How to Paint Wargaming Terrain: Complete Guide to Scenery Painting

Painting terrain and scenery transforms bare plastic or resin into immersive tabletop landscapes that bring your wargaming battles to life. Whether you're working with our Assorted Terrain collection, the alien organic forms of Thalor Pod #1, or the gothic horror of our Undead Pillar, mastering terrain painting techniques elevates your entire gaming experience. This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to create stunning 28mm scatter terrain.

Why Paint Your Terrain?

Unpainted terrain serves its tactical purpose but lacks visual impact. Painted scenery creates atmosphere, defines your battlefield's narrative, and makes every game more memorable. Quality terrain painting also increases the perceived value of your collection and demonstrates your commitment to the hobby. Most importantly, well-painted terrain makes photography of your games spectacular and provides a professional backdrop for your painted miniatures.

Essential Painting Supplies

Before beginning, gather these fundamental materials:

• Spray primer (black, grey, or white depending on your scheme)
• Acrylic paints suitable for miniatures (Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter)
• Brushes in various sizes (large for basecoating, medium for details, small for fine work)
• Palette for mixing and thinning paints
• Water pot for cleaning brushes
• Washes or shades for depth and shadow
• Dry brushes (old, splayed brushes work perfectly)
• Matt varnish spray for sealing finished pieces
• Optional: texture paints, weathering pigments, static grass, tufts

Preparation: The Foundation of Great Results

Cleaning and Assembly

Remove mould lines and flash with a hobby knife or file. These imperfections become glaringly obvious once painted. Assemble terrain pieces completely before painting unless interior details require separate painting. Wash resin pieces in warm soapy water to remove release agents that prevent paint adhesion.

Priming

Priming is absolutely essential—never skip this step. Spray primer creates a surface that paint can grip whilst revealing details you might have missed. Black primer works brilliantly for dark, grimdark schemes. Grey offers versatility for most projects. White primer suits bright, vibrant colour schemes and speeds up painting with contrast paints. Prime in thin, even coats from 20-30cm away in a well-ventilated area.

Painting Desert and Arid Terrain

Our Desert Terrain collection requires warm, sun-bleached colour schemes that evoke harsh, arid environments.

Step-by-Step Desert Scheme

1. Prime: Grey or white primer provides the best foundation
2. Basecoat: Apply sandy colours like Zandri Dust, Karak Stone, or Vallejo Desert Yellow to all surfaces
3. Wash: Apply brown wash (Agrax Earthshade or Seraphim Sepia) to create depth in crevices and recesses
4. Drybrush: Heavily drybrush with lighter sand colours (Ushabti Bone, Screaming Skull, or off-white) to highlight raised areas
5. Details: Paint any rocks with greys, metals with Leadbelcher, and add rust effects with orange-browns
6. Base: Texture with sand, paint to match, then add small stones or tufts of dead grass

Painting Undead and Gothic Terrain

Gothic horror terrain like our Undead Pillar, Undead Power Generator, and Undead Terrain #3 demands atmospheric painting that evokes decay, age, and supernatural dread.

Stone and Bone Effects

1. Prime: Black or grey primer creates a suitably dark foundation
2. Basecoat: Dark grey (Mechanicus Standard Grey) or bone colour (Rakarth Flesh, Ushabti Bone)
3. Wash: Generous application of black wash (Nuln Oil) or brown wash (Agrax Earthshade) for aged appearance
4. Drybrush: Progressive drybrushing with lighter greys or bone colours—start with medium tones, finish with near-white on highest points
5. Weathering: Add green wash or Nihilakh Oxide technical paint to recesses for moss and verdigris effects

Painting Alien and Organic Terrain

The Thalor terrain range, including Thalor Pod #1 and Thalor Nest #1, features organic, biomechanical forms perfect for sci-fi and alien world battlefields.

Universal Terrain Painting Techniques

Drybrushing Mastery

Drybrushing is the terrain painter's best friend. Load an old, splayed brush with paint, wipe most of it off on a paper towel, then lightly brush over raised surfaces. This instantly highlights textures and edges.

Washing and Shading

Washes are thinned paints that flow into recesses, creating instant depth and shadow. Apply generously to terrain. Black wash (Nuln Oil) suits greys and metals. Brown wash (Agrax Earthshade) works for earth tones, bone, and wood.

Weathering and Realism

• Sponge weathering: Dab dark brown and metallic paint with a sponge to simulate chipped paint and rust
• Pigment powders: Apply weathering pigments for dust, rust, and grime effects
• Streaking: Thin dark paint heavily and drag downward from recesses to simulate water stains

Final Thoughts

Painting terrain is one of the most rewarding aspects of the wargaming hobby. Whether you're painting our Desert Terrain for arid battlefields, creating gothic horror with Undead Pillars, or bringing alien worlds to life with Thalor Pods, these techniques will help you create stunning tabletop landscapes.