Zombicide 2nd Ed - Quick And Easy Way To Paint Zombies

[@mickiblu777]

Very interesting! I've never thought to use this method... I need to try this! Thanks for the video!

[@theplasticcanvas]

Hey Mick. Yeah I'd never thought to do it until I saw it a while back in another video. I've used the basic technique heaps of times now. Works really well on highly textured minis (like an animal with lots of fur) cos it saves you from having to individually highlight each hair or whatever the texture is. Just leave the shadows dark and the wash takes care of the rest!

[@JDClark-cb6eq]

Cool, you taught me a new technique with the blood, thanks 👍

[@theplasticcanvas]

Hey J.D. Thanks for the comment! Glad you found the video useful :)

[@ScytheNoire]

Great guide. I think zenithal priming and using washes/inks/contrast paints is the way to go any time you have too many miniatures to paint. These big miniature games just come with too many miniatures to give each a normal paint job.

[@theplasticcanvas]

Well this game has over 100 zombies alone and then you add the survivors on top of that. Even if all you spend is 30 minutes on each zombie, you're still looking at 50 hours and most people just don't have that time. But I don't think a 'normal' paint job would look as good anyway so this is a perfect way to paint them.

[@tp6498]

Hey Richard I totally agree. I've got more zombicide miniatures to paint than I can count with more on the way when the Undead or Alive kickstarter ships next year. I prime ALL of the zombies this way except instead of spraying on the grey and white layers, I dry brush them from the pots. I find I have more control over the recesses, midtones and edge highlights that way. Take care.

[@jeremyguy9014]

thx dude, i m looking your tuto from France. Good job !!!

[@theplasticcanvas]

Thanks Jeremy. Glad you enjoyed the video :)

[@t-shirtedhistorian]

You can save yourself a bit of time by picking up contrast, speedpaint or xpress paints and giving them a go over your zenithal priming. This will ensure you keep some vibrant tones and not have to spend the extra time with layers of washes (believe me I tried to paint with washes for a few months) plus you can use medium to thin down the contrast paints if you don't want the colors to be as strong and take away from your Survivors and abominations. Then instead of using your costly Agrax Earthshade to individually wash each mini, use a can of Army Painter Quickshade strong tone, or dark tone for a really strong contrast of darks and lights and just dunk each zombie then set them out to cure for 24 hours. You can finally go back and add blood effects as you like, paint in eyes here or there, and finish out your bases (ie: put some astrogranite down to simulate sidewalks, and paint your base rings black for added contrast). You'll save time, and the Quickshade has a side benefit of adding a protective layer of coating to the minis that is quite thick. Spray the zombies down with some Testors Dullcoate, or Krylon Matte spray protectant to reduce or eliminate the shine from the minis and you'll have some really sweet looking, high contrast zombies that look great on board. ☺

[@theplasticcanvas]

Hey. So the reason I went with washes as opposed to speed paints etc is because the look that you get from washes specifically is grittier and less 'clean'. For zombies, or creatures from other horror games where I've used the same technique, that look that you get fits them perfectly.

[@CraftingRacoon]

Nice, it confort me to use this technique !!

[@theplasticcanvas]

Yeah and it's a fun and easy one to use. Just works perfectly for any mini when you're going for a dark or gritty look.

[@CraftingRacoon]

@@theplasticcanvas so with a mix of another technique I achieved my 40 walkers in 10 hours. 15 min for each minis with cool looking results. I'm very happy 😁

[@theplasticcanvas]

15 minutes for each is good. And when you're painting mini after mini that fast, you feel like you're getting through them quickly so it doesn't matter if there's a large number of them!

[@PRC533]

Have you tried this technique with contrast paints? I think that might help with the lighter tones needing multiple coats as they have more pigment and tend to cover better while still letting the undercoat show through.

[@theplasticcanvas]

Hey Brandon. I don't have any contrasts so no I've never tried it. I need to get a few to give them a try.

[@yoyoyo9669]

youre very talented love your work will probably buy some of these once i finish some of my backlog and paint them up for my little brother he loves anything to do with zombies! (dont ask me why its a mystery to me)! hahaha anyways thanks for the great content and i subbed!

