How to Paint Palanite Enforcers

Enforcers are the most "uniform" gang in Necromunda, and that is a gift. Every fighter wears the same plate in the same colour, the panels are large and smooth, and the interest comes from markings rather than from freehand heraldry. Paint one carefully to settle the recipe, then run the rest in a batch of five or six.

The signature look

Dark, slightly desaturated blue riot armour over black fatigues, with hard-edged highlights that make the plate look like moulded plastic rather than cloth. Against that: yellow and black hazard striping on shields, shoulder plates and shock mauls, white or bone unit numbers, and a lot of gunmetal. The whole thing should look issued and maintained - Enforcers are the one force in the underhive with a quartermaster.

The blue riot armour

Undercoat black. The armour is dark enough that a black basecoat does real work here, and the recesses can simply stay black.

1. Basecoat Kantor Blue, two thin coats. It goes on slightly patchy over black and is opaque by the second pass.
2. Shade only the panel joins and rivets with Nuln Oil. Do not wash the whole model - the armour is already dark and a full wash flattens it.
3. Layer Macragge Blue across the raised faces of every plate, leaving the base colour visible in the recesses and along the panel edges.
4. Edge-highlight Calgar Blue on the top and outer edges of each plate. Keep the lines crisp and unbroken; hard armour wants hard highlights.
5. On champions, Captains and Subjugators, add a final catch of Fenrisian Grey on corners and the crest of the helmet.

Vallejo equivalents through the same ramp: Dark Prussian Blue, Prussian Blue, Imperial Blue and Andrea Blue. Army Painter Fanatic covers it with Deep Blue and Crystal Blue.

The fast route

Undercoat Grey Seer and apply a single coat of Talassar Blue contrast. It dries darker and richer than it looks in the pot and gives you shadow and midtone in one pass; add a Calgar Blue edge and a patrol is table-ready in an evening. For a deeper, more navy result, Ultramarines Blue contrast over a Leadbelcher undercoat gives the plate a faint metallic sheen under the colour, which suits Subjugator armour particularly well.

Fatigues, hazard stripes and markings

Fatigues: basecoat Abaddon Black, then a single thin edge highlight of Eshin Grey on the creases at knee, elbow and shoulder. Cloth wants a softer, broken highlight than the armour - this is the one place on the model where the line should not be crisp.

Hazard stripes are the signature marking and they need a light foundation. Block the whole panel in Zandri Dust or Wraithbone first, basecoat Averland Sunset, shade with Casandora Yellow, then layer Yriel Yellow and highlight Flash Gitz Yellow. Once dry, rule the black diagonals in Abaddon Black with the edge of a small flat brush. Masking tape works, but on a 28mm shoulder plate freehand is usually faster. The contrast alternative is Wraithbone undercoat plus Iyanden Yellow, which is one coat and perfectly good on a shield edge.

Unit numbers and helmet markings: Corax White over the armour, tidied with Grey Seer, then White Scar only where the marking catches light. Transfers behave well on the flat shoulder plates - gloss varnish the panel, apply, then matt the whole model.

Metal: Leadbelcher shaded Nuln Oil with Runefang Steel edges for guns, shock mauls and grilles. Rank badges and aquilas in Retributor Armour, shaded Agrax Earthshade, layered Auric Armour Gold.

Visors and lenses: Khorne Red in the recess, Evil Sunz Scarlet across the body of the lens, Wild Rider Red at the lower edge, and a single White Scar dot in the upper corner. Gloss varnish the lens and nothing else.

Weathering, and how little to use

Enforcers should look serviced, not scavenged. Keep weathering to three places: a dusting of Zandri Dust drybrushed over boots and shins, a few sponge chips of Leadbelcher on the leading edges of shields and shoulder plates, and a wash of Agrax Earthshade around the base of the shock maul where it has been used. Rust belongs on Ash Waste equipment, not on Palanite issue kit.

Tips and common mistakes

• Do not wash the whole model. A full Nuln Oil pass over dark blue turns the armour into flat grey-black. Shade the joins and leave the panels alone.
• Build the yellow on a light base. Yellow over dark blue needs four or five coats and still looks green in the recesses. Two minutes blocking in bone first saves all of it.
• Highlight armour and cloth differently. Crisp lines on plate, soft broken catches on fatigues. If both are done the same way the model reads as one material.
• Keep the blue dark. Enforcer blue is a night-time blue. If your final highlight is brighter than Fenrisian Grey you have drifted into an Ultramarines scheme.
• Batch the boring parts. Basecoat and shade the whole patrol together, then paint markings and lenses one model at a time.

When you are happy with it, open this scheme in the generator to swap brands or trial a different hazard colour.