Horus Heresy Thousand Sons
Color and paint schemes

Recently at Art-W Studio, we completed an exciting project: a formidable Thousand Sons army from the Horus Heresy era. This Thousand Sons army features a wide range of infantry troops and terminators. We were inspired by the original metallic red and bronze color scheme but decided to give it a more blood-soaked and dark twist. We achieved this effect by adding blood splatters to the terminators and intense wear, resulting in a unique Grimdark look.

All miniatures were meticulously painted at the Game level. For the bases, we used a texture that depicts a devastated and ruined city, a consequence of the army’s advance, also following the Game level. We made an effort to add battle damage and wear details to achieve a more realistic and visceral style.

The contrast between the damaged armor and the metallic sections visible beneath the worn paint was a focal point of our work on this army. Although this project didn’t include many light effects, we did incorporate some green touches to highlight key elements, such as lenses or plasma weapons.

Project

✻ Warhammer 30k

✼ Thousand Sons

✻ Assembling

✼ Basing

✻ Painting

Customer briefing

I want to start an army

When I saw the new releases and updates for 30k, I felt inspired to start a Horus Heresy Thousand Sons project. After discovering your impressive work on Play On Tabletop, I had no doubt that Art-W Studio was the perfect team to handle my army. I am fascinated by the aesthetics of your projects and am eager to see the transformation of my miniatures.

I would like you to maintain the classic metallic red and bronze scheme but add a sinister touch that gives them a genuine heretical essence. The close combat miniatures will be covered in blood and that the bases depict a ruined city. In addition, I would love to see wear on the armors, weathering effects, and burn marks on the weapons and machinery.

I am convinced that, thanks to your talent and experience at Art-W Studio, you will create amazing miniatures that will be the admiration of all my friends.

General photo of the project, painted at game level

Daily follow-up

At the studio, we don’t often work with 30k projects, so it’s always exciting to have one on our hands. Since the paint scheme and bases had specific requirements, we prepared a color sample for the client to see our selection of shades and approve our proposal. We focused on creating realistic wear effects on the armor, with metallic chipping on the red paint and wear on the bronze edges. The chosen scheme was characteristic of the Thousand Sons of the Heresy, with some plates in a bone color, as well as sergeants and veterans entirely in that shade.

As for the bases of the miniatures, being level 1, we decided to apply a rubble texture that, combined with oxide pigments, effectively recreates a ruined urban environment. This approach enriches the overall appearance of the miniatures, bringing to life the context in which these 30k figures unfold.

Waaaaaaaagh!

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