Painting Windrider Jetbikes: The Stripes

Yesterday I went out for some Christmas shopping and of course I couldn't resist the allure of 40k, so I and picked up a box of Windrider jetbikes!

So as soon as I got home, I got started on painting the stripes on the front of the jetbikes, and I took some photos to tell you how I did it.

Step-1: Paint the sprues black. 

First thing's first: spray-painted the sprues Chaos Black. Once that's done you'll want to cut the noses from the sprue set and give them a second coat of black paint, because the spray paint will leave the model looking a bit grey, rather than perfectly black. So for this, I used Abbadon Black and watered it down just enough so as to make sure it was a thin layer that didn't create any extra ridges or bumps on the jetbike, once the paint dried. 

As you can see, there's a stark difference between the spray-painted jetbike piece, and the one that's been given a fresh coat of Abbadon Black paint. Of course it looks a bit darker and glossier when wet, but once its dry it has a nice jet-black matte finish. 

Step-2: Tape the nose of the jetbikes.

This step is very simple: just take a piece of tape and place it where you want the stripes to be. I'll be honest and say that if you're anything like me, you'll want the stripes to be identical on each piece, which can be a bit annoying, but on the other hand the type of stripes on the nose can also serve as squad markings during game-play, so it's worth the effort.

Step-3: We're painting the [n]oses red! 

This next part is pretty fun: you just slop Mephiston Red all over the model, as aptly demonstrated by our fine friends below. But be forewarned to (1) thin your paints and (2) be careful not to get paint between the seams of the plastic model and the tape. Other than that, go nuts. 

Step-4: Start layering.

Now that you've painted the noses red, you want to start layering. As always keep your paints nice and watered so they don't create lumps and bumps when they dry. For the layering process, you can start by mixing 50/50 Mephiston Red with Evil Sunz Scarlet and painting the whole thing, except about 5mm away from the edge of the tape.

Once that's done you can do the same thing by mixing about 20/80 Mephiston Red and Evil Sunz Scarlet, and painting about another 10mm away from the edge of the tape. 

Repeat the process again, but this time painting pure Evil Sunz Scarlet about 15mm away from the edge of the tape. By the way, as a Canadian I feel the need to apologise to my American friends who don't use the metric system, so for you I've prepared a chart to follow:

- 5mm = a little bit

- 10mm = a little bit more

- 15mm = a little bit more than the first two times

Now that you've painted a little bit away from the edge of the tape with different gradients of red, you can peel the tape off the model, and voilà! There you have it! Your Windrider jetbikes now have stripes! 

If you have any questions or something to share, be sure to leave it in the comments section below. 

~ Cheers from Japan on Christmas Eve!