How to Paint Lumineth Realm-lords

The Lumineth Realm-lords are high-fantasy aelves, and their painting reflects it: clean, elegant and bright, built on aether-gold and white with pastel accents. They reward neat, controlled work over weathering - the opposite of a grimy Nurgle or Ork army - and they punish a heavy hand more than almost any other range in Age of Sigmar.

They are also a bigger job than they look. A Lumineth model is mostly two large, unforgiving surfaces - a sheet of gold and a sheet of white cloth - with very little detail to hide behind. Settle those two recipes before you touch a squad and the rest of the army is decoration.

The signature look

Pale aether-gold armour, crisp white robes, cold pale skin, and soft pastel accents - sky blue, mint, lilac - on cloth and crests. The whole force should look refined and luminous: smooth colours, sharp edges, no grime anywhere. Where other armies get their interest from contrast, Lumineth get theirs from cleanliness.

The aether-gold

Lumineth gold is paler and colder than the warm bronze-gold on, say, a dwarf army. Aim for something closer to polished brass than to treasure.

1. Basecoat Retributor Armour, two thin coats. Gold is a pigment-heavy paint and one coat over black will look grey.
2. Shade with Reikland Fleshshade rather than Agrax Earthshade. The flesh shade keeps the metal warm and clean; the brown one dirties it, which is exactly what you do not want here.
3. Layer Liberator Gold across the raised plates, leaving the shade in the recesses.
4. Edge highlight Stormhost Silver on the outer corners only - a fine line, not a full edge.

For the pale, almost white-gold look on characters, run Auric Armour Gold over the Liberator Gold step and take the silver edge further. Balthasar Gold underneath instead of Retributor gives a deeper, older metal that suits Alarith stone-warriors.

Speed route. Undercoat Wraithbone, one coat of Sigmarite contrast, then edge Stormhost Silver. It is one coat and a highlight, and on rank-and-file Vanari it is very hard to tell from the layered version at arm's length. Nazdreg Yellow thinned with Contrast Medium over the same undercoat gives a warmer, more amber armour if you prefer it.

Other ranges: Vallejo runs Polished Gold into Glorious Gold; Army Painter Fanatic gives Greedy Gold into Bright Gold with Shining Silver as the edge.

White cloth

White is a colour you build up to, never a colour you paint on. Starting from White Scar guarantees a chalky, streaky robe.

1. Basecoat Grey Seer.
2. Shade the deep folds only with heavily thinned Basilicanum Grey, or Drakenhof Nightshade if you want the white to read cool blue.
3. Layer Ulthuan Grey over everything but the recesses.
4. Highlight White Scar along the tops of the folds and the outer hem.

The one-coat version is Apothecary White contrast over Grey Seer, and it is genuinely good on a Vanari robe - the pigment settles into the fold lines and does the shading for you. Two thin coats if the first looks patchy.

Keep the shading subtle. The commonest Lumineth mistake by a distance is over-shading the white until the army looks grey; if you can see where the wash stopped, it went on too thick.

Skin and hair

Aelf skin should be pale and cold rather than pink:

1. Kislev Flesh basecoat.
2. Thinned Reikland Fleshshade in the recesses only - do not wash the whole face.
3. Flayed One Flesh on the raised areas, then a touch of Pallid Wych Flesh on the brow, nose and cheekbones.

Ionrach Skin shaded with Apothecary White is the colder, more spectral alternative, and it suits the Scinari mages.

White hair is the default and it is the same discipline as the cloth: Celestra Grey, Longbeard Grey drybrushed along the strands, then White Scar on the outermost hairs only. Painting hair with the direction of the braid rather than across it does most of the work.

Pastel accents

The soft pastel robes, sashes and crests are what give Lumineth their serene character, and mixing them yourself is easier than hunting for the right pot. Take an accent colour and add white until it is barely saturated:

• Sky blue - Teclis Blue with White Scar mixed in, or Baharroth Blue straight from the pot.
• Mint - Gauss Blaster Green lightened with White Scar.
• Lilac - Dechala Lilac, or Blue Horror for the palest version.

Whichever you choose, use one accent family across the army. Three pastels on one model reads as confetti; one pastel repeated on twenty models reads as a nation.

The Vanari, the Alarith and the Hurakan

The range divides into temples, and each one wants a slightly different emphasis:

• Vanari - the line troops (Auralan Wardens and Sentinels, Bladelords, Dawnriders). Gold armour, white robes, one pastel accent. This is the recipe above, unchanged, and it is most of your army.
• Alarith - the mountain temple (Stoneguard, Stonemage, Avalenor). Bring stone into the palette: Grey Seer basecoat, thinned Basilicanum Grey in the cracks, drybrush Administratum Grey, then Dawnstone on the sharp broken edges. A wash of Wyldwood in the deepest crevices makes the rock look ancient rather than new.
• Hurakan - the wind temple (Windchargers, Windmage, Sevireth). Push the accents cooler and lighter: Aethermatic Blue contrast over Wraithbone on the trailing cloth reads as moving air, and it takes one coat.
• Scinari - the mages (Cathallar, Calligrave, Loreseeker). These are your showpieces; spend the extra time on the skin and the gems.

Gems, lamps and aetherquartz

The glowing stones are the one place the army gets a saturated colour, so make them count.

1. Basecoat the stone Teclis Blue.
2. Layer Baharroth Blue over everything but the deepest corner.
3. A dot of White Scar, offset from centre.
4. Glaze thinned Teclis Blue onto the surrounding gold so the gem appears to be lit.

Two or three per model is plenty. Terradon Turquoise or Akhelian Green in place of the blue gives a colder Ymetrican feel.

Bases

Pale bases, always. A white-and-gold army on dark earth looks like it has been dropped in mud.

Armageddon Dust drybrushed Screaming Skull, with a few tufts, gives a bright sandy base in two steps. For the mountain nations, broken slate painted Grey Seer and drybrushed Administratum Grey ties the models to the Alarith stone.

Speed

Lumineth are slower per model than a horde army but there are fewer of them, and the two contrast shortcuts - Sigmarite on the armour, Apothecary White on the robes - collapse most of the work. A realistic plan is to batch the Vanari with contrast, then hand-layer the Alarith and the characters, where the extra hours actually show.

Tips and common mistakes

• Keep it clean. No weathering, no chipping, no mud. Lumineth should look immaculate.
• Shade the white with a whisper. A light cool wash in the recesses is enough; anything heavier turns the army grey.
• Reikland, not Agrax, on the gold. The brown shade is what makes a Lumineth force look like a Stormcast one.
• Pastels, not primaries. Mix white into your accent colour until it is almost too pale, then use it.
• One accent per army. Pick a nation's colour and repeat it.
• Two thin coats on the gold. It is the one paint on this model that genuinely needs them.

Every Lumineth Realm-lords kit and box we can price - the Vanari regiments, the Alarith temple and the character models - is on the Lumineth Realm-lords army page. When the palette is where you want it, open this scheme in the generator to swap paints between brands or shift the accent to another nation.