Iron Hands are one of the quickest chapters to get to a good tabletop standard, and one of the more interesting ones to push further. The armour is black, which needs no shading. The bionics are bare metal, which drybrushes in seconds. What separates a decent Iron Hand from a great one is a single decision: whether the black reads as paint or as metal.
Get that right and a squad looks like walking industrial machinery. It is a genuinely fast army.
The signature look
Matt black power armour with a cold metallic sheen, exposed steel bionics on almost every model, white chapter markings and a red left hand or shoulder icon. The chapter's obsession with replacing flesh means bionic limbs, augmetic eyes and mechanical cabling appear far more often than on other marines - lean into it.
The black armour
There are two good approaches and they give quite different results.
The fast one. Undercoat black, basecoat Abaddon Black, edge-highlight Eshin Grey and stop. Clean, dark, and a squad in an evening.
The metallic one, which is more characterful. Undercoat black, then drybrush the whole model Leadbelcher so the raised surfaces pick up metal. Glaze Abaddon Black thinned heavily over the top, two or three passes, until the plate is black again but the metal shows through as a cold sheen. Edge with Iron Hands Steel rather than grey. The result looks like blackened iron rather than painted ceramite, which is exactly right for this chapter.
For a lighter, more gunmetal chapter look, Iron Warriors basecoated, washed Nuln Oil and edged Ironbreaker gives a dark metallic plate in three steps.
Bionics and bare metal
Every Iron Hand has something replaced. Base the bionic Leadbelcher, wash Nuln Oil, then layer Ironbreaker and edge Runefang Steel so the augmetic is visibly brighter than the armour. Cabling in Rhinox Hide or Abaddon Black, with a few strands in Khorne Red to break the monotony.
Augmetic eyes and optics take Khorne Red in the recess, Evil Sunz Scarlet across the lens and a White Scar dot. On a model this dark that single red point does a lot.
Where flesh remains, keep it grey and unhealthy: Rakarth Flesh shaded Reikland Fleshshade and highlighted Pallid Wych Flesh suits a warrior who regards his own body as a fault.
Markings and trim
The left hand goes Mephiston Red, shaded Agrax Earthshade, layered Evil Sunz Scarlet. Shoulder trim and squad markings in White Scar over a Grey Seer base - do not try to paint white straight onto black.
Gold on characters and iron fathers: Balthasar Gold, Agrax Earthshade, Gehenna's Gold. Keep it restrained. Iron Hands are not an ornamented chapter, and too much gold pushes them towards Custodes.
Clan company variations
The chapter's ten clan companies each mark themselves differently, which is an easy way to vary a collection:
- Clan Raukaan - a red right shoulder pauldron.
- Clan Avernii - white shoulder trim and more Terminator plate.
- Clan Garrsak - heavy use of bare Ironbreaker on greaves and gauntlets.
- Clan Vurgaan - deep red trim and cabling throughout.
- Clan Sorrgol - black with a white right arm.
Successor chapters like the Red Talons and Brazen Claws swap the armour colour outright but keep the bionics and the industrial feel.
Tips and common mistakes
- Do not highlight black with light grey. On this chapter, highlight it with metal instead.
- Make the bionics brighter than the armour. If they match, the model loses its whole point.
- Base them industrially. Rockcrete, mesh and rubble suit Medusa far better than grass.
- Batch the armour, individualise the augmetics. The black is a ten-minute job; the bionics are what people look at.