How to Paint Stormcast Eternals Steelheart Champions
By Frontline Gaming | Published: 2026-10-31
Category: How-to Guides
A step-by-step guide to painting Stormcast Eternals Steelheart Champions, focusing on gold armor, blue robes, and practical techniques for tabletop-ready results.
Quick answer
Start with a black primer, then layer gold and silver metallics for the armor, and finish with deep blue robes and a simple base to make your Steelheart Champions tabletop-ready.
Choosing your gold recipe
Stormcast Eternals armor is iconic for its polished gold. You can achieve this with a base of Retributor Armour Gold (or a similar warm gold metallic), shaded with a brown wash, and highlighted with a bright silver or white metal. Avoid using pure yellow—it looks flat and doesn't read as metallic on the tabletop.
Dealing with secondhand miniatures
If you picked up a Stormcast Eternals Steelheart Champions miniature from Frontline Gaming's secondhand shop, it may have existing paint or primer. Strip it gently with isopropyl alcohol and a soft toothbrush before starting. This gives you a clean surface and prevents paint buildup from obscuring detail.
Painting steps
- Prime the model: Spray a thin coat of black primer (e.g., Chaos Black or Army Painter black) over the entire miniature. Let it dry for at least 2 hours. Avoid thick primer—it fills in the fine armor details.
- Base coat the armor: Paint all armor plates with a metallic gold base. Two thin coats are better than one thick one. Let each coat dry fully. Thin your paint to the consistency of skim milk to avoid brush marks.
- Wash the armor recesses: Apply a brown or sepia wash (1:3 paint-to-water ratio) into the recesses of the armor panels. Wipe away excess with a damp brush. Don't let the wash pool on flat surfaces—it will stain the gold unevenly.
- Highlight the armor edges: Drybrush a bright silver or white metal (like Citadel Mithril Silver) along the raised edges of the armor. Use a stiff, flat brush with minimal paint. Less paint on the brush gives a sharper highlight line.
- Paint the robes: Paint the cloth areas with a deep blue (e.g., Kantor Blue). Layer a lighter blue (like Temple Guard Blue) on the raised folds for contrast. Keep the blue separate from the gold—don't let them touch while wet.
- Paint the weapons and details: Paint the hammer head and other metal bits with a dark silver or gunmetal. Add a thin black wash to the weapon recesses, then drybrush the edges with silver. Weapons look bigger if you leave the center dark and the edges bright.
- Base and finish: Glue the model to its base (if separate). Paint the base a neutral grey or brown, then apply a matte varnish over the whole model to seal it. Matte varnish preserves the metallic sheen better than gloss.
Product notes
- stormcast eternals steelheart champions GGF-31: Secondhand Shop Product sales are final and sold as-is. Items are "What you see is what you get" and are purchased exclusively from clients through our Secondhand Store Program. If you buy a pre-owned Steelheart Champions model, you may need to strip old paint—factor that into your prep time.
stormcast eternals steelheart champions GGF-31
