space marine bolter Orange or black?

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**Deathmachine**

ive resently got back into 40k and im not sure if i want orange bolters or black ones my chapter is ultramarines of course, ive been playing them since 3rd ED. orange just looks good with blue but im not sure it would look good on bolters ive got orange for there eyes also instead of red.

What do you all think?

**Alpharius**

I'm going to say black.

Definitely black.

(A shout out to 2nd edition would have them red, but still, black is the way to go!)

**Xanthos**

Sign me up for black as well. Orange and red were left behin after second ed, when GW moved towards more "realistic" color selections.

Not that they´re even close, mind you, but closer than back then. Less cartoon, more "there is only war".

**Lormax**

Black, heavy drybrush chainmail, then a drybrush of mithril, then badab black the whole thing. You'll like it.

**Deathmachine**

sweet thanks peeps.

**Joyous_Oblivion**

Yeah, orange would be scary.

Red is doable if you are going for nostalgic 90s style Ultras, but black is currently way to go.

I'd recommend more than drybrushing the whole thing, as it looks sloppy. Paint the main casing black, but the ammo clip, barrel (all 1 millimetre of it) and firing fiddly bits (stuff behind casing) paint these all boltgun or chainmail.

Highlight the black with fortress gray then skull white, and the chainmail/boltgun can get a badab black wash then small highlights with Mithril Silver.

**Deathmachine**

i prefer ink over the washes and i understand how to paint bolters thanks for the advice anyway, but i really just didnt know if i wanted orange or black i used to have red. orange just seems differnt from any army ive seen.

**Joyous_Oblivion**

It would be different for sure. And it could actually look good if the blue you are using for armour is light-pastel-ish blue, like i have seen of a couple Ultra armies over the years.

**Deathmachine**

i think ill try one of each and post them when i can.

**Arran235**

Black Definetly

**JediRaptor**

I'm going to be the only one that goes with orange....and it has nothing to do with the actual hobby.

While athstetically, black will look more "realistic" and true, the orange accent on blue armor pulls at another of my allegiences...see sig below.

**Swordbreaker**

Orange is just out, it just clashes horribly with everything.

Black is the safe bet.

Red is "classic" and I did my Ultras' in the classic red bolters and golden yellow trim. If you are going with the "new" paint scheme with the golden metallic trim, red is still a good choice because red and gold are complimentary royal colors. The red bolt guns also add a touch more visual interest to the model than the "stock" look of black boltguns.

**Deathmachine**

orange dont clash with blue if you know anything about art you would know orange and blue are compatable colours as are green to red and purple to yellow. i think im liking orange more and more.

**mray01**

I would say go with the Red (orange highlighted); of course this is how I did mine and I find them to look really good. You can also check out ExoCorp's Marines on here to see the black bolters.

**Waaagh_Gonads**

Wait for the new SM codex.... I'm sure they will have changed the UM colour scheme yet again.

**Darksword**

Black. I can't stand Ultramarines with orange Bolters, they look like they're armed with traffic cones.

**Leigen_Zero**

why not paint black and yellow hazard stripes on all the bolters, would look cool and fulfil both colours (approximately, yellow is nearly orange)

**Deathmachine**

im kinda liking that idea Leigen_Zero. thanks