Warhammer 40,000 – Imperial Fists Call to Arms Pt 8

We need to catch up on how I got my Imperial Fists ready for the Chaosbunker Classics. This article picks up where we left off in part 6 of the Call to Arms, with more progress on the core of the regular Space Marines.

I finished the base colours on all the infantry and added a first coat of wash, Casandora Yellow, on the marines. For both the backpacks and the shoulder pads, it was easier to paint them before attaching them to the miniatures. I finished the base colours on the backpacks and kept them on the small sub-assembly holders. That was incredibly practical for priming and further painting. I prepared everything that would get a metallic colour with a black primer.

The shoulder pads were glued onto cardboard and given a primer. I started doing the details there as well, but the trim would be easier once they were taken off, so I used the sub-assembly holders again and added the pads on each side. Quite handy!

For stronger contrast, I added a second selective wash of Casandora Yellow to the deeper parts and touched up some of the lighter areas with Yriel Yellow. Unfortunately, the coverage of Yriel Yellow isn’t the best, and it caused some chalky layers once it dried.

I tried the highlights on the chest and on the lenses. The base colour here is AP Pure Red, with a Gryph-Hound Orange wash, and highlights in Wild Rider Red and Tanned Flesh. For the lenses, it was Death World Forest, Sybarite Green, and a dot of AP Matt White.

I was happy with the result and carried it across the models.

As mentioned above, Yriel Yellow wasn’t properly covering everything, so I prepared the areas with Averland Sunset and went over that with Yriel Yellow. I used Casandora Yellow on the inner edges of the shoulder pads to get a more gradual transition between the yellow and the red. The red trim would receive the same highlights as the chest plates.

To give you an overview of the paints used so far:

• Bases - IONIC Goblin Green -> will be replaced with Two Thin Coats Goblin Green
• Skin - Tanned Flesh with Barbarian Flesh highlight
• Hard Armour - Yriel Yellow
• Soft Armour - Vallejo Stonewall Grey 72049
• Weapons, Boots, Soft Parts of Power Armour - AP Matt Black
• Metal Parts - AP Gun Metal and True Copper
• Bags, Leather, Gloves etc. - Vallejo Bestial Brown
• Lenses, Gems, Laurels - Base colour: Death World Forest, highlights with Sybarite Green, Matt White
• Shoulder pad trim, Sgt helmets, chests - AP Pure Red, wash Gryph-Hound Orange, Wild Rider Red, Tanned Flesh
• Cables - Citadel Kantor Blue or Death World Forest

Washes

• Wash - mostly Casandora Yellow, often two coats where needed
• Metal / Dark Parts - Nuln Oil
• Soft parts, faces - Reikland Shade

For the yellow, I’ll need a few more highlights, most likely with Citadel Flash Gitz and AP Ice Yellow. The bases will get a drybrush once they’ve been overhauled, most likely in Averland Sunset.

This was quite a lot of bulk painting, but satisfying, as you could really see the progress. Still, there is a high risk of a plateau phase, as there is still a lot to do. All the weapons still need attention, the banners are missing, and the pads are not glued on yet. And I seriously have to get started on the Devastators.