I had planned to be painting Galadhrim warriors this week, but on Wednesday I woke up really wanting to paint a Space Wolf. I didn't have any of the newer models and didn't want to wait to have to scratch the itch, so I had a rummage through my bits boxes found some parts from the old Geigor Fellhand mini. I combined these with a push-fit Assault Intercessor and a head from the Horus Heresy tactical squad upgrade frame and I was ready to get painting. I realised at this point that the Marine would struggle to holster his bolt pistol because of the way I've built him, but I didn't have any left handed pistol arms so I figure he just swaps it to his other hand first.
The 'itch' here wasn't just about painting a Space Wolf, but to do it in a particular way which draws up on a method that I was first inspired by back in 2009 by a lovely chap named Kapturowski on the Bolter and Chainsword forums. He had come up with this wonderful way of creating worn looking armour for his Wolves and I was trying to figure out how to paint up a Space Wolves army, so it was a serendipitous encounter - but I didn't have the greys he was using to produce the slate colouring of the pre-Heresy colour scheme, so I adapted the method using the colours I did have instead. Sadly, my photography skills were not great back in those days (and some might say that is still the case!) but here are a couple of examples of what I ended up with:
The wounded Wolf on the right was the test mini for the concept and it worked so well that I went ahead and painted up a bunch more, though if I remember correctly I sold them to fund my initial foray into the Horus Heresy in 2012, though these two models are now in my best pal's collection as he is a huge Space Wolves fan.
As you might be able to tell from these photos, Kapturowski's paint scheme (and my derived one) both rely heavily on drybrushing and shading. The former is not only relatively quick, it is also key to creating the grainy texture across the surface of the model's power armour while the latter gives definition and tone to the finished models.
Fast forwarding to this week then, not only did I want to paint a Space Wolf, but I wanted to see if I could produce something that was a worth homage to Kapturowski's Wolves of 2009 with my updated paint collection and more refined painting skills, so steeling myself from the cold that's settled into the Highlands with mugs of piping hot tea I got settled at my hobby desk and got stuck in...
The armour colour consists of four 'layers' of grey as follows:
Mechanicus Standard Grey > Stormvermin Fur > Dawnstone > Administratum Grey
but you could easily use any greys you have, including the bluer ones that make up the more modern Space Wolves scheme. If you were doing that, I'd suggest starting with The Fang, then drybrushing Russ and then Fenrisian Grey over the top and maybe finishing with Celestra Grey.
Mechanicus Standard Grey is your basecoat. I went with the paint from the pot rather than a rattlecan as the rattlecan has a slight greenish tinge to it which I didn't think would work with what I had in mind.
With a basecoat laid down, it's time to start drybrushing, beginning with Stormvermin Fur. This will look like it's hardly doing anything, but it's there for when the shading goes on later.
Next was a drybrush of Dawnstone which establishes highlights as well as adding more texture across the armour.
The last drybrushing step is with Administratum Grey, which was done with 'downward' brushstrokes so as to concentrate the colour on the upper edges and surfaces.
To finish, up, I used Administratum Grey to pick out edge highlights on the armour panels and plates and add some scuffs and scrapes in a few places as well. For a rank and file type model, you could probably skip this step if you wanted to.
With a nice gradient of greys in place, it's time to add some shades. For this I used two 'red-toned' browns: Rhinox Hide and Doombull Brown. I started off by thinning some Rhinox Hide to about a 1:5 consistency with Lahmian Medium and brushing that all over the armour in one continuous layer. This is less of a glaze and more of a very thin shade which helps to tie together all of the greys and helpfully sets up the next couple of steps in the process too:
Step 1) Add some more Rhinox Hide to your mix so that it's about a 1:3 consistency and carefully paint it into and around all of the recesses, ports and panels of the power armour. Let this completely dry before you do anything else otherwise there's a risk you'll 'lift' the paint back off the model.
Step 2) Thin down the Doombull Brown to a 1:4 consistency with Lahmian Medium and carefully paint this into all of the recesses, ports and panels of the armour. Because this mix is thinner, it will settle around the details more closely due to surface tension, but the paint has a vibrant enough pigmentation that it will cover the darker brown below it.
If your model has raised iconography like the skulls on the vambraces and wolf totems on the pauldrons of this one, make sure to paint your brown shades around these as well. What you should end up with is the impression of armour that has a bit of accumulated wear and tear and dirt and grime - perfect for warriors of Fenris on an extended campaign!
From here it's just a case of painting up all of the rest of the details as you choose. But you can help tie some of them back to the dirty armour so that they don't look out of place. For example, the rubberised joints and power cables on this marine as well as the treads of his boots shaded with some of the thinned Rhinox and Doombull mixes because dirt would accumulate on those too. I also glazed the white palm print on the marine's chest with Rhinox Hide so it wouldn't look too clean. I added this in lieu of any pack markings - this is a 'Lone Wolf' which I don't think exists in the current edition of the rules, but back in 2009 was a warrior who had seen the rest of his pack slain so continues to bring the fight to the chapter's enemies alone. My 'head canon' is that the palm print over the heart is some kind of funerary custom of the Fenrisian tribes. The marking is too small to have been made by an Astartes, but perhaps it was one of his armour-serfs annointing him with the ashes of his fallen comrades so that he carries their strength and honour with him on campaign.
Conversely, the warrior's weapons are clean and well maintained - I've always thought that the martial culture of the Space Wolves would see them revere every weapon in their arsenal, so they would be looked after no matter how long they've been roaming the stars. Similarly the heraldry on his pauldrons is clean too, I guess to obscure them would be to dishonour Fenris and Russ and that would be anathema to any Space Wolf.
Right, I should probably get back to painting wardens of Lothlorien before they notice I've wandered off. But as always, until next time, thanks for reading and happy hobbying.
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