For this wargaming base painting guide, we're using as few colours as possible to create a quick Eldar Craftworld look on one of our Planetary Temple bases. We've used a 32mm sized base and a bleached bone colour scheme to create a wraithbone effect.

Most of the heavy lifting for this technique will be done with a wash and a light drybrush, as our Planetary Temple bases have all the texture needed to make those colours pop. We're aiming for a classic Aeldari off-white colour scheme, resembling the wraithbone that their craftworlds are made from. It would also double up as any High Elf or Scinari/Aelven fantasy setting too, as many of their cultures feature beautiful stonework made from natural materials.

You will need:

• A stiff-bristled brush for drybrushing
• A medium-sized brush for washing 
• A fine brush for appying details
• A bit of cloth or rag for dabbing excess wash

Colours we used:

• A white undercoat (we used cheap car primer)
• A white paint for drybrushing (we used Citadel White Scar)
• A bone-coloured wash (we used Citadel Skeleton Horde contrast)
• A technical paint for the gem stones (we used Citadel Blood for the Blood God)
• A neutral colour for the base rim (we used Citadel Abaddon Black)

We're starting from a white undercoat as the majority of the base will be light coloured. Take your bone-coloured wash (we've used Citadel Skeleton Horde Contrast) and give the whole base a healthy coating.

Don't worry about being neat as we'll tidy up the gems and base rim later. Try to get the wash into the grooves of the base, as we'll be mopping up any excess in the next stage.

While the wash is still wet, take your cloth or rag and carefully dab off any excess on the uppermost layer. You want to leave an even coat of the Contrast paint across the surface while removing any heavy areas of wash that might create a pooling effect.

When the previous layer has fully dried, grab a stiff-bristled drybrush and some white paint. Apply a light drybrush of white across the base, building it up in layers rather than one thick application. Take care to make your brush strokes perpendicular across the grooves rather than along them, which will help avoid any of the paint going into the grooves of the base.

Again, don't worry about making a mess of the gems or rim as we'll be tidying those up in the next stages.

Time for a splash of colour! There are many excellent gem painting guides on the internet if you wanted to get specific, but this tutorial is for getting your bases tabletop ready as quickly as possible.

There are lots of technical paints that would work for this step - anything glossy or with metallic pigments would work well to catch the light and draw your eye to them. We've gone with Citadel Blood for the Blood God for a deep crimson spirit stone shine.

Our technique is to slightly overload the brush and blob the paint onto the gem, taking care not to allow it to touch the actual base. This avoids brush strokes appearing in the gem stone and gives the finished product a smooth, uniform finish.

The last step (and our personal favourite) is to finish the base by painting the rim. We favour two thin coats of a dark colour that complements the overall base colour scheme, usually black, dark grey, or dark brown. Here we've used Citadel Abaddon Black to contrast the pale bone and red gemstone, but a dark brown would work well for a more neutral earthy colour scheme.

Some people don't do this step, but we believe that painting the rim of the base is like framing your favourite poster or wall hanging - it fully finishes off the look by tidying, containing, and presenting the artwork you've invested in.

And you're finished!

What do you think? Would you like to see it in different colours, or on different sized bases? Let us know in the comments below or through our social accounts.

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Pick up your own Planetary Temple bases here and get crafting your craftworld!