How to Paint Ravenwing – TheChirurgeon’s Method

This article is part of a larger series on how to paint Dark Angels space marines. For more on painting Dark Angels, you can return to that series by clicking this link.

Painting the Ravenwing is pretty much the same as painting any black armor, though there are a few nuances when it comes to painting them I’ll talk about here.

Step 1: Priming and Basecoat

I start by priming the model black, then I highlight it, doing mixes of Abaddon Black and Corvus Black until I get to pure Corvus black on the raised areas. This gives the model a nice gradient look that will make it stand out more than just using flat black.

Step 2: Shading and Metal

Before I finish shading up to Corvus Black, I’ll paint the metal bits of the model using Leadbelcher. I’ll later come back and wash these and parts of the armor with Nuln Oil. 

Step 3: Highlights

Time to start doing some highlights on the armor. This is a complete pass of edge highlights on the model, done with Mechanicus Standard Grey. 

Step 4: Secondary Highlights

After that I do a second pass on the highlights, this time hitting the corners and extra raised areas with Celestra Grey to make them pop.

Step 5: Final Details

Now it’s time for the rest of the model details. I hit the gun and the eyes with Mephiston Red, then shade them with Carroburg Crimson and highlight with Evil Sunz Scarlet. The chest aquila here is the same as on my standard Dark Angels – Rakarth Flesh washed with Seraphim Sepia and highlighted with Rakarth Flesh and Reaper Polished Bone. The metal bits are highlighted with Runefang Steel. The white Ravenwing symbols are done with Reaper Ghost White and edge highlighted with Reaper Pure White. 

And that’s the process. It’s not a full model but it doesn’t change much from here, save maybe some gold bits on Ravenwing Knights. Those parts will be Retributor Armour washed with Agrax Earthshade and highlighted with Liberator Armour.

This article is part of a larger series on how to paint Dark Angels space marines. For more on painting Dark Angels, you can return to that series by clicking this link.