help out a painting (not so) newbie!

[Mobius One]

First and foremost, greetings to one and all.

I bought and assembled my first Space Marine combat squad in ages over the weekend. Now I've played and painted Marines before (my username was Azure Guard when the "old" Portent forum was still around; I doubt any of you would remember me), but I've been away from the hobby for awhile and am just starting to get back into it, much to the chagrin of my wallet (I remember back in the day, when a 3rd ed. tactical squad would only set me back $28 CAN. *sigh*, but this is neither the time nor the place for that little discussion).

Anyways, the main point of this post is this. I've chosen the White Consul color scheme for my marines (although I'll have to change their name, as "White Consuls" is hardly a fear-inspiring moniker for a chapter), and I have little to no experience painting white Space Marines, as my previous chapter was primarily dark blue with some understated white trim. For those who can't picture the White Consul chapter in their heads, they are primarily "ice" white with blue trim. See page 16 of WD 303; otherwise I'm pretty sure they're in the Painting Space Marines Guide that just came out.

With that extremely long-winded and probably unnecessary introduction out of the way, does anyone have any advice on how to go about painting these guys? I'm not a complete painting n00b, but nor am I about to win any golden demons. I'm primarily a "layering" type of painter, if that helps at all; inks and drybrushing scare me like a 10 mile run scares an obese child. Any friendly advice on which GW paints to choose and in what order to go about slapping them on my little lumps of Space Marine-shaped plastic would be much appreciated.

[Hortwerth]

"Ice" white, huh?

The easiest way would be to spray them white, use Space Wolves Grey for shading, some other grey for the underknees and elbow joints, and then paint them white to get the clear finish.

Ultramarine Blue covers well on any background so will make a good colour for the trims.

The problem with white is its covering so I guess that with predominately white models the solution would be to spray them white.

[Hideous Loon]

But hortwerth, spraying the models without using inks or other washes make them dull, oh-so-dull. I know, one of my so called friends use that technique for his Tau. The other tips would be great, however. Mobius One: Use at least two layers/higlights everywhere, even at Troops.

[BullBuchanan]

the best idea would probably actually be to spray them gray. The blue will cover perfect on a medium gray and one to two coats of white on the gray base will provide enough shading I would think.

[Getz]

Or you could undercoat them with pale blue. This will give the white top coat a blueish hint.

[Hortwerth]

the best idea would probably actually be to spray them gray. The blue will cover perfect on a medium gray and one to two coats of white on the gray base will provide enough shading I would think.

True.

Does GW produce Space Wolves grey spray? It's the best GW colour to shade white as you need only one or two mixed layers in-between to look good.

[sigur]

True.

Does GW produce Space Wolves grey spray? It's the best GW colour to shade white as you need only one or two mixed layers in-between to look good.

I'm totally sure that they did, but do they still sell those smaller spray cans?

[off-topic: I'm in another sig, w00t! ]

[tzeentchgiant]

I would suggest spraying them white then doing a very watered down wash with hawk turquoise to get depth and sharp edges, then clean up the bits between the arms with dark blue, put any light blue trims on and your done.

Just incase you don't know a wash of paint is extreamly watered down paint that goes into the receses of the model without tainting the outer surfaces, just like a watered down ink can, but without the shinyness. To make the wash coat the entire surface add some washing up liquid to thicken the liquid.

TG

[Mobius One]

Hmm; the Space Wolves Grey undercoat spray sounds like a good idea. I'm thinking Shadow Grey for the joints as Hortwerth suggested, along with Ultramarine or Royal Blue for the markings. I'll have to do a test model to see how it turns out.

So here's what I'm planning to do, tell me if I've got it straight;

1) spray (undercoat if a spray is unavailable) with space wolves grey
2) paint joints with shadow grey; I figure it's best to get it done before the white and cover over any mistakes later
3) paint over the armor plates with several coats of skull white, taking care to leave the various greys in the recesses.
4) finish off the boltgun, eyes, piping, purity seals etc.

does that sound about right?

On another topic, I'm looking for something to add to the shoulderpads of my marines to resemble heraldry shields, much like those worn by the Grey Knight termies. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make these shields without resorting to buying the actual Grey Knight bits or using Green Stuff, as I am absoultely skilless when it comes to sculpting? Out of card, perhaps?

Thank you one and all for your input thus far. Portent's always been good to me.

[Hortwerth]

does that sound about right?

It sounds OK for me.

On another topic, I'm looking for something to add to the shoulderpads of my marines to resemble heraldry shields, much like those worn by the Grey Knight termies. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make these shields without resorting to buying the actual Grey Knight bits or using Green Stuff, as I am absoultely skilless when it comes to sculpting? Out of card, perhaps?

Yes, I'd suggest card. 0,5mm-1mm thick card.

Cut a 7mm x 10mm rectangle or 5mm x 7mm if you find the first one too large.

Take some template of a circle that is around 15-20mm in diameter.

Mark the middle point of the short edge of a rectalnge and then put the circle so that it forms the shape of a shield, connecting the marked point and the long edge. Repeat on the other site.

Cut it with a modelling knife or small scissors.

[Lord of Skulls]

Or you could ask a Daemon Hunter player, as they usually have lots to spare. (You get five shields in a blister with one model.)

[Mobius One]

@ Lord of Skulls: that's a good idea, but I unfortunately don't know any Daemon Hunter players! My regular gaming group has 3 Eldar, 2 IG, 1 Necron and 4 SM, but no Daemon Hunters. I could post a wanted ad in the local hobby stop, though. Yes, I think i'll do that. Thanks for the tip!

Incidentally... if there are any Daemon Hunter players out here on portent that want to mail me some shields, I'd be a happy camper. We can negotiate a fee...

-Mobius One.