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- not stocked: Leviadon Blue, John Blanche Masterclass: Heavy Metal, Yellow Ochre, English Uniform
$10 US delivery, 4-8 business days, free over $75
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Imperial Navy

Army Painter · Warpaints Fanatic WP3025P

#063565Matte

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from$3.45· compare 4 shops· priced 1 Sep

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Leviadon Blue

Citadel (Warhammer Paints) · Contrast 99189960103

#00162C

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Macragge Blue

Citadel (Warhammer Paints) · Base 99189950272

#0E407D

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Caledor Sky

Citadel (Warhammer Paints) · Base 99189950273

#426698

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Baron Blue

Army Painter · Warpaints Fanatic WP3023P

#7C95CCMatte

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Bright Gold

Army Painter · Warpaints

#B48024Metallic

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John Blanche Masterclass: Heavy Metal

Army Painter · Warpaints Fanatic

#3E3E3EMetallic

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$4.55at War Games USA· priced 1 Sep

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Beasty Brown

Vallejo · Game Color 72.043

#55371BBase

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from$3.29· compare 2 shops· priced 5 Jul

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Bestigor Flesh

Citadel (Warhammer Paints) · Layer 99189951243

#C78855

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Yellow Ochre

Vallejo · Arte Deco

#DA9132

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English Uniform

Vallejo · Model Color 70.921

#6F532BMatte

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Paint

Tweak this scheme in the generator →

Compare every army box

Prefer a bundle? At Loaded Dice (UK):save £22.51 vs RRP

Every Space Marines kit and box, priced

Prices compared across the shops that stock them — boxes ranked by cost per model.

Space Marines are the most painted miniatures in the hobby, and for good reason: large, clean armour panels make them an ideal canvas for learning the core techniques of basecoat, shade and highlight. The method below is chapter-agnostic - it is the same three steps whether your armour is blue, red, green, black or yellow, and the only thing that changes is which pot the basecoat comes out of. Pick your chapter's colour in the scheme generator and the recipe rebuilds itself around it.

The signature look

Every chapter shares the same shape: hard, angular armour panels in one dominant colour, metal or contrasting trim, chapter markings on one shoulder, and bone or parchment purity seals. Whatever colour you choose should read rich and saturated rather than washed-out, with crisp edge highlights to define the plates - that contrast between flat panel and bright edge is what makes a Marine look like a Marine.

Painting the armour

The recipe above gives you the full ramp, but the technique matters as much as the paints:

Basecoat smoothly. Thin your base colour with a little water and do two thin coats rather than one thick one - thick paint clogs the detail and dries patchy.
Shade in the recesses only. Use a targeted wash in the joints and panel lines rather than slopping it over the whole model, so the flat armour stays clean.
Edge highlight. This is what makes Space Marines pop. Drag a fine brush along the topmost edges with the highlight colour, then hit only the corners with the edge-highlight tone. Keep the line thin.

Choosing a chapter colour

Every chapter is the same method with a different base colour. Open the chapter's armour colour in the scheme generator and the recipe rebuilds itself:

Ultramarines - deep cobalt blue, gold trim (the full recipe is in How to Paint Ultramarines).
Blood Angels - deep red, gold trim.
Dark Angels - dark green, bone robes.
Imperial Fists - yellow (build yellow up from a brown/orange base for coverage).
Space Wolves - blue-grey with lots of metal and fur.
Salamanders - dark green with a green-stable energy and black skin.

Tips and common mistakes

Two thin coats beats one thick coat. Almost every "my Marines look messy" problem traces back to over-thick paint.
Don't over-wash. A full-model wash muddies the clean armour. Shade the recesses, not the panels.
Gold trim last. Paint the trim after the armour so you can tidy any overspill with the armour colour, then a brown wash brings the gold to life.
Decals over edge highlights. Apply transfers after highlighting, then a matt varnish blends them into the surface.

Recipes are generated by perceptual colour matching against our cross-brand paint database. Use them as a strong starting point and test paints in person when precision matters.