FAQ: Painting Imperial Fists

[BrotherConnor]

does anyone know a good way to paint these guys because i cant get the method down :P

[Durus]

Try typing "painting yellow" into the searchy.

 

Gave me loads of of results :P

[kiboko]

Well, the really lazy way is to get a cheap white primer acrylic lacquer and yellow acrylic lacquer (depend what kind of yellow you want, sunburst or golden) .

spray white, spray yellow and then either you want to use the dip method or the brown ink method to finished the model.

and like what durus said, try the search function.

[Sigismund Himself]

The B&C Librarium! For all your Space Marine needs. The Imperial Fists Painting tutorial :)

[MrTrain]

Hey all. I've started painting an Imperial Fists army. My first test figure I painted sunburst yellow with golden yellow on top of it(which ever is the darker of the two) with respective amounts of coats from both colors to get a first deep color from the sunburst and then the lighter color from the golden yellow. It looks okay but there are a lot of streaks showing the greyness of the figure.

 

My second test model was primed black, base coated vomit brown until there were no streaks showing the plastic beneath the paint. I then applied three or four coats of sunburst yellow then two or three coats of golden yellow. Then I finished the model with a wash of yellow ink.

 

I'm not satisfied with either models. The second looks much better than the first in terms of yellow, but I feel like I was able to get more detail out of the first. Am I apply too much paint? Should I detail before or after I paint the whole model? Is the wash of yellow ink unnecessary?

 

I can post pics if you guys would like. I think that may help more than just describing. But any help is appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

[popfenton]

Are you making sure to water down the yellow when adding the layers? I would also do a search in the tutorial forum, there are some really good walk throughs on painting fists in there.

[aNex88]

I find that watering down my yellow paints and painting lots of thinned layers of yellow helps smooth it out. I used Gryphonne Serpia and went over all the armour lines with it. Patience is key. Take your time. Here's an example of how one of mine turned out.

Mind you, this is with a white undercoat. I quickly slapped on some thin coats of golden yellow, went over the armour lines with Serpia, then continued with the golden yellow until I got to a point that I liked.

If you want to start with a black undercoat, people will probably point you in the direction of using Iyaden Darksun. I myself don't really like the foundation paints although some people swear by them. I used Tentacle Pink as a basecoat for my yellow actually. Although it's OOP now, it worked great.

This was sprayed black and I painted on some thin coats of pink for the parts that were going to be yellow. Then, it was just a matter of layering on thin coats of yellow.

I hope that helps a little bit. Keep at it. Yellow is a hard colour to work with but it'll turn heads if you can follow through with it. I know I've blinded people with the sheer yellow-ness of my army :)

[StormDragon]

I do my yellow in a similar way to the first method suggested by aNex88. White undercoat and a couple of thin coats of golden yellow, flesh wash (not sure if you can still get this but I've got an almost full pot still) for shading and Andrea basic yellow for highlights. I use a white under coat because there is no way I am skilled or patient enough to get a good yellow over a black undercoat. The white undercoat is probably the most important part, if you get good coverage with that the yellow is relatively easy.

[battle captain corpus]

I did an Imperial Fist Captain a while back, I went with White Undercoat followed by 3 washes of Windsor and Nwwton Canary Yellow.

I added some flow enhancer so that the crevices etc came out better.

 

I have always wanted to try mixing yellow and orange inks then layering over this with yellow again.

 

Corpus ;)

[SamaNagol]

Why you would ever want to paint yellow over anything other than a white sprayed on undercoat is beyond me.

[aNex88]

Why you would ever want to paint yellow over anything other than a white sprayed on undercoat is beyond me.

It's sometimes a good idea when the majority of the model is going to be painted metal, like my dreadie up there ;)

[Dorns Padawan]

Sorry to drag the topic away slightly from the main point but could someone please explain what they mean when they talk about watering paints down for layering? Does it literaly mean add a couple of drops of water to a part of yellow paint? I know it sounds a very daft question but just wandering if it is that simple?

[StormDragon]

I use a white under coat even though my scheme is yellow and black quartered, I just find it easier to paint black over a white under coat than yellow over black. I guess it depends how patient and how good you are, I think the majority of the really good painters use a black under coat no matter what colour they want in the end.

 

Yep, by watering down the paint for layering you do just add water to the paint. The ratios will vary depending on the paint you are using but you want to aim for the consistency of skimmed milk.

Edited January 27, 2009 by StormDragon

[battle captain corpus]

Yep, by watering down the paint for layering you do just add water to the paint. The ratios will vary depending on the paint you are using but you want to aim for the consistency of skimmed milk.

Throne...Ive been working with Semi-skimmed! :P

 

StormDragon's spot on, just add some water to your paints....not in the pot on the pallette though obviously. I always water down my paints, makes them go far further and the layers are far smoother. :)

 

Corpus

[Daeothar]

I've painted my IF over a basecoat of spraypaint nearing Vomit Brown in tone. This was an excellent base for several coats of Golden yellow (indeed; very much thinned each time :P ). Enough to get an even coverage. I then highlighted through Sunburst- and Bad Moon Yellow up to (Skull) White for the very highest highlights, with a thinned down wash of Snakebite Leather for the deepest recesses/shading.

 

I did do it the hard way before; painting over black, and although the coverage eventually became the same, it took about 10 layers more than going with the Vomit Brown spraypaint. So; less paint and time, same result? Easy choice. :)

 

As an aside, I now undercoat my Fiery Lions with an orange spraypaint, which also cuts down quite a bit on layering and most important; time.

