Col Festus is here, and this time he’s showing us how to paint Astra Militarum in a fast yet effective way in his latest painting tutorial!
Col Festus has some unique hobby content, and if you need some sweet painting tips, you should follow him to get up on all your painting and conversion techniques! He also paints up a ton of Makers Cult files, which are always fantastic, and you can score yours here!
This time, he shows how to paint up everyone’s favorite, the Cadian 501st. Let’s see how to do it!
How To Paint Astra Militarum: Col Festus Tutorial
He starts off with AK Interactive Grey Primer, but if you want to grab any of the paints used in the video, check them out below:
- Speedpaint 2.0
- Ashen Stone Speedpaint 2.0
- Bony Matter Speedpaint 2.0
- Noble skin Speedpaint 2.0
- Aged Hide Speedpaint 2.0
- Grim Black Speedpaint 2.0
- Gravelord Grey Speedpaint 2.0
- Medium Speedpaint 2.0
- Shamrock Green AK 3rd Gen Acrylics
- Dark Grey AK 3rd Gen Acrylics
- Warm Grey AK 3rd Gen Acrylics
- Brown Rose AK 3rd Gen Acrylics
- Pastel Pink AK 3rd Gen Acrylics
- Off White AK 3rd Gen Acrylics
- English Grey AK 3rd Gen Acrylics
- Grey Brown AK 3rd Gen Acrylics
- Black AK 3rd Gen Acrylics
- Gunmetal AK
- Wargamer Wash Dark Wash (pending release. Can use agarax earth shade)
Now, let’s get into the actual painting steps!
Step 1:
He starts with an all-over wash with Ashen Grey and Bony Matter. Once dry, he hits all the boots and packs with Noble Skin and then does the skin with Aged Hide. These are all Speedpaints, so you should be able to get a basecoat in a single pass. Then, for anything that’s going to be black or silver, he hits with Grim Black. Lastly, for the basecoats, he paints all the armor with Dark Grey (not Speedpaint).
Step 2:
For any of the silver, he just hits them with a quick coat of Gunmetal. To add some depth to the armor, he mixes Gravelord Grey with Speedpaint Medium in a 1:4 ratio. He then washes this all over the armor; this just adds a little more definition. The next thing he does is paint the eyes; this way, if you mess up, you can paint over it later with your skin highlights. He starts by painting them black, then uses an off-white of your choice and puts dots in the corners of the eyes. It’s pretty simple and looks great!
Step 3:
To start highlighting, he uses Dark Rose and highlights all the skin with it, and fixes any of his mistakes. You could leave the skin like this for a line trooper, but he wants to go a little further and add a 5 o’clock shadow. He mixes Brown Rose and Dark Gray in a 4:1 mix and paints it on where the beard would be. Then he goes back with Brown Rose and adds some highlights to places like the lips and cheeks to make it look more realistic. To finish up the skin highlights, he mixes Brown Rose with Pastel Pink and does an even light highlight than before.
Step 4:
For highlighting the black areas, he moves onto Grey Brown and hits some light highlights all over the black areas. To highlight the fatigues, he uses Warm Grey and just hits the high points. Now it’s time to add some weathering. He uses the Gunmetal and just hits the gun where there should be some weathering and raised areas. He does the same thing to weather all the armor.
Step 5:
Now it’s time to paint in our final details. He starts by painting the lasgun ammo meter white and then a single coat of Shamrock Green. It’s a small detail but really adds a lot to the model. He then highlights the greys with English Grey. With that, the model is almost done, other than the base. He’s going to start by painting the whole thing with Grey Brown and washing it with Dark Wash. Then, he just paints the rim black. The last thing to do is add on decals if you want and seal the model with a varnish.
Finished Model:
There you have it! An amazing-looking mini without spending a crazy amount of time on it.
Be sure to check out the video below for all the tips!
Follow Col Festus on YouTube Here!
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
