# What am I doing wrong? (Painting Ultramarines)



## Xtrato (Apr 28, 2010)

I hope im posting in the correct place.

Basically, I bought the assault on black reach set about 1 week ago and am currently painting the space marines. At the moment I completely suck at painting . I have read a few tutorials online but I still suck.

The main problem im having is with the highlighting. The steps i'm doing at the moment are: 
Doing a Chaos black spray undercoat.
Painting the whole model with Mordian blue
doing a dry brush of ultramarine blue 
And then doing highlights with a mixture of bleached bone and ultramarine blue.
The models look really dark and like a 5 year old finger painted it 

Any help and tips with be greatly appreciated. Below is one of the space marines after going through the steps mentioned above. (Ignore his left hand )


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## Blueberrypop (Apr 27, 2010)

Just the very light blue highlights are too extreme. I personally think it looks rather good


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## db7835 (Apr 27, 2010)

Yeah the highlights are a bit too bold. I don't highlight my Blood Angels. You clearly have some skill though so dont give up, I just think you need to change alot of the colours you use. 

I know a good tutorial you can use. Use Badab Black wash for this tutorial if you cant get the wash he uses and prime the model white instead of black, that will stop it coming out so dark.


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## Lycadon (Apr 22, 2010)

I agree with the other posters, the contrast is a bit to bright concidering the dark blue towards the very light blue. Might find a somewhat darker highlight color or add a 3rd middle color so it'll blend more depending how colorfull you want your Paint Scheme. 

Also what i notice is that you highlighted the inner part of the Shoulder Pad, while this is actually a deep/shadowy part of the pad, so might concider it eather washed with Badab Black or cleaned up in the original base color. 

Overall its not half as bad as you make it sound, you show great potention in painting - Perhaps its just the fact that the rest of the details aren't painted yet to get an overall look at things  Eather way don't stop trying and good luck!


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## chromedog (Oct 31, 2007)

[Sarcastic answer]:
You answered your own question. They're blue.
Everyone knows 'real' marines are red or grey. Blue marines are just for the noobs. 

[Possibly helpful one]:
Apply an asurmen blue wash to the recesses of the shoulder pauldrons to darken them back up. Allow to dry. Your highlight colour is too light compared to the main colour. A bit less bleached bone - or perhaps a mix of Ethereal blue and Ultra blue instead.


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## fatmantis (Jun 26, 2009)

its not too bad dude, dont give up, it only your first go, its defiantly a great start


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

paint the model with a 50:50 mix of mordian blue and ultra marine blue instead of just mordian blue.or better still paint it with regal blue 

or follow the instructions 
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/c...290027&categoryId=600003&section=&aId=2500037


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## normtheunsavoury (Mar 20, 2008)

As has already been said, your highlight colour is too bright, you need to take it down a notch or two. also try using some heavy washes, they are good at "smoothing" things out.
Another thing I spotted when I took a closer look at the photos is that you are painting on the highlights in a similar way to how you paint the rest of the mini, try using just the edge of the brush, pull it very gently over the very edge of the surface you want to highlight, it should leave the thinnest of lines, a couple of hairs thickness.
Try this out with the colour you are using, it works almost like an optical illusion and the colours blend nicely, it's called "popping the highlight" and is well worth having a go at.

Best of luck and keep posting so we can see how you're getting on!


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## asianavatar (Aug 20, 2007)

Before you go changing things up too much. Try what chromedog suggested. Wash the entire model in blue wash. It should not darken the main blue too much, but definitely darken the highlights. 

Honestly, though, really so far its a pretty good job. It may look too bright at the moment, but some people's paint styles involve bright highlights which can work. Finish painting the rest of the model first. Right now since its just blue on blue it really stands out. Once you start adding other colours and more details, the highlights may not look so out of place.


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## techwitch (Nov 6, 2009)

Hey heres a perfect chance to make a "vanilla" space marine army and scheme of your very own however.


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## Schizofen (Mar 11, 2009)

It's not bad. Just be a bit more subtle with the highlights as the other have said and you'll be fine.

But honestly I think the main problem is that you've only done the blue bits. Once you've painted the trim, bolter, eyes, backpack details etc it'll look much much better.


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## papa nurgle (Jan 11, 2010)

Maybe you could try a 2:1 mix of ultramarine blue and ice blue. It's best to keep to highlights of the same colour group. Personally, i think that bleached bone is far to strong a colour to use in highlights for anything other than earthly shades. 

But still don't beat yourself up over it, painting takes time to get the hang of. Anyway, I like that marine. He's got a nice rustic texture.


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## Xtrato (Apr 28, 2010)

Thanks for all the good suggestions! I have almost finished painting it and is looking slightly better than I thought it would look. I will put some pictures on here of it completed in the next day or so


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## ryan355 (Jan 5, 2010)

if your painting the whole model with mordian blue id go with a white spray undercoat, then paint the whole model with mordian blue then apply a dark blue wash, gives it a brighter apperance


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