Quick and Dirty Dark Angel's Paint Scheme

General Painting Disclaimer-I am attempting to produce a tabletop quality army.  I believe that a moderately well painted army that is completly painted looks about 1000 times better than an army with 2 really well painted units and a bunch of primer or bare plastic.

That said, I had a few requirements for a paint scheme going forward:

•  look decent from arms length under good lighting
•  be easily repeatable
• be simple-one coat then wash is best
• be "Dark Angels"-I'm not going for the DIY chapter look
• NOT be "Christmas marines"-the current GW paint scheme for DA has a lot of both red and green.  I'll use red where needed, but opt for other colors where I can.

Out of these requirements was born the following:

Test Mini for my Dark Angels

1. The mini was basecoated with Liquitex Professional Deep Green.  This became the main color for the power armor and the bolter case.  
2. The rest of the bolter was painted with GW Leadbelcher Base.
3. The eyes, tactical squad double arrow, and wax on the purity seal were painted GW Mephiston Red Base.
4. The chest eagle, joint ribbing, and other assorted details were painted GW Codex Grey.
5. The parchment, squad number, and chapter icon were painted GW White Scar layer.
6. The entire mini was washed with a home made wash of 3 parts Liquitex Payne's Grey, 2 parts Liquitex Flow Aid, and 20 parts water.  Measurements were done using an old children's medicine syringe.  Original credit for this wash goes to http://www.kan.org/michael/mkp/paynes_grey.php.  Measurement quantities are my own as the article just kind of tells you to wing it.

So ends the tale of the first test mini.  I have a lot of flashing removal to do on these guys. Next update will be a finished tactical squad.  If anyone has questions about anything I've done up to this point, let me know and I'll try to answer them. 

Krylon Fusion for Plastics vs. Liquitex for 40k

Quick update as I have selected what will be my paint scheme going forward.  I tried two new base coats, in an attempt to get the main power armor color down in one spray, rather than basecoating black and painting on the base color.  Most everyone will tell you that a base layer is needed, and they are correct-I would never try to take a brush and paint GW or any other model paints onto bare plastic.  That said, I think that spray paint is a perfectly appropriate alternative to spray primer.  the trick is to find one that matches our color scheme.

The first, most obvious thing to try would be the Army Painter brand Angel's Green.  My local game store stocks it for $15 a can.  I've heard great things about it, but I just really find that price tag hard to stomach.  I decided to experiment a bit first.

First up, we have a test mini done with Krylon Fusion for Plastics Hunter Green:

Figure basecoated with Krylon Fusion for Plastics Hunter Green in a satin finish.

I couldn't find this stuff in a flat finish.  If I could, the search would probably stop here.  As is, I was unhappy with how glossy the mini is, and while I can finish with a matte sealer, I just didn't feel like this was quite right.  It also seems a bit off from an old mini done in Dark Angel's green, so I was afraid touch ups would look weird.

Second, the mini done in Liquitex Professional Spray Paint:

 Figure basecoated with Liquitex Professional Spray Paint, washed with Payne's grey.

I unfortunately did not take a picture before charging ahead with the paint scheme.  As soon as I have a batch basecoated, I'll replace this picture with one showing basecoat only.  Suffice it to say that the color went on smoothly, had a very flat finish, and was more true to GW's dark angels green than the krylon.  In addition, I live in Wisconsin, and since we are coming into fall, the fact that this is water based and can be sprayed indoors even with a newborn in the house impacted the decision as well.  Finally, I will admit that this stuff is far more expensive than the krylon, but not as steep as the Army Painter.  It comes in at around $12 a can MSRP, but the frequent 40% off any one item coupons that Michael's runs brings it down to $7 and change-still about half of the Army Painter brand.