I just bought the "armour through the ages" box as I wanted a project. Obviously, I am going to paint Dusk Raiders and DG armour.
Now I want to know which armours to paint in DR colors and which armour is the first to paint with DG colors?

DR became DG when Mortarion stepped in, but when was this?
MK3 was in use during the great crusade and MK4 was used during Horus Heresy so the Plague hit when MK4 was in use.
So to split hairs MK4 should be painted both in DG and PM colors. And I assume that Dusk Raiders used MK1.

So it's the MK2 and MK 3 that are unclear.

I bet this is something Mabs would know...

So fill in the gaps:

MK1: Dusk Raiders
MK2: ???
MK3: ???
MK4: Death Guard/Plague Marines
MK5 and onwards: Plague Marines

I hope I made at least a little sense...

er... to complete your project either the MK.2 or MK.3 (depending on when morty joined the legion) should be also painted in DG and DuskRaiders colours

But anyways I really look forward to see this project grow, since I wanted to do aswell. But when you do it I can live it through your pics

Well, the MKI Thunder armour was what was used during Terran unification wars, and the legions as we know them weren't around then.

The MKII Crusade armour was developed before and used during the Great Crusade, the MKIII was designed as a heavier variant to supplement (rather than surpass) the MKII during the crusade.

At some point the Dusk Raiders were reunited with Mortarion and became the Deathguard. I'm not aware of any specific date as to when Mortarion was found, or where in the sequence of discovered primarchs he sits (note that the primarchs were not found in order of the Legion numbers).

So, at the time of the change from Dusk Raiders to Deathguard the majority of the legion would be in MKII, with a fair amount of MKIII and perhaps a few MKI suits.

The recent Horus Heresy books have slightly confused the timeline of development with MKIV - MKVI.

MKVI was available, in limited numbers, and likely to the traitors only at first when the heresy began. MKV was a stop gap and would have been more prevalent towards the end of the heresy as it was easier to maintain and cobble together from leftovers.

The Deathguard are noted to prefer the look and style of the MKIII armour, so although the MKIV Maximus armour was probably the most common armour mark amongst the Legions at the time the Deathguard became plaguemarines, you can bet they had more of the older armour in use.

So...

Plaguemarines/late heresy Deathguard would most likely be in the majority MKIII, with a fair number of MKII, MKIV and MKV suits and a very limited number of MKI & MKVI suits.

Crusade/pre-heresy Deathguard would probably have an equal split of MKIII & MKIV, a fair amount of MKII, and the odd MKI.

Dusk Raiders would in the majority wear MKII, with a few MKIII, and the occasional MKI.

Hope this helps!

So I could paint them

MK1: Dusk Raiders
MK2: Dusk Raiders
MK3: Death Guard
MK4: Death Guard
MK5: Death Guard

I could add a MK6 & MK7 to represent Plague Marines and to get the sacred number

hmm, sounds very nice pake. you could even stagger the levels of decay....

That would be correct, Esty.

I think I read somewhere that MK2 and MK3 armours were the "armour of choice" for Death Guard and other such more barbaric legions because it offered good protection and looked blunt/brutal in the face of enemies. MK1 wouldn't be in much more than ceremonial use or as a mark of honour after the Unification of Terra.
http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Mortarion This piece of text might be of use in determining when Mortarion was reunited with Some Git On A Posh Stool. I don't think it was more than 200 years after the Unification though, as the Horus Heresy novels suggest things were starting to go downhill at that point, what with the goldenboy turning upon his father and all.

I hope this helps and I'll be looking forward to seeing you tackle on the Dusk Raider scheme.

I was wondering, is there any literature that says what colors they were [for Dusk Raiders] prior to Mortarion arriving? I can imagine that the Primarch had the old colors stripped down to grey upon his arrival, with the green trim to represent [Mortarions] home-world, but that's just speculation on my part.

Sorry for the mild threadcromancy.

The Dusk Raiders were White with the right arm and shoulder Red. It is mentioned in The Flight of the Eisenstein, and elsewhere.

Ah ok. That's next on my reading list, actually. Thanks