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Painting references and inspiration

A scrapbook of models, materials, and small details to study for future painting projects. These references are inspiration for future work, separate from the approved painting recipes.

Pinch Painting and Lion’s Wrath

Creator: Pinch Painting, credited as @pinchpainting on the photographs. Army: Lion’s Wrath, his custom Dark Angels successor. Saved: 2026-10-16.

Army color balance

Five Lions Wrath Terminators with pale upper armor, dark green legs, red weapons, and warm rocky bases

Photo: Pinch Painting, gallery entry Oops All Terminators. Original photograph.

Elements to study: pale upper armor against almost-black green limbs; restrained red weapon casings; warm ochre basing repeated across the unit. Useful for judging the balance of light and dark at squad distance.

Black green armor and fine edges

Close view of a dark green shoulder with fine green edge highlights and a red chapter symbol

Photo: Pinch Painting, Black Armour recipe. Original photograph · Source recipe.

Elements to study: a very dark armor body with narrow green highlights around the shoulder; the red marking remains legible without brightening the entire panel.

Bone armor and weathering

Close view of pale bone chest armor with warm brown shadows, fine light edges, and small surface scratches

Photo: Pinch Painting, Bone Armour recipe. Original photograph · Source recipe.

Elements to study: warm pink-brown shadows around pale armor faces; fine light edges; small scratches that leave most of the broad surface clean. This is a material reference, not a selection for the Deathwing recipe.

White wings and character accents

Lions Wrath Captain with a white helmet wing, crimson cloth, warm metal details, and a turquoise power sword

Photo: Pinch Painting, gallery entry Captain. Original photograph.

Elements to study: the white helmet wing against dark armor; deep crimson cloth framing the body; a bright turquoise blade carrying the strongest color accent.

Chaplain details

Jump Chaplain in dark green armor with a cream skull and shoulder, red pistol, aged gold crozius, and purple grip

Photo: Pinch Painting, gallery entry Jump Chaplain. Original photograph.

Elements to study: cream skull and shoulder against dark armor; a red pistol kept subordinate to the face and weapon; aged gold and a purple grip on the crozius.

Aged gold and cool recesses

Muted gold chest aquila with dark recesses and greenish weathering

Photo: Pinch Painting, Battered Gold recipe. Original photograph · Source recipe.

Elements to study: subdued warm metal with strong feather separation and cool greenish recess accents. A reference for weathered metal, separate from the clean gold test already staged for the army.

Warm rocky basing

Layered ochre rocks, dark earth, sparse tufts, and green armored feet

Photo: Pinch Painting, Marine Base Scheme recipe. Original photograph · Source recipe.

Elements to study: warm layered rock against the cool dark armor; dark gaps preserving depth; sparse tufts rather than blanket vegetation.

Elements to revisit

  • Black green armor with narrow, selective edge highlights.
  • White or bone details that stay distinct against dark armor.
  • Warm bone shadows and restrained surface scratches.
  • Turquoise blades and plasma as small, strong accents.
  • Aged gold with clear feather separation.
  • A consistent warm base palette across a unit.

Personal notes

  • Guide presentation: save Pinch’s dark recipe cards, adjacent finished-model photographs, technique labels, component color dots, and visible mixing ratios as layout inspiration.

Add another reference

For each new reference, save the creator and source link, a photograph or detail, the element worth studying, and personal notes. Use a separate entry when only one small feature is relevant; a whole model does not need to become a complete recipe.

All photographs in this first collection are credited to Pinch Painting / @pinchpainting. Original photographs retain the creator’s watermark and full framing.