Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Reader Email: Color Scheme Advice For Marines

by SandWyrm


Metrosh wrote in with a question about the colors he wants to use for his White Scars.


Hey Sandwyrm,

     Long time back40k reader, occasional commentor =p

I just started a new army after putting aside my Guard / Chaos Marines and I am starting on a white scars army that I've always wanted.  I am going with my little spin on their 5th company, calliing them the Brotherhood of Erlik. I plan on having them all in robes, a la dark angels, minus the DA heraldry.  Typical white scars color scheme, White with red trim.  Where I am stuck on is the robes, which do you think could work better?  I'm leaning towards either a creamy off-white color robes, if I can manage a pure white armor color.. or a nice deep red color.

Thoughts/insight appreciated!
    Metrosh/Joe

SandWyrm's Reply:

The thing about white is that it's feel is all about the colors that you shade it with. A "clean" white is one that shades to a light blue or cyan (turquoise), while a "dirty" white is one that shades to light yellow or orange.

Like so:


Either white can work with the red. But I'd prefer the "clean" white that you would get by painting the base shade with a mixture of pure white and a touch of Enchanted Blue. If you go the "dirty" route by mixing white with Bleached Bone, I'd go more neutral on the red. Either Red Gore or Scab Red. That will give it a more natural feel.

5 comments:

  1. After painting my World Eaters (pre-heresy), I'm Very glad that someone else is going to try a white army. I had a good long time to look and think on it, and all in all, I absolutely despised every bleeding second of the painting process. that being said, they looked good to me once I got them finished. So Take sandwyrms advise on this.

    I tried the pure white thing, with the blue shoulders, and ended up washing the models to hell and back because of the fact that they just wouldn't meet my criteria. The white just looked very very very tacky, and made it look unpainted. Those are just my two cents.

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I get back to Indy, I'll post up some pics of my Commissars. I've been able to get "clean" white to work, but it requires starting with Shadow Grey and progressively lightening the shades until you get to pure white.

    When I get around to my Tau next year, I'm going the "dirty" route.

    ReplyDelete
  3. a scab red mixed with liche purple and skull white will also set the robes off quite nicely too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I went warm with my sisters. I use a Bleached bone and black scheme. I've seen a few mini coopers with the same scheme.
    It's easier to make it look 'normal'. Then I'll wash with a dilute dark brown/black.

    I've also found painting flat white then washing with something like terracotta (from Valejo) achieves a similar result, with less work.

    Scab read works nicely for a contrast color with that. I also like Bronze for guns. It continues the 'warm' feel. I use gold for things I want to pop a bit more.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is funny how to make white look white, you need other colors. Just like folks use orange to make red look redder.

    ReplyDelete

out dang bot!

Recent Favorites

All-Time Favorites