How I Paint Things - Creating Your Own Space Marine Chapter

[@drgamenstein3032]

I only recently came up with my first custom chapter, the way I started was figuring out who their leader would be, then I thought, "a Dreadnought would be a unique Chapter Master." Then that line of thought led me down the path of what kind of lunatics would revere a commander so much, that even after being interred in a Dreadnought, they would still follow him without fail, instead of retiring him, and more importantly, what kind of man would be interred, and still take command of a chapter of marines. That made me decide on Iron Hands successors, and so on and so on, and I ended up with a group of virtuous warriors, who are at the same time, total lunatics.

[@hobbywargamer8195]

I would love to see other miniatures of this chapter painted, Dreadnaughts, Bikes, Rhinos, and Repulsors.

[@Fluffykeith]

I really love the chilled out and friendly, accessible tone and delivery you use. The little asides about how good the green looks, that kind of thing.

[@Mecha_phant0m]

Really nice and chill atmosphere, helps take the anxiety out of the painting process .just using brushes and taking it simply compared to so many other KZbin channels where it’s all special equipment and heavy music + editing.

[@GlynArmitage]

Iron Castellans I like it has a very authoritive ring to it, love the video great as always

[@King-ci8sk]

Thanks so much. For being the only video in the almost 60 I've watched to actually show the action of you watering down your paints on the pallete in real time. I need to thin my paints more!

[@jhnlk]

Sonic, just want to thank you for creating great videos. I really enjoy your teaching method and approach to making videos. There's a great blend of personal insight, reassuring calm and practical tools. Thank you!

[@will4127]

Fantastic color scheme! Would never have thought to complement iron with dark green. Painting the backpack two different colors really helps to break it up a bit.

[@markdennis7038]

With the leaving a mark thing, it's long been a part of 40k and imperial thinking to do just that. If you look at land raider kit tracks they have an imperial eagle welded on so it leaves an actual 'footprint' in the ground.

[@Joe_the_ogre]

neat i never noticed

[@docremington1589]

Im probably late to the party, but with a name like Iron Castellans, I can see a rook piece in white as a symbol. Or a stylised tower with battlements. EDIT: late an unoriginal is what I am it seems! :)

[@deathfromabove7431]

You have inspired me to make my own purely primaris chapter by making this video, thank you for the good content!

[@M3talB3ak]

It's cool to see the process others go through when creating their own chapter. I recently made my own and the name was honestly the hardest part.

[@johnkelley9877]

The figure looks great! The colors all fit together and the history you are making for them is interesting Thanks for sharing this neat tutorial.

[@timothyyoung2962]

My personal chapter is The Delta Irregulars. I modeled them off of WWII American soldiers and went for a dieselpunk style to them. I also created units of Astra Militarum to use alongside them. The Delta's planet was ravaged by a massive Orc Waaagh and was cut off from reinforcements. They had to use whatever they could and forged units of mixed forces that could fill various roles at the drop of a hat since they had little in the way of manpower and equipment midway through the war. After the orcs were defeated and the chapter went on to rebuild they kept their patchwork style of utilitarian units and even built upon them. They use whatever equipment and tactics that will win them the day and are known for the unconventional mixed units and their availability of artillery and fast attack vehicles as well as flexible and adaptable small strike units for sabotage and special kill missions. Their style fits with Killteam and I use them for that game as well.

[@cinderheart2720]

Thank you for teaching us how to get something useful and beautiful out of Nazdreg Yellow.

[@danielwilson5127]

Ive never really been bothered about the new space marines however after seeing this one painted up im thinking of picking some up. The channel is fantastic by the way. Nice easy techniques for someone like me and a genuinely nice bloke hosting. Keep up the great work

[@angrypantz87]

Stormcast Eternal have some very cool colour schemes that would fit Space Marines. Celestial Vindicators are the one that I constantly want to work on for my Space Marines. One of these days I will actually finish off a test mini for them. Excellent hobby chit chatting about how you came up with the name for your marines and their "fluff".

[@13Robzilla]

Favorite video you have made. Thank you for sharing and please stay safe!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Glad you enjoyed it! I'm going to find more excuses to slap Nocturne Green on things, methinks... :D

[@13Robzilla]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio I consider Nocturne Green the "Hidden Bonus" to this great video!

