How to paint white space marines?

[Lathe Biosas]

I thought I had escaped painting White, until I bought an Apothecary.

 

Any easy ways to paint a white armoured space marines?

 

My current paint skill level is 0.

 

 

If it's really easy, I'll paint all my Marines as Hospitalitiers.

Edited February 9 by Firedrake Cordova
Fixed formatting

[Grotsmasha]

The secret is ... don't.

 

You paint them a really light grey, and highlight with white.

The quickest way currently would be to prime in Grey Seer, then do Apothecary White Contrast, but not all over. Target it into areas that are in the shade, and then all the recesses all over. Then edge in your white of choice.

 

Alternatively, you could Apothecary White all over and then dry brush over with a light grey (Grey Seer or lighter), then edge in white.

 

EDIT: Make sure to add agitators to your Apothecary White, and shake the ever loving crap out of it until there's no sediment sitting on the bottom of the pot.

Edited February 9 by Grotsmasha

[Sothalor]

Yeah I would not call myself a skilled painter by any means, but when it comes to painting white, one consistent technical detail pops up in my experience:

 

Many white paints undergo separation when it comes to their pigments, and that will affect their behavior when trying to paint onto a mini. You really want to agitate the bejeezus out of them to get them to a consistency where they aren't working against you.

[Lathe Biosas]

How do you do the black between the armour?

[Karhedron]

I also find painting white a challenge but Apothecarion White contrast paint does help. Here is my Biologis who I painted pretty simply with the following recipe.

1. Basecoat Grey Seer
2. Contrast Apothecarion White
3. Highlight with Corax white

Not perfect but pretty decent results without going overboard on complexity.

 

[Grotsmasha]

1 hour ago, Lathe Biosas said:

How do you do the black between the armour?

Black Templar Contrast will do it nicely

[Sky Potato]

Corax White

Soulblight Grey all over shade

Corax White chunky edge highlight

Bold Titanium White (Pro Acryl) fine edge highlight. You can skip direct to this if you want.

 

I always found Grey Seer with Apothecary White to be just too grey for my liking. Corax White & Soulblight Grey is still a light grey, it just reads more as white. It’s amazing the colour jump from that to the Bold Titanium White.

Edited February 15 by Sky Potato
Typo

[Teetengee]

I'd also recommend that if you use a warm white, use warm colors over the rest of the mini, and likewise for cool. This will trick the eye into seeing the warmth as an aspect of lighting, instead of a marker of color.

[Dr. Clock]

Your start is pretty decent tbh. White isn't easy, but don't let it get you down.

 

As others have said, use 'actual white' sparingly, and only really at the end. Mostly Ulthuan Grey is the prevailing hue on my whites, after I put on Grey Seer and a coat of Titanium (it's a Game Colour paint from days past... basically a blue that's almost white), and then selective wash Nuln Oil into plate joins. 

 

From the looks of things you might be well served to pick an off-white on the blue or red side like that for underpainting - when it's just stacks of neutral grey that's really when it starts looking a bit flat and dusty, whereas blue or red shifting some of the underlayers will make the actual white at the end a bit more legible. That's to say that even just starting on Wraithbone instead of Grey Seer might liven it up a bit. 

 

Cheers,

 

The Good Doctor.

[Brian_Sisk]

For white armor, I usually basecoat in a mid-gray or off-white first. Then paint the white over it - it helps prevent streaks and makes it look cleaner. Washes and highlights can add depth, but even just a gray wash around the edges makes a huge difference without being too hard.

[jaxom]

The simplest method I know is:

 

1) Prime or basecoat an off-white color (like Greyseer).

2) Contrast or speedpaint appropriate for white all over the model. Alternative: use a mix of black wash or black contract/speedpaint and either water or medium.

3) Dry brush all over with a light grey, only in a downward motion.

4) Selective dry brush with white on upward facing edges.

 

 

You can use a blue-grey in step 3 to get a cooler white color. You can use a browner color in step 2 and a cream or off-white in step 3 to get a more bone-white color.