Stage-by-Stage Guide to... Painting Red Armour

This week, I will be looking at a quick and effective way of painting red, from a red primer. Again, this guide will give you an insight into painting a unit of models in a short space of time, but to a good tabletop standard.

As an added bonus, I'll try to explain my theory behind edge highlighting. Below are the colours I'll be using for this guide. All Games Workshop paints this week!



Theory.
It's surprisingly easy to paint models quickly and neatly, to a tabletop standard.  With practice, and a steady hand you can achieve some fantastic results without advanced techniques such as blending.



Step 1: After applying a base coat of Mephiston Red, paint all armour areas with Agrax Earthshade (I haven't tried the new Gloss Shade yet, but its safe to assume the final result will be the same, albeit shiny). I have primed my models with Halfords Red Plastic Primer, and the Shade goes over this as if it were painted with a base colour.

Step 2: Paint all armour areas again with Mephiston Red, being sure to leave the Agrax Earthshade in recesses, and around areas that will be another colour.

Step 3: Paint a neat, and fairly wide (approximately 1mm) layer of Evil Sunz Scarlet along the edges of the armour.  This can be done quickly and neatly with a regular brush. If you add a touch of water this will help the application of the paint.

Step 4: With a fine detail brush paint the outer edge of the armour with Wild Rider Red, watered down slightly. This can still be achieved with a standard brush if you are careful (I generally paint 90% of a model with a standard brush).

The four stages above can equally be adopted for red cloth and cloaks. For armour areas such as Chaos Armour, the entire edge is trimmed with metal, so there isn't a definitive edge. The photographic guide below will show you how to paint Chaos Armour.


Painting Guide.
It's quick and easy way to paint your models to a tabletop standard, in a very short space of time. While this technique isn't the most technical, your models will look great from a distance. And let's face it, your rank-and-file troops are going to get a pasting, so you can save your better work for your characters, monsters and vehicles!



Stage 1: I painted Games Workshop Mephiston Red over the Halfords Red Primer for the benefit of this guide. I added a touch of water to the paint and applied two thin coats.

Stage 2: Apply the Agrax Earthshade to the entire area and leave to dry. This photo was taken soon after painting and it shows where the paint wells up around the raised areas. This is perfectly fine.

Stage 3: Once the Shade is dry, paint Mephiston Red onto all the areas shown, making sure you leave the Shade in the recesses and around the spikes.

Stage 4: Paint Evil Sunz Scarlet along the outer edges (but do not paint over your shaded areas)

Stage 5: Finally, paint a thin line of Wild Rider Red on the highest points of the armour, making sure to leave some of the Evil Sunz Scarlet showing - this will give the illusion of blending when viewed from a distance.

By now, you should have a unit that is starting to take shape. For the Khorne Blood Reavers, there isn't much left to do.  Over the coming weeks I'll do a guide for skulls, black and weapons.

Why not try this technique on Space Marines or Khador Warjacks?

Next Week: SKULLS!