[@LittleTubist]

Love the way this guy came out. Would be awesome to see you do a whole army.

[@ahmadillo4959]

Would love to see your take on making your own homebrew Imperial Guard regiment

[@athollmcnicoll256]

Cool colour scheme that works from long range and up close.

[@joshconfer209]

I really enjoy these videos. Especially when you improvise.

[@stefanlyon2719]

Please keep updating us on this chapter, was a brilliant idea. Maybe a Sergeant next?

[@IspherAYT]

Thank you so much for this resource. Refreshing my Marine collection is a fair way off, but rather than carry on with what I did before in Hawk Lords, I wanted to tweak things a bit to have a fully custom chapter so I could more freely switch between First Founding Chapters for matched play. In the space of twenty minutes, I've got the tweaked colour scheme (starting with Phoenician Purple and Stormhost Silver trim) and a potential name in the Amethyst Questors. Style and story yet to come, but has been a great inspiration this evening so thank you!

[@-nope3030]

This is great, literally just started my own custom chapter yesterday! You're right about the name too... I'm still thinking!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

You can do it! Just smash random on a generator, find a word you like and then hit Thesaurus.com for some synonyms that might sound cooler. :D

[@HeadHunterSix]

I've been working on ideas for a custom chapter for several days - The background was all there but I just couldn't get a color scheme that appealed to me. This video sparked my imagination and I've got some solid ideas now. I just need to decide on the specific shades, and where on the model they will go. Thanks for the inspiration, and I like where you are going with your Iron Castellans!

[@Yallan]

15:33 Learned that the hard way when trying to paint a Dark Prussian Blue and White theme, with the white on the shoulder plates, knee pads, top of the backpack, and the Aquila on the chest. It took forever to paint those flat surfaces, and wasn't very rewarding. All I could think about when I was about to paint a Marine was how I still needed another layer of white over that one part, or that my white in one area was too thick and now it looked chalky. Still better than my previous idea of purely white though :D

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

White's always a pain in the neck, no matter how many variations of the new white wonder paint any company seems to come out with! Not so bad if you're starting from a white primer, but trying to paint it on top of anything else... ugh, no sir! Not my scene. 😂

[@rowanirish]

Sweet looking colour scheme. I like it.

[@_threepointedcircle_]

I love creating chapters. My current army is a homebrew, really let's you put your own spin on things .

[@yoyoyo9669]

this is so cool! would love to see a dread painted like this!

[@johnscott10]

gotta love doing custom colours for armies. The inspiration bit can always be tricky. I decided to use the Tau sept colours on a Space Marine and well now I've basically got Imperial Fists but with a more tan colour than a bright yellow. Trying to replicate said colours onto bigger models has been tricky but very rewarding and quickly becoming one of my fav armies to paint.

[@alexdecouto6063]

The timing of this is impeccable. I'm new to the hobby and trying to make my own chapter. I've got a name and potential theme just trying to nail down a color scheme. Name: Beasts of Burden Theme: American western (wild west) Color scheme: tan or reddish brown and white. Love your vids by the way.

[@Draculord666]

I'd love seeing more videos like this! I went with a very similar scheme for my homebrew chapter, the Dusk Wardens! Just used a lighter green on my accents.

[@jeremyklein9359]

Really love this color scheme

[@Paul0004]

Love the colour scheme! For squad leaders I'd paint the helmet green, leaving face plate silver. Sort of a 'Cybermen' from Doctor Who look.

[@danny3tricks377]

That is a great scheme! In the process of thinking one up myself and now trying to resist something similar 😂

[@adamfox1669]

Another great post. Good ideas& tips as well. Thanks

[@TrentRosenbaum]

Great video 👍 it will be cool to see how you expand the idea and what chapter symbol you end up using.

[@carlosbarrios2454]

Great work again. Thanks

[@punisherperrin]

Thought this scheme was really cool..So I've totally stolen it. Been wanting to do my own Chapter for a while, and applied the scheme as a Dark Angels Successor Chapter. The colours worked really well in that regard! Thanks for another great video!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Yes! :D Great to hear that they're out in the wild! If you do end up getting some photos I'd love to see how they look.

