Best Red Paints for Space Marines: Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter & Alternatives

Blood Angels red, Flesh Tearers red: same roles

The Blood Angels are the first chapter most people think of, with their warm, bright red (see the Blood Angels army page). The Flesh Tearers play the same colour much darker. Other chapters only use red on part of the armour. The method does not change: a dark tone for the shadow, a mid tone for the surface, a bright tone for the raised areas, and sometimes an orange accent on the edges.

The recipes below are suggested working methods, not official recipes.

Dark red: shadows, undercoats and deep armour

Khorne Red is a very dark, almost burgundy red that works well for shadows and deep bases. Word Bearers Red is even darker and slightly cooler. Both are opaque and go on in thin coats. For a very dark armour in a single coat, Flesh Tearers Red (Contrast) goes one step further: it is one of the darkest reds in the Citadel range, but it needs a light undercoat to work.

From other brands, Wine Red (AK) is the closest option among the ranges compared here (ΔE 2.8). Vampire Red (Army Painter) plays the same role with a more desaturated look (ΔE 4.1), and Hull Red (Vallejo Model Color) leans more brown (ΔE 4.9). Flesh Tearers Red, on the other hand, has no standard red measured below ΔE 5: its two closest options, Burgundy (Scale75, ΔE 5.6) and Wine Red (AK, ΔE 6.8), remain visibly different.

Main red: the dominant colour of the armour

Mephiston Red is the reference main red: warm, slightly orange, covering in one or two coats. Wazdakka Red is a little darker and works well as an intermediate layer. Blood Angels Red (Contrast) offers the same register in a translucent version, applied in one coat over a light undercoat. To deepen the recesses of a Mephiston Red base, Carroburg Crimson remains a classic red wash — use it sparingly.

To replace Mephiston Red, the catalogue offers several options: Blood Red (Army Painter Speedpaint 2.0) is very close on the swatch (ΔE 1.3), but it is translucent; Pure Red (Army Painter) and Gory Red (Vallejo Game Color) are opaque acrylics that are a little darker (ΔE 4.4), while Bloody Red (Vallejo Game Color) is lighter (ΔE 5.3). Dirty Red (AK) is another interesting opaque option for a slightly earthy main red.

Bright red: highlights and exposed areas

Evil Sunz Scarlet is the reference bright red highlight: bright and clean, it lifts the armour without turning pink. Astorath Red belongs to the Citadel Dry range: darker and less saturated, with a thick texture, it is designed for drybrushing. It suits a light drybrush on edges, not a classic brush highlight. These tones go on raised areas, never in the recesses.

Several bright reds from other brands are close to Evil Sunz Scarlet: Blood Red (AK) is the closest opaque acrylic among the ranges compared here (ΔE 2.5), Scarlet (Vallejo Model Color) is ΔE 3.1 away, Flat Red 3.3 and Red (70.926) 3.5; in the Game Color range, Scarlet Red is 3.6 away. Two caveats: Clear Red (AK, ΔE 1.8) and Inktense Red (Scale75, ΔE 0.7) are closer on the swatch but remain transparent paints. Matt Red (AK) shares a close tone with Astorath Red (ΔE 2.4), but as a classic opaque acrylic: a true layer where Astorath Red is a Dry paint.

Orange-red: the extreme highlights

Wild Rider Red is the last step of most red progressions: a very bright orange-red reserved for edges. Jokaero Orange goes further still and should be used in small touches, only on the most exposed edges — covering a whole armour with orange would push the model into another colour entirely.

Vermillion (Vallejo Model Color) is the closest opaque alternative to Wild Rider Red among the ranges compared here (ΔE 1.8). Legendary Red (Army Painter) and Deep Red (AK) play the same role with a slightly larger gap (ΔE 3.3 and 3.6). Bloodmoon Red (Speedpaint) offers a translucent version for a quick highlight (ΔE 3.4). For a more clearly orange tone than Jokaero Orange, Orange Red (Vallejo Model Color) is an option, but the colour shift is clear (ΔE 5.7); Molten Lava (Army Painter) stays closer (ΔE 3.8).

Contrast and Speedpaint: painting a red armour fast

Contrast (Citadel) and Speedpaint (Army Painter) are translucent paints designed to be applied in one generous coat over a light undercoat. They darken naturally in the recesses and let the undercoat brighten the raised areas. The result is fast and readable across an army, but less controllable than an opaque paint on large flat surfaces.

For a Blood Angels armour, Blood Angels Red (Contrast) is the direct reference. For a darker look, Flesh Tearers Red drops the brightness noticeably. Army Painter's Blood Red (Speedpaint 2.0) is almost identical to Mephiston Red on the swatch (ΔE 1.3) and works as a one-coat main red; Bloodmoon Red, being lighter, suits a quick highlight. The undercoat drives much of the result: Corax White for a neutral, bright finish, Wraithbone for a slightly warmer one.

Once fully dry, a light drybrush of Evil Sunz Scarlet (or Legendary Red at Army Painter) brings definition back to the raised areas without repainting the whole model.

