[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"faction-/factions/malstrain-genestealers":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"date":289,"description":290,"extension":291,"faction":292,"heroImage":293,"hex":294,"intro":295,"lastUpdated":289,"meta":296,"navigation":297,"path":298,"seo":299,"stem":300,"system":301,"__hash__":302},"factions/factions/malstrain-genestealers.md","How to Paint Malstrain Genestealers",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":279},"minimark",[9,13,16,21,24,28,75,92,107,111,114,139,156,160,179,190,196,200,203,237,241,270],[10,11,12],"p",{},"The Malstrain are the Hive Secundus strain, and they should not look like a freshly hatched brood. Everything about them wants to read as old: a purple carapace gone slightly dusty, flesh with no blood in it, and a layer of settled grime up the legs. That last part is the bit most painters skip, and it is the difference between a clean tyranid and something that has been in a sealed dome since the dome was sealed.",[10,14,15],{},"They are also a quick gang. Chitin takes washes and drybrushing beautifully, there is almost no trim, and the models are large enough that the work shows.",[17,18,20],"h2",{"id":19},"the-signature-look","The signature look",[10,22,23],{},"A cool purple carapace that drops towards blue in the shadows, set against pallid grey-pink flesh with no warmth in it. Bone talons and teeth give the third value. Then dirt: dry, pale, powdery filth clinging to the lower limbs and the undersides. Two of those three are colour decisions; the third is a texture decision, and it is the one that sells the model.",[17,25,27],{"id":26},"the-purple-carapace","The purple carapace",[29,30,31,40,51,58,65],"ol",{},[32,33,34,35,39],"li",{},"Basecoat ",[36,37,38],"strong",{},"Naggaroth Night"," over a black undercoat, two thin coats.",[32,41,42,43,46,47,50],{},"Shade with ",[36,44,45],{},"Druchii Violet"," in the plate joins. Where you want the shadows colder, use ",[36,48,49],{},"Drakenhof Nightshade"," instead - a blue shadow under a purple plate is what makes chitin look hard.",[32,52,53,54,57],{},"Layer ",[36,55,56],{},"Xereus Purple"," across the raised carapace, keeping the shade in the seams.",[32,59,60,61,64],{},"Edge-highlight ",[36,62,63],{},"Genestealer Purple"," along the ridges and the leading edge of each plate.",[32,66,67,68,70,71,74],{},"On the biggest surfaces only, add a whisper of ",[36,69,63],{}," mixed with ",[36,72,73],{},"White Scar"," on the sharpest corners.",[10,76,77,80,81,84,85,88,89,91],{},[36,78,79],{},"The fast route:"," undercoat ",[36,82,83],{},"Grey Seer",", one coat of ",[36,86,87],{},"Shyish Purple"," contrast, then drybrush ",[36,90,63],{}," over the whole carapace. The contrast does the shading and the drybrush does the highlight, and on textured chitin nobody can tell you did it in two steps. This is the route for a full brood.",[10,93,94,95,98,99,102,103,106],{},"Vallejo ",[36,96,97],{},"Royal Purple"," into ",[36,100,101],{},"Warlord Purple",", or Army Painter ",[36,104,105],{},"Hive Dweller Purple",", cover the same ground.",[17,108,110],{"id":109},"the-pallid-flesh","The pallid flesh",[10,112,113],{},"The trap here is painting normal skin. Malstrain flesh is bloodless and slightly grey.",[29,115,116,122,127,133],{},[32,117,34,118,121],{},[36,119,120],{},"Rakarth Flesh",".",[32,123,42,124,126],{},[36,125,45],{},", not a flesh wash. Purple in the recesses keeps the skin cold and ties it to the carapace.",[32,128,53,129,132],{},[36,130,131],{},"Pallid Wych Flesh"," over the raised muscle.",[32,134,135,136,138],{},"Highlight ",[36,137,73],{}," very sparingly on the brow, knuckles and the tops of tensed limbs.",[10,140,94,141,144,145,148,149,152,153,155],{},[36,142,143],{},"Pale Flesh"," or Army