I set out to paint this Pre-Heresy World Eater space marine with the sole purpose of practicing how to paint their chapter symbol. I've always liked the blue and white scheme and I've been wanting to do a miniature in this color combination forever. When I saw what Mordian 7th did on his blog with his pre-heresy World Eaters and how he broke down the chapter symbol, I had no more excuses.
Once I had my model all painted up with the base colors (prior to any weathering) I sat down to try my hand at the process Mordian 7th had laid out. I didn't stray from what he had, I followed it to the letter and it worked perfectly. I may have used different colors, but the process he came up with was spot on. He says he got his inspiration from the articles I posted here about breaking icons down into simple shapes, but that only goes so far.
There comes a point when you have to figure it out and all the theory in the world won't get your mini painted. He did a great job with this one. I even tried it in three places on mine just to make sure I could pull it off.
Here's the process he lays out for painting the symbol. I've got nothing to add to it. The only thing I altered were some of the colors since I used what I had. In the end, if I were to do it again, I'd make sure to use a slightly different blue for the ocean in my chapter symbol. That way, it stands out from the blue on the armour at first glance.
World Eaters symbol breakdown by Mordian 7th
As a side note, this model was simple to paint even with the white. I used the same white technique I used on my White Scar model. Start out with a white primer, wash with Secret Weapon Soft Body Black and then touch up with white. Even with GW introducing all their new paints, this still works like a charm.
If you're into Pre-Heresy World Eaters or want to see what it's like to work with lots of white, swing by Mordian 7th's blog and take a look at the great World Eater stuff he's doing.
And for you savvy readers, you'll notice a deliberate lack of blood splatters on my model. I wanted to see if I could do a convincing World Eater without any blood. I did add some red weapon markings to his chainsword and gave him a red tassel on the hilt of his chainsword for good measure though.
Make sure to check out these posts as they might help:
You need to start with a CLEAN model before you weather it
The trick to painting small and complex iconography
