Space Wolf Painting Tutorial

[littlbitz]

Due to a request or three, I decided to do this tutorial on how I paint my Space Wolves.

The technique I use is a combination of the "Layering technique" and the "Extreme highlight technique" as shown in GWs "How to Paint Space Marines" book. You will see what I mean by this as I go through the tutorial.

The method I use is a bit time consuming, and I spent about 4 hours on a basic trooper, and up to 6 on a Character model. This being said patience is going to be key, if you are looking to paint models quickly just to get them on the board, then this definately is not the method to use.

Step 1: Build the model

The model I built is a pretty basic Wolf Guard with a Plasma pisto and a Power Weapon. I didn't add any Wolf-tails or Pelts because I really wanted to concentrate on how I paint the Power Armor portions of the models.

One thing you may note that I do differently than some people, is that I base my model before I even prime it. I just find it easier than spending hours on a model, then trying to put glue on a base, base it, then paint it... You get the idea, its a pain.

Step 2: Priming

I prime all of my Space Wolves Black, I usually use GWs Chaos Black but that just keeps getting more and more expensive, and I've gotten a bad batch before. This being said, I always Prime a junk model first to test the paint before I put it on a model. Believe me when I tell you I've learned that lesson the hard way.

I should note that do to the increased cost of Primer, I have been trying a few different Companys and have found Black Spray Primer by "Board to Pieces" quite good, in fact the model above was primed using it. (I am in no way endorsing this product and have no affiliation with the company.)

When I prime my miniatures I do it in 3 stages. The first is a coat of Primer with the model on its back, I then flip the model over onto its front and spray the back, finally I stand the model up and spray it again. I find I get much better coverage this way and have to spend much less time painting areas I missed with Chaos Black.

Step 3: a quick Dry-brushing of the base

At this point I take my Basing Base coat color and give the base a quick dry brush, doing it now allows me to get the whole base, between the legs and all without being overly concerned with hitting the model itself. I will save the base highlights for later as I will only be hitting the outer rim of the base at that time, to give a "Shadowing" effect of sorts from the model itself onto the ground.

Step 4: The Base Coat

A great miniature painter years ago gave me a tip. He said, "The key to painting models really well, starts with a good base coat"

Ever since I have taken this to heart, and I spend quite a bit of time getting the base coat the way I want it.

For the base coat on my Space Wolves, I use Foundation Paint "Fenris Grey" a Standard Brush, and a Fine detail brush.

Take your time here, I paint each armor plate individually leaving Black lining as I go. If I mess up, I fix it at this stage right away (so I don't miss it later).

You can get away with using Shadow Grey at this step, and I did for quite a few years before the Foundation Paints came out. But, sometimes it takes a couple of coats. I find with the Foundation paint, I add a step, but am getting a much richer color and smoother finish to the model.

Tomorrow, Part II

[DGC]

Will be following with interest. I love learning how others do it and I agree about basing first. I have tried once or twice but always end up messing it up somehow. also I find if you base after painting you can end up with the 'stuck in the mud' look as the figure is not on top of the base, more of in it

 

later - DGC

[Natanael]

Marked for reading, for sure. I'll be saving this one so I can use it on all my models.

[Lord Ragnarok]

We will have to save this to the librarium when this is all done. :huh:

[littlbitz]

On to Step 5: Finishing the Base Coat

A. The first thing I did was add a second coat to the armor, this time using Shadow Grey. Again I painted this a plate at a time, trying to be careful and leave the black lining.

B. I then painted the ammo pouch, his head, and the handle of the Power axe Scorched Brown.

C. The Plasma Pistol, Portions of the Power axe, and the lower part of the Back Pack were all painted Boltgun Metal

D. The Wolfheads on the Back pack, the Chest Eagle, and the Rune on the Power axe were all painted with Shining Gold

E. The Wolf head on the shoulder pad, the cable on the Power axe, the coils on the Plasma Pistol, and the Gem on the Back Pack were all given a coat of Mechrite Red

F. I used Iyanden Yellow for the Shoulder Pad and the left knee pad. The Yellow is the base coat for the Squad Marking since this model is a Wolfguard. Iyanden Yellow is a great example of just how great Foundation Paints are.

My old method for getting a Yellow of that brightness would have been; Scorched brown, Bestial Brown, Snakebite Leather, Bubonic Brown, Golden Yellow. Now its just Two coats of Iyanden Yellow, I will follow this up later with a thin coat of Golden Yellow, but thats it, done.

And there you have it, the base coat is complete. If you Cheat with your Flesh and use the Tallarn Flesh Foundation Paint, you could easily play with the model at this point. For me though, the hard part is finished, I really enjoy the next few stages as the model really begins to "Pop"

Next up is the First set of highlights, and some work on the metals.

