Warmachine Marauder

By Anthony Karl Erdelji

As every painter knows the color red can be difficult to work with. It is very transparent by nature, so coverage is a distinct problem. The easy answer is to undercoat red with a light color, such as white. However this is not the "perfect" answer in all situations, and does not suit all painting styles. In this article we will be discussing how to paint red over a black undercoat, and what better model to use to discuss painting red than a Warmachine Khador Marauder warjack?

Before diving into painting red, we begin with the standard cleaning, pinning and gluing of the model. The Marauder goes together easy, so no additional information should be necessary. One suggestion; the model will look larger and more menacing if the torso is leaning forward in comparison to the legs. I also felt the model needed a small amount of conversion work...

The heavy-looking Cell Entertainment Ronin banners are a perfect match for the beefy Khador warjacks. Each banner is pinned and glued onto the warjack's boiler, right above the boiler hatch.

After a few coats of Brite Touch black primer, the base is drybrushed. First, two thinned coats of Vallejo Model Color (VMC) S.S. Camo Black Brown cover all the tiny cracks and creases. Onto this is drybrushed VMC Flat Earth, followed by VMC Desert Yellow. A light drybrush of VMC Beige finishes the base.

Next to be painted are the metal areas. The shade for these areas is a mixture of SS Camo Black Brown and Tinny Tin, drybrushed over the black primer. Next, a mix of Tinny Tin and VGC Beasty Brown. The last mixture is Beasty Brown and VGC Glorious Gold, lightly drybrushed onto the model. Finally, straight Glorious Gold is used to pick out the edges.

With the metal and base finished, we can start painting the rest of the model red. The key to painting red over a dark undercoat is to build up the color using several layers, slowing working our way up to the desired shade of red. It may not be fast, but a good paint job takes time!

The first layer is the darkline, which an equal mix of Black, VMC Hull Red, and VGC Gory Red. This layer should be just slightly lighter in color than the black primer. The darkline serves as the darkest shade of the model, reserved only for the deepest recesses, and/or where one armor plate meets another. If you prefer more contrast between each plate, you may skip this step and use the black primer as your darkline.

The next layer is an equal mix of Hull Red and Gory Red. This coat is only slightly thinned when applied, not layered, in order to give good contrast between this layer and the previously applied darkline layer.

As I have mentioned in the past, layering is the hardest, yet most important, painting technique to master. While red is difficult to work with, it is actually ideal for practicing the layering technique. Since red is already somewhat transparent by nature, it forces the painter to work with multiple layers. Secondly, using the paint too thick and therefore too opaque, which is the most common problem for the beginner painter, is less likely. Just repeating the layering motto; thin layers, gradual building up of color. 

The layering process begins with some Gory Red, thinned almost to a wash consistency. Working the brush from the base of the armor plates to the edges of the model assures a subtle gradation of highlights. Our goal is not to cover the previous layer in one coat, but slowly build upon each previous layer of Gory Red. With each layer of Gory Red, the paint is made slightly thicker by adding more paint to the ratio, and we concentrate painting closer and closer towards the edges of each plate. In total, about ten layers of Gory Red are necessary to build up to the desired shade of red. You can tell where you done when additional layers no long have any visible effect, or lightening of the basecoat. Remember to brush away from any areas of desired shade, and not parallel with them. Brushing away assured the highlights will be gradual and smooth, and allows the color to be built up at the edges.

Other problems many painters have with red is over-highlighting, or highlighting with the wrong color. Highlighting red with colors like yellow or orange means you are highly likely to change the overall color, rather than highlight it. However, by highlight red with a lighter or brighter shade of red, we get more natural and proper highlights, and accidentally over-highlighting will not turn the model orange!

The model still needed a bit more contrast, so another highlight layer of a mix of Gory Red and VMC Flat Red, once again thinned well, was applied layered on near the edges.

Finally, the edges of each plate are carefully picked out by adding a tiny touch of VMC Flat Flesh to the previous mix of Flat Red and Gory Red. Viola!

After spending so much time on the red, painting the rest of the model seemed to go quickly. A few of the plates were painted with VMC Russian Uniform. They were then highlighted with a equal mix of Russian Uniform and VMC Green-Grey. The edges are highlighted with Green-Grey.

The rams are painted with a mixture of VGC Gunmetal Metal and VMC Smoke. This was followed with a layer of VGC Chainmail Silver and Smoke. Next is straight Chainmail Silver, and finally VGC Mithril Silver is used to pick out the edges. A bit of thinned Black was used to accent the divots.

A few coats of Testors Dullcote, and we have the completed model in all its Gory Red glory.

So there you have it. It is not only possible to paint red over black primer, but is actually creates an interesting glowing effect that would not be possible by simply painting it over a white undercoat. Try it yourself, but just remember; thin layers, thin layers, thin layers.

Oh yeah, don't forget; thin layers!