Like your power armor in black? Check out how to get a crisp paint job on Chapters like Raven Guard, Black Templars, and Iron Hands.
Coming from Wyatt at Jack of Clubs Painting, he’s done another tutorial for all the Imperial fans that like their power armor a bit darker. Flashy paint jobs get you killed in the heat of battle.
Let’s take a closer look at a realistic dark tone Primaris Marine.
How to Paint Iron Hands, Raven Guard, Or Black Templars
For this paint scheme, it doesn’t really matter if you’re going for Iron Hands, Raven Guard, or even Black Templars! Black power armor is the staple for all of these factions so it’ll come down to whatever flair you use to differentiate. But with the new Primaris hotness inside Indomitus, any Chapter can make good use out of the units.
We’ve got the video above for you. But if you want to read the highlights on your own time, we’ve got them pulled out for you below:
Painting the Armor
Start by priming the model using Stynlrez Black Primer. Stynlrez sprays very easily through an airbrush and leaves a great coat on the model. Once the model is completely primed and dry, spray Somber Grey by Vallejo Game Air over the model to give the black a slightly bluish hue.
This does not need to be sprayed over the entire model, just areas where the light will hit the armor.
Next, spray Dark Pale Blue by Vallejo Model Color onto the brightest points of the armor as spot highlights. Be careful with this as it is much brighter than the Somber Grey was. Once dry, use the Dark Pale Blue to edge highlight the armor pieces, picking out details on the hard edges of the armor.
Now, make the joints pop against the black armor, using Scale 75 Black Metal instead of a straight black, this gives the model a slight sheen. The metallic paint will allow the joints to stand out a bit against the dark armor. This allows for some great color separation. Use Scale 75 Black Gold to hit up the chest’s winged insignia. Finally, wash the entire model with Army Painter Dark Tone plus Quickshade Mixing Medium, but don’t let the wash pool to prevent “coffee staining”. Once it’s dry, the body is done!
Painting the Helmet
Directly over the same black primer, you used on the model, you’ll want to use Dark Pale Blue from Vallejo and cover the entire bit.
Next, get some airbrush white Stynlrez primer and do a top-down spray on the helmet to create that lighting effect.
Once the primer is dry, you’ll want to use that same primer and put a couple of drops onto your palette. Take a manual brush and edge highlight the hard surfaces with the same color.
Finally, take the wash that you used on the model and apply it to the helmet. Make sure you watch for pooling in the flat areas like the top of the helmet. Prop the helmet up so that the wash pools at the bottom recesses of the helmet as well. Once that’s dry, you can glue it onto the model and fill out any other details you want to capture!
It might seem like quite a few steps for just a single model but once you get into the rhythm of things, you can assembly line this pretty easily.
What do you think about this method for painting black armor?
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About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, King of sprues.
