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You may know that I am attempting to build an Angels of Death Kill Team, my first models I'll be painting in a very long time.

Previous Armies I've played have been WW2 armies and Dark Angels, which were both dry brushed and plastered with mud. My armies if the past looked like they'd been through hell.

My standard paint scheme was to dry brush a model and then apply some sort of wash in order to get rid of the chalky look that dry brushing usually leaves behind.

I've been told to avoid whites, yellows, and reds when painting marines, but I'm also afraid of all black armies being dull.

Since 90% of the marines I am using will be the monopose easy fit marines, I assume that I will have to use a transfer for the chapter emblem.

Any advice you can give will be appreciated, as I have no clue how I should paint these guys.

(Oh, and besides a bottle of Iraqi Sand by Vallejo, I have no paints, so I will need to buy the paints.)

Some colors cover better then others, but nothing is impossible. It might just take an extra coat.

Do any of the named chapters call to you? What do you think would look cool? It’s far more important to have a army that you like, then one that’s easy to paint by are “meh” on. Figure out what direction you want to go, and we can help you on the path.

But “How do I paint marines” is a very broad question.

Nevelon is right. First, pick the army/chapter that calls to you. You'll enjoy painting the army you like far more than one you don't.

Having said that, darker colors tend to cover better. White, yellow, orange, and red all have their issues with coverage. There are ways to work around it, mind you; but there are issues.

When painting white, basecoat in a light grey, and you build up through light greys and off-whites saving pure white for the top highlights.

Red, orange, and yellow work better over mid- to light browns. Again, layer up to your brightest highlight.

Thank you. It is a broad question... I will attempt to focus the issue.

My problem is thrice-fold. (Is that a word?)

1) I would prefer to use an official army, even if they are super obscure. I always enjoy tying my games into the 40k storyline and having my opponents see the models I am using and recognize them, without needing a detailed explanation of who they are.

2) I have the hands of a civil war field surgeon and the eyes of Mr. Magoo. So, I'd like to keep things simple. I am intimidated by straight lines on Lieutenants's helmets... and hearing phrases like mixing paints into certain ratios. Personally, if I am to be honest, when I am intimidated by a project, I have the problem of shelving it, and never attempting it.

3) I'd like to avoid painting them to look like the British 8th Armoured in North Africa (aka The Desert Rats), as my roommate has a Imperial Knights force in that color scheme.

I will work on trying to figure out what Space Marines I would like to play.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Well I narrowed it down to a top 5... based on color schemes I like or background that I think is pretty cool.

I might be biting off more than I can chew with some of these paint schemes. If I am, please be honest with me.

I have very little painting skill, but I'm only painting up a handful of Marines for a Kill Team, so this won't be a 2,000 point force.

1. Astral Hawks


2. Accipiters


3. Iron Ravens


4. Marines Malevolent


5. Silver Templars

#2 looks like the simplest of the batch. Black is fairly easy, and blue are pretty simple too.

Best of all, there's an 'easy' button for separating the black and blue while painting. Just paint the head and shoulderpads separate from the rest. Now there's zero chance of you getting black on the blue parts, or vice-versa.

The red on the Aquilla is a bit trickier, but (aside from squad markings) it's the only thing.

Paint the guns in a metallic steel color - Boltgun Metal is the classic - and away you go.

Made a decision!

Now I need to know how to paint them (aka what paints I need to buy).

They are supposed to be silver and black, but one of the pictures makes them look grey.

It depends on how you want to do them.

Back when I worked on my Iron Warriors (a similar scheme), I primed them black, painted the whole model with Leadbelcher, coated the model in Nuln Oil, and then drybrushed them again with Leadbelcher. Then I painted the rest of the details.



You could do that, then paint all the black details, and highlight those with Dawnstone. Grab some Mephiston red for the eyes and you're good to go with an easy enough paint scheme with a minimum of 5 paints.