Take Ultramarines up a notch with a bright blue fade and crisp edge highlights! You won’t believe how to easy it is to get that fantastic look on Ultramarines.
Jack of Clubs Painting has some great tutorials on YouTube that go over how to get your miniatures looking fantastic with the airbrush. Ultramarine blue is easy to achieve with this method. Check out this quick tutorial and be sure to watch the entire tutorial video below!
How to Paint that Perfect Ultramarine Blue
Start off by priming with Stylnrez black primer, keeping a thin spray across the entire model. Next, mix Vallejo Mecha Color Titan Blue with Vallejo Flow Improver and spray it over the model at a 45-90 degree angle. This keeps the black primer in the shadows and recesses, creating a color pop with the blue.
Spray Vallejo Game Air Magic Blue over the tops of the armor pads and backpack to bring out the highlights. This is a very bright blue highlight, so spray carefully and maintain a high angle to keep the shadows in place. Then target Vallejo Game Air Electric Blue onto the brightest parts of the model, like the shoulder pads, helmet, etc, as targeted highlights.
Finally, white is added to the Electric Blue to create a brighter highlight inside the highlight, creating a light pop. Go slowly on this step with thin paint during this last step so the highlight blends in.
Negro Gold from Scale75 is used to lock in the trim along the shoulder pads. Use the brush carefully to avoid getting paint on the blues. Paint Vallejo Model Color Black into the armor joints, creating a contrast in between the armor layers.
To wash, mix up Army Painter Blue Tone, Dark Tone, and Quickshade Mixing Medium together and brush that over the entire model. Wick away the excess from the flat surfaces by dipping the brush in water and moving the wash away from the flat areas. Continue to manipulate the wash until it gets into the recesses and let the wash dry completely before continuing!
For the final touches, use Vallejo Model Color Azure to edge highlight the armor panels. You don’t need to highlight the entire edge but focus on the areas where light would hit. With an airbrush workup, highlighting every panel isn’t needed to create a clean, crisp look. Elven Gold from Scale75 is used to brighten up the gold trim.
Once done, apply a matte varnish to unify the finish on the entire model! The Ultramarine is now ready for battle on the tabletop. Be sure to watch the entire video below to see the entire workup and how to get that crisp, clean blue fade.
For more Jack of Clubs tutorials, check out his channel on Youtube.
You can also catch Jack of Clubs on Twitch four nights a week.
