Testing the paint scheme for the painting competition: battle damaged armor

Introduction

Before jumping on the Chaos Lord, I decided to test the paint scheme on two regular Terminators.

Painting the armor

I didn't know whether Heavy Red would be a dark enough basecoat, so for guy on the left I mixed in Charred Brown (about 3:1). The final result looks better with the mixed basecoat.

Zenital highlight Bloody Red.

Warlord Purple "lowlights" - mostly everywhere the Bloody Red did not get, leaving a thin strip of the basecoat showing.

Carroburg Crimson inside deeper recesses, and around any bolts and spikes.

For a thick edge highlight, mix Heavy Orange and Warlord Purple 2:1.

Apply a second, thinner edge highlight using Heavy Orange.

Weathering the armor

Start by splattering on Charred Brown. 

For the final paint scheme, I skipped this step as it is barely visible, and the Chaos Lord model is mostly armor trim. It would look better on a larger model though.

Then use the two colors which did the highlights. This way, the weathering blends in well and gives the perfect illusion of showing the paint layer underneath.

I tried using a sponge for the first time, and I have to say, it is very easy to do and gives great results.

First, sponge on the Heavy Orange / Warlord Purple mix.

I tried a 1:1 mix for one model, and it came out way too purple. Stick to the 2:1.

Highlight the center of the sponge marks with Heavy Orange.

Wet blend Reikland Fleshshade and Black Wash. I never did this with washes before, but the results are amazing. Reikland Fleshshade over most of an armor panel, then apply the Black Wash around the edges while the other one is still wet and let them mix a little. Tones down and meshes together the colors perfectly.

Weathered silver armor trim

I wanted to weather the silver without adding rust, as that would push them too much towards Nurgle.

Start with a dark basecoat, by mixing Gunmetal and Black 1:1.

Highlight with Gunmetal.

On larger surfaces, like the trophy racks, a sponge works nicely.

However, I quickly lost control on the smaller surfaces and decided on stipling instead.

To take down the shine, I added a second non-metallic grey highlight. Mix Stonewall Grey and Sombre Grey about 2:1 for a second layer of sponging/stipling.

Further take down the shine and add some colors by wet blending Fuegan Orange and Agrax Earthshade. Agrax goes mostly around the ends of each segment of trim.

Weathered bronze elements

I wanted weathered bronze without verdigris - again, no nurgly rust and decay for these guys.

Basecoat Tinny Tin. Then mix in Polished Gold 1:1 (which is a pale gold and does not add any more browns) for the first highlight.

Agrax Earthshade lowlights in recesses and around spikes.

Super highlight Chainmail Silver. A brighter silver would have been better, though.

All right, that's it. Battle damaged dark red Word Bearers armor with silver trim and bronze decorative elements.