Step-by-step tutrial for painting Man Bat

I used Citadel paints for this one unless stated other wise

The first thing I did was sort out some colours for the wings, skin and trousers. I deliberately picked some desaturated browns for the skin to really stand out against the dark wings which more or less frame the skin area.

Working from a zenithal primed mini it had a very dark top to the wing area so I decided to try and keep this shadow as much as possible. The first coat for the wings I used Rhinox Hide using an airbrush. The skin was coated with Gorthor Brown and the trousers was given a coat with Loren Forest.

Still using an airbrush I applied another coat of Rhinox Hide but started around the area directly under the arms and worked down the wings.

The next colour used was Doombull Brown but started around the upper abdominal height and worked down the wings. On the back of the wings we will be highlighting at the top of the wings so start about halfway down the wings and work up. Try to keep out of the shadow area towards the top too.

The next stage is a highlight using a little bit of Doombull Brown mixed with Tuskgor Fur but starting just below waist height and working down. It is here that you need to try and stay away from the spines in the wings. The same goes for the back of the wings by staying away from the shadow areas and starting further up the wing than the previous stage. You should now start to see a nice transition of colour.

The next stage is a further highlight as I really wanted to push the contrast. I added in some Vallejo’s Buff but something similar like Ushabti Bone would do, mix this in with Tuskgor Fur and work in a lower area on the wings at the front and then towards the top of the wings at the back.

I masked off the wings underneath the arms so that they wouldn’t get any overspray from the next stage on the skin. I highlighted the skin from above aiming the airbrush directly above the head with Baneblade Brown and then moved the airbrush so that the colour caught on the upper chest area.

I highlighted the skin by adding in a little bit of white to the Baneblade Brown and worked in a smaller area to get a brighter head and chest area.

Switching to a brush for the rest of the mini. I prepared a thin glaze of Dryad Bark and applied it towards the bottom area of each muscle.

A second glaze of the Dryad Bark to the same areas to define each muscle further. The trousers were given another coat of Loren Forest which was lost from all the airbrushing.

The trousers were given a wash with Biel Tan Green.

Hopefully you can see some transition in the greens on the trousers. The bottom of the thigh is Castellan Green, mid thigh is Loren Forest and the top of the thigh is Straken Green. Pick out each crease at the front with Straken Green.

I used various greys for the rocks including Skavenblight Dinge and Administratum Grey.

I also did a further highlight of the skin with a mix of Baneblade brown with a little more white. This was applied to the cheeks and top of the head.

And done..