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How do you highlight/shade IG armor, specifically? Looking for advice as that's the next thing I want to improve for myself.

(edit)

To clarify, armor on guardsmen. Helmet and shoulders in particular.

washes.

I never used to use them, but when I wanted to get serious about painting vehicles recently, I bought a few. They work phenominally for vehicles

spray black. Paint your highlight color as the base coat. Do it by means of drybrushing, though, so the paint doesn't quite go on evenly. Wash agrax to make it rusty, wash nuln to make it grimy. go back in and highlight or detail as needed.

It does a really nice job really easily. The wash collecting around the rivets really makes them pop out.

 Ailaros wrote:
washes.

I never used to use them, but when I wanted to get serious about painting vehicles recently, I bought a few. They work phenominally for vehicles

spray black. Paint your highlight color as the base coat. Do it by means of drybrushing, though, so the paint doesn't quite go on evenly. Wash agrax to make it rusty, wash nuln to make it grimy. go back in and highlight or detail as needed.

It does a really nice job really easily. The wash collecting around the rivets really makes them pop out.

I should have been more specific, I meant the armor on a guardsmen! But that's welcome advice regardless, as I've gone for even coats rather than drybrushing. I'm curious to try that on my next chimera.

What colour are you wanting to paint them and how long you willing to spend on them? Do you have any images of your current attempts so we can offer suggestions on improvements? The basic system of...

basecoat -> wash -> 1 or 2 highlights

....works pretty well on it. You just have to pick the colours you want and how much effort you want to put in to get them to the standard you want.

proper blending will provide proper shading... and some sponged on paint chips around the edges will simulate pretty realistic wear and tear

 Evertras wrote:
How do you highlight/shade IG armor, specifically? Looking for advice as that's the next thing I want to improve for myself.

(edit)

To clarify, armor on guardsmen. Helmet and shoulders in particular.

I have several steps for my armor plates on cadians to make them look battle tested

Here's a link to them sorry if its hard to see in the pictures
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/421093-94th%20Valhallan%20Troops.html?m=2

Now I doubt you army has the red-orange scheme mine has, but my process may help you.

I started with a base of orange. Jokaero orange to be precise. Thats easy.
Then I drybrush with the light reddish pink drybrush paint. I don't do normal drybrushing along the edges and such, I drybrush the whole surface. That's to get the worn and scraped look. Sometimes I'll add in some necron compound (silver drybrush) with that, but in a very small amount. Then I coat it with the orange wash in the same manner as if I would paint it, I don't water it down or anything. Then I give it a coat of bloodletter (red-orange glaze) and depending on how battered I want him to look maybe a small amount of nuln oil.
I think the variety of textures that this gives can add a bit of believable wear to the armor.

When I do guardsmen, I just drybrush over the base coat with a lighter shade of the base and then just like another poster said-- WASHES.
If you drybrush with little circles on the helmet and shoulderpads, you wont see the brushstrokes and then the wash will flow better over the model.
Also---try edging.
Load your brush with paint that is two steps lighter than the base color. Stroke the brushtip on your palette and try to "flatten" the brush.
Then use the flat side of the brush and drag it along the edges of your shoulderpads and the front edge of the helmet.
Give it a try!!