Slapchop for the Impatient: How to Paint an Army in One Weekend?

Are you standing in front of a closet full of "grey plastic," and the next battle is approaching relentlessly? The Slapchop method is currently the hottest trend in the world of wargaming, allowing you to achieve effects that look like hours of work in just a few minutes per model.

Here's your complete guide on how to get an entire army ready in one intense weekend.

🎨 What's the magic behind Slapchop?

Traditional painting means: primer -> base -> wash -> highlight. This takes ages. Slapchop reverses this process. First, we build up all the light and shadow using black and white, and then we apply a "colour filter."

What will you need?

• Black spray primer (preferably matte).
• Light grey and white paint for drybrushing.
• A large, fluffy brush (a makeup brush works perfectly).
• Contrast / Speedpaint / Xpress Color paints – these do 90% of the work here.
• 🛠️ Weekend Schedule

Friday evening: The Great Blackening

Start by preparing the models from printallica.eu. Remove any support remnants and ensure the models are clean.

1. Apply black primer to all models.
2. Make sure you've reached every nook and cranny. Black will be our "natural shadow" in deep recesses.

Saturday morning: The Great Brushing (The Slap)

This is the most important stage. You need to create a monochromatic sculpture of the model.

1. Grey Drybrush: Take a large brush, load it with grey paint, wipe it almost dry on a paper towel, and vigorously sweep it over the model from all sides.

• Apply one solid coat to a given element (e.g., blue on armour, brown on leather straps).
• The paint will automatically run off the raised areas (where the white drybrush is) and settle in the recesses (where the black is).
• White Drybrush: Do the same with white paint, but this time focus only on the upper parts of the model (brush strokes from top to bottom).

Effect: The model should look like a black and white photo. If it looks good at this stage, it will look brilliant once colour is applied.

Saturday afternoon: Colouring (The Chop)

Now for the most enjoyable part. Choose Contrast paints.

Watch out for pooling! Control that the paint doesn't collect in too large patches in one place.

Sunday: Details and Finishing Touches

Today we'll focus on what makes the army look cohesive.

1. Metals: Paint weapons and buckles with regular silver metallic paint. If you wish, apply a black wash (e.g., Nuln Oil) over them.
2. Eyes/Lenses: A small dot of bright colour will bring the models to life.
3. Bases: Quick texture, a bit of tufts of grass, and done.

💡 3 Pro-tips for maximum speed

1. Batch Painting: Never paint one model from A to Z. Apply blue to the armour of all 20 soldiers, then brown to all straps. You save time on brush cleaning and paint changing.
2. A hairdryer is your friend: Contrast paints dry a bit longer. Use a hairdryer to speed up the process and move on to the next colour in a few seconds.
3. Don't fix mistakes immediately: If you splash brown on blue armour, wait for it to dry. Paint over it with a bit of white and apply blue Contrast again.

 

Thanks to this method, your models from printallica.eu will be table-ready in record time, and from a meter away (which is how you look at them during a game), they'll look like a professional commission paint job.