How To Paint Pre-Heresy World Eater Marines

Hi guys, been a while since I made a proper post. But have been busy with work and completing my 20 man tactical squad. Whilst completing this squad I have taken pictures in order for me to show you guys and girls how to complete to a (hopefully) decent standard!!

So here we go :)

As with all models when collected are washed by placing in a bowl with warm water and washing up liquid to soak in and then brushed to remove any excess residue so any paints don't ruin or stick. After the wash is completed the body parts are sprayed with Skull White spray as a base to start painting on.

When the spray is done my first thing is to cut the legs off of the skews and glue the legs to the base.

When the legs are stuck on I wash the legs with a mix that is shown on the Forge World painting guide. The wash consists of 25% Drakenhof Nightshade, 25% Nuln Oil, 25% Lahmian Medium and 25% water. At the start of even my first Assault marines I created a large quantity to begin with so its always good to make at least 3 or 4 pots as it will definitely be worth it in the future! For reference for the rest of the guide I will refer to it as WEW (World Eater Wash).

After the wash has dried comes the part which gives the World Eaters their edge. Using a sponge and Ceramite White you lightly cover the model. When sponging the model it's always worth using a very small piece by ripping it off a larger sponge and use a tweezer to dab the white on the model. ENSURE THAT THE WHITE IS NOT THICK!!! You only need to make sure there's enough to just lightly cover the wash. You can judge this by dabbing the sponge on your hand, you should be able to judge if the paint is too wet on your hand. When dabbing over the model you don't need to completely cover the parts in white, just enough to give it a speckly effect. I will refer to the white sponge technique as CWT (Ceramite White Technique).

Not sure if you can see the above clearly enough but if you see my pictures of the assault marines you may get a clearer picture there or in later pictures.

Next part I complete is the ribbing around the waist and knees. To paint this I use Abaddon Black mixed with Lahmian Medium. (Lahmian Medium should be a key part in all of the painting you do! It is a key tool to thin the paint out to make it easier without ruining the quality). Will be referred Lahmian as LM. Carefully apply the black in the ribbing and ensure the grooves are filled as well.

Legs done. Next you want to take the torsos and stick them on top of the legs. When the legs are fully stuck on, use the WEW and CWT to cover the model ready for the next part.

Next step is to cover the straps along the torso. Again this will be using Abaddon Black and Lahmian Medium.

The next step is to cover the base. You can cover it in anything you desire, be it you paint the base to a designated colour or cover for an environment. We at Battle Bunnies like to give the bases a dirt feel to it. We use gravel to cover our bases but you could easily use sand or anything you have available. To stick it down apply a layer of PVA glue but not too thick that it shows over. Once the glue is applied dunk the base inside the gravel and make sure the entire base is covered. Fill any empty spaces, remove any large stones which may look disproportianate to the model and take away any that are sticking to the feet so it doesn't look as if its trudging through a swamp!

Next you want to complete the arms ready for later when you attach the arms to the guns. For this we use the WEW and CWT combo. Mostly the arms are bent fully in although in some cases you can see the ribbing in the elbows. For this you want to use the Abaddon Black and LM combo I mentioned earlier.

Now we move on to weapons. With these marines they are going to be holding boltguns and will have melee weapons on their waist consisting of chainswords and chainaxes. Spray the weapons with Chaos Black and cut off from the skews.

Next you want to cover the metallics such as the clip, sights and muzzle with boltgun metal mixed with LM. Ensure you dont go over too much as you want to keep the detail of the ridges.

For the rest of the gun you can paint it any colour you desire but I like to go for a general neutral grey metal colour so I use Mechanicus Standard Grey with LM to cover the gun. The picture below is of a different style, but its all the same principle. When the painting is completed, I like to lightly use a touch of Nuln Oil to define the guns to give a personal feel.

Guns done. Melee time. For the swords and axes first off I like to do the blades. To paint this I use Sycorax Bronze mixed with LM. Brush along the blades, ensuring you get in between the gaps to make sure you don't miss any spaces. Once applied I like to give a slight drybrushing that consists of 50% Sycorax Bronze and 50% Runefang Steel just to make sure it gives the blade a metallic edge.

Next for the rest of the weapons I use Mechanicus Standard Grey mixed with LM again to give a universal feel, but again you can use whichever colour you like.

Next you would need to detail the hilt of the blade. Over the grey I use the Sycorax option again as the grey underlay gives the bronze a different shade from the blade's colour. The above works the same for the axes.

Melee done. Next we move towards the backpacks. For the base you want to use a spray of Kantor Blue. It gives a deep colour that looks great on these models.

For the backpacks I like to give it a bit of wear so I use a light drybrushing of Teclis Blue. Use it only to go over the edges as you dont want to two-tone the colours.

Next you want to colour in the vents and other metallics. To paint this I used Boltgun Metal mixed with LM. You want to be careful not to run over the blue of the backpacks. Once you've done this you want to go over the whole pack with the WEW.

Backpacks done. Now for shoulder pads. Again you want to give a spray of Kantor Blue. Once the shoulder pads are sprayed you want to go over the edges with a metallic colour. I myself am again using Sycorax Bronze but you could easily use a gold colour. For me personally I like using the bronze as it gives a dirty feel that the World Eaters are suited to. When completing the bronze you want to go over the pads with the WEW. Here you can decide whether to add on the transfers. I don't add them on now personally as I leave it as the last thing to do in case there is any mess up when assembling.

Pads done. Now to complete the heads. Here you want to go over the heads with the WEW and CMT combo to make sure they conform with the rest of the body. After that you want to colour in the neck with the Abaddon Black and LM combo. Also to complete the helmet you want to complete the piping around the mouth. For this I used the Sycorax Bronze again although again you could paint it gold or even paint it metal with Boltgun Metal or even have it lighter and add Mithril Silver.

Lastly you want to paint the eyes that give them the true gift of sight! For the eyes I have used a base of Warpstone Glow and then added a shade of Coelia Greenshade. 

After this you are complete!! Time to assemble. Match the arms up to pairs and also glue the guns onto the right places. For the melee weapons you attach the swords and axes I glued the weapons straight to the magnetic belt. I manually constructed handles for the weapons out of Green Stuff as the chainswords I used had hands attached and to leave them on would look a little odd! I like to make sure that there are multiple poses so they all don't look robotic and give them a bit of life. Also ensure that it's best to make the head look down the sight of the gun as it is very unlikely that they will be blindfiring all day! Make sure that you line up the head to make sure it looks realistic and also I like to use a bit of Green Stuff to give a bit of a neck. Otherwise you may have a bit of a shrunken neck which no marine should be subject to! Shown below is a bolt pistol and chainsword combo, and also a boltgun marine with chainsword.

And there you have it! I hope this has helped you construct your own World Eaters. Comment below on your thoughts and also if you have your own tips leave them in the comments as well for other viewers and also for myself too as I have stated this is my first army painted so I would like to have some extra skills for future projects!

Currently I am working on my Legion Praetor to lead my armies (when Primarch Angron is not present of course!). Will post when this is completed. Comment me also a name for my Praetor as we like to personalise our leaders. Most interesting wins my vote and will be named for my leader. I look forward to your ideas! 

Thanks for viewing!!!!!!!!


Darko Thane