[KeithGatchalian]

It is almost scary how I do the same things you do in regards to primering, basing, etc. Which goes to show that those are the best ways to go about painting a figure!

 

 

I also have a tip to add. ALWAYS write down your the paints you use to paint a figure.

 

I came up with 2 panit schemes for my guard army. One is based on the Multicam camo pattern, which is what I went with, and the other was based on the green-grey-tan used by the Army ( digicam is too hard to paint at 28MM though).

 

Now for the life of me....I can't remember what shade of green I used. I thought it was German fieldgrey, then 50-50 fieldgrey mixed with Iraqi sand, then Iraqi sand.....but I just painted a figure with Vallejo 830 fieldgrey and thats not it.....<sighs>

 

I look forward to more of your tutorial! For anyone who has not seen littlbtz's army, it is a masterpiece! You can learn alot from this.

[Natanael]

So far so good. Looking forward to the rest :devil:

[Chodjinn]

great stuff. Need to get myself some of these foundation paints. You base very similar to me - although I dont 'do' the fancy base stuff until after. Your application of the primer coat is exactly the same as me: back, front, standing! Also from bad experience. Great guide will be following this.

[littlbitz]

Thanks for the kind words guys!

On to the First highlight, and some work on the Metal bits...

Step 6: The First Highlight.

A. For the first highlight I use 1 part Space Wolves Grey, mixed with 2 parts Shadow Grey. This Paint is mixed in a spare paint pot, I do this for 2 reasons, 1st Its faster for me this way, and 2nd it makes sure the highlights are consistent throughout the army.

You can see that the First highlight is applied in a wide band around the Power Armor leaving a section of the Pure Shadow Grey visible.

If you want a lighter color Armor you can always go wider with your first highlight, but I find that where I have mine, gives me a nice rich, darkish color to my Space Wolves. I think this gives them the Space Wolves Grey look without overpowering it with that "Baby Blue" color the models sometimes end up with.

B. Next I went over all of the Red parts with a thin coat of Blood Red, for the Power Cord on the Power axe and the Coils on the Plasma Pistol, I was sure to leave some of the Darker red visible underneath, for the Shoulder pad I pretty much covered the entire Wolf head.

C. All the metal bits were given a wash. For the Boltgun metal sections I gave a liberal coat of Badab Black. For the Gold parts I coated with Delvan Mud. These new washes are great, I used to dry brush my weapons but now I paint them solid with the Boltgun metal and then wash them, I really like this look better. Best part is, there is no Shine like the old inks.

D. I gave the Scorched Brown areas (Belt Pouches, and Axe Handle) a first highlight of Bestial Brown, and covered the entire head with a light coat of Bestial Brown as well.

E. I began some of the detail work at this point, painting the Pack markings on the Shoulder pad and knee. In the Photos the knee pad isn't completed, I did this in an attempt to show how I go about painting the Pack markings. The first thing I do is paint the Triangles (or whatever other pattern I may use) on the Pad with Chaos Black, I then fill it in. Simple as that. If I screw up, I can use that wonderful Yellow Foundation paint and easily clean it up.

F. And finally at this stage I gave the base a light dry-brushing of Snake bite leather.

Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for the next part.

P.S. if you are having trouble seeing the detail, it shows pretty good if you take the time to enlarge the photo :D

Same Bat time, Same Bat channel!

[insectus]

I finally see a tutorial on how to paint Space wolves!

so far the model looks pretty good

and good idea with those foundation paints i have alot of them but ive never thought to use them this way :)

I just dont know wat u mean 1 part space wolves grey and 2 parts shadow grey

i always have problems with mixing the paints... ;)

[Lord Ragnarok]

I've been doing my "wide bands" too conservatively. I will expand them for my next pack.

[fearlessgod]

This is a great tutorial! I can't wait for the next installment. B)

 

I really gotta paint more....

 

~fearlessgod~

[littlbitz]

I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this!

 

@Insectus: By 2 parts Shadow Grey, 1 Part Space Wolves Grey I mean; I pre-mix my pots in thirds. I buy an empty paint pot (GW makes these still I think), and I pour 1/3 of a pot of Space Wolves grey into it, I then add 2/3 Shadow Grey filling the Pot.

 

I also mix a equal mix Shadow Grey and Space Wolves Grey Pot, and a Pot of 2/3 Space Wolves Grey to 1/3 Shadow Grey.

 

As I said earlier I Pre-mix my pots as it makes it easier to paint my minis and it gives the army a consistancy through out.

