Matt Sterbenz Miniature Painting: October 2013

I picked up one of the new Tactical Squad boxes, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed. I decided to pick up some and start an Ultramarines force (I've got a bunch of unpainted Space Marine stuff sitting in boxes anyway).

I decided to go with a clean, tabletop quality. I went with yellow on the shoulder pad trim instead of gold, because I just like the old school 2nd edition figures too much (I also have a massive amount of unpainted 2nd edition marines, which may show up on here at some point too).

I thought it might be a good idea to have a step-by-step tutorial on how I paint these guys. This will be the first of a couple installments. I don't have a ton of spare time, so it will have to happen over the course of a couple weeks.

Anyway, back on topic. Here's the Sergeant, which is also the test figure:

I also filed off the skull/details on the power fist, to give me more room for caution stripes (another 2nd edition thing I like). In the future, I think I may file off the wire thing on the bottom of the power fists as well.

After assembling, I gave the models a black spray undercoat. This was followed with a basecoat of Macragge Blue. Use a large brush and focus on making the basecoat even. Don't worry about making a mess at this stage. A couple thin coats is better than one thick coat.

Next, basecoat all the metal areas with Chainmail. (I think the new paint equivalent is Ironbreaker)

Next, use Nuln Oil to wash the metal areas and line in all of the cracks. Neatness isn't too important here. Just make sure the wash is placed in all the cracks.

Next, use a small amount of Agrax Earthshade on the metal areas. Then use Macragge Blue to touch up all the armor areas, making sure to avoid the cracks.

Lastly, use Ultramarines Blue to highlight all the edges. (I'm not sure of the new color equivalent. I'm sitting on 5 pots of the old stuff, so I have no need to buy it).

That's it for now. I'll update this with more as I can.