[@theplasticcanvas]

Thanks Jake! Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for the sub :) and it's no mystery to me why he's into zombies! Even though I got over The Walking Dead after a few seasons, I really like the zombie theme in general. One of my groups favourite games is still Dead of Winter! But that's cool of you to paint them for him :)

[@XDviper45]

Are you allowing each layer to fully dry before adding the next? For instance the primer, allowing the black to fully dry before adding the grey and so on.

[@theplasticcanvas]

Yeah every layer dries before the next one. Otherwise they'd just mix together and the effect wouldn't work.

[@XDviper45]

@@theplasticcanvas So this is days of painting then, as primer can take up to 24hrs to fully dry... ?

[@bassmeo3937]

if only I had enough washes to do this.. might have to order some. Any ideas on most colors you used for the zombies?

[@theplasticcanvas]

Yeah I had to put some washes into my most recent order so that I'll be able to paint the rest. Sepia was definitely my most used and then yellow and green cos that was the mix for the skin. Then I fairly evenly used blue, purple and brown for all of the clothing.

[@bassmeo3937]

@@theplasticcanvas Thanks for the clarification!

[@tp6498]

Awesome video! Here's a big 👍and a new subscribe! I just ordered Zombicide Black Plague this weekend and have amassed the entire contrast paint line from citadel. Will this 3 layer zenithal prime technique work with the contrast paints or should I go with just a single white or light grey prime? Thank you.

[@theplasticcanvas]

Hey. Thanks for the comment! I'm not sure how contrast paints go over a zenithal prime because I've only ever seen them used over the primers made for the paints. I don't see why a zenithal prime wouldn't work with them. Guess there's only one way to find out! if you give it a go I'd be interested to hear or see how it looks.

[@tp6498]

@@theplasticcanvas I just finished assembling 60 shambling zombies from Mantics Kings of War series. I'm going to do 20 with your three paint zenithal prime method, 20 with only a white prime and 20 with only a grey prime. Then I'm going to use strictly citadels contrast paints on them. I'll let you know how they come out. Thanks again for this video. 👍

[@theplasticcanvas]

@@tp6498 ooh interesting. Yeah I'll be keen to hear what you think cos the contrast paints are definitely more 'made' for painting than the washes but the washes may do a better job of giving that darker, grittier sort of look. I'm looking forward to the results :)

[@tp6498]

@@theplasticcanvas well I've finished the first batch. I primed them in black, then did a drybrush of grey over the entire mini followed by a drybrush of white over just the upper parts. Then I used different colored contrast paints on different zombies so they weren't all the same skin color. To be honest, the dry brushing of the grey then the white left too much of the black showing in the recesses and took away from the overall look of the contrast paints. Next batch I'll prime in black then do a spray of grey at 45° followed by a spray of white from above. See how that works. I'm also wondering if I should thin down the contrast paint with medium rather than going straight from the pot.

[@theplasticcanvas]

Yeah you really want the grey to cover most of the black so that it's just the undersides that'll be in shadow. The black is needed so that there's contrast between the shadows and lighter parts, but any colours that go over the black will be hard to see. I reckon you'll find spraying works better, plus it'll be a lot faster. And I've never used contrast paints so I don't know if you'd need to thin them or not. Maybe do one or two straight from the pot and then one or two thinned and see what you think.

[@williamtcox1]

Great video/tutorial. I'm interested in which washes you used, but specifically the total amount. Would I need only 1 pot of Seraphim Sepia or multiples. This assumes you've already painted the entire box! 😜

[@theplasticcanvas]

Thanks Will. Glad you enjoyed the video. So I used Citadel washes for everything except the purple. That was Army Painter Purple Tone. I haven't painted anywhere near all the zombies yet but I reckon by the time I'm done I'll have emptied my big Seraphim pot. Before starting I was getting low on green and yellow so I've ordered a new big pot of both but if you had a fairly full small one of each I reckon that would do. How much you use in total will change a bit by how many zombies you do in each sitting. What I've found is that I'm wasting a bit cos I mix up a batch of the skin tone but then I don't use all of it cos I'm not doing enough zombies in one go. None of the other colours for the clothes are mixed so cos I'm just going straight from the pot so the number of zombies in one go doesn't make a difference there. So I reckon you'll need a big Sepia and a small one of the others.

[@tomasmatze4184]

I think you missed a spot under your thumb.

[@theplasticcanvas]

Or I very deliberately 'protected' a spot with my thumb...