[@mikepharter1210]

I love it! Reminds me of Fallout's power armor. Im going to make some Brotherhood of Steel space marines. Thank you for the inspiration.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Good shout! :D

[@cloaker2829]

noice

[@Eclypsis51332]

I’m looking into a custom grey knights just for funzies, I first thought of having them as a much more futuristic scheme but have re thought to probably a desert color

[@melekharn7943]

Back before I felt the call of Chaos, I had a chapter I called "The Black Knights" Basically they were just marines painted with the old "Tin Bitz" colour, with gold trims and white pauldrons. They were nice and dark, but still had that striking metallic glint.

[@adambaryliuk3393]

That’s a good looking colour scheme

[@KiwiSpartan01]

Mine, Crimson Raptors, originally started as a Imperial Fist successor Chapter, ended up being a Raven Guard successor Chapter. It's the sneaky long range and your own shadow turning against you that really started the flavor of my Chapter. Turns out there's already a Crimson Raptors Chapter in the lore. But the Imperium is a big empire so some information can get jumbled around. And by that point I'd already started fleshing out their lore for a couple years

[@miikeydobodobo5304]

thats silver skulls colour scheme ahh actually you got green shoulders, looks really cool though love your videos!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Silver Skulls are one of those armies that always sticks in the back of my head as a 'maybe this year I'll paint an army...' I think the green gives the Marines a little more visual interest, though! A skull might not be a bad idea for a Chapter badge, though it'll probably lead to more questions about their origins... ;)

[@miikeydobodobo5304]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio yea man it looks fucking awesome i saw darren lathams army on youtube and i instantly regret painting generic ultra marines haha your scheme and silver skulls look so good ive used most of your painting tutorials for my death guard and my bolt action americans and german armies your a life saver haha

[@coeniq]

Is that a glass of „Händlmayer süßer Senf“ sweet Mustard in the background?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Weil qualität das wichtigste ist. ;)

[@johntailby74]

My gaming group think that the best inspiration for space marine chapters comes from 15th century and earlier and the inspiration for Imperial Guard armies comes from the 19th centuries or later. The Medieval period has great colour schemes and symbols with the Heraldry that can inspire colour schemes. You could use something like the Traveler planetary generation system to generate the chapters fortress monastery. The big advantage of making up your own chapter is that you can adopt the rules of whatever chapter you want to reflect your play style ( or which ever has the best rules currently).

[@Demortixx]

I finally recently figured out my custom chapter by lore first. The name is Dragon Fists, a Imperial Fist sucessor with heavy salamanders influence. Then the colors came in various stages.

[@TheMichaellathrop]

With the name my mind immediately went to the being an "Ultramarine" successor just like the silver skulls

[@danokitemanotoo1791]

Great video. One thing I do is drill out the barrel on the weapons!

[@HooDie-Trench-GoTh2022]

Looks cool , you could also use drill pieces and make bullet holes in the armour .

[@ApexBovine]

I actually ended up painting Silver templars by accident lol. I really liked the yellow of the salamander shoulders, and I liked the blue steel of the grey knight... bam silver templars. Thought I was being clever 2 :/ back to the drawing board for a homebrew I spose haha

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

There's nothing saying you can't stick to silver and yellow! Lots of Space Marine Chapters have extremely similar colours, with the exception of the Chapter symbol. Just go with what you like. :D

[@crazyscottishboi3822]

I'm thinking of making a space marine chapter called the imperium's fallen where they are basically marines who where believed to be dead and left/ lost on the field of battle only to come back through some sort of reserection The army would have a mainly blue armour with black accents and a couple purple highlights

[@martineasterman5170]

Like it...I would be tempted to paint the belt buckle, just to increase colour contrast with all the silver....Also you have done something clever without mentioning it...choose a base colour that you can spray on...saves time.

[@peterdickinson4599]

Martin Easterman Check out Army Painter’s range of 100% match spray-on primers.

