Do take your time when priming to get a smooth finish, as it makes all the difference to the end result. Step 2 – Apply Base Colours This tutorial assumes you have a basic understanding of how to paint. For the beginners, I will explain the techniques as I go along. Each picture below shows four chronological steps. Underneath each picture are the corresponding instructions. Each step shows the paint I used during that step. Paints you will need for this tutorial: Stage 1 is basecoating. Base colours are applied using flat colours. Since the models are primed a lighter colour these initial coats are applied slightly watered down, around 2 parts paint to 1 part water. Imperial Fists: The Imperial Fists are a Space Marine chapter known for their yellow and blue color scheme. Thunderhawk Blue paint is perfect for painting the blue parts of the Imperial Fists’ armor, giving them a deep and rich look, it can also be used to paint the details and weathering on their armor, giving them a realistic and weathered look. The hexadecimal color code #509ba9 is a shade of cyan. In the RGB color model #509ba9 is comprised of 31.37% red, 60.78% green and 66.27% blue. In the HSL color space #509ba9 has a hue of 189° (degrees), 36% saturation and 49% lightness. This color has an approximate wavelength of 487.19 nm.

If you do have any questions or suggestions on how to improve it for others, then please do let me know. Altdorf Guard Blue: This is a cool, muted blue that can be used to paint the details and accents on the miniatures painted with Thunderhawk Blue. It can also be used to create a analogous color scheme. The glazes on everything are made using a hugely thinned mid tone – Khorne for the red, Thunderhawk for blue etc. For the very final finishing touches, I add a little cross hatching or stippling of washed out pale versions of the core colours to represent fraying, wearing or particularly on leather, poor maintenance. At that point our doughty musketeer is ready for basing. This pic is two steps in one, sorry, I forgot to take a pic in between. Drybrush Thunderhawk Blue and then drown the model in Nuln Oil. Most painting tutorials will tell you not to let the wash pool and make sure it’s not too much. I just slather it on and let it pool anyway. In the next step this is cleaned up a bit again with the highlight. Blue areas: Stegadon Scale Green 20:80 with Citadel Thunderhawk Blue, then an extreme spot highlight of Thunderhawk and Vallejo Arctic White

Bolter – Base the metal areas in Leadbelcher, the red casing in Mephiston Red and the grip in Eshin Grey. Wash the metal and grip with NuIn Oil and casing with Carroburg Crimson. Highlight metals with Ironbreaker, grip with Eshin Grey and casing with Evil Sunz Scarlet. Red Areas: Citadel Word Bearers Red 50:25:25 Citadel Khorne Red and Lahmian Medium, then 50:50 Khorne and Flayed one Flesh Red Areas: Citadel Word Bearers Red 50:50 with Vallejo Game Color Dark Fleshtone, then layered with thinned Word Bearers Red Stage 4 is for final details and highlights. This stage involves adding the finishing touches, sometimes just small details like the eyes, or adding small highlights to increase definition.

Using thinned down paints are wonderful for getting a smooth finish but the extra water or thinner in the mix can result in the end result being quite glossy. Sometimes this is great but in this case, I wanted the end result to look smooth and matte. I made this decision based on the knowledge that these Space Marine chapters have a lot of blue in their color schemes. Thunderhawk Blue paint can be used as a base coat for these chapters, providing an excellent foundation for layering, highlighting, and shading, giving them a deep and rich look. It can also be used to paint the details and weathering on the miniatures, giving them a realistic and weathered look. Thunderhawk Blue Colour Schemes & Combinations Ultramarines: The Ultramarines are one of the original Space Marine chapters and their color scheme is primarily blue. Thunderhawk Blue paint is perfect for painting the main body of the Ultramarines’ armor, giving them a deep and rich look. Stage 2 is shading. During this stage we apply washes and glazes to the more shadowed areas of the miniatures, particularly the lower edges and undersides. When we think about what the English Civil War looked liked, it’s usually more-or-less identical sides, dressed in similar colours and distinguishable by either long hair or severe puritan scowls. There are a few iconic colours out there – the classic brown buff coat, or the first Redcoats in the New Model Army – but a lot of the time, we don’t have a set mental image of what colours we should be painting. Both on the table and in real life, there was (and is) a fairly bewildering array of colours you can paint your pike and shot.The Thunderhawk Blue paint is a versatile paint that can be used to paint a wide variety of Space Marine armies in the Warhammer 40K universe. Here are three armies that would particularly benefit from using this paint: Purity Seals – Wash with Agrax Earthshade. Highlight with Wazdakka Red and Ushabti Bone. Add lines of writing in Eshin Grey. Eye Lenses – Paint the full lens in Wazdakka Red then, leaving an edge of red, paint Evil Sunz Scarlet inside. The only time I feel alive is when I'm painting. Vincent Van Gogh

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The important thing to remember when edge highlighting, is you want the paint to be thinned so it flows easily from the brush but not so much that it will run everywhere.

Conversion Table

Pink Horror: This is a bright, vibrant pink that can be used to paint the details and accents on the miniatures painted with Thunderhawk Blue. It can also be used to create a split-complementary color scheme. If you find yourself unsure of where to apply the highlights or spot highlights, look over the images alongside the guide and compare that stage to the last. Basecoat the white areas with Ulthuan Grey. Again, you want this super smooth, so use nice thin layers.