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Hey guys,

I'm going to begin painting my Red Corsairs 40K army this weekend.

I'm looking for some general tips/advice on painting an army and what equipment I'll need. I'm also looking for some more specific advice on painting Red Corsairs.

Here is what I'm planning on buying, please let me know if I'm missing anything =)

Fine detail brush
Dry brush
Skull white spray

40K peeps, I need advice on paints I'll need for Red Corsairs.
Looking to buy the basic paints I'll need + a few for highlights/shading and some washes.

Any tips would be really appreciated on how to approach painting a whole army.

Cheers =)

I'd pop into somewhere like B&Q, Wilkos, Halfords, etc and pick up some plastikote spray rather than GW's spray - about half the cost for twice as much. You can look at other brands of automotive spray primer as well as they come in many different colours and will generally give you a good base-coat and of an appropriate colour (in your case red would probably be pretty good ).

I'd then get a black wash, sepia wash and a mid-silver paint, a fine detail brush (forget the drybrush) and a small plastic pot for water (I use an egg cup but whatever works for you ).

I would also pick up some double sided tape or some blutac.

So, spray your soldiers with your red primer - I stick them onto a strip of thick card in single file (so you can spray up at them from underneath more easily to ensure they are entirely covered) using the double sided tape or blutac to hold them in place. Ensure you shake the can well for at least a minute if not more, and check the nozzle isn't making it spray badly by doing a couple of test bursts on something like a bit of card or paper.

Leave this to dry for a couple of hours or overnight if possible. Also leave it somewhere well ventilated if possible as it will smell quite a lot.

Do a very heavy wash or two of black wash over the areas you want to be black. This should give you a nice dark black with a hint of red shining through and also automatically give you shadows and highlights without having to highlight up from a flat black.

Once dry, paint the bits you want brass coloured with the silver, allow to dry then hit with a mid (slightly watered down) black wash, then when dry use the sepia wash to turn it a golden brass colour. Alternatively use something like dwarf bronze (sorry, I don't know what the new colour name is) with a light black wash over the top.

Then hit the red areas with a light black wash to give them some shading.

Pick out any other details in whatever colours or ways you want.

Thanks very much!

You could pick up some dark grey paint to paint the areas you want to be black then hit with a black wash afterwards if you want a more "pure" black rather than one tinged with red.

So should I always avoid using just a standard black paint for parts of the model I want to paint black?

I assume by using dark grey and a black wash it will have more depth etc.

Yeah, straight black is a PITA to work with. Much easier to use a dark grey with a black wash to give you a much better looking black that is already highlighted and shaded than to paint black then have to use lighter shades to highlight.

You can, once you get to the point where you are more confident, and have a wider range of paints and tools etc, start playing around with colours to get some really nice looking blacks. Adding weathering powder to a mixture of dark blue and black paint gives a really nice texture that looks good for SWAT style fabric covered armour for example.

My personal advice is always to paint light to dark using washes, with highlights only when required. It is, IMO, far easlier to go from light to dark than dark to light. It is one of the reasons I love washes - they can give a really good look for very little investment of time and cash.



My eldar are primed white, washed with a watered down bright orange, then hit with a weak black wash which is then washed off the raised portions by using a clean wet brush on the still wet black wash. The details are then added on (black ink for the helmet, watered down bright yellow for the face with a sepia wash and a blue ink for the eyes and soul gems - various other inks for cloths, gems, runes etc. Guns are a watered down dark grey paint straight over the white prime).

All in all the actual painting time with a production line method of painting is around 10-20 minutes per figure to get to the table top level above.

Red corsairs is pretty much a do what you like csm army. Read the fluff dude. Most of them wear their old chapter colours with the imperial markings defaced and a red x painted over .
There's some pics in my gallery if you're interested. Although ironically mine are red and black,

Its good to see a fellow RC player. Looks like SilverMK2 has giving you some really good advice.

Have you had any progress? RC's are soo varied and the fluff can be used any way you see fit. Heck I play mine as Space Wolves!?

Have fun with it .. I love them!

Can't wait to see some of your stuff