Red paints for Space Marines: comparison table

The HEX values below come from the digital swatches in the ChromaStack catalogue: they help place a tone, not measure it on a model. For washes (Shade), the swatch represents the liquid colour, not the applied result: this is why no HEX is shown for Carroburg Crimson. The alternatives are indicative and take the role into account as much as the colour.

Classic Blood Angels palette

A four-step progression, meant as a suggested working method:

1. Dark base: Khorne Red over a black undercoat (or straight over the undercoat if the armour should stay dark).
2. Main coat: Mephiston Red in thin layers, leaving Khorne Red in the recesses.
3. Highlight: Evil Sunz Scarlet on the raised volumes.
4. Edges: Wild Rider Red in a thin line, possibly in two passes.

Optional: a Carroburg Crimson wash between steps 2 and 3 if the surface looks flat. The black undercoat can be applied with Abaddon Black or a black spray. This is a suggested working method, not an official recipe.

Dark / grimdark red palette

For a darker, less saturated and more realistic armour:

1. Black undercoat: Abaddon Black or a black spray.
2. Base: Khorne Red in thin layers, or Word Bearers Red to go darker.
3. Shadows: Carroburg Crimson in the recesses, or heavily thinned Nuln Oil to desaturate further.
4. Targeted highlight: Wazdakka Red on a few edges, then a light drybrush of Astorath Red (Dry) if you want a dustier look.

Brand swaps: Dirty Red and Wine Red (AK) for an earthier red, Vampire Red (Army Painter) for a flatter, more desaturated finish.

High-saturation red palette

For a highly saturated, contrasty result:

1. Light undercoat: Corax White, to help the brightest reds come through.
2. Base: Mephiston Red or Wazdakka Red.
3. Broad highlight: Evil Sunz Scarlet.
4. Extremes: Wild Rider Red, then a touch of Jokaero Orange on the most exposed edges.

The goal is a saturated, contrasty red, not an orange armour: orange-red and orange stay as accents. Avoid a pure white final dot too, as it quickly reads as pink on red armour.

Fast palette: Contrast / Speedpaint

Using mostly Contrast or Speedpaint:

1. Light undercoat: Corax White (or Wraithbone for a slightly warmer result).
2. One generous coat of Blood Angels Red (Contrast) or Blood Red (Speedpaint 2.0).
3. Once fully dry, a light drybrush of Evil Sunz Scarlet or Legendary Red on the raised areas.

Darker variant: Flesh Tearers Red instead of Blood Angels Red. Honest limitation: on large flat surfaces a translucent paint gives you less control and is hard to correct; opaque acrylic remains safer for centrepiece models.

Citadel, Vallejo, Army Painter, AK: what actually differs

Two reds can have very close swatches and still behave differently. What sets them apart: temperature (a cool red leaning pink, a warm red leaning orange), brightness, saturation, opacity (opaque or translucent), finish, packaging (pot or dropper bottle) and how they behave as a main coat or a highlight.

Some brand markers, based on the ChromaStack catalogue today: Citadel (392 paints) offers a coherent base / layer / shade / contrast system with very readable reds; Vallejo (Model Color 171 paints, Game Color 78) relies on dropper bottles and often flatter tones, with stable numeric codes; Army Painter (316 paints) combines opaque Warpaints and translucent Speedpaints, which is handy for armies; AK Interactive (487 paints) offers earthier reds such as Dirty Red or Wine Red; Scale75 (120 paints) covers matte finishes and inks, with SC-07 Heavy Red as an opaque main red worth testing if the finish matters as much as the tone (ΔE 5.5 from Mephiston Red).

The reliable approach is still to choose by role: a dark red from one brand, a base from another, a highlight from a third. ChromaStack's equivalent tables help find the closest candidate, but the swatch never tells the whole story.

ChromaStack and Delta-E: a decision aid, not proof

ChromaStack compares catalogue swatches and calculates a CIEDE2000 ΔE between two paints. The lower the ΔE, the closer the two colours look on screen. Equivalent pages show the closest matches across every brand, and the comparator lets you start from a paint you already own.

A few measured examples: Inktense Red (Scale75) is ΔE 0.7 from Evil Sunz Scarlet, but it is a transparent ink; Vermillion is 1.8 from Wild Rider Red; Khorne Red and Wine Red are 2.8 apart. Flesh Tearers Red, by contrast, has no standard red below ΔE 5 (Scale75 Burgundy is 5.6), so switching brands will take a test. The most instructive case is Blood Red (Speedpaint) versus Mephiston Red: ΔE 1.3, yet one is translucent and the other opaque — great for the same colour role, not for the same technique.

A low ΔE therefore guarantees neither the same opacity, nor the same finish, coverage or formulation. ChromaStack treats ΔE < 3 as a strong colour proximity in the catalogue data; the actual result can vary with the paint, the undercoat and the application. For a broader comparison, the paint conversion guide details the bridges between brands, and the equivalents index lets you browse every available page.

The HEX values shown in this guide come from the catalogue's digital swatches: they are tone references, not physical measurements. A test on a model or a spare sprue remains the only reliable check.