 

@Rags: The width of the "Bands" on the highlights is really personal preference, you can go wider or thinner depending on how dark you want your armor. I typically use the first highlight as the "real?" color of the armor, the Shadow Grey is the base coat, so I guess you could say that the 2-1 mix of Shadow Grey to Space Wolves Grey is the "true?" color of my Space Wolves army.

 

I have the next part of the model done, but my lighting is bad in the house so I have to wait until morning to Photo it and post the next part, more to come soon!

[Natanael]

Great work! I will hopefully start painting my own wolves next week or so, and this really helps. Thanks a lot.

[insectus]

oh now i get it xD

thanks buddy :(

[Kaan]

Keep going littlebitz!

 

The best part of all this is that once folks "see" what they can do and have instructions on how to do it, we all should start seeing more and more wonderfully painted Space Wolf armies. Granted, you could use this technique to paint any army, but why wouldn't you want to do Space Wolves?

 

*thumbs up*

[littlbitz]

On to Part IV, the Second Highlight.

A. The first thing I did at this stage is add a second highlight to the Power Armor, using a 50/50 mix of Space Wolves Grey and Shadow Grey, this was applied over about half of the first highlight, begining to give a somewhat layered effect to the color of the Armor.

B. I thought that the Gold areas of the model were still a bit too bright, so I applied a layer of Badab Black wash to the deepest recesses of the Gold areas

C. I then highlighted all of the Red areas with a bit of Blazing Orange on the outer most parts of the Red areas.

D. I added a highlight of Snakebite Leather to the Belt Pouches, the Axe handle and the hair.

E. I gave the head a coat of Dwarf flesh, followed by a liberal wash of Delvan Mud, when dry I applied another layer of Dwarf Flesh, I then painted the eyes with a thin strip of Skull white and a dot of Chaos Black, the teeth were painted with Skull white, I cleaned this up with some Delvan mud to add some depth back to the mouth.

F. All of the Boltgun metal areas were highlighted with Boltgun metal on its edges

[Wolfbrother Thrarne]

I haven't tried these new washes, as I thought they were just repackages and re-names of the old. Given the nice effect you've created with them and your high praise for them, I think I'll go grab some ;)

[littlbitz]

Part V, the third highlight.

A. First I applied a highlight of 2 parts Space Wolves Grey to 1 Part Shadow Grey, this highlight is applied somewhat thin, and isn't applied to some of the "darker" portions of the model

B. I applied a highlight of Mithril Silver to all of the Gold Areas on the model, on the Chest Eagle I followed this with another wash of Delvan Mud.

C. I applied a highlight of Mithril Silver to the extreme edge of the Power Axe

D. A highlight of Elf Flesh was added to the Head of the Marine

E. I highlighted the Hair, Belt Pouches, and Axe handle with a final highlight of Desert Yellow

F. I used a highlight of Badmoon Yellow on the Knee Pad and the Shoulder pad, I also applied a very little amount of Bad Mood Yellow to the Plasma pistol Coils.

G. I washed the Plasma Pistol Coils with Baal Red Ink.

H. I applied a slight bit of Delvan Mud to the business end of the Plasma pistol.

I. I gave a slight dry-brushing of Bleached bone to the outer part of the models base.

Next up, the finished Model (finally!)

[Beef]

I have always admired your painting skills, thanks for sharing the way you do your mini's

[Greyshift]

Great tutorial littlbitz, do you basecoat/highlight your vehicles in the same way?

[Wolf Guard Nostromo]

A really good tutorial - thankyou - I've always thought your wolves are some of the best I've seen and its good to see how the magic happens...

 

Keep filling that gallery :lol:

[Natanael]

Great, thanks. I'll go get my paints...

[littlbitz]

and finally Part VI, finishing the model

A. For the final highlights of the Armor I use pure Space Wolves Grey, I follow this up with a highlight of pure Skull white which is applied in the same width as the Space Wolves Grey, but not for the entire length of the highlight, and only at the top edges of the model.

B. I applied a couple of watered down highlights of Palid Flesh to the head

C. You will notice that up until now the small cables at the ankle area of the Power Armor were not painted, this is because as I paint and handle the model I typically rub the paint of with my hands, so I paint this area when I'm close to finishing the model. These cables got a coat of Mechrite Red foundation paint, followed by a highlight of Blood Red.

D. I painted the Rim of the Base of the model with Scorched Brown

E. I applied some watered down white glue to the base and applied some Grass

Finished!

I thank you all for reading and following this Tutorial, and I hope you enjoyed it and maybe picked up a tip or two!

[Chodjinn]

Can I make a suggestion for the eyes? I do mine in a similar way, black with a white dot, but I use two white dots instead, slightly spaced apart, giving the impression of a pupil. Although it is hard to do, it does give a much more realistic eye look.

 

Absolutely fantastic guide by the way mate! Will be following it for my next round of painting!