Paint Recipe | How to Paint Birch Sylvaneth

There's a new army in town, at least to the Space Dinosaur. New armies are always a good time, as you get to experiment with what you're doing before you settle into a paint scheme. I had been leaning towards a birchwood style for my Sylvaneth for quite a bit, but to be honest, painting all of those black strips was a tad intimidating. Can't let that stop me though, so I dived in and got a test model done, and in this post I'll show you how I did it. 

The particular model isn't important, but I chose a Branchwych as it had elements for all of the aspects of the Sylvaneth army. Notably the sprite and the blade, which were, at the beginning, difficult to come up with colors to match the birchwood style I was going for. The next step was to get a reference photo.

The photo also provided some inspiration to go for an autumnal look. So at that point I had all the necessary components to get started. I gathered all of my paints and was ready to go. I primed the model with my standard Vallejo Gray Primer and readied the base with Vallejo Earth Texture. 

Since Birch is a pale wood, I started with Flayed One Flesh (GW) which is a warmer cream color. Once I had a smooth base painted, I used Soft Tone (AP) as I thought Agrax Earthshade was too strong. I diluted the Soft Tone a little further with water and applied it all over the model. You mostly want to focus on the recesses of the model, as you still want the pale color of the base tone. 

Once dried, I drybrushed Matt White (AP) all over the model. This really made the model pop and gave a more interesting and varied base than if I had just started with white. With this base down, I used very Diluted Nuln Oil (GW) to make thin strips all over the model. This was applied randomly and I tried not to put too many stripes too close to each other. Once I was happy with this, I used Wyldwood Contrast (GW) to dab in the middle of the stripes. Leave some of the Nuln Oil showing as it gives some nice variance and makes it look more natural. After this dried, I went back with heavily diluted Flayed One Flesh to tone down some of the strongest stripes and to blend it back into the model. 

All of the orange on the model was painted with different techniques. The blade was basecoated with Salmon Rose (VJ) which is a strong pink color from Vallejo. I then went back in with Cassandora Yellow (GW) wash, which turns the pink into a lovely yellow-orange color, as well as shading the recesses. I really like this technique and I'd been meaning to try it again since I accidentally found it with my Eidolon of Mathlann. The leaf skirt was painted with Lava Orange (AP) diluted with water and washed over the Vallejo Gray. I then went back in with some Dragon Red (AP) and Flash Gitz Yellow (GW) to highlight random leaves. 

The final bit of orange was the braid. I painted this with Lava Orange (AP) straight from the bottle, then washed with Carroburg Crimson (GW). I went back with an Averland Sunset (GW) drybrush and I was done. And that's all of the orange on the model. There were a few little leaves in places that I just painted with Flash Gitz Yellow (GW). 

Next up was the sprite. I got a new color, Toxic Mist (AP) that is a nice light blue with some slight green. I painted the whole centipede with it. I washed it with Blue Tone (AP), cleaning up any pooling with Toxic Mist. I then mixed a 50/50 Toxic Mist/Matt White and used that to highlight the model. 

At this point all that was left was the haft. I wanted it to look like wood while contrasting with the model itself, so I used undiluted Wyldwood Contrast to paint the whole thing. It has a glossy finish which I'm all right with as I think it gives it a lacquered look. And your done! I based the model with some extra leaves to really sell the fall look and I was good to go.

-The Space Dinosaur