of them.

[@jasongregory1437]

Sorry to be the only person with the negative comment here but that Volkite tutorial was awful. I did everything to the letter and it looks like dog crap.

[@vymkodex]

See-pia not sep-ia... 🙄