Elder Scrolls Call to Arms Dwemer Terrain: Painting Guide
By Modiphius US | Published: 2026-10-14
Category: Tips & Care
Solve the most common problems when painting Dwemer ruins for Elder Scrolls Call to Arms, from muddy metallics to chipped resin, with fixes that respect the lore.
Quick answer
Paint Dwemer terrain in three stages: a warm dark basecoat, a controlled bronze-gold layer, and a green-verdigris wash only in recesses. Seal resin pieces with a matte varnish before play. If your metal looks muddy, you are layering too many mid-tones; if your resin chips, you skipped sealing. Stop adding detail once the piece reads clearly at arm's length on the table.
Why Dwemer terrain punishes a normal metal paint job
Dwemer surfaces in The Elder Scrolls are not clean gold or steel. They are aged brass-like alloys with deep shadows and selective verdigris. A standard drybrush of silver over black leaves the piece looking like generic sci-fi metal, which is the most common complaint. The fix is to treat the basecoat as part of the color, not just a primer. Use a dark warm brown or bronze, not pure black, so the later gold layer has something to sit on.
The second issue is scale. Dwemer Markers and Tokens are small, and small pieces lose definition fast if you use thick layers. Thin your paints to a skim-milk consistency and build two or three thin coats rather than one opaque one. This preserves the engraved lines that make the markers readable during play.
A repeatable dwemer metal paint scheme
Start with a dark bronze base over the whole metal area. Drybrush a mid-tone brass or aged gold, then apply a very light edge highlight of a brighter gold only on raised edges and corners. Do not highlight flat panels. Mix a green wash with a little brown ink and apply it into recesses and around rivets; wipe the raised areas clean before it dries. This gives the mottled, ancient look without turning the whole piece green.
For the Puzzle Door Terrain Set, the carved faces and door mechanism benefit from a slightly stronger verdigris in the carved lines. Use a fine brush and let the wash pool only in the deepest cuts. If you are painting several pieces at once, batch the basecoat and drybrush steps, then do the wash per piece so you can control where it settles.
Resin prep and protection for Dwemer pieces
Resin terrain needs washing in lukewarm soapy water before painting to remove mold release. Skip this and your paint will bead or flake off in patches. After washing and drying, prime with a thin coat of a warm brown or grey primer. Avoid heavy spray passes; they fill the fine engraving on Dwemer markers and tokens.
Seal the finished piece with a matte varnish. A single thin coat is enough for display, but pieces that get handled every game night need two. If you use a gloss varnish for durability, follow with a matte coat so the metal does not look wet. Store resin terrain in a case with foam or a soft cloth; loose in a box, corners will chip no matter how well you painted them.
Diagnosis: common Dwemer painting problems
- Metal looks muddy or flat: You are likely layering multiple mid-tone golds without enough contrast between the base and the highlight. Strip back to the dark bronze base and rebuild with one mid-tone and one edge highlight. If the piece reads clearly at arm's length after two thin layers, stop. More layers will not fix muddiness.
- Paint flakes off resin corners: The resin was not washed before priming, or the primer coat was too thick and formed a skin. Wash the piece again, remove loose paint, and re-prime with thin passes. If the flaking is widespread, strip the piece completely rather than spot-repairing.
- Verdigris looks like green paint, not corrosion: Your wash is too opaque or applied over the whole surface instead of into recesses. Mix the wash thinner and wick it into the deepest lines only, cleaning the raised areas with a damp brush. Stop when the green reads as shadow, not as a color layer. If it still looks painted on, remove it with a damp brush before it fully dries.
Products that fit this method
- The Elder Scrolls Call to Arms - Puzzle Door Terrain Set: The Puzzle Door Terrain Set includes a Nordic puzzle door with carved sentinels that bar the way for the unworthy. The deep carved lines on the door and sentinels are ideal for a controlled verdigris wash, so the piece reads as ancient Dwemer construction rather than clean metal.
- The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms - Dwemer Markers and Tokens: Dwemer Markers and Tokens represent the enduring ruins of Dwemer strongholds, with strange and durable materials used in their construction. These small pieces reward thin basecoats and edge highlights; thick paint will obscure the engraved detail that makes them useful as markers on the table.
- The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms: Thieves Guild: The Thieves Guild set includes Mercer Frey, Delvin Mallory, Brynjolf, Vex, Niruin, and Karliah for use with The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms. If you are building a Dwemer ruin scenario, these characters give you a narrative reason to place the terrain and markers, and their darker clothing palette contrasts well against bronze and verdigris.
