Tutorial: How to paint Blood Angels Armour

As promised, here is an easy to follow step-by-step tutorial for painting the iconic red armour of the Blood Angels, painted with the budget-friendly Warpaints range from The Army Painter we reviewed a while ago. Check out the detailed instructions after the jump.

1. The model was primed with Dragon Red Colour Primer from The Army Painter. When using Colour Primers, make sure to shake them at least a minute, then use long sweeps instead of short burst, at a distance of about 10 to 20 cm. Build up the colour in two or three thin coats to avoid clogging up details. Once the primer was dry, I painted any areas the primer didn’t reach with Warpaints Dragon Red, then applied a thin layer all over for an even finish.

2. I like to paint all the messy, drybrushing-involving parts first so I don’t hit any areas I already painted with stray pigments. Once complete, I added some definition by shading the armour. For that I mixed Warpaints Oak Brown with a little bit of Warpaints Strong Tone Ink. When thinning down paint for controlled shading, I like to add washes instead of water. The medium of the wash will help to improve the flow of the paint without sacrificing too much opacity. I applied this mix directly into the recesses of the armour, and, once done, I tidied up any messy areas with Dragon Red.

3. The first highlight was a slightly chunky edge highlight of Warpaints Pure Red.

4. To complete the armour I added a thin edge highlight of Warpaints Mythical Orange, concentrating on the uppermost edges. This has to be very thin or else the light orange will overpower the red. If you don’t feel super confident about your brush control, it might be wiser to use a darker orange like Warpaints Mars Red, as it won’t stand out that much if your highlights get a bit uneven.

In case you need to expand your paint collection, head over to Wayland Games or Element Games, which stock a huge selection of paints at competitive prices.

Here we have the finished model. Check out these super high-res pictures that reveal every brush stroke 😉

Here are the paint recipes I used for painting all the other details:

Dark metal:

Basecoat oWarpaints Gun Metal, all over wash with Warpaints Dark Tone Ink (thinned with a little bit of Warpaints Quickshade Mixing Medium), drybrush with Warpaints Shining Silver.

Bright metal:

Basecoat Warpaints Plate Mail Metal, recess wash of Dark Tone Ink, edge highlight with Shining Silver.

Black:

Basecoat of Warpaints Matt Black, chunky edge highlight with Warpaints Necromancer Cloak, thin edge highlight with Warpaints Dungeon Grey.

Gold:

Basecoat of Warpaints Bright Gold, all over wash with Warpaints Flesh Wash, another recess wash of Flesh Wash where needed, highlight with Shining Silver.

Green lenses: Basecoat of Warpaints Angel Green, layer with Warpaints Greenskin, highlights with Warpaints Goblin Green, Mouldy Clothes and Scaly Hide, then add a dot of Warpaints Matt White in the corner. For the eye lens, I simplified the process by basecoating with Greenskin, then adding a single highlight of Mouldy Clothes plus a white dot in the corner.

Turquoise gems: Basecoat of Warpaints Hydra Turquoise, highlights of Warpaints Royal Cloak, Toxic Mist, then Matt White plus a dot of white in the corner.

How do you like my take on painting Blood Angels? Tell me in the comments below.

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