Painting vampire counts skeletons as tomb kings!

To start off, I took some vampire skeletons I had sitting around and put some grit on the bases (actually a mix of artist's gel medium, craft glue, grit, and water) and I primed these suckers white.

Then using reaper master series paints, I threw on the following colors

Bone – Base coat in Aged Bone

Helm and, belt, scabbard – base coat in Leather Brown

Blade – base coat in Ancient Bronze

Hair and cloth – base coat in Linen White

Metallic details – base coat in Antique Gold

Base grit – base coat in Amber Gold (not a metallic color)

Darken it with a dark brown wash of some kind. I made my own wash with the following method. two thirds water, one third future floor wax, and I add Muddy Brown to that until I get a wash of the desired intensity. ALWAYS TEST OUT YOUR WASH ON SOMETHING UNIMPORTANT FIRST!

Next I just did a quick round of highlights

Bone – highlighted with Polished Bone

Helm, belt, and scabbard – highlight with Tanned Leather

Blade – brush Ancient Bronze over the blade, and lightly brush on Honed Steel

Hair and cloth – highlight with Pure White

Metallic detailes – highlight with New Gold

Base grit – drybrushed with Linen White

 Then I added a shield I painted in advance and added a bit of static grass and DONE. It wouldn't be too hard to have a tournament ready army in this scheme with some dedication, and you can even skip the highlighting step to save time. Happy Tomb Kings!

-Ian Douglass