Drybrushing Marines (pic heavy)

[The Paint Monkey]

There has been a bit of discussion over the value of using drybrushing marines and rather than hijack someone else's thread I thought I'd post here.


I've recently painted a small swarm of Crimson Fist marines and also produced a step by step guide for my local independant using drybrushing as the main shading technique.

Here are some pictures of those models so you can judge for yourselves but there are a couple of things to remember-

1. Drybrushing marines works well on darker chapter colours; Crimson Fists, Dark Angels etc..

2. Use a big brush/little paint approach.

3. Always start with what you think is too little paint and too thin a wash. You can always go back if it is too thin but it's harder if you've used too much paint!

So, here we are;


Sprayed black-





Drybrushed with 'Necron Abyss'





Drybrushed with 'Regal Blue'





Pick out details (joints, bolter etc) in black or other appropriate colour.






Add silver, highlight details and add any other bits of colour required.







You can finish there or go back and keep highlighting or fixing up details but this technique is superb for rapid army production. You can also slot a wash in between stages 3 and 4 if the drybrushing got too heavy (in some cases I did this after painting the glove red, to add some shading). A squad of 10 of these guys took 5 hours to paint (ok... not including bases) and that included two veteran models with a bundle of extra detail.

Here's a few more pics for you.

[Cyric the Mad]

Excellent tutorial, sir. I think I may be making use of this when I start my marines. I hope mine turn out as well as these.

Thanks for the tips!

[Lost Nemesis]

A good approach for less experienced painters who want to get their army looking good for tabletop play. Overall, nicely shown and explained.

[E-M]

Very nice. I wonder if this would look good on WHF chaos warriors...

[minus_t]

I am pleasantly suprised to be proven wrong, these guys look very nice TPM.

I stand by my general stance that drybrushing on marines is going to look sloppy, because most people will not take the care that you have; but you have shown clearly that it can be done, and very well too ^_^

-t.

P.S. E-M, yes, this would work very well with Chaos Warriors...

[The Paint Monkey]

Wow, thanks guys! I genuinely didn't expect such a positive response!!


I agree that this is a technique really for just getting armies to table-top standard and when I do go for quality over quantity it's not one I'd pick. The bunch of marines in the bottom pic is about 8 hours of painting time.


I've been queried about "big brush/little paint"- I mean use a brush that will allow you to drybrush a whole marine without leaving obvious streaks. Here are the two brushed I used to paint those marines up to stage 3.




They came in a pack of 5 for NZ$3. That's about US50c each. Nice brushes GW but I think I'll save my cash.


I'd also re-iterate that it won't work for every army!

[Karmoon]

I use a very very similar technique for my CSM.

I dry brush up through the shades of dark grey to white, and then give a purple wash.

It works very well, and is quick

Excellent stuffs Mr. Monkey.

[minus_t]

I suspect those brushes are probably the secret ingredient...
Soft brushes will drybrush so so so much better than hard ones (a la GW) on those curves...

-t.

[Wookie]

Drybrushing unfortunately has a bad rep from more experienced painters for some reason. Not everyone has the time or skill to wet blend and drybrushing will give you a great effect for the modest amount of time and effort used. Simple is best...All hail TPM for espousing the virtues of drybrushing!

[King Ulrik Flamebeard]

I agree with Minus_t. I was surprised to see how well it turned it. I am no fan of drybrushing on things such as marines, but perhaps because I like clean look and prefer to take my time. I can't say I'm too tempted to try it just yet, but it looks a good technique to get an army done quickly.

Nice work.

*adds to pined thread of good topics*

KU