(Completed Assault Chaplain)

In this article, I'll cover painting a Space Marine Assault Chaplain from start to finish.


Start by priming the assembled model with black paint. I've used Army Painter Black Primer here, but Chaos Black spray or a brush-on primer work just as well.


Paint all of the metal parts with either Boltgun Metal or Reaper Shadowed Steel (used above).


Paint the Bronze/Gold areas with either Dwarf Bronze or Reaper Ancient Bronze.


Basecoat the parchment (paper bits) and skulls with Foundation Dheneb Stone.


Sticking with the Foundation paints, hit the Red Bits (Eyes, Purity Seals, and the handle of the Crozius) with Mechrite Red...


...and the left shoulder with Mordian Blue. Of course, if you're not painting an Ultramarine, use your chapter colour here.


Wash the ENTIRE model with Badab Black - including the black parts. Many black primers are actually more of a very dark grey, and the Badab Black wash helps darken that while adding detail to the remainder of the model.


Once the Badab Black wash has dried, it's time to lighten some parts up. Using either Shining Gold or Reaper Antigue Gold, lighten the Bronze/Gold areas - specifically the raised edges and surfaces. You'll want to leave that Black Wash in the deeper parts. I also painted the Shoulder Pad with a coat of Reaper Sapphire Blue.


The Metal parts were lightened with a new application of Shadowed Steel. The parchment is lightened in two steps - the majority of it is given a coat of Reaper Aged Bone, while the edges, folds, and tears are enhanced with some Reaper Polished Bone.


The Red parts are lightened with a new application of Mechrite Red, and then edge-detailed with Reaper Phoenix Red. The Shoulder Pad is washed with Asurmen Blue, as the Sapphire Blue used earlier was a bit too bright.


The Ultramarine Logo is then freehanded in place using Reaper Polished Bone, Reaper Pure White, and Reaper Sapphire Blue.


The Chaplain's eyes are painted with a spot of Reaper Phoenix Red, and a tiny dot of Pure White. To make it stand out more, the exposed edges of the Black Armour are edged with Reaper Stormy Grey. Scribbles are added to the various parchment pieces with a Sakura 005 Micron Archival Ink pen. To make them appear dirtier and aged, some parts of the parchment are lightly washed with Devlan Mud.


Lastly, the Chaplain is based and given a protective coat of varnish! The rock built into the model was painted with Foundation Adeptus Battlegrey, lightly drybrushed with Astronomican Grey and then washed with Devlan Mud.