Making my Chapter real

[Ekim_Trub]

Greetings brothers, although i have had an interest in 40k for over a decade now, i have almost no experience in modelling as i was more a fluff fan. However, in the New Year i look to rectify this travesty and put paint to model, hence my posting here.

I am looking for advice on which colours to use as highlights and which techniques to use to achieve the desired result.

Understandably, as a newbie, i won't be striving to attain a Golden Demon anytime soon, but i do want to achieve a good tabletop quality that wouldn't be offensive sat on display in the house.

My base cololurs are going to be Adeptus Battlegrey and Skull White, with Chaos Black and Scab Red eye lenses as shown below, i also plan to use Badab Black wash to add some depth.

Many thanks in advance, Trub.

[winterdyne]

I'd run with:

 

Prime black

Spray A. Battlegrey

Paint soft joints, gun metal and mouth grille boltgun metal (small brush)

Black wash all recesses and soft joints (normal brush)

Retouch A. Battlegrey, highlight with codex grey (use thin paint, build up the highlight in a couple of layers) (normal brush, small for final highlights if you're shaky)

Paint helmet, chest eagle and left arm Codex Grey (include recesses / panel lines) (normal brush)

Paint eyes black, then gem them (red, orange below, white spots at back corner, leave a slight black border) (small brush)

Paint helmet, chest eagle, and left arm Fortress Grey (leave recesses / panel lines dark) (normal brush)

Highlight helmet and left arm with Skull White (use thin paint, build up the higlight in a couple of layers). (normal brush, small for final highlights if you're shaky)

Paint gun casing chaos black, highlight with A. Battlegrey, or black/codex grey mix. Black wash on that to smooth it up.

 

It's a pretty easy scheme to paint if you take your time and work neatly.

[Ekim_Trub]

First of all, thank you for taking the time to answer.

However, i have a few questions:

 

How would i spray Adeptus Battlegrey? Is it now available as a spray?

Why paint the soft armour Boltgun Metal?

 

Also, i have seen a tutorial on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r0tD5hR5OY) that makes great use of drybrushing to highlight, is this best or would you use a different method?

This is roughly the level i am looking for, i like to aim realistically.

[winterdyne]

The citadel spraygun or a cheap badger airbrush would do the job. You could hand paint it, but spraying is faster, and gives you a more even coat. Remember to thin it with a little water and a spot of washing-up liquid. Or you could look for a similar colour spraycan. As the majority of the figure is going to be that dark grey (and it acts well enough as a base for the other colours) hand painting it is inefficient.

 

You want the soft armour bits (the ribbed joints between plates) to be a different colour and to have a bit of shine to them. Painting them boltgun does this (it's actually pretty subtle once you've put the black wash on).

 

Personally, I don't like drybrushing on marines, so I'd just use a simple layering technique - the trick here is to have thin paint (almost like a wash) but very, very little on your brush - pick the paint up and then pull the brush back along a 'high quality' paper napkin (not loo roll, you'll pick up fibres) to remove excess. When you paint it on it should be translucent, but not go running off everywhere. Takes a bit of practice but this brush control is what you want for doing fancier paintjobs. Drybrushing is also kinda messy - you're quite likely to need to touch up where you've accidentally overbrushed. You could get away with it to highlight the A. Battlegrey, in which case you want to do it before you paint the soft joints etc black.

[Ekim_Trub]

Ah, i see. Could i just use a brush to basecoat to begin with? (funds will be tight after the cost of Xmas)

 

Also, unless i am reading it wrong, won't the above method leave the white looking rather greyish?

[winterdyne]

Yes you can, and yes it does; but this is actually what you want. A dead flat white surface looks wrong to the eye. You need it to be generally just off-white, and have the pure white for the highlights only. Alternatively you can layer on white (many thin coats) until it's pure and then shade back down, but this is slower, and actually harder to pull off well.

[Ekim_Trub]

Thanks, i understand now and shall endeavour to get a mini done as soon as possible in the new year.

[WookieeGunner]

Out of curiosity, did you inted them to look like Deathwatch?

[Ekim_Trub]

I actually will admit to have stolen the idea of the one coloured arm from the Deathwatch, but i feel it works and i haven't seen it done by many so i am happy to proceed with it.