[@mythicaldakka]

1d4chan has rules from the Rites of Battle supplement for the Deathwatch RPG to create a Chapter using dice rolls (if you like a bit of randomization). I came up with an Ultramarines successor using those rules, that actually rejects the Codex Astartes. I named the Omega Tempests. Just started painting a Primaris Captain as my first member of what will probably start as a Kill Team. Still have to work out the Chapter badge too lol

[@KidsWreckMovies]

sounds cool

[@Elwood288]

My advice for chapter emblem is hit up pop goes the monkey on shapeways. If they don't have it you will definitely get some ideas.

[@iammattc1]

I swear to god, every time I come up with an idea for my primaris chapter, someone's beaten me to it. "Blood Eagles" - White Dwarf story explains how they don't exist any more "Silver Templars" - In the new Alpha Legion book "Harrowmaster" "Iron Castellans" - this video FROM THREE YEARS AGO! They've even got a colour scheme nearly identical to the one I was thinking of, which makes me wonder if I already watched this and forgot. I think I'm going to copy this scheme. Chapter badge - a stylised chess rook in white

[@ianpettman7482]

How about a Rook from a chess set as a chapter badge.

[@dannydorito9134]

If you thinking about them being knight protector sort of thing maybe have the chapter badge some sort of castle or fortress or something?

[@shawnoleary2009]

Iron Castellans is the right way to go; an Iron Hands successor chapter.

[@KaelBanner]

Speeaking of names.... Canada has/had two football teams the Roughriders and the Rough Riders.....

[@remerrietkerk5407]

I came here for guidance but now I just want to make Iron Castellans

[@TheeMrRasmus]

just as im starting my own chapter - blessing from heaven ;-D

[@j4ksx]

What are you calling them, buddy?

[@trekker105]

4:52 *Space Wolves begin sweating and looking about nervously*

[@thepiratepenguin4465]

Very similar look to my Shinobi Ravens, which is panzer grey & black. As the name suggests, they are a bunch of sneaky boys, with Ninja influence. Their parent chapter is Raven guard.

[@nightside100]

The key to space marine chapters as I see it, is that they are supposed to be a very adaptive fighting force. No chapter that has survived long enough to be known puts its egg in one basket. They all try to master as many forms of warfare as they can. While each one has their own favorite hammer to use when they see a nail. They only survived cause they knew when they needed a screwdriver instead.

[@CHKNFNGRZ]

IRON WITHIN, IRON WITHOUT, BROTHER.

[@jonathanfarrow1098]

How do you get the Nuln oil to not pool on the flat areas? It looks fantastic!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

When you apply it, wait a couple seconds for it to 'settle' and then dip your brush into any pooled areas and shift it around while it's still wet. You'll avoid the worst of the tide marks on flat areas this way.

[@jonathanfarrow1098]

Sonic Sledgehammer Studio Awesome, thanks! Just putting together some Astral Claws so this couldn’t have come at a better time!

[@Roark787]

I made a chaos space marine warband named "The Remorseless Sons" The color scheme I came up with is Pale Grey: Torso, biceps, hands, crotch, thighs and feet. Bright Red: Helmet, shoulder pads, forearms, knees and shins Trim: Rose gold Eye lenses: Harvest Orange Under lining (the gaps of the elbows forearms and palms, I don't know what its called): Gun-metal grey (I don't use Citadel Paints. I use FolkArt and Apple Barrel. NOT paying $5 for a small bottle of paint!) Their symbol is a snarling demonic wolf head with blood drops dripping from its mouth. Essentially their like Space Wolves that adopted more of a gladiator culture like the World Eaters. They primarily worship Khorne but often lend their forces to fighting alongside other Chaos warbands due to only having less then 500 marines (They killed the other half when they went traitor) The only known remaining piece of their chapters former loyalist identity is a broken Electric-Blue colored helmet that now dangles on the belt of their Daemon Prince Tÿr the blooded champion. It is said that the helmet belonged to the 2nd company lieutenant and former best-friend of Tÿr before he turned traitor. It was by Tÿr's hand that the final loyalist member of their chapter was slain and from this great act of betrayal, Tÿr would ascend to daemonhood. Now they rampage across the stars apon their flagship "The Screaming Doom" Unrepentant, merciless, unforgiving, pitiless and REMORSLESS to an Imperium that deserves NONE!

