Hobby Guide - Armoured Sentinel (Custom)

Uploaded Mar 16, 2022 - David Guo

Welcome to our first ever hobby guide! David will be showing you how he painted these converted Armoured Sentinels of the Astra Militarum, inspired by the mechs of Titanfall and Iron Harvest.

While the legs have been kept from the Sentinels kit, keen-eyed viewers may have recognized the main body and arms are commandeered from the Orks Killa Kans box. You may need to cut away the extra spikes and break out the Green Stuff to paste over the more "Orky" features. There are plenty of extra bits in both boxes, so get creative!

Now onto the painting scheme. David has chosen a weathered desert look to match his Death Korps of Krieg army (more guides coming soon?). After the model has been primed (by airbrush or spray can), start laying down some base colours.

Start by laying down a solid coat of AK11354 IDF Early Sand Yellow. David used two thin coats from an airbrush to save time, but applying it by hand brush works just as well. Other base colours include:

AK11212 Gun Metal for joints, pistons, and tubes.

AK11029 Black for weapons and piston housings.

AK11195 Rusty Brass for exhaust pipes and weapon tips.

Once all the base colours are applied, you can add any extra details or waterslide decals.

Time to add some wear and tear to the Sentinel! To show chipping and scratching on vehicles, you can use a dish sponge to dab and drab along the outer edges of metal plates. For this we used AK11021 Basalt Grey To add more depth to weathering, use a small detail brush to paint dark red chips in areas that are heavily worn. A suitable colour for this step is AK11108 Hull Red.

Next, we'll apply a thinned wash of AK300 Wash for Dark Yellow. This is an enamel paint, which has the advantage of smoother coverage and better flow. Enamel paints cannot be thinned with water or acrylic mediums, so we recommend something like AK050 Odorless Thinner. For this step, David used a ratio of 1 part paint to 2 parts thinner. Apply to the entire model and remove any excess pooling. 

Once the wash is dry (~30 minutes), add some AK041 North Africa Dust Pigment to areas that would accumulate dust, such as legs, feet, and horizontal surfaces. Pigments can be applied with a drybrush and sealed in place with drops of water.

Finally, drybrush some AK11028 Smoke Black on the exhaust pipes to mimic soot.

Now that the model is painted, it's time to give it a suitably awesome base. We'll start by applying AK8015 Terrains Dry Ground to the entire base. You can use an old brush, or Citadel's Texture Tool.

Once the texture is dry (~60 minutes), add some Battlefied Rocks using PVA glue. Give everything a wash with 1 parts AK300 Wash for Dark Yellow and 2 parts AK050 Odorless Thinner. To add some depth and variation, add some spots of AK4161 Neutral Grey Filter.

For vegetation, David used the Dry Steppe Set from Gamersgrass. This pack includes 4 types of tufts that complement the desert base very well. Tufts can be set using PVA or super glue. 

For Barbed Wire, cut lengths of 4-6" and wrap it around a pen or paint brush. Attach to base using super glue.

And we're all done! Your Armoured Sentinels are ready to take to the field in your next game of Warhammer 40K. We'll be posting more hobby guides every few weeks, so make sure to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media.