How to Paint Yellow Space Marines (Easy and Fast)

Last updated July 31, 2026. By Andrew M. Tan.

---

Of course, first you need to have an airbrush and know how to use it.

And, then you’ll still have to figure out how to shade your yellow base coat once you’ve airbrushed it on your model. Problems, problems…

As a commissioned miniature painter, I’ve had to learn how to paint fast while still maintaining quality. The airbrush has been an indispensable tool in my mini painting arsenal. In fact, I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on many airbrushes and accessories over the years. And so I know how finicky airbrushes can be.

Not everyone has an airbrush or wants one. I still love the feeling and control of a regular brush paint job. See how brush painting compares with an airbrush.

Ultimately, I prefer a regular brush most of the time. Yellow across a large model is still easier with an airbrush (see this 3D printed Imperial Fist Assault Tank paint job), and I feel more accomplished when I finish a miniature with a regular brush.

As a result, I wrote this article to show you how I now approach painting yellow across my Imperial Fist Space Marine army.

Yes, you guessed right. I now use Citadel Contrast paint as a main tool for painting yellow. Check out my Citadel Contrast paint review.

How I Paint Yellow Imperial Fist Space Marines

1. Prime white or light gray

I use Vallejo Surface Primer for most priming work. It’s easy to apply with a regular brush or airbrush.

For best results, I recommend spraying your primer.

For this project, I used an airbrush to coat my models with gray Vallejo surface primer in a spray booth.

MORE: POPULAR SPRAY BOOTHS FOR AIRBRUSHING TABLETOP MINIATURES

What you’re looking for in your first coat of primer is a very smooth surface. The smoother the early priming layers, the easier it will be to paint the rest of the model. Remove mold lines and keep bubbles out of the primer. Yellow is already flaky and unreliable. A poor primer foundation only adds to the trouble.

Spend the time to prepare your models for paint and save a lot of time later.

2. Apply a single coat of Iyanden Yellow Citadel Contrast paint

For most of my Imperial Fist army, I used regular acrylic model paints. Then, I discovered Citadel Contrast paints, which sped up the base-coating process.

For this project, I used Iyanden Yellow, the bright yellow I wanted for fast base coating. There is a darker yellow in the Citadel Contrast line, such as Nazdreg Yellow. I wanted a standard studio Imperial Fist yellow, which is basically school-bus bright yellow.

Sure, as I’ve mentioned, normally yellow paint is difficult to work with because your first coat doesn’t do the job of providing good coverage.

But, I suppose now I’m relying on a newer product… As you can see with Citadel Contrast paint, it speeds up the first base coat process because I can apply it straight from the pot.

Of course, as an alternative to using Citadel Contrast paint, you can wash your model in a bright yellow ink. Then, wash it again with a shading ink or wash like orange or brown. But, then you’ll be adding more steps to your project.

With Citadel Contrast paint, you can work faster. If you’re speed painting, Contrast paint can help. For a finish above tabletop quality, you’ll need more work after the Contrast coat dries.

I love how a single coat of this yellow Contrast paint slowly settles into the surface of the model.

Close up photos show how nicely the recesses darken with Contrast Color paint. There are drawbacks, of course. Some of the raised surfaces end up being splotchy and uneven.

A little Contrast Medium gives you more control if the paint is pooling. I stick with the medium here because it keeps the paint behaving the way I expect.

To save time, I didn’t add any thinner to my Contrast paint. One thick coat was all I did.

3. Let your yellow base coat dry completely

The reason you want to let your first base coat dry is to make sure you have an even coat of paint.

If you missed a spot, you’ll notice some underlying primer peeking through.

Now, as you’ve noticed that some of the surfaces on your model are splotchy where the Yellow Contrast Paint has pooled on the open, flat surfaces. On a space marine, this may mean you have uneven coverage (darkened spots) on the shoulder pauldrons, or along the leg armor plates.

4. Dry brush with a complementary yellow paint

To fix uneven open surfaces, I take a regular model paint with a similar yellow color as my base coat paint and prepare to dry brush. In this case, the closest color to the base coat Iyanden Yellow is Citadel Yriel Yellow.

Using the dry-brushing technique, shown here in depth, I apply an even layer of Yriel Yellow over the entire model to smooth out the splotchy base coat on the raised, open surfaces.

Dry brushing highlights the raised surfaces. The deeper recesses stay dark. That value range gives the model its “pop.”

Looking at all angles of your model, make sure your dry brush covers only the raised surfaces of your miniature. This is the key thing you want to do when you’re looking to add that “extra dimension” to your miniature.

5. Add highlights with dry brushing

If you want to push your highlights to a brighter value, you can add brighter paints to mix with your yellow.

Contrast is what makes a model stand out on the tabletop!

For this model, I added a bit of Creamy Ivory Reaper paint to my Yriel Yellow dry brush.

When I’m painting miniatures, I pause now and then to make sure the work is still moving in the direction I originally planned.

For me, I’m looking for a decent tabletop-quality paint job. Citadel Contrast paint and a good dry brush—two or three layers to even the raised surfaces and add highlights—are all I need.

Congratulations!

To finish the model, I know I want certain parts to be “black”.

For example, on this Imperial Fist Inceptor, I want the assault bolters, eagle, and armor joints to be dark gray or nearly black.

For speed, I plan to use Black Templar (another Citadel Contrast paint).

However, before I do this, I paint the areas I want to paint black with more gray Vallejo Surface Primer. This gives me a clean, bright surface to work on with the contrast paint, which is partly transparent. I don’t want to contaminate my black paint with a yellow hue (if that’s even possible).

My tip here would be to apply your next coat of Contrast paint with a small pointed round brush (like a #0 or #1 size) that has stiff bristles. This will give you more control in smaller places on your model. You’ll reduce the risk of putting paint somewhere you don’t want it.

Again, if you missed it, I wrote up a detailed how-to dry-brush article.

Or, you can check out my quick video on YouTube about how I dry brush.

I don’t use complicated techniques for any of this. You need a steady hand, a few simple colors (one or two), and then call it a day!

With a few simple touches, you can add a lot of depth to your miniatures without a lot of work.

Rotate your model and make sure you are not focusing on a single area. Spread the details around the miniature. You’ll play and display it from many angles (or at least most of you will).

Let your viewers’ eyes travel over the model by adding interesting points in different places. When you focus your painting effort, make sure the “face” is well painted. The face carries the rest of the model in most cases.

A quick tip with decals is make sure you plan ahead. In other words, apply your decals before you add weathering or other surface effects, e.g., battle damage. This way you have a method to make your decals blend-in with the rest of your model.

RELATED: HOW TO APPLY WET TRANSFER DECALS ON WARHAMMER MINIATURES AND OTHER MODELS

Decals should sit inside the rest of your paint job and make the whole model feel more complete.

Finally, I suggest protecting the model with a varnish. Here is my guide to using matte varnishes.

A good coat of matte varnish will improve the final look of your model by evening out the reflectiveness of your painting. This also has the additional benefit of making your miniature paint job more photogenic.

---

Tangible Day on YouTube (Miniatures and More!)

---

By Andrew M. Tan, PhD
Andrew is a commissioned miniature painter with more than 15 years of experience painting tabletop miniatures, photographing models, and testing hobby tools in real-world use. Read his full bio.