A grimy, heavily weathered Death Guard scheme featuring rotten green armour, corroded metal, brass details, and disgusting fleshy mutations.

Priming & Pre-Shading

1. Prime the entire model with a solid Matte Black or dark Charcoal Grey. Ensure you hit the underside, the leg joints, and the inner gears.
2. Spray a dark, warm brown like Vallejo Chocolate Brown or a deep reddish-brown from a 45-degree angle. This introduces warm undertones into the shadows, which makes the upcoming green look more organic and sickly.
3. Spray a stark Pure White directly from above (90 degrees) focusing heavily on the top curves of the Defiler’s chassis, the top of the claws, and the head.

Airbrushing the Armor Plates

1. Airbrush a thin layer of an olive green or Death Guard Green. Spray this over the mid-tone and highlight areas, but leave the deepest brown/black shadows alone. Keep your paint thin (consistency of milk) so the zenithal undercoat shines through.
2. Spray a mix of Olive Drab and a tiny drop of Deep Purple or Magenta into the recesses from below. Purple is the complementary color to green; adding it to the shadows makes the green look incredibly bruised and diseased.
3. Mix your base green with a bright, cold tone like Ice Yellow or a bright Mint Green. Spray this strictly on the topmost curves of the plates facing the sky. Avoid using white to lighten your green, as it will make the armor look chalky instead of slimy.