How to Paint Pre-Heresy Dark Angels - TheChirurgeon's Method

This article is part of a larger series on how to paint Dark Angels space marines. For more on painting Dark Angels, you can return to that series by clicking this link.

The Dark Angels are one of the several first founding legions who notably changed their color scheme between the time of the Heresy and the 41st millennium. Specifically, pre-Heresy Dark Angels donned black armor with red markings, as opposed to the dark green armor the chapter now sports.

Painting pre-Heresy Dark Angels is very similar to painting Ravenwing models, but is even faster because you'll have fewer designs and heraldry to paint if you're using the plastic Mk. VI models. That said, I would recommend putting the heads from the upgrade kit on them as those look pretty great.

The process starts with a coat of black primer.

Step 1: Basecoat

Similar to what I did with Ravenwing I shad up on the model using Corvus Black mixed in increasing amounts with Abaddon Black. The goal is to create both a blend and some more nuanced shades to work with. The goal is to paint more Abaddon Black along the bottom.

Step 2: Details

Time to basecoat the metal parts. I paint the coils on the backpack with Balthasar Gold and the rest of the metal parts get a coat of Leadbelcher.

Step 3: Final Details

This isn't the final step, but it's where I'll do a lot of the details. I do an edge highlight of the armor with Mechanicus Standard Grey and wash the Leadbelcher parts with Nuln Oil. I use Nuln Oil to soften some of the fades on the armor as well here. This s also where I add red details like the stripe on the helmet and the lenses, using Mephiston Red. I've also hand painted the Dark Angels icon on the right shoulder pad, but I wouldn't recommend doing this generally.

Step 4: Secondary Highlights

The final step is to come back and do one more pass of highlights. I hit the red spots with some Evil Sunz Scarlet, hit the metal parts with some Runefang Steel along the edges, and I hit the corners of the armor with some Celestra Grey.

This was by far one of the fastest models I've painted up, just because of how simple the scheme was. Fun to paint, though doing an entire army of models in black armor with no colored trim would probably more me. Fortunately the more detailed Dark Angels heresy models have more going on with steel trim. If you're painting those, my method there is to basecoat Leadbelcher, wash with Nuln Oil, and then highlight with Leadbelcher and Runefang Steel.

Credit: Robert "TheChirurgeon" Jones

This article is part of a larger series on how to paint Dark Angels space marines. For more on painting Dark Angels, you can return to that series by clicking this link.