Historic Blood Angels Painting Guides

Painting guides for the Blood Angels chapter from the Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader era.

Analogue photography and printing; scanning and individual computer graphics setup; these transform images so don't expect colours displayed here to be faithful to the models.

The rulebook opted for a fairly bright red and this was mostly reflected in the miniature paint schemes. Painters would often take creative liberties with the heraldry. Consistency was not a thing.

White Dwarf Presents the Citadel Miniatures Painting Guide (1989)

This guide included a Blood Angels miniature painted in crimson armour.

• Undercoat. White.

• Base Colour. Blood Red.

• Dark Shade. Red & Brown ink.

• Highlight Required. Red Gore.

Introduced by John Blanche ^↗ , this sixteen-page booklet included recommendations on tools, workspaces, model preparation, and painting stages and techniques.

Space Marine Painting Guide (1989)

Games Workshop included the Space Marine Painting Guide in the Space Marine Paint Set .

• Undercoating. Skull White.

• Base Colours. The Marine's uniform is given a base coat of Terracotta, while the pack and weapons are painted with Chaos Black.

• Highlighting. The highest areas of the Marine's uniform are highlighted with a Blood Angel Orange/Terracotta mix. The pack and weapons are drybrushed with Bolt Gun Metal.

• Fine Highlighting. A Sunburst Yellow/Blood Angel Orange mix is applied to the edge of the armour plates and the helmet. Add a little Skull White to the mix and repeat, working up the highlights as you go. The pack and weapons are drybrushed very lightly with Chainmail and then Mithril Silver.

• Final Detail. The Marine's eyes and shoulder studs are finished. The Chapter symbol is now added to the right shoulder pad using a Citadel Transfer. Finally, any remaining symbols and insignia are first painted with Chaos Black, before filling in the centre with a coat of Skull White. The required colour is then painted over the white area, leaving a black keyline around the edge.

Some paints used were not included in the Space Marine Paint Set.

The booklet also included rank badges, specialist badges, weapon markings, honour badges and banner designs for MK6 Marines.

RTB15 (1990)

I can find one instance where Games Workshop might have followed this Blood Angel guide themselves. The Blood Angels on the back of the RTB15 Space Marine Strike Force ^↗ box look like they might be painted with terracotta, though they have the updated MK7 Blood Angels heraldry described in White Dwarf 129 and reprinted in the Warhammer 40,000 White Dwarf Compilation.

White Dwarf 139 (1991)

In an article on assembling an army Tim Prow described an `Eavy Metal technique.

• Undercoat. White.

• Base Coat. Mix of Blood Angel Orange & Go Fasta Red.

• Wash. Red ink.

• Highlights. Mix of Blood Angel Orange & Bad Moon Yellow, working up to a yellow/white mix in some cases.

The weapons were undercoated black because Prow found that worked better with the metallic paints. The army was a mix of basic MK7 miniatures with more detailed work on MK6 guys.

This article also included a detailed guide to painting a Blood Angel Captain in golden armour that Prow named Tycho. The kids call it NMM, non-metallic metal.

White Dwarf 161 (1993)

This issue previewed The 'Eavy Metal Referency Guide by Mike McVey. The undercoat is unstated but I assume white.

• Base Coat. Blood Angel Orange.

• Wash. Thinned red ink.

• Highlights. Blood Angel Orange & Bad Moon Yellow with Skull White for final highlights.

The bolters were given a base of Chaos Black & highlighted with Chaos Black & Skull White mix. The knee-pad used Blood Red.