Painting Hive Lazarus Hex Tiles – What I did.
Lazagram Side Questing
Recommendations: 6
About the Project
Side Questing to aid my procrastination about something else I should definitely be doing first. Those bits that don't deserve their own fully blow project. Enjoy
Related Genre: Science Fiction
This Project is Active
Imperial Saint Statue and Grimdark Fence Painting Comp OCT
Theme of the month - Gloomy
Another enjoyable month’s entry, gloomy the theme. Couldn’t find anything amongst the pile that was ‘gloomy’, so I 3D printed it again. The Statue on the pedestal, designed by LORDNORAKAI on Cult3D was initially going to be on its own, but I also stumbled across some Grimdark fence designs by FU11ER and decided to add them to the mix. I intend to base them on something at some point. I made another attempt at using UV resin, this time for a water effect. Still not quite got the knack of it, didn’t quite achieve the still flat water I was after.
A fun entry and a nice usable piece of terrain. Some brilliant entries and congrats to the joint winners @blinky465 and @horati0nosebl0wer
Quick Reference Recipe
- Prime Grey → Spray Black
- Statue: Administratum Grey basecoat → Nuln Oil wash → Brass and Metal Details → Agrax Earthshade
- Base & Plinth: Eshin Grey → Black drybrush → Nuln Oil + Agrax Earthshade
- Basin: Frostheart Contrast + White mix (bottom) → UV Resin fill
- Fence (stone): Grey prime → Black spray → Eshin Grey + Administratum Grey drybrush → Nuln Oil shade → Leadbelcher + Brass details → Agrax wash
- Finish: Matte varnish, selective gloss
Next month’s theme is Magical Explosion.
A late thankyou
Greatly appreciated and very motivating :) Grimdark Hex Tiles Painting Comp September
I left it so late i had to rush a 24hour paint comp entry out, theme City. Turned out be be great fun and i found these cool grimdark hex tiles on 3D search and away i went.
Printing & Preparation
- Printer: Ender 3 S1 Pro
- Material: PLA+ filament
- Nozzle: 0.2 mm
- Supports: None required
- Print Times: • Standard hex tiles (less intricate): ~50 minutes each • Hive Spire: ~1 hour 40 minutes
Tiles were printed individually for consistent quality and easy handling. Minimal cleanup was needed before priming.
Materials
Primer
- Grey spray primer
Citadel Colours
- Abaddon Black
- Leadbelcher
- Iron Hands Steel
- Retributor Armour
- Administratum Grey
- Eshin Grey
- Trollslayer Orange
- Hexwraith Flame
- Moot Green (not pictured, no hate, just forgot)
- Nuln Oil
- Nuln Oil Gloss
- Seraphim Sepia
Two Thin Coats
- Steampunk Copper
- Dragons Gold
- Chaos Bronze
Brushes
- Small and Medium Shade Brush (for washes)
- Small and Medium flat brush (for drybrushing)
- Fine detail brushes (for accents and highlights)
- A Small Sponge or a piece of
Painting Process
- Primer
- Grey spray primer applied to all tiles.
- Basecoat
- Leadbelcher across all surfaces as the metallic foundation.
- Drybrushing
- Drybrushed with Chaos Bronze, Steampunk Copper, Retributor Armour, Iron Hands Steel, and Dragon’s Gold.
- Established texture and variation early, giving a corroded, copper‑rust look.
- Washes (first stage)
- Nuln Oil into recesses to define details.
- Seraphim Sepia was layered afterwards to add a rusty tone and unify the tiles.
- On the Hive Spire, Sepia concentrated around the edges to blend it into the surrounding city.
- Tile Treatments
- Industrial Tiles (3 with roofed structures): • Extra Sepia for grime and corrosion. • Roofs highlighted with Retributor Armour/Dragons Gold. • Chimneys: drybrushed with Eshin Grey for soot, then highlighted with a copper + gold mix. • Toxic pools: Hexwraith Flame base, Moot Green highlights, finished with Nuln Oil Gloss for a wet, oily sheen.
- Outer City Tiles (2): • Painted lighter overall for contrast. • Abaddon Black used on details and recesses for depth. • Administratum Grey and Eshin Grey added for variation. • Trollslayer Orange stippled for rust patches and hazard details.
- Hive Spire (focal point): • After Nuln Oil, drybrushed with copper, gold, Eshin Grey, Administratum Grey, and Leadbelcher. • Seraphim Sepia around the base edges for smooth transition. • Highlighted again with the same colours after washes. • Gold highlights concentrated on spire tips and ridges. • Copper and bronze elements layered for richness. Some Sponge Work to apply speckled Eshin grey for texture.
- Highlights & Accents
- Administratum Grey for edges and stone/concrete details.
- Iron Hands Steel drybrushed lightly on raised areas.
- Hexwraith Flame + Moot Green + Nuln Oil Gloss for glowing, wet‑looking toxic pools.
- Small dots of light grey/white for reflection on glowing areas.
- Final Unifying Wash
- A thin coat of Seraphim Sepia across all tiles to unify tones.
- Finish
- Sprayed with matte varnish (budget brand) to protect and flatten the finish.
- Gloss effects on toxic pools remained intact, contrasting against the matte surfaces.
Quick Reference Recipe
- Prime grey
- Basecoat Leadbelcher
- Drybrush metallics (copper, bronze, gold, steel)
- Wash Nuln Oil → Seraphim Sepia
- Tile details: • Industrial = grime, gold roofs, soot‑stained chimneys, glowing toxic pools • Outer City = lighter tones, black recesses, rust patches • Spire = darker, layered metallics, gold tips
- Highlights (grey edges, steel, Moot Green glow)
- Final Sepia wash
- Matte varnish
Credit & Acknowledgement: The Grimdark Hive City Hex Grid models were created by THE_SIGNAL and are available on Cult3D:
PS – There was a poor attempt to apply UV resin to the reactor pools. I started on the one I painted orange, but it was completely misjudged, and I enveloped the sector in a huge blob of UV resin. Hence, the big, clear/orange blob on one of the industrial tiles. Millions have died as a result, and the whole sector has been evacuated. I omitted this from the Paint list to avoid any potential liability. I did not use any more UV resin and instead stuck to the Gloss Nuln oil.
