Painting Imperial Fists: let’s see how
Through airbrush, for our space marine I used a light gray primer, always from Vallejo. Not the usual black as in the previous videos, but a clear base to facilitate the rendering of yellow. When you apply the primer with the airbrush, even if the color to be applied is uniform, it is always advisable to proceed step by step. The risk is to give too much color, with the result of too thick layers, which could ruin the details of the miniature.
Imperial Fists: color scheme
Before making this video, I studied a little bit about how to paint Imperial Fists. To maximize brightness, I wanted to follow the example of other Youtubers, such as Scott “The miniature maniac” Miniac, that is, to use a magenta for the shadows. Magenta is the complement of yellow and according to color theory, the combination of a primary color and its complement provides maximum brightness.
Painting Imperial Fists: airbrush color basing
To make it, I mixed a Vallejo violet with Citadel’s Khorne Red, in order to “warm up” the color tone a little. I prepared the color before putting it on the airbrush, to also test the consistency and viscosity. When you use the airbrush in fact, the color must have the right viscosity, it must be similar to milk to give you a reference. Too much liquid will not adhere, too dense will get stuck in the spray gun creating some problems. I then spread the magenta from the bottom of the miniature, to create the shadows. I then gave the first base of yellow, using Iyander Darksun from citadel, a slightly old color … but that makes it very well and that I use very often for this! Still using an airbrush, I applied the color from above this time. As you can see, I first applied the shadows and then the lights, this to give priority to the main color, which is the yellow. However, I exaggerated a little, this forced me to go back to the magenta a bit, to make shadows darker. But the result is not so bad. As basic colors, this time I was very satisfied!
Give depth with shaders
So the time has come to give depth to the shadows with the shaders! Given the color, I used two shades: Seraphin Sepia and Agrax Earthshade, one yellow and one brown shader. Sepia for the more subtle shadows, brown for the more pronounced ones. At this stage it is important to use a thin brush, for this miniature I have used a synthetic one. It must be thin to easily enter the recesses without drooling. Try to give more hands where necessary, where you want to mark more shadows. Being very diluted, shaders tend to concentrate on the recesses and folds of your miniature by themselves. The important thing is to have a good steady hand to avoid burrs as mentioned.Rimuovi immagine in evidenza I used Agrax Earthshade especially between the shoulder straps and in the shadows of the miniature. This is to differentiate the shades a little and give more depth. In the part below I also used the Druchii Violet to continue to have the contrast I told you about before.
Armor highlighting
To give brightness to the parts most exposed to light, I used a Yriel Yellow, from Citadel, a layer color that is well suited for this purpose. It is very bright as you can see from the bottle and together with the base of Iyander Darksun they make an excellent couple. Using the wetpalette, I applied the color as always along the parts most exposed to light, turning on and illuminating the miniature.
Imperial Fist Space Marine: painting the details
Finished with the base and shaders, I dedicated myself to the details by coloring the parts in red with Khorne red. As foreseen by the color scheme of the Imperial Fists, I gave some hand to the shoulder straps, the eagle on the chest and the helmet. I found it a lot of fun to paint this Imperial Fists Space Marine, before I did it I looked at several videos and photos of many miniatures of this chapter around the web. I think it’s something to do practically always, for every miniature you want to paint. This is clearly a miniature painted at game level. For this reason the pattern is always the same: basic color, shader, highlight. It applies to the armor, as well as to the helmet, the complexion and all the other parts made so far. During these videos, I have used this process very often, almost like a mantra. Basically, I will also do it in the next few, however, trying to integrate with other techniques and particular cases. At this point I have nothing left but to add some detail to the eyes and cover the base with black.
Conclusions
What do you think of the result? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
