This article is part of a larger series on how to paint Space Marines. To return to that series, click this link.
The White Panthers first appeared as a successor chapter in the 2nd edition Codex: Ultramarines and have shown up now and then in the fluff several times. They’re a Codex-Compliant chapter with white and black armor. Most recently, they were mentioned in the campaign book War Zone Octarius: Rising Tide, as one of the chapters called to the Imperium’s defense when fighting between the Orks and Tyranids threatened to spiral out of control.
I first saw the chapter and their scheme in an issue of White Dwarf in 1997, and I loved the color scheme so much I wanted to do an entire army of them. From a Heraldry standpoint, the White Panthers hew pretty close to the Index Astartes, using the same markings and colors as the Ultramarines. That means my White Panthers are all from the second company.
I start by priming everything black. I do this because I hate having to cover up white primer and because my models are incredibly grim. That means painting white armor can be a real chore. So I don’t paint things white, I paint them off-white, which works better for shading anyways. This is also a relic of when the only white paint I had in high school was the awful Games Workshop white, so it was also born out of necessity.
Step 1. two thin coats of Reaper Snow Shadow
The goal here is to get a decently consistent coverage of all of the areas that will eventually be white.
Step 2. 2-3 thin coats of Reaper Ghost White
Ghost White is going to be our “white” on this model. It’s an off-white blue that will look white to an observer if it’s not being compared to something pure white. It also leaves us room to edge highlight with pure white.
Step 3: Edge Highlight with Reaper Pure White
Go back and hit the recesses/lines with black as needed.
Step 4. The Aquilas
The Aquilas are Averland Sunset with highlights of Flash Gitz Yellow. I try to paint the feathers individually but if I mess up, I’ll hit it with a coat of Agrax Earthshade.
Step 5. Details
The Eyes/Gemstones/Gun – I do these with Mephiston Red, then shade them with Carroburg Crimson. Then I do edge highlighting with Evil Sunz Scarlet. I paint the eye lenses and belt circle like gemstones.
Tubing/Cables – Leadbelcher with a Nuln Oil Wash and Ironbreaker highlights.
The Black Parts – Abaddon Black with Mechanicus Standard Grey edge highlighting.
Purity Seals/Skulls – Rakarth Flesh with an Agrax Earthshade Wash and Reaper Polished Bone edge highlights. I use a .005 Micron black pen to do the lines on the seals to make it look like they’ve got writing on them. You can find more on this in the section on painting Purity Seals in the How to Paint Space Marines article.
Shoulder Pad Rims – The rims of the shoulder pads are Averland Sunset blended up with 3-4 layers to Flash Gitz Yellow, then edge-highlighted with Flash Gitz Yellow.
The end result is pretty basic and while this is an older model (I haven’t painted one of these guys in a few years), I’m eager to come back to them and start painting some primaris marine soon.
This article is part of a larger series on how to paint Space Marines. To return to that series, click this link.
