Warhammer 40k Iron Warriors: Chaos Space Marine Commission
This commission project was for some Iron Warriors chaos space marines for Warhammer 40k, painted to a high tabletop standard. The goal was to deliver a high tabletop standard to match the previous Iron Warriors commission for a unique tabletop-ready force.
The Brief
- Game/System: Warhammer 40K
- Faction/Army: Iron Warriors
- Scale: 32mm
- Model Count: 10
- Painting Standard: High Tabletop
- Special Requests: Hazard stripes, muddy bases
Pre-Paint Preparation
The models were cleaned, assembled, and primed using Games Workshop Chaos Black primer.
Painting Process
Base Colors & Blocking In
Much like our previous Iron Warriors terminator commission, I based the miniatures with an Iron Warriors base layer.
We spent a bit of time working out where the hazard stripes were going to go, as those areas I painted with Vallejo Model Colour Black.
To match the terminator’s bronze, I used Pro-Acryl Bronze as a starting point – it has great coverage and I’ve come to love this paint!
Iron Warriors Hazard Stripes
There are two options for painting hazard stripes – black stripes over a yellow base, or my preference, yellow stripes over a black base! This might seem like more work, but I am very happy with the results, and most importantly, so is the customer!
I will begin by saying that some of these shapes making painting parallel lines problematic! Things like shoulder pads, and space marine lower leg armour are weird shapes and it can throw up some issues. Have a good look at the shapes you are painting on and visualise and mentally map out where the stripes will be going.
I began with thinned down highlights of Games Workshop Incubi Darkness, Dark Reaper then followed by Thunderhawk Blue with some glazing in between to smooth the edges.
Yellow Stripes
The way I prefer to paint these stripes is by rotating the miniature until the start point for the line is farthest away from me and then I pull the brush toward me in one stroke. Moving the part as the brush moves helps to keep the brush roughly where you want it.
So, I want to start with the centre-most line and work out either side once that has been locked in. The colour I start with is Games Workshop Scrag Brown – it will be really thinned down – I want to see where the lines are going, but also having it thin enough so that mistakes are easily tidied up! Paint a parallel line to this at the right sort of width and then you can start adding in more stripes either side.
Once we are happy with the lines we want and have them filled in, I use Games Workshop Averland Sunset as a strong yellow base for the stripes. Using some P3 Sulfuric Yellow, I added some lighter yellow to the parts of the stripes that need it. Games Workshop Ushabti Bone was then glazed in as a final upper highlight. Obviously, as we progress through these stages, we attempt to keep the colours within the original Scrag Brown, and if neccessary, tidying up as we go along.
Scratches
For the final stage to these stripes, a few scratches are added – this can be a great help camouflaging any errors! I paint in some fine scratches using black into the yellow stripes, and tapped some paint chips in as well! Thunderhawk Blue or a lighter colour was used as a fine highlight on the lower part of the scratch and also across into the black part of the stripes to add a bit of depth to the scratch. Some Games Workshop Dorn Yellow was used on the yellow parts for any light chips or scratches.
Layering & Highlights
The armour was layered and painted as per our previous commission, along with any red fabric and eye lenses!
The weapon casings were quite simple – basically using the same colours as the black part of the hazard stripes – black, Incubi Darkness chunky highlights, then edge highlights using Dark Reaper and then Thunderhawk Blue with a final highlight of Games Workshop Fenrisian Grey.
Details & Effects
The eye lenses, fabrics are painted to match the terminators. If you missed that post, the colours are: Abaddon black, Khorne red, Mephiston red, Evil Suns Scarlet, Tau light ochre, and then finally for the lenses, a dot of P3 white.
The client requested red plasma for the plasma weaponry, so I used a white ink over the plasma coils to give me a nice base to start from. I began with Green Stuff World Fluorescent Red, before moving onto Evil Suns Scarlet, and then Mephiston Red!
Basing & Final Touches
Mud basing was added to match the Iron Warriors terminator commission requested by the client. The rim of the base was tidied up and then each miniature was matte varnished. Now, freshly kicked up mud tends to be wet, and that wetness is conveyed by glossy reflections. To receate this, AK Interactive Wet Mud Effects were painted on roughly, also making sure to coat the feet and lower legs of the miniatures.
Final Showcase
Here are some pictures of the completed miniatures, both singly and as a group in the lightbox.
They have also been posted over on my Instagram, which you should definitely go and look at sometime!
Delivery & Client Feedback
The completed miniatures were safely shipped to the client.
Interested in a Commission?
This project is now part of our Miniature Painting Portfolio. If you’d like to have your army painted, visit our Commission Services page for pricing and availability.
