Reference photos, colour schemes with the exact paints for every area, and finished models from other painters — everything you need to start Redemptor Dreadnought for your Imperial Fists force.

Find a paint

Every paint below links to its equivalents in other brands.

What Redemptor Dreadnought looks like

Colour schemes

Imperial Fists — Redemptor Dreadnought

Intermediate · 6 areas

A vehicle wearing chapter colours. The recipe is the same; the surfaces are flat, large and unforgiving, so the technique changes. Painted in Imperial Fists colours, from primer to based.

Power armour

Undercoat light Primer — Yellow has almost no covering power over black. Starting from a bone primer is the difference between two coats and six.
Basecoat the armour plates Basecoat — Two thin coats, leaving the recesses slightly darker. Thin with water until the paint flows off the brush rather than sits on it.
Shade the recesses Recess shade — Run the shade into panel lines and around raised details only. A full wash over the plates flattens the armour.
Edge highlight the plates Edge highlight — A fine line along the top edge of each plate, where light would land. Stop before the line meets the next edge.
Sharpen the brightest edges Edge highlight — Only the corners and the very top of each plate — this is a fraction of the previous line.

Shoulder trim and steel

Leadbelcher Citadel
Nuln Oil Citadel
Ironbreaker Citadel

Basecoat the trim Basecoat — Keep the line clean — trim is what the eye follows, so a wobble here is more visible than one anywhere else.
Shade the trim Recess shade — Agrax Earthshade where the trim meets the plate, so it reads as a separate piece of metal.
Highlight the trim Edge highlight

Helmet lenses

Caliban Green Citadel
Warpstone Glow Citadel
Moot Green Citadel
White Scar Citadel

Fill the lens Basecoat — Fill the whole lens recess with the darkest green.
Leave a dark rim Layer — Cover the lens again but stop short of the bottom edge, leaving a crescent of the base colour.
Dot the catchlight Detail — One small dot in the upper corner. The dot is what makes the lens read as glass.

Hull panels and sarcophagus

Basecoat the large panels Basecoat — Large flat panels show brush marks a shoulder pad hides. Thin further than you would for infantry and build up three coats.
Panel-line the hull Recess shade — Nuln Oil drawn along the panel gaps with the tip of the brush, not washed across the panel.
Sarcophagus and ironwork Layer — The sarcophagus face and its steel surround are the focal point — spend the time here, not on the shins.
Chipping along the leading edges Stipple — Sponge Rhinox Hide chips first, then a smaller Leadbelcher chip inside some of them.

Black plates and chapter badge

Basecoat the black plates Basecoat — Imperial Fists break up the yellow with black knee and shoulder plates — paint these before the final yellow highlight so overspill is easy to fix.
Edge the black Edge highlight — A single Eshin Grey line; anything brighter fights the yellow for attention.
Paint the fist Layer — Mephiston Red field with a Flash Gitz Yellow fist, or a transfer over gloss varnish.

Base

Astrogranite Citadel
Administratum Grey Citadel
Dawnstone Citadel
Abaddon Black Citadel

Texture the base Texture — Astrogranite straight from the pot with an old brush, kept off the rim.
Drybrush the rubble Drybrush — Administratum Grey, then a lighter pass so only the highest grit catches it.
Paint the rim Detail — Abaddon Black around the rim in one steady pass. A clean rim is what makes a squad look finished.

Every paint on this page

19 paints across every scheme and tutorial above. Tick what you need to build a list, or follow a paint through to find it in another brand.

Track this project from sprue to finished

Add Redemptor Dreadnought to your pile, tick off the paints you already own, and see what is still missing before you open the box.

Add it to your pile — no account needed