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Hey guys! So I posted a while back about putting together a Nurgle army. Well, THAT didn't happen. What did happen was a sweet deal on a bunch of Dark Angels, so HERE WE ARE!

I want to paint the tactical squads first, and I have looked up a few tutorials on how to do this. However, everyone seems to have their own unique processes and none of them have done a real great job of breaking the process down in a concise, step by step way that is easily understandable for a beginner like myself. And so I've decided to come to you fine folks. I'm hoping that you guys can help put together a list of paints that I will need to paint a basic Dark Angel Space Marine squad, as well as a step by step detail on how to use/layer those paints.

So far all I have is a full spray can of Caliban Green primer. If I use that primer does that eliminate the need for a green base coat over the model, or should I add a green base coat on top of that? OR should I use black primer instead, and just buy a pot of Caliban Green paint. Not worried about company details yet (I may just use decals for that), but some basic shading/maybe highlighting would be nice to try.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Here's a good video from GW's Duncan Rhodes:

Excellent video thank you so much!

Just as a note, the Caliban Green spray is not a primer. It's a spray acrylic paint. You're still going to want to prime before you use it. You can spray it right over your undercoat. You might want a pot of the green anyway, though, for touch ups

First: Welcome to the forum
Second: I envy you, because I remember how awesome is the feel when you make your first steps into the hobby.

When it comes to painting, remember that no many how many tutorials you see on youtube or read online, it always ends into making the stuff your own way. Those tutorials are there just to give some rough guideline.

People usualy prime in black/gray or white and then apply the base coat.

You should have a pot of Caliban green for touching up mistakes, as well as some Warpstone Glow for edge highlighting if you're going down that route. You should also get a green or black wash for the shading.

Don't use the spray can of Caliban Green. You're spending a lot of money doing that. Get a spray can primer for $6 (I like Krylon) and then a pot of Caliban Green for the base coat. Make sure you thin all your paints with water to a milky consistency using either water or fluid retarder (Liquitex).

The best advice I got when starting out was many thin coats are better than one thick coat of paint. I'm still struggling with that a bit, but am working to overcome.

Most importantly...HAVE FUN!!!

Thanks for all the replies guys. After many..many many many hours I've finished painting 16 tactical marines. They're turning out pretty well so far, no issues. I still have two sergeants, two heavy weapons, and a Company Master to go before I move on to my terminators and ravenwings.

As a side note, I -did- use the spray can of green as a primer rather than doing black and then applying the base coat via a brush. I figured it would be faster to do it that way due to the number of models I have. Haven't noticed any issues with doing it that way! It saved me a lot of time and the paint seems to have stuck to it without issue. I've attached pictures of what they look like. The only real issue I ran into was a glossy texture that seems to have been the result of me not shaking my wash before using it.

May I be the first to say - they look great, really great.

If I was to offer some constructive criticism, it would be that they could do with a further highlight to really define each segment of the armour, but otherwise they're a really solid job especially considering you say it's your first squad - well done

As a sidenote, if you're feeling adventurous, get yourself a pot of liquid greenstuff and fill the gap in on your plasma cannon. You'll find that most of the weapons in the Devastator kit don't line up exactly and there's nothing that spoils a good paintjob more than unsightly gaps. It's a bit of a faff, but a little effort goes a long way. Anyway, keep up the good work!

Thank you very much Mr. Pig! I will ask my buddy about the greenstuff as he uses it often to do modification work. I like that idea and may give it a try!

I've been tempted to try further highlighting on the armor, but I'm a little worried about screwing it up. The GW tutorial I was watching recommended highlighting the armor simply by going over all the flat and raised bits with the original base color, which I think I could hang with but I haven't actually seen a good example of what that looks like. Most of the highlighting I've seen has jus been edge highlighting which I don't feel up to attempting just yet.

I think what they mean by going over with the base colour is to reaffirm the main colour after you've washed it. Presumably (I haven't actually watched the above video) they advise you to wash all the green armour with a wash to create shading. Then they'll probably say to 'highlight' this with the base colour. It's probably better to explain via imagery in steps:

Imagine a square raised up out of a surface.

1. Put a wash over the square, you'll notice the wash pools around the square, creating depth along the edges where the wash pools the most and darkens the colour.

2. Highlight the square, painting only the raised surface to bring it back to the main colour and simulate the effect of light illuminating the upper areas whilst leaving the recesses in simulated shade. In most circles, this is known as a layer rather than a highlight, simply because it often isn't as noticeable as a highlight.

3. Take a lighter colour again (or possibly just your base colour mixed with a touch of white) and go around only the very edges of the square. This again simulates the light glinting off the very edges of an object.

4. Finally, using an even lighter colour (or more white mixed in) you highlight the most extreme edges you can find - perhaps just the tip of a corner on the square - this is the most intense glint of light reflecting off the object.

Essentially - when the video tutorial says to go over and 'highlight' the raised surfaces with the base colour they are referring to Step 2 of my explanation. However, what I meant by highlight was steps 3 and 4 - a real edge highlight that you can visibly perceive. Edge Highlighting is usually the beginners first steps into highlighting (There are a few different methods, but edge is the easiest), but don't be alarmed. Thin your paints, have a good brush (I recommend Winsor & Newton if you can afford it) and try to rest your arm of a firm surface and with practice you'll master it. In my part of the world we tend to say 'Shy bairns get nowt', so do some research and after that all you can do is bite the bullet and give it a go. I'll try and get a scan of an old WD I have that explains how to highlight Dark Angels - you may find it useful.

PS: Mr Pig? That's a first... I don't think I've ever been referred to as Mr Pig

That was very informative thank you! That WD article would be very helpful if you can manage the scan. Once I have the bulk of my army fully painted to a tabletop standard I may go back and try some of those more interesting highlighting techniques. It takes me around five hours just to get four marines up to the point you see in those pictures so I don't want to get too burned out on the same models yet. I may try to do some edge highlighting on by Company Master and Librarian, and if I get -really- brave I may try to paint Belial and an Interrogator Chaplain.

Well, the scan wasn't as informative as I thought it was - but here it is anyway:



(Just a heads-up, but if you like the method and want this as a reference, I'd advise you to save the pic on your own PC as I'll probably delete it from my own gallery sometime and when I do it won't show up on Dakka anymore)

A note about Moot Green and Warpstone Glow - keep some clean water on hand at all times. For some reason both of those paints dry really fast and get quite claggy. A drop of water every now and then keeps them nice and smooth and makes it easier to highlight with.

Oh and don't worry about taking 5 hours to do 4 marines. I've just started my last tactical marine from a box I got two years ago, and I've never got more than a single box of models on my desk at one time! I'm so incredibly slow at painting it's almost funny. Almost...

Thank you very much for the information, and for the reassurance. Spent the day gluing my Ravenwing Command Squad and my Deathwing Knights together. Much to do!