Ask the Corps: Space Marine Highlighting

When it comes to the Space Marines, a lot of people get excited at the thought of starting an army of them. But when faced with the prospect of actually painting these round armored super-humans, many don't even know where to start!

Christian writes:

Highlighting Space Marines

What’s the standard for this? Thin lines? Drybrushing? Varying shades? I’ve tried a lot of idea’s but they just don’t seem right.

A very open question on technique and aesthetics if I've ever seen one. So let's hear it, how do you highlight your Space Marines?

Friday Quick Tip: Clampdown

Today's quick tip is about getting a helping hand when you need it. I've been assembling a few Chimeras lately and have found that a few small clams really help to get a good fit on these vehicles that sometimes have large parts that are hard to otherwise fit.


Sometimes you have to get creative with how you are going to arrange your clamps. On the rear section of the Chimera you can see the floor is too thin for clamping. In this case I used a small section of tube across the tracks. You could also use a popsicle stick or even another clamp.


You can even use clamps to secure models for a tight fit. This Guard sniper had a gap at the left wrist.


I've also used clamps to secure Falcons, Land Raiders and just about any 40k vehicle. There's no reason not to have a few of these clamps in your modeling tool box as they are a great time saver. You can pick them up from big box mega stores or tool places like Harbor Freight for $1.99.

What handy tools to you have in your modeling box?

BoLS Hobby Challenge: IG Command Squad

Just a reminder for all the Guard painters out there: Bell of Lost Souls is concluding their Imperial Guard Command Squad Challenge this Friday the 26th.

Rules are on BoLS, but basically you just need to construct and paint a squad from one (or both) of the new plastic Command Squad boxed sets and send in a photo.

The prize is a Valkyrie, so don't forget to enter and possibly win a nice transport for your squad.

I'm almost done with my mine; who else is entering the challenge?

From the Corps: Spray Nozzles

After some really great primer tips, we got this little beauty in our inbox. And after some mulling over, it's sparked a new segment here on TPC. This tip comes from Mr. Awesome, a newer reader with a great tip for all the corpsmen (and corpswomen!) out there.

He writes:

To The Painting Corps,

First off, great articles, I found your website today and I am loving it!

I do want to offer some tips on primers if I can...and its going to be a possible weird one.

But first, a bit of history about me...I am 27, and I used to do a lot of graffiti when I was younger, still do stencils and commission/fun stuff from time to time...but what I learned about paint/primers is its not just the paint mixture that's important. No that is hardly the case, its the pressure as well as the tip.

Yes the tips/nozzles/caps whatever you want to call it. That also helps regulate the flow of the paint/primer. One can take a high pressure primer, and slap a low pressure "fat cap" on it, and it will have a wide soft spray that even if you hold the cap down wont group together or run. OR you can do a really fine angled/directional high pressure cap on there and turn it into a monster of a can. For most model making I would recommend a low pro cap...Check out this site.

If you do want to try these caps out I recommend ordering this set , for all the different can types.

I hope this is of any help if you have any questions please feel free to write back to me.

Mr. Awesome.


After picking up a new can of GW spray, I noticed the change to the new fat caps with a lower pressure spray. So far, I'm really digging it, and I think it's about time I throw a few bucks into picking up a set of them for all of my cans and really see the difference. When I get around to it, expect to see an in depth review of the results.

A huge thanks to Mr. Awesome for this tip, and if you have a great tip you'd like to see us share with the community, submit it to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and we'll pick the best to share with your fellow Corpsmen.

Friday Quick Tip: Spackle + Terrain = Love

In recent years I've really taken to terrain building. It's one of my true loves when it comes to wargaming and has opened the horizon to all types of different projects. Through all of my ventures into terraforming, one material stands out amongst crowd: Spackle. Those of you over the pond might know it as filler.


It started when I was looking to create a more gentile slope with no seams for my Autumn Foothills table. From there I used it to make rocky outcroppings on that same table by clumping the stuff on the board, letting it dry, and carving it to shape. When the table was finished, I used it further still to sculpt out tree roots for my magnetic tree templates! I must have gone through 2 tubs of the stuff on that one project!


When it came time to add a building, I used spackle to add texture to my Mordheim inspired Hanging Man Tavern. A little bit of spackle smashed into the wall between the supports, some quick sanding and a carved crack here and there later, and it's exactly what I had hoped it would be. This method to be copied for another Mordheim building later down the road!


I've even gone so far as to texture an entire building with the stuff by smearing it all over a foamcore structure to get a middle eastern style building and ruins set. When it came to painting the spackle for my building projects, it was simply a heavy wash of watered down Gryphonne Sepia and a drybrush of Bleached Bone. It was that easy.


My latest dive into the terrain world was a demo board for Flames of War's new Open Fire boxed set. The piece used pretty much all the same techniques as my Autumn Foothills, just a bit simplified for the scale, and more extensive use of the spackle sloping giving a more gentile topography.

So if you're looking to do something terrain related, you really should look into getting your hands on some spackle/filler. You will not regret it. And if you've got an absolutely fantastic material people HAVE to use, let us know!