How I paint yellow part 1

I've been meaning to post a tutorial on how I paint my marines for a while. According to the general perception of more painting forums, my friends and my own bitter experience, yellow is possibly the most difficult colour to bring off sucessfully. For years I'd avoided as my previous adventures had all ended up with much swearing like a sailor and the unfortunate model being consigned to the bin.

So what changed my mind?

I had walked into my local GW store in Lakeside, primarily to pickup some green paints. The week before the god of impulse purchasing had instructed me to pick up the christmas Space Marine bundle and as a result, I had a large number of unpainted marines to address. After much internal debate (there's little point in asking either the wife or the cat) I'd settled upon Salamanders.

While in conversation with the guys in the shop, I mentioned my difficulty with yellow as being a reason I'd never painted attempted Imperial Fists or Lamenters. The fine folks at the Lakeside store suggested an alternative approach which I've since refined slightly, however the basics are all theirs.

Thanks again guys!

Step 1:
I undercoat the miniature with Vallejo Surface Primer via an airbrush. At this stage I normally end up also coating my desk and if I'm really good, my computer monitor....

Paints used:
Vallejo Surface Primer

Step 2:

Once the primer has dried, which I find takes longer than normal acrylics (4 - 8 hours to be fully dry). I apply a thick wash of Casandora Yellow Shade with a GW Wash brush. After much experimenting I've found the consistency of this step is the most critical to achieving the shade of yellow you want. A very thick layer of Casandora will result in a deep yellow, a thinner coat with a lighter yellow. I aim for a fairly thick coat to start with but try to avoid the Shade pooling too much.

Paints used:
GW Casandora Yellow Shade

Step 3:
Once the previous step has dried completely, sometimes I use the wife's hair dryer to encourage it, I then apply a medium drybrush of Praxeti White to the whole miniature.

I was pretty sceptical about the Citadel Dry paints but this one is much easier to apply than the old dip-wipe-brush approach and I find I get a better consistency of output using the Dry paints.

Again, the application of the Dry Brushing will affect the outcome of the miniature. I generally try and cover the miniature with heavier layers of paint at the top and less at the bottom. Additionally I try to brush heavier in the middle of large plates or flat surfaces.

Paints used:
GW Praxeti White Dry

Step 4:

Drybrushing is boring but doesn't take very long to complete. Once I'm happy that I've covered the miniature sufficiently I then apply a coat of  neat Lamenters Yellow Glaze.

Here I've also started to paint the metal areas (and missed a few bits by the looks of it....)

Paint Used:
GW Lamenters Yellow Glaze