How to paint nightime scene?

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**killerturkey2**

I was thinking of painting an entire tyranid army as if battling at night, sort of like this lictor diorama in the old tyranid codex.

Just one problem though: I've no idea how to paint like this.

Any tips?

**A Black Ram**

Use object source lighting.. See the link below:

An awesome ALL OSL Vampire Counts army!(maybe will help)

http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=40191&start=0

**killerturkey2**

Hmmm... that could work, and it gives me some ideas...

How about the parts not covered in light? For that Vampire Counts army they appear gray as if in moonlight or as if they're ghosts, yet how would you paint an army for a moonless night?

**Brother SRM**

Use a lot of blues and greys. Night time isn't pitch black usually; it's usually more of a blue tint. "Hollywood" night time is usually very, very blue.

**Maelstrom808**

Mute the colors and use very low contrast. When your eyes adjust for low light, they actually lose a lot of the ability to differentiate colors. As Brother SRM said, blues and greys work best.

**wtwlf123**

A Black Ram wrote:Use object source lighting.. See the link below:

An awesome ALL OSL Vampire Counts army!(maybe will help)

http://warhammer.org.uk/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=40191&start=0

Wow. That army is really badass. Anyone attempted something like this for 40k?

**Soladrin**

Avoid green's in any spots that aren't in the "light". Because green is the easiest color to see for the human eye and could wreck the entire composition of the paintjob.

**jtw1n**

I really liked this dark elves army I found. Uses blue scale to black for night time effect. http://www.coolminiornot.com/230957

**Fifty**

jtw1n wrote:I really liked this dark elves army I found. Uses blue scale to black for night time effect. http://www.coolminiornot.com/230957

That is awesome. I just fgured out how to paint my Executioners Chapter. (Eventually)

**killerturkey2**

I definitely have an idea now. What little Tyranid models I own are currently at my brother's store so it'll be a week or so before I get a chance to post some pictures of it. Thanks for all the answers.