[@graemecollin]

Like it, fella!

[@derekstiles5801]

Good advice.

[@dottietyre9062]

I'm getting some Mk IV Space Marines for my custom chapter here's my rough draft for that: After a Nuclear War the Enclave were formed, The Enclave are the remnants of the U.S. government and military trying to rebuild the country but they stay isolated to try and create better weapons. During the Horus Heresy they aided the Loyalists against the Traitors and created an experimental Mark IV suit their men could wear in battle. Then again I'm thinking of making them into a Sons of Horus Successor because I was introduced to Warhammer with the Horus Heresy Drop Assault mobile game. Color Scheme: The Enclave's infantry are similar to the Imperium's Guardsmen being made up of pure humans they wear primarily black uniforms and are armed with Plasma Rifles and Pistols but due to isolation they don't have many vehicles but the vehicles they do have are from old U.S. military schematics one vehicle they use is a Mark III VTOL capable of carrying a full squad of 5 soldiers and it's armed with a minigun for defense.

[@batnacks]

I'm kind of disappointed that after months of brainstorming ideas for a custom chapter I've ended up with something almost identical to what's in a video I came across at random, except with stone instead of iron

[@kassy6373]

Damn, Nuln Oil should hire you.

[@Ironfrenzy217]

I recently come up with my own. The Spirit of Iron. Since I have the books for Dark Angels and Iron Hands and wanted a way to use them as if they were a successor of either chapter. Also it's a nod to my username and The ship Spirit of Fire from Halo. I like multi layered references.

[@Nobleshield]

Very cool. This is one of the biggest issues that I have, trying to come up with something that looks interesting but is also not too hard to paint and not too close to an existing chapter. Which makes it IMHO very hard to pick colors because if you go with a blue say, well if its too midtone of a blue you look like an Ultramarine, too dark and you look Crimson Fist, etc. so trying to find a single color that really works is no small feat. I'm actually in the middle of this right now. I have a cool name for a chapter ("Storm Drakes") because I found a really cool symbol on Pop Goes The Monkey that doesn't seem to be used elsewhere. But trying to come up with a color scheme is pretty tough!

[@allanjenkinson4219]

Maybe a rampart for the Chapter badge?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

That might work rather well. It'd be a simple shape, easy enough to get decals for or even 3D print some shoulder pads. Hmm...!

[@ltjamescoopermason8685]

I liked your figure and the colours .My marines were based on the fact the Regent hasn't realised that the Preist from Mars were messing with other Primarchs. So my choice was that I wanted a powerful chapter like the wolves but without being the canine emblems. So I went with Viod eaters chapter based on native American Indians including names like a Chaplin named Magua and captains called cheif with the chapter lord could be known as Cheifton Pawnee. The fourth company ride in a cruiser called Huron. Dark yellow with red arms gauntlets and pauldrons. The sign of a skull with a dream catcher around it and over parts over it a sort of map of their home world.

[@marcharrison9869]

Looking Good, how about the Steel Castellans?

[@Ghent_Halcyon]

Now this makes sense.

[@Cloudrunner1]

This is awesome. Have you done a scheme like this, but for a dreadnought?

[@gdmunn83]

How did you manage to get the green looking so smooth finish. Going over the silver my green needs so many watered down layers it builds up a non smooth finish?

[@Amateurgamersedgie09]

sort of the same colour scheme me and my friends came up with, but we call calling them Stonehammers, every sergent has a thunder hammer, the main weapon is the well Thunder hammer for them as its their weapon of choice, so close combat for them only trouble is we haven't started them on the tabletop it self we have made them in the DoW, were looking for hammer like decals but their isn't any as far as i tried looking, and i'm terrible at free hand and their isn't much in custom decals options at the moment. :/

[@stuartthomas7392]

How would you go about picking colours for a necron dynasty you want to create

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Honestly, I'd tackle it from much the same perspective. What's the world like, what's their Lord like. I can't say I know the Necron lore as well as Space Marines so I might not be the best person to ask, unfortunately!