 

Just common sense when you think about it really... ;)

[CaptainForge]

Golden Yellow is a darker yellow than the Sunburst Yellow. So painting over Sunburst with Golden seems counter productive to me. Would help if you had a photo of your results. From my experience with painting yellow, I found that highlighting with the brighter yellow was better.

 

Another method I saw in WD was to undercoat black, then a thin later of elf flesh, then paint on the yellow. I tried Iryden Sun over black and it was ok, just that I got it a bit too thick.

 

If it is looking too thick then you need to thin out the paint more or not apply so many coats.

[ardyer]

A friend of mine has been doing some with White Basecoat, Wash with GW Sepia Wash, Wash with Slightly thinned Vallejo Yellow Ink and this looks pretty decent. You're not going to win any Golden Demons, but they look pretty good.

[MrTrain]

Golden Yellow is a darker yellow than the Sunburst Yellow. So painting over Sunburst with Golden seems counter productive to me. Would help if you had a photo of your results. From my experience with painting yellow, I found that highlighting with the brighter yellow was better.

 

Yeah. I used golden yellow as the base with sunburst on top of it. I'm just dumb and have a bad memory :)

 

I'll post up some pics after I paint my third test model, so I can show off the three methods I've used. Tonight I'm going to spray on black primer, fill in the details on the figure(eagle, shoulder pad boarders, eyes, etc), then I'm going to do one to two coats of vomit brown depending on the coverage and streaking. Then I'm going to do a two(in a perfect world) coats of golden yellow watered down a wee bit, then I'm going to highlight areas with sunburst yellow. Then I'm torn between throwing on a wash of yellow ink or not. If I do, I may water it down a lot, just because the ink was what really washed out a lot of the details on the figure.

[Inquisitor Engel]

Bit of a different method from me:

 

It's a bit darker than most, but I love it.

 

1. If a metal model, undercoat with Adeptus Battlegrey. If plastic, leave as-is.
   
2. Spray with Tamiya PS-19 Camel Yellow (http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/ite...oduct-id=86019) Make sure it's the PS-19, the TS-34 is a different, much lighter colour.
   
3. Drybrush 2-3 layers of golden yellow. This can be rather difficult. I keep a mini from th previous squad on-hand to check consistency. Make sure it's not TOO chalky, otherwise it spoils the effect.
   
4. Apply a wash of 33/33/33 Gryphonne Sepia, Devlan Mud and Water to the recesses and along the edges of the armour. Anywhere where there's a join or place where two plates come together. I have a giant batch pre-made for this.
   
5. Black-line where the shoulder trim meets the pad itself (with micron-pen, see below) and then paint the trim whatever colour you need. (Fists use Codex colour patterns, White for 1st, Yellow for 2nd, etc. Mine are the 5th company)
   
6. At this point I usually paint the bleached bone if it's needed on skulls/oaths of moment/etc.
   
7. Paint the joints (and anything else that should be metallic) with boltgun metal and the chest eagle blood red. My seals on oaths of moment/purity seals are also red, so I do them here.
   
8. Apply black wash to all the metal bits and chest eagle and purity seal seals. Just a little bit to tone it down and add depth.
   
9. Paint the eyes goblin green. Add a little dot of white in the corner.
   
10. Highlight any edges with straight golden yellow. Highlight shoulder trims now as well.
    
11. Black lining time! Any join you think could do with the definition. I use a 0.05mm Micron-Pen, which allows me to do script on purity seals (and elsewhere on the armour) as well. The eyes have a line of black painted on the outside as well.
    
12. Apply decals (which is an art in and of itself!) and you're done!
    

[5nivF]

i've painted some fists for a friend that wanted a fast way to aint yellow but didnt want a bright yellow, nor that orange tint most of his are...

 

this is the recipe i came up with..

 

prime white

vomit brown (2 thin coats or until its even)

drybrush bleach bone

highlight extreme edges 50/50 white- bone mix

then apply yellow ink

 

then you can re-highlight if the ink dulls detail you want

 

this gives a pretty nice deep yellow that aint too orange and is thin enough to still fine ink in details and such :down:

 

 

(this is a really good post for a bunch of good yellow recipes)

[Interrogator-Chaplain Ezra]

I plan to paint an Imperial Fists captain for an upcoming painting contest att he local store, but I'm stuck on the yellow. I want to get the same rich tones that the 'eavy Metal team manages on their Imperial Fists, but I have no idea of how they do it. And any help would be appreciated. If you have any pictures of your own models to showme how you've done it(regardless of how you got your yellow to work out), I'd really appreciate it. :P

 

In case there are questions, I plan on giving the character a power fist and a storm bolter. ;) And yes, the fist will be black. ;)

Edited July 16, 2009 by Kurgan the Lurker

[metcalfedan]

For yellow, I do:

 

1. Coat of Iyanden Darksun Foundation (usually over a white base, but it can work over black too)

2. Wash of Gryphonne Sephia

 

That's it. And this is the result:

 

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f139/metcalfedan/movie%20marines/IMG_1128.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f139/metcalfedan/movie%20marines/IMG_1130.jpg

Edited August 22, 2009 by metcalfedan

[sonofwaranddeath]

This guys Fists are how I plan to do mine once I get some yellow. http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...p;hl=weathering

[Sigismund Himself]

Check this tutorial out.

[Interrogator-Chaplain Ezra]

Sweet! ;) Thanks for the replies, I'll try to make my captain worthy of your help. ;) Thanks again. ^_^