How to Paint Hadley’s Hope 3D Printed Sci-Fi Terrain

A Simple Beginner-Friendly Painting Guide

By Mark Stephen Evans – LV427-Designs

Painting a big terrain set like Hadley’s Hope can look intimidating, especially when you see beautifully painted tables online. But the good news is you don’t need to be an expert painter, and you definitely don’t need hundreds of dollars in paint.

This guide shows you the simple techniques I use to paint LV427 terrain: inexpensive paints, drybrushing, washes, inks and a few little tricks I’ve picked up over the years.

Start simple, take your time and have fun with it.

1. You Probably Already Have Enough Colors

You don’t need 30 different shades of paint.

If you have a basic color, mix a little black into it to make it darker or a little white into it to make it lighter.

For example, start with a dark red. Once that is dry, mix a little white into the red and lightly add the brighter color over the raised areas.

You can do the same thing with grey, green, blue, brown or almost any other color.

Those lighter and darker layers are what give your terrain depth.

2. Save a Fortune on Paint

Here’s a great way to save money when painting large amounts of LV427 terrain.

Take a sample of your favourite paint, whether it’s Games Workshop, Vallejo, Game Color or another brand, and paint a little onto a piece of card or thick paper.

Take that sample to Home Depot and have them color-match it.

You can get a tester container of matching paint for around $6 US. That sure beats the heck out of buying bottle after bottle of 12ml miniature paint!

This works especially well for large areas. We use colors like dark grey, light grey, desert yellow, Russian green, brown, dead white and red leather. The list goes on.

Save your expensive miniature paints for the smaller details and use the color-matched paint for the big stuff.

3. Cheap Paint Is Perfectly Fine

Don’t think you need expensive miniature paints for everything.

Craft paints can work surprisingly well on large terrain pieces. Games Workshop makes excellent paints, while my personal favourites are Vallejo and Game Color.

Use what you can afford and what works for you.

4. Start With Black Primer

I normally prime everything black.

Black gives you a great starting point for dark industrial terrain because any little areas you miss later simply look like shadows.

A cheap plastic Lazy Susan or rotating cake stand is also really handy. Put your terrain on it and rotate the piece while spraying instead of trying to walk around it.

Simple and cheap.

5. Learn to Drybrush

If you learn only one terrain painting technique, learn drybrushing.

Grab a cheap soft or feathered makeup brush. Dip it into your paint and then wipe almost all the paint off onto paper or wax paper.

When you think there’s hardly any paint left on the brush, you’re ready.

Lightly drag the brush across the terrain. The paint catches the raised edges and details while leaving the deeper areas dark.

That’s it. You can make an enormous difference to a piece of terrain in just a few minutes.

6. Rust Paint Is Your Friend

Hadley’s Hope shouldn’t look brand new.

A couple of rust-effect colors are a great investment. Dab small amounts around corners, pipes, floor plates, bolts and anywhere you think rust and grime would naturally build up.

Don’t cover everything in rust. A little here and there usually looks much better.

7. Brown Ink Is Fantastic

One of my favourite tricks is using brown artist ink.

Winsor & Newton Nut Brown Ink works wonderfully for adding dark brown shadows and grime. It works on terrain and is also useful when painting miniatures and skin tones.

It can dry with a glossy finish, so I recommend spraying the finished piece with a matte clear varnish.

My favourite is Army Painter Matt Varnish.

8. Washes Make Everything Look Old

Washes are one of the easiest ways to take terrain from looking freshly painted to looking old, dirty and lived-in.

Agrax Earthshade is great for dirty brown shading, while Nuln Oil is great for darker black and grey shading.

Apply the wash and let it settle into all those cracks, corners and details.

Want it dirtier? Let it dry and add another layer.

You can also make your own inexpensive washes. See our separate article on making cheap terrain washes.

9. An Easy Metallic Wall Trick

For Hadley’s Hope walls, I like using Rust-Oleum Soft Iron spray.

It quickly gives the walls a metallic industrial appearance without having to hand-paint everything.

Once it is dry, go over it with your wash.

Suddenly that clean metallic wall starts looking like it has been sitting on LV-426 for years.

