Painting a Dreadnought

A few weeks ago I painted up some Rhinos and a few people expressed and interest in the technique used to paint them so quickly. Well, I don't have any more Rhinos to paint so I thought I would do this demo with one of the dreds. For vehicle painting I usually use a sponge technique and that is what I am using here.

The materials for this are very simple. You need a selection of make-up or cosmetic sponges. Don't use sponge paint brushes as the texture of these are too course. The make-up sponges are very fine and will provide a better finish. You need a cheap bottle of paint that is a little darker than your target color. Craft paint is perfect for this. The sponges soak up lots of paint so do not waste your expensive stuff on this.

In addition to the materials listed above you need you normal brushes and paints for all the detail work. You also need a black primed model. For this example I am using my Assault on Black Reach Dreadnought that I have added a spotlight and smoke launchers.

To do this technique take a sponge and dip it in the paint. I usually start with the thin edge of the sponge. Wipe off the excess paint on a paper towel. To apply the paint you will dab the paint on rather than brushing or wiping. Start on a corner of the model and begin applying paint. You want the edges of the model to have more paint and then fade into shadows in the more complex areas of the model. In the picture above you can see what the model looks like after a few coats with the sponge. Just keep working until you are happy with the look.

Once the base color is down it is time to clean-up the model. The sponge will get paint all over so it is usually required to touch things up. I go back with a brush and clean-up the black for areas that will not be the base color. This allows me to paint in details later. At this stage I will also clean-up the base color. I took some GW Blazing Orange and a brush and went over the base color. Be careful to preserve the shadows provided by the sponges. One thing I really like about this is the texture the sponges add. Take a look at the picture above and notice the shading and the texture.

Now that the clean-up is done it is time to paint in the details. In this picture you can see all the metallic work and other random details have been painted.

The last paint step is to edge the base color to bring out the details. For this step I used GW Fiery Orange and just worked all the edges of the model. You can also use this highlight color to add some scuffs and ware marks to the model. At this point you are done unless you want to apply a wash. I use Minwax Polyshades Tutor to grime up the model and add a protective finish.

Below are some pictures of the finished model ready for the table.