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How to Paint Warhammer 40,000

Signature colour schemes and step-by-step recipes for every 40,000 faction, each with an exact cross-brand paint recipe you can tweak in the generator.

Warhammer 40,000 armies live and die on a strong, repeatable scheme. Because you're painting dozens of models rather than a single display piece, the goal is a look that reads well on the table and can be reproduced quickly across a whole squad - a solid basecoat, a shade to drop into the recesses, and one or two highlights to bring the edges back up. That "battle-ready" three-step approach is the backbone of almost every faction below; parade-standard blending is something you add to characters, not line troops.

The 40k aesthetic leans grim and worn: hard edge highlighting to catch the light on armour plates, metallics for weapons and trim, and a little weathering - sponged chipping, a dusting of pigment on the boots - to sell the idea that these models have been to war. Contrast and speed paints have changed the maths here: a single thick coat over a light undercoat gives you a shaded basecoat in one pass, which is how most players get a 2,000-point army finished without burning out.

Pick a faction by the look you love most - you will spend far more time painting it than playing it. Each guide below breaks down the signature colours, the order to paint them in, and the specific paints (across Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter and more) that hit the mark, so you can follow it exactly or load it into the scheme generator and shift the palette to make the army your own.

Core paints

Most 40k schemes are built from a coloured armour basecoat, a matching shade, an edge-highlight layer, plus metallics (gunmetal + gold), a leather/brown for straps and pouches, and black for weapons and joints.

Warhammer 40,000 Factions

Adepta Sororitas

Adeptus Custodes

Adeptus Mechanicus

Aeldari

Astra Militarum

Black Templars

Blood Angels

Chaos Daemons

Chaos Knights

Chaos Space Marines

Dark Angels

Death Guard

Deathwatch

Drukhari

Emperor's Children

Genestealer Cults

Grey Knights

Imperial Agents

Imperial Fists

Imperial Knights

Iron Hands

Leagues of Votann

Necrons

Orks

Raven Guard

Salamanders

Space Marines

Space Wolves

T'au Sept

Thousand Sons

Tyranids

Ultramarines

White Scars

World Eaters

Signature Schemes at a Glance

  • Adepta Sororitas - Black armour, red robes, gold and bone - the Sisters of Battle
  • Adeptus Custodes - Rich gold armour, done with metallics or NMM
  • Adeptus Mechanicus - Deep red robes, brass and oily metal
  • Aeldari - Smooth craftworld armour, sharp contrast panels and glowing spiritstones
  • Astra Militarum - Practical military green, batch-painted for a whole regiment
  • Black Templars - Black armour that still reads as armour, plus crisp white crosses and parchment
  • Blood Angels - Deep red armour, gold trim, and getting red to cover cleanly
  • Chaos Daemons - Four gods, four palettes, and skin that should never look human
  • Chaos Knights - Big panels, deep rust, tarnished brass and daemonic glow
  • Chaos Space Marines - Ten-thousand-year-old armour, tarnished trim and legion colours
  • Dark Angels - Dark green armour, bone Deathwing and black Ravenwing
  • Death Guard - Rotten green armour, rust, corrosion and gore made easy with washes
  • Deathwatch - Black plate, a silver arm, and one shoulder from every chapter
  • Drukhari - Dark kabalite plate, pallid skin and razor-sharp edges
  • Emperor's Children - Purple plate, obsessive gold, and a finish that has to be perfect
  • Genestealer Cults - Purple hybrid skin against dirty mining overalls
  • Grey Knights - Clean silver armour and glowing force weapons
  • Imperial Agents - Black, gold and red across a warband of one-offs
  • Imperial Fists - Bright yellow armour done right, plus black and red detailing
  • Imperial Knights - Huge smooth panels, heraldry, and trim that takes longer than the armour
  • Iron Hands - Black plate with a metal sheen, and bionics on every model
  • Leagues of Votann - Ochre plates, industrial metals and hazard-striped Kin
  • Necrons - The living-metal look, dynasty variations, and glowing energy effects
  • Orks - Green skin, scrappy metal, rust and weathering done fast
  • Raven Guard - Black armour that reads as armour, not a silhouette
  • Salamanders - Bright green armour, black skin and fiery accents
  • Space Marines - The core armour method - basecoat, shade, edge highlight - for any chapter you pick
  • Space Wolves - Blue-grey armour, fur, leather and lots of weathering
  • T'au Sept - Clean ochre battlesuits, smooth panels and crisp decals
  • Thousand Sons - Blue-and-gold armour and warpfire magic effects
  • Tyranids - Carapace, skin and chitin done fast for a whole hive fleet
  • Ultramarines - The blue everyone knows, done cleanly and quickly
  • White Scars - Clean white armour with red detailing
  • World Eaters - Red and white armour, brass, and lots of blood

New to the hobby? Start with Warhammer 40k for Beginners. Or jump straight into the scheme generator to build a custom colour scheme with a full paint recipe.