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How To: Painting Alpha Legion Marines

By Rob Baer | May 7th, 2013 | Categories: Chaos Space Marines, How To Tutorial, Painted Figure Showcase, Warhammer 40k

Hey guys, Rage of Khorne here from The Order of Chaos gaming club. Lately I’ve been working on some Dark Vengeance models and they’re one of the most difficult colour schemes I have ever painted.

Alpha legion colours used to be a bright blue green colour scheme but in the latest rendition of the Chaos codex they appear as a darker blue trimmed with silver and a kind of green buffer between the two. A very challenging scheme when you see the detail of the models in the range.

I started off working on the Forge Fiend as I often enjoy getting something really interesting finished first so that I have the ambition to push through to the rest of the models in the army. If you’ve ever painted on a deadline or just couldn’t get an army finished, trying different ways of staying interested is probably a good idea.

I almost never paint models before they are assembled but because the forge fiend is so complicated, I chose to do the first few stages on the pieces before they were glued together. Don’t worry about the paint hindering the models assembly process because if you use plastic glue, all you have to do is let a drop of the glue sit in place and it melts the surface layer of paint. This allows you to glue pieces together even after they’ve had a couple layers of painting done on them.

The model was primed black and I started off by spraying on basecoats on the armour plates, flesh, and metal areas. This always helps me visualize the paint job coming together and covers everything in the basic layers I need to work up from. I also highlighted the blue with a very subtle spray of the blue mixture plus a little Ceremite White. The colours and mixes I used were as follows; my apologies for the use of the older paints (I’m still working through them before buying the new versions).
  • Skin-Tallarn Flesh
  • Armour Plates-Necron Abyss mixed with Mordian Blue (1:1)
  • Metal-Leadbelcher

The base coats of the model were laid down next by painting in each of the trim sections and painting in areas where the spray didn’t cover properly. I was trying to emulate the same colour scheme as in White Dwarf October 2012. 
The washes they used were as follow (from what I can gather):
  • Metal-Nuln Oil
  • Skin-Chestnut Ink and Serephim Sepia 1:1 (must be a wash I don’t have yet)
  • Armour Plates-Druchii Violet

After the washes dried, I went to work line highlighting the edges between the trim and the armour plates with Knarloc Green. To help only hit the areas I wanted, I added a bit ore water then I usually would and if any paint went where I didn’t want it, I used a piece of paper towel to clean up the trim and plating. I then did the exact same process when applying the Moot Green to the cracks but tried to keep my lining even thinner this time around.

This process achieved a sort of fade between the dull and dark blue mix and the Moot Green. The highlights on the trim were picked out using Mithril Silver to create a strong contrast between the darker metal and the highlighting.

Looking at the forge fiend from the white dwarf magazine it seemed too easy to lose the glow of the weapons because they were right beside armoured plates which are just as bright. I chose to do area lighting effects as they stood out more and basically gave the model some added personality and menace.

I sprayed on a mix of Sotek Green mixed 1:1 with Ceremite White and then highlighted the same areas with lines on the raised areas with a 1:3 mix of Sotek Green and Ceremite White. The appearance is that of slight glowing effects but retains the defined shape.


I’m happy with the way he turned out and I finished the Dark Vengeance kit in the same colour scheme with slight tweaks to the process I used. For example the cultists required a slightly different colour set all together and focused on more of the Turquoise and Brown than the dark blue and bright green.

They’re ready to subvert the will of the emperor and cause havoc across the galaxy.

About the Author: Rob Baer

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Rob Baer

Job Title: Managing Editor

Founded Spikey Bits in 2009

Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X

About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.

Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls. 

Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.

Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.

With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.

While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.

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