In this video I paint my Swooping Hawks for my Eldar army with one goal in mind: efficient army painting with fast results. I asked myself what’s the most time-consuming part of painting an army, and for me the answer is highlights. So I decided to push it and paint a whole unit with basically no highlights at all (except tiny stuff like gems, because yes, I am that kind of horrible person). The trick is building all the definition up front with airbrush pre-shading, a controlled “wash”, and then letting Express paints do the heavy lifting. I start from a light spray (I used a bone primer, but white or light grey works), then I do a reverse zenithal with Warlord Purple to get that magenta underglow that makes the teal armor look amazing later. After a strong white zenithal, I gloss varnish and show you my acrylic “oil wash” alternative: I thin Vallejo True Metallic Metal Shades (1 part shade to 2 parts water), let it dry, and then clean the raised areas with Vallejo airbrush thinner on cotton buds. It’s not a perfect oil wash, but it’s incredibly accessible and gives you that crisp recess definition. From there it’s simple: white drybrush on the black, satin varnish, then Express layers section-by-section. Teal armor mix, alternating turquoise/violet feathers, Dreadnought Yellow for the yellow parts, Muddy Ground for leather, and Black Lotus for the blacks. Clean mistakes, move on, and you’ll get a beautiful unit in a relaxed weekend session.