Struggling with the red

[Captain Psycho]

P3 Khador Red. Greatest. Red Paint. Ever.

 

When I first started painting Blood Angels I went out and purchased Citadel paints and struggled to get decent results. The coverage and uniformity of Citadel paints is terrible when thinned, I almost gave up on the Sons of Sanguinius. Then I discovered P3 Khador Red, oh they joy. Great opacity, smooth, even coverage - even when thinned down with water. I read somewhere that the reason is that the pigment is actually in the binding agent, so when you add water the pigment doesn't seperate from the binding agent (which is what causes the "blotches" you get when painting with Citadel paints). Initially I brused on my base coats but then I decided to try airbrushing it on (I have a single action Badger 350 - basically a Citadel Spray Gun with more accessories). P3 paints are pretty thick so I thinned it down 2:1 water to paint and added some flow improver and it airbrushed just fine. The first couple of coats were a little pinkish because they were so watered down but after a few coats the color built up nicely and the basecoat was so smooth (if I can get around to making a home made light box I'll post some pics).

 

For subtle shading I use multiple layers of Baal Red Wash (I hate Citadel paints but love the washes), for stronger shade I paint on a 50/50 mix of Khador Red Base/Sanguine Base. For highlights I use a 50/50 mix of Khador Red Base/Khador Red Highlight.

 

I haven't used Vallejo Game Color Bloody Red but I do have some of the Vallejo Model Color paints (for historical minis) - I like the opacity, very good coverage, but the pigment seperates from the binding agent really quickly. I use a home made wet palette and I have to constanstly swirl the paint on the palette to keep it uniform. Still light years better than Citadel paints though.

[Sion]

I haven't seen this option put up and it may not be available to you but have you tried using either a spray gun(Citadel type) or an air brush as both will really speed up your painting process and if you can remember your mixes, or right them down. You can pretty much get your entire army red in an afternoon. I used the citadel spray gun recently to test it out, on a related note it is absolute crap, but once i figured out my mix it took a little over hour to get 50 marines, 4 dreadnoughts and 8 rhino chassis vehicles from primer to the highlighting stage. The great thing about a spray gun or air brush is the smooth and even coverage you get that is more controlled then spray paint (with the citadel gun only just) and the speed you can get your army ready in.

 

The steps were:

Models were primed black

Mechrite red + airbrush medium or water

Blood red + airbrush medium or water(this takes 2 coats)

Then any wash/ink color you want + airbrush medium or water or just brush on

Highlights and detail work.

[CBL]

OK, so this might just be cheating, but I love this stuff!

 

http://hobbyshopoutlet.com/Paints-and-Supp...prod_22968.html

 

It can be applied straight to the model, no primer required. It can go on pretty thick, so start VERY light, and build it up, but when its on, your done with red, just paint on the highlights, will save you TONS of time, and if you want to use a model before its done, at least you have a red marine instead of a black/white. Also cuts down time spent on tanks to an amazing degree. Please check my gallery and look at the vindicator, it was painted with this paint.

 

The ONLY downside is that its hard to find a perfect match for it in the GW line, so if you need to fix something later, it can be a pain.

[Mycroft Holmes]

my simple red:

 

Black undercoat

quick Mecharite coat

3:1 Blood red / Scorched Brown over brush

Blood Red on lighted sections

Black Wash

[FluffyPanda]

I've got a slightly different approach to those that have been listed here so far:

 

Prime AP Dragon Red spray

Add GW Blood Red to all red areas until you have a nice bright red colour - usually one coat is enough with a dragon red base.

Apply GW Thraka Green wash directly into the recesses, not as a blanket wash.

Tidy up any areas where the thraka green has flowed by mistake with more blood red. If you're careful with the wash this shouldn't take too long.

 

Done. That's one spray, one coat and one wash, plus a little tidying up if your thraka green ends up where you didn't want it.

 

It might seem unlikely, but the green wash gives a fantastic shade against red (it's opposite on the colour wheel so adds depth and shade really nicely). I find that the blood red armour is so bright that it doesn't benefit much from a highlight - the shading is much more effective at adding depth. You could line highlight with an orange or light brown if you really wanted the edges to pop out even more.

[Zagman]

Might as well add my approach, since everyone sees to have a different method.

 

Prime Grey

Basecoat 3:1 Menchrite:Blood red

Apply second basecoat

Wash Baal red

Rewash recesses for more detail

Wash lightly with red ink

rewash with red ink

highlight with blazing orange and drybrush highest points very lightly

lightly wash with red ink

 

Ends up being a very robust blood red