Painter ",[36,146,147],{},"Corpse Pale"," and ",[36,150,151],{},"Necrotic Flesh"," work as substitutes. If a model looks too healthy, glaze thinned ",[36,154,45],{}," over the flesh again rather than repainting it.",[17,157,159],{"id":158},"talons-teeth-and-eyes","Talons, teeth and eyes",[10,161,162,163,166,167,170,171,174,175,178],{},"Claws, teeth and the ribbed underbelly plates: ",[36,164,165],{},"Rhinox Hide"," basecoat, ",[36,168,169],{},"Agrax Earthshade",", layer ",[36,172,173],{},"Karak Stone",", then ",[36,176,177],{},"Screaming Skull"," on the very tips. A yellowed talon against a purple plate is a strong contrast and worth doing carefully - there are only a dozen of them per model.",[10,180,181,182,185,186,189],{},"Mouths and tongues: ",[36,183,184],{},"Khorne Red"," into the recess, ",[36,187,188],{},"Wild Rider Red"," on the tongue, and a gloss coat so the mouth stays wet against an otherwise dusty model.",[10,191,192,193,195],{},"Eyes are simplest left blind: a solid dot of ",[36,194,177],{}," with no pupil reads as a thing that hunts by scent, which is exactly right for the strain.",[17,197,199],{"id":198},"hive-secundus-grime","Hive Secundus grime",[10,201,202],{},"Do this last, over everything, or it will not look like dirt.",[204,205,206,213,220,226],"ul",{},[32,207,208,209,212],{},"Drag thinned ",[36,210,211],{},"Steel Legion Drab"," upwards from the feet across the lower legs and the underside of the body, keeping it patchy.",[32,214,215,216,219],{},"Stipple ",[36,217,218],{},"Typhus Corrosion"," into the deepest crevices around the joints and claws.",[32,221,222,223,225],{},"Dust the whole lower third with a very light drybrush of ",[36,224,173],{}," - dry, pale powder rather than wet mud.",[32,227,228,229,232,233,236],{},"Base to match with ",[36,230,231],{},"Stirland Mud"," or a cracked ",[36,234,235],{},"Agrellan Earth"," panel, and let a little of the same dust ride up onto the model.",[17,238,240],{"id":239},"tips-and-common-mistakes","Tips and common mistakes",[204,242,243,249,255,261],{},[32,244,245,248],{},[36,246,247],{},"Keep the flesh colder than you want to."," Every instinct says add pink. Resist it; the purple shade is what makes the model look wrong in the right way.",[32,250,251,254],{},[36,252,253],{},"Drybrush the carapace, do not layer it."," These sculpts are covered in ridges. A drybrush catches them all in one pass and layering them takes twenty times as long for a worse result.",[32,256,257,260],{},[36,258,259],{},"Grime the undersides, not the tops."," Dirt settles and splashes upwards. Dust on the top of a shoulder plate reads as a mistake.",[32,262,263,266,267,269],{},[36,264,265],{},"Vary the brood."," Push one or two models bluer with an extra ",[36,268,49],{}," glaze so the group does not look moulded from one piece of plastic.",[10,271,272,273,278],{},"When the palette is settled, ",[274,275,277],"a",{"href":276},"/tools/scheme-generator?color=6B3FA0","open this scheme in the generator"," to swap brands or push the carapace further towards blue.",{"title":280,"searchDepth":281,"depth":281,"links":282},"",2,[283,284,285,286,287,288],{"id":19,"depth":281,"text":20},{"id":26,"depth":281,"text":27},{"id":109,"depth":281,"text":110},{"id":158,"depth":281,"text":159},{"id":198,"depth":281,"text":199},{"id":239,"depth":281,"text":240},"2026-09-03","A guide to painting Malstrain Genestealers for Necromunda - purple-blue carapace, cold pallid mutant flesh, bone talons and a century of Hive Secundus grime.","md","Malstrain Genestealers",null,"#6B3FA0","Purple carapace, dead-pale flesh and dust that has settled for a hundred years",{},true,"/factions/malstrain-genestealers",{"title":5,"description":290},"factions/malstrain-genestealers","necromunda","ohQun3muAhmU_QvWDk0DaL1vGqKz5vUXbK-4NFReIoc"]