Another Ultramarine Tutorial

[Digitalsyndrome]

I know there are a fair few UM tutorials out there already, but having only recently restarted this painting lark I found it quite useful having various different schemes to look at before deciding on my own, so hopefully this'll prove useful to someone.

 

I'm using a mixture of Vallejo Game Colors and Citadel paints for the most part, mainly because VGC were slightly cheaper and came in dropper bottles, but I forgot to order a few so I filled the gaps with pots from the local GW shop. I've got a couple of Army Painter brushes (Highlighting and Fine Detail), again mainly because they were cheaper, and I've got a 0000 W&N brush (not a series 7, just a cheapo one) that I'm loving for the final highlights.

 

I start with an undercoat of VGC Black Primer. I'd love to be able to spray but I can't, so I just use a big brush from a pack of about 10 I bought for 99p and water the paint down, giving it a couple of coats and checking for stray bristles. I didn't bother taking a picture of that.

 

Next I use VGC Imperial Blue to cover all the bits that are going to be blue. I water it down slightly and do a couple of coats, so I do tend to go right down into the recesses with the first coat so that even the darkest bits have a slight blue tint. As you can see from the photo, I've left the the backpack off for now. I also left the head off till I'd done the black and first blue, but once attached I did the eyes. I base coated with VMC Hull Red, covered in VGC Bloody Red then put a pure white dot in the front corner and covered over again with Bloody Red. I'm not overly keen on yellow/orange in the eyes, so this gives a slight highlight whilst retaining the red colour. (I left this dude's right shoulder pad off to start with as well because it was too close to the gun to be able to get at it.)

 

 

Once I've done that I give all the blue bits a mid-tone of Citadel Altdorf Guard Blue. I don't completely cover, because I want the recesses and other shaded areas to retain the dark blue. I tend to leave more shadow towards the bottom of the mini and individual areas, and I also tend to leave slightly more shadow over on the model's right (his right, your left as you look from the front). I don't highlight in the same way so it's not quite the same as implying a specific light source, but it does help add a bit of depth, I think. I hold the thing by a weapon or something that I'm going to be painting later so it doesn't matter too much if I rub the undercoat off there. (This blue is also watered down slightly so I give it a couple of coats.)

 

 

Next I do a first highlight of about 50:50 Altdorf Guard Blue and VGC Wolf Grey, which I do as a line round all the edges of the armour. Where the little squares and whatnot on the armour are concerned I give the bigger ones a highlight at this stage, but the smaller ones I ignore for now. I then do a base dry-brush of Citadel Leadbelcher on the armour joints and anything else that's gonna be metal, and a base of VGC Tinny Tin on the chest bit and the edges of the shoulder pads, which'll end up gold. (I stuck his right shoulder pad on once I'd done this stage.)

 

 

Next I added some more Wolf Grey (so it's roughly 2:1 grey:blue) and did a thinner highlight round the armour edges, this time leaving off the bits that are in deepest shadow. I then did another highlight that's primarily Wolf grey with a tiny bit of Altdorf Guard Blue added, just on the sharpest edges. I also highlight round the armour detail at this stage (the squares and stuff I mentioned earlier), and do round the edges of the blue on the shoulder pads and so on.

 

I then did the purity seal and the bone bits. The red on the seal is done the same way as the eyes (Hull Red > Bloody Red > Dead White highlight covered in Bloody Red). The parchment and the bone was all done with a base mix of VGC Bonewhite, VGC Khaki and VMC Hull Red (about 50:50 white and khaki with a tiny bit of the deep red to brown it off a bit), followed by a mid-tone of the same without the red, then a couple of highlights with less Khaki in the first and then just pure Bonewhite in the second. The parchment I left slightly browner than the bone.

 

Following that I more-or-less dry-brushed over the gold parts with VGC Glorious Gold, highlighting with wet Glorious Gold, and I highlight the metal parts with Citadel Runefang Steel.

 

 

Once all that was done I did the gun. The red was VMC Hull Red followed by VGC Bloody Red, but I didn't want it all lovely and smooth so I didn't water it down and basically just scraped it over the area with a bigger brush till it dried so that it left a mottled effect. The metal was done the same way as the armour joints. I painted VGC Dead White into the little temp readout thing on the side then painted the needle black. (I'd have loved to give it a green/amber/red gradient but it's about 2mm long so that's probably stretching it a bit!)

 

 

I did the backpack and stuck that on (all personal preference on what ends up what colour but the same use of various paints and mixes as all the above stuff, and I did the rims of the round vents with Tinny Tin), and then painted on a tiny little UM chapter symbol and some lines on the parchment (the U was a right pain but I think I got it ok). I then did the UM symbol on his shoulder pad. For that I just free-handed it, building the main body first then adding on the horizontal lines and tidying it all up with Altdorf Guard Blue once I'd got the white all sorted.

 

Once all that was done I went over the whole thing and did a final highlight of pure VGC Dead White on the sharpest and highest points.

 

 

Done.

 

 

 

 

I've not written a guide before so I've no idea if the way I've done this is going to be too much help, but I hope it is. And in the spirit of being helpful, C&C is of course welcome.

 

Cheers

Rob

[DistroyA]

The only criticism I have is the strong highlights. Or at least the over abundance of them. Plus I'd add a a wash or two of Guilliman blue glaze to make the highlights a tad more subtle and give the blue a richer look.

 

Other than that, I'd say that is a fine colour scheme and a good tutorial. :)

[Digitalsyndrome]

You're probably right about the highlights. Although I kinda like 'em, I might have got a bit carried away! I've never used a glaze though so I might have a go at that. Cheers.

[DistroyA]

Well, from my experience with the glaze, it's a good product to use, providing you use it in thin layers (found that out the hard way too). I'd recommend it to anyone painting our beloved smurfs. :)

[Digitalsyndrome]

Went to get some today. Damn GW lazy bar stewards don't open on Monday or Tuesday.