Painting Blood Angels armor doesn’t have to be hard, just follow this tutorial from Jack of Clubs and get your Sons of Sanguinius on the table fast!
Jack of Clubs Painting, has some great tutorials on YouTube on how to get your miniatures looking fantastic with an airbrush. Check out these fast steps to get your Blood Angels ready for the tabletop in no-time.
Painting Blood Angels Armor Jack of Clubs Tutorial
This is the final look we’re going for! If your entire army is painted up to these standards, all your local hobby friends will take notice! Let’s see how to do it.
Airbrushing Base Coats
First, prime the miniature black. Once primed and dry, start building the red using Vallejo Model Color Black Red all over the model. It’s okay if it looks glossy at first, it’ll eventually dry and leave you with a dull red.
Carmine Red by Vallejo Model Color is next. Spray it at a high angle over the Black Red in a thin layer. Don’t oversaturate the Carmine Red. This will help build a smooth transition between the reds. Your main goal here is to do a subtle brightening of the armor plates where natural light normally hits.
Start of Airbrushing Highlights
Flat Red by Vallejo Model Color is sprayed over the top portions as a targeted highlight. You should be focusing more on the smaller surfaces of what you just hit with Carmine Red. This will pull off a nicely detailed lighting effect.
Finally, target your highlight areas once more with the orange-red shade Wild Rider Red from Citadel. Focusing, even more, spray this color on the very tips where the light will hit.
Of all the colors used from above, the main goal is to see a gradual, lighter fade to a focused point on the armor plates.
Be careful not to overspray the bright red so it doesn’t take away from the darker tones used.
Fine-Detailing Your Model
By now, your model should be good enough for tabletop quality. However, if you want to go the extra mile, you can use Vallejo Model Color Black and a paintbrush to block in the trim, joints, and crest as desired. For the skull, you can use Scale 75 Thrash Metal to bring out a crisp metal finish without any clumpy pigments.
Highlight the black areas with Vallejo Model Color Neutral Grey. Carefully pick out the details.
With Wild Rider Red, edge highlight the armor panels and shoulder pads. Only catch the hard edges where the highlight will be the brightest. Also, make sure you use a very fine-detailed brush for this, or else you’ll get uneven paint strokes that’ll take away from the crispness of the model.
Final Wash
When you’re done with the highlighting, wash the model with a mixture of Dark Tone, Red Tone, and Quickshade Mixing Medium from The Army Painter.
To see how to get the great company markings effects (Mini’s right shoulder) and to see the finished model, be sure to watch the entire video Above.
Finished Mini
That does it for this one! You can always cut out the last couple of steps if you just want a nice tabletop quality, or go the extra mile if you really want your Blood Angels to stand out!
Follow along with the latest from Jack of Clubs on YouTube or LIVE on Twitch four nights a week!
Watch Jack of Clubs Painting LIVE
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This post contains affiliate links, as an Amazon Associate Spikey Bits earns from qualifying purchases.
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!