10. Keep the Floors Simple

I like to lightly drybrush the floors with copper, bronze or another metallic color.

Then I darken everything back down with black, brown ink or wash.

You want the metal to show through without making the entire floor look shiny.

11. Pipes Add the Color

The walls and floors can be dark and dirty, so the pipes are a great place to add some color.

I like using red, blue and yellow.

Paint the pipes with a larger brush first. Don’t worry if you accidentally hit the wall. Once the pipes are finished, simply go back with your wall color and clean up any mistakes.

After that, use a little steel or Soft Iron color to add scratches and worn areas.

Finish them with some brown ink or wash.

12. Desks and Cabinets

For desks, lockers and cabinets, I like starting with a dark green.

Once dry, lightly drybrush them with a lighter green.

The lighter paint catches the corners and edges and makes all the details stand out.

Again, nothing complicated.

13. Easy Computer Screens

Computer screens are much easier if you paint them white first.

Once the white is dry, go over it with a thin green or blue.

You can thin regular paint with something like Vallejo Thinner Medium or use a transparent shade such as Games Workshop Biel-Tan Green.

Because the white underneath is still showing through, the screen looks much brighter.

14. Industrial Red Corridors and Doors

For that classic Hadley’s Hope industrial corridor look, I love using a red leather color.

Once the red is dry, start adding layers of brown or black wash.

One layer gives you some dirt. Two or three layers can make the corridor look seriously old, greasy and worn.

Just remember to let each layer dry.

15. Floor Lights

Floor lights take a little more time, but they’re worth it.

For red lights, start with a dark red and then paint a brighter red over the centre.

The same idea works with blue lights: dark blue first, brighter blue second.

16. Door Lights

Here’s another simple trick.

Paint the door light white first.

Once it dries, paint a very light blue over the white.

That white underneath helps make the light look much brighter.

17. Wiring

For wiring running along the corridors, I like starting with a dark brown leather color.

Then lightly highlight the raised areas with something like Desert Brown.

It’s simple, but it helps separate the wires from the walls around them.

18. Save the Tiny Buttons Until Last

Buttons, switches and little control panels are usually the last things I paint.

Grab a fine brush and take your time.

If your hands shake, try resting one arm on the table and laying your painting arm across it. Supporting both arms can make a huge difference when you’re trying to hit those tiny buttons.

And remember, nobody is inspecting your terrain with a microscope.

If you miss a button, the Colonial Marines will survive. Probably.

19. Cheap Reading Glasses Can Help

You don’t necessarily need an expensive hobby magnifier.

Cheap reading glasses can work surprisingly well for painting tiny details. You can even wear some styles over your normal glasses.

Dollar stores often have them for around $10 or less in different strengths.

Go try on a pair and see for yourself. No pun intended.

20. Don’t Try to Finish Everything at Once

This might be the most important tip in the entire article.

Take your time.

Hadley’s Hope is a big project.

Start by getting your main wall and floor colors finished. Then paint the pipes. Suddenly you’ll have a table that already looks mostly painted.

The buttons, scratches, rust, screens and tiny details can come later.

Take breaks. You don’t have to finish everything in one weekend.

21. Test Your Ideas on Small Pieces

Not sure whether two colors will work together?

Don’t test them on your giant corridor section.

Grab a barrel, cargo stack, crate or another small piece of terrain and experiment.

Try your colors, washes, rust and drybrushing techniques there first.

If you like the result, use the same method on the rest of your table.

You Really Don’t Need Much

Painting terrain does not have to cost a fortune.

To get started, you really only need:

• Five basic colors you like
• Black
• White
• A brown wash or ink
• A couple of cheap brushes
• A makeup brush for drybrushing

You can always add more colors and fancy paints later.

Most importantly, remember that painting terrain is supposed to be fun.

Don’t create pressure where none exists.

For me, painting has always been almost like meditation. Put on some music, take your time and enjoy watching an unpainted piece of plastic slowly turn into part of another world.

I often put on soundtracks like The Lord of the Rings or Oblivion and just paint.

Please Note: These pictures are 6 years old and use upper door frames that were part of our original designs are no longer available.

There is no deadline.
There is no perfect way to do it.

Start small, learn as you go, and have fun building your Hadley’s Hope.