I am going to split the painting into a small series of steps. The first step is to undercoat using lead belcher spray. In a fundamental way, this is a deviation from the "official" games workshop approach to heresy era Iron Warriors. For me, it simply works better.
Following the undercoat, the next step is to go over the lead belcher spray with some ordinary lead belcher paint where needed. This might not be all of the model, but I do apply a thin watered down coat all over regardless. In addition to this, I apply black to both shoulder pads along with the gun casing and the joints between the armour (e.g., rear of the knees, back of the hips, etc., where the piping can be seen between the armour plates). This step is important since we are not using a black undercoat here. Finally for this model, I decided I would have a bit of a crack at some hazard stripes. Hence one of the lower leg greaves also got a black base coat. This it depicted in the top left corner.
The next step (top right corner) is to apply some brighter silver highlights. I have elected to use Rune Fang Steel for this step, although other choices are possible. This has been applied to the helmet, as well as the studs and nubs wherever they appear.
In the lower left, I start to bring the paintwork together by applying Nuln oil generously to the joints. I also apply yellow to the hazard stripes to start to mark them out in more detail.
The forth step is to complement the Nuln oil with some highlights. For the shoulder pads and other black areas, I have edge highlighted using Eshin grey. I have also added chips (most obviously at the top of the hazard striped greave) using more rune fang steel. I've tried not to over do this, but some wear and tear is good to have and exploit for Heresy era miniatures I think. It is certainly the vogue style regardless!
In the final step, I have added black within the chipped areas and generally attended to details such as the green crack grenades and red eye lenses highlights. Blood for the blood god rounds out the chain bayonet to give more authenticity. The base is done using some of games workshop's technical paints, and the grass is standard fare from hobby railway scenery. Highlighting using eldar flesh dry paint ties in the lower parts of the feet and the surface of the base to make for an interesting colour contrast with the general worn silver colour of the marine.
Although "easy" in some respects, this approach does take time, but I find it a lot quicker than starting out with a pure black undercoat. The lead belcher spray really speeds things up in this regard and the overall result is one that is not only table top ready, but looks visually pleasing as well in person.
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