The Lazy Person's Guide to Painting Imperial Guard Vehicles

Welcome to the Vault once again faithful readers. Today's article complements one of my earliest entries on the blog, the painting guide for Imperial Guard infantry. A bank holiday weekend has given me the perfect opportunity to indulge in some hobby time, and with 40K army building on hiatus until 8th edition drops I decided to dig into one of my older projects (of which I have many*)...

*see the end of the article for more on this...

...the iconic Imperial Guard vehicles. Sentinels and Leman Russes to be specific.

Fire on my target!!!

The two Sentinels in the back rank were painted some time ago, whilst I painted the two on the front row over the last couple of days. In fact these are the first Imperial Guard vehicles I've painted in well over 6 months, and of course I've forgotten some of the steps in the mean time. Luckily the recipe is simple and it has all come good in the end. It is worth jotting the steps down for next time, as my memory is pretty terrible!

From the left flank

I won't go into applying decals in this article. Quite frankly it is a pain, and I batch up vehicles to do a load at once.  They do look quite good once finished though.

So let's have a look at the painting guide with some WIP shots of a Leman Russ Punisher.

Base coat with Army Painter Army Green Spray.

Stage 1: Tracks

i) Base coat Abaddon Black

ii) Over brush Leadbelcher, remembering to hit the inner and outer edges of the tracks.

iii) Tidy up the chassis with Knarloc Green where paint from i) or ii) above has hit.

Stage 1 done heading into Stage 2 below

 Stage 2: Weathering the chassis

i) Dry brush the chassis and turret (choice here, Russ is Scorpion Green, Sentinels are Camo Green).

ii) Dry brush the chassis and turret with Scar White.

Don't be shy and pay attention to the edges. And messy is fine!

Starting to come together

OK, same stage but great angle!

Stage 3: Metalwork (engine, exhausts, etc).

i) Base coat Warplock Bronze

ii) Over brush Leadbelcher

Neatness counts at this stage.

Additional weathering e.g. smoke on the exhausts could be added, but quite frankly I forgot. May be this will help me remember next time.

Yay, something not green

Stage 4: Guns

i) Base coat Abaddon Black

ii) Over brush Leadbelcher

iii) Apply Devlan Mud/Agrax Earthshade wash.

The Heavy Bolters are on bayonet fittings, and can be swapped out as desired.

Stage 5: Tank Commander

He's an Infantry Man in a fancy ride. Go read the Infantry painting guide here!

Advance!

Stage 6: Lights (Also works for plasma cells on the Sentinels)

i) Base coat Macragge Blue

ii) Layer Enchanted Blue

iii) Layer Calgar Blue

iv) (Optional) Wash Drakenhoff Nightshade

v) (Optional) Reapply Calgar Blue Layer

vi) Scar White Highlights

Pro tip, I glued the Search Light in place after painting the Commander. Access and all that. 

Minor details to finish up, (edging the smoke launchers for example) and done!

So here's a group shot of the Sentinels and a couple of the Leman Russes to finish up:

Big Guns Never Tire!

I mentioned at the start of the article I have a number of projects on hiatus, and this includes my Dropzone Commander army. First Founding's annual DZC tournament is being held in July and I'm quite tempted to attend. It's just a shame I can't settle on a list....

(And I may have also started another terrain kit this weekend as well (the lovely lovely Garden of Morr).

So many ideas, so little focus! Until next time my lovely readers.