Collection: Games Workshop Layer Paints
Layers are the biggest Citadel range for a reason — this is where highlighting lives. They carry less pigment than Base paints and flow more smoothly, so you can build brighter tones onto raised areas without swamping detail. Applied after your shade has dried, working from a mid-tone up to a fine edge highlight, they’re what give a model that crisp, “how did they do that?” finish that separates a tabletop army from a showcase piece.
The trick is to think in ladders rather than single pots: a base colour, then two or three Layers stepping up in brightness. Evil Sunz Scarlet brightens reds and Moot Green lifts greens, while grey ladders like Dawnstone and Administratum Grey are perfect for edge-highlighting armour, stone and cloth. Bone and skull tones like Ushabti Bone and Screaming Skull finish aged bone beautifully, and White Scar handles your brightest final points of light.
Every pot is 12ml of water-based acrylic with a matte finish. Thin them well — Layers reward a slightly watered mix and a light touch far more than a loaded brush — and keep each highlight smaller than the one before to build convincing depth. A wet palette helps enormously here, keeping your thinned paint workable for longer and giving you far more control over blends. Many of these colours are also designed to pair directly with a matching Base tone, so buying them in small families rather than one at a time makes highlighting far more intuitive.
Because it’s the largest Citadel range, the Layer collection is also where you’ll find the exact in-between tones for custom schemes and freehand detail. Get the most from them over the Base and Shade ranges, or explore all Games Workshop paints at R&R Hobbies.