[@TashiMortier]

I'm wondering... If I used my airbrush to basecoat something and use the paint from the same pot I'm going to use later, do I still need to brush over it again?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

In theory, as long as it's the same paint as from the pot, you shouldn't need to then brush over an airbrushed basecoat. The purpose of it is mostly to make sure that your coloured primer and 'pot colour' match for fixes later.

[@TashiMortier]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio oh neat. I will give it a try. I like to use gray airbrush primer and then just do the basecoat with thinned paint from the pot

[@Flamethrower1942]

My custom chapter is the Solaris Sons .A chapter recruited from Terra itself.

[@rossgruenberg9700]

I used some inspiration from C.S Lewis. Mine aill be called the "DawnTreaders" using an upside down dark angels ensign to signify a sun and upturned sword. Now i just need colors

[@reclusiarchgrimaldus1269]

I see you are a man of culture as well

[@rossgruenberg9700]

@@reclusiarchgrimaldus1269 absolutely!! I love his works.

[@WildDogSigma]

What did you use for a primer? Silver spray paint?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Army Painter Platemail. I only mention it the once, but it's listed in the description with the rest of the paints used just in case.

[@paintinghistory1475]

Great tutorial personally I just paint any scheme i like, then I make up an explanation for the lack of uniformity

[@JoshMC2000]

If I was to paint some models up like this is the somewhere I can send them for you to look at. Might make some changes for sargents and vetrans possible officers to

[@darthmadeus]

Anyone know where I can find this exact miniature? I'd love to have a few and I love the pose too!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

He's a plastic miniature from a multi-part kit. You'd be able to assemble him from the standard Space Marine Intercessors box. :)

[@darthmadeus]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Thank you!!

[@MrLegrooveth]

Nocturne green is one of the ones the came out with contrast last year but I'd forgotten about it till now. I paint Salamanders and I'm currently trying to figure out if I should be using this, have you got any thoughts about incorporating it? I use your Salamnders tutorial as the baseline for my method

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Nocturne Green is much, much darker by comparison to the green I usually see folks doing their Salamanders. I think the majority of the base paints that came out around that time were geared more toward Horus Heresy-era stuff, and Nocturne Green is no different. Ironically, I think it'd make for some really nice 40k-era Dark Angels!

[@MrLegrooveth]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Thanks a lot, I won't worry about it then

[@Jbay2608]

"Space Marines are cool" - They sure are!

[@glitch200]

You should try a makeup brush for drybrushing. It'll change your life.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I use a set of makeup brushes in quite a few videos recently! I don't recall drybrushing anything in this one, though. :o

[@glitch200]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Try it instead of basecoating metals normally. For some reason metal always looks better drybrushed.

[@KillerOrca]

Just those four rules? Huh, been using those four without knowing they were a suggested thing for years. Albeit that filling in some of the gaps can be tough.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Well, the code's really more what you'd consider... guidelines. ;) I imagine it's a fairly standard checklist, but different folks are going to have their own way of approaching it or names they might have.

[@treestump8518]

What wet palette are you using? Also fantastic videos, been watching tons of them and they have given me tons of new ideas which is great since im getting started in warhammer.

[@boku5192]

nice one

[@voidwraith75]

I've named my custom chapter the Void Wraiths

[@Simluk42]

I wanna do a silver chapter to give off the feel of they don’t care for wasting time painting their armor and just leave it silver the only thing they will paint is their chapters icon and their helmets to display rank and status. I’m having issues though on how I’m going to display the ranks and status, I’ve gone with black helmet for veteran but I’m unsure what to replace the red for lieutenant and sergeant with

[@mothmanmk2547]

Could have black helmets with some kind of white marks on them like stripes or chevrons

[@Stryk3r_x]

As a WH40K beginner, it's a good idea to create a own chapter or pick one of the existing? Btw. @Sonic Sledgehammer Studio your color scheme looks awesome!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

It's a tough call. Generally speaking I'd suggest that going with an established Chapter - even for a small force - lets you get into the game and sorta soak up some of the lore and gameplay mechanics without having to worry about the extra layer of creating your own stuff on top. If you've got a clear idea in your head already, though, there's nothing to stop you coming up with your own colours and names.