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Hi,

I recently picked up my 40K hobby again and along with that the Genestealer Cult army began collecting back in 3rd. ed.

Back then the color theme was classic tyranid purple coupled, robes and some grimy industrial details.

Full army shot (unfinished)



Gallery with more details

Personally I think the theme is TOO dark and, in some ways, to bland to really stand out on the battle field.

I have had a look at Gorgons Genestealer cult army, and I like the color choice ...but I don't feel like stealing his idea

What I'm looking for

I'm looking for ideas for a two tone high contrast color theme which will both look good up close, stand out when viewed from the other end of the battlefield and still feel right for both tyranids and guards.

Suggestions?

Maybe try out some brown.

Red and blue.

Armour: deep red highlighted with a brighter red.

Flesh: dark blue highlighted with a bright blue.

jackinthetank wrote:Red and blue.

Armour: deep red highlighted with a brighter red.

Flesh: dark blue highlighted with a bright blue.

My problem with this combination is that it reminds me of the original purple/blue theme used for Nids and that it lacks contrast. It should stand out, even when view'ed from across the table.

I'm considering 2 primary colors (one light and one dark/medium for contrast) and 1 secondary break up the colors

prim#1 bonewhite
prim#2 dark/medium green, brown, or another color which contrasts with the bonewhite
sec#1 black : boots, weapons and other bits

I kind of like how these colors work together, but I'm unsure if it would work for Nids...

i would stick to the classic colours, maybe adding a light shade of pink to certain areas to break it up, also, mid tone greens should fit well against purple.

I agree with the above

How did you do the robes btw?

WingWong wrote:I agree with the above

How did you do the robes btw?

The robes were made of thin cloth cutout in rectangular pieces with a hole for the head. Then soaked in watered down pva glue and applied to the model.

Expect to have the robe technique stolen for my deathwing army

LOL. Free free to steal my scheme if you want. It's not like dark blue and khaki "belong" to me.

Anyway, yeah, the problem IMO with the original GCult color scheme is that blue and purple tend to make for either dark miniatures or day-glow miniatures, and not a lot of contrast either way. I think blues and purples with some pinks could be really interesting if handled extremely subtlely, like some French painters did in that Genestealer conversion contest years ago (dunno if anyone else remembers that one). However, we're talking about fine color control which may not be easy to do across an entire army. Still, it might be worth some experimentation with washes and glazes, and/or lightening up the navy blues you used on the vehicles.

The bonewhite/green scheme you describe might work. You could also experiment with a grey as the neutral in combination with another color. The Space Wolf greys might give an interesting look used this way. Another idea might be to reverse my scheme, using a blue or purple as the base color on the robes, with a neutral for armored areas, chitinous areas, etc.

stoiss wrote:

WingWong wrote:I agree with the above

How did you do the robes btw?

The robes were made of thin cloth cutout in rectangular pieces with a hole for the head. Then soaked in watered down pva glue and applied to the model.

You, my friend, are a god.

I had to make 40+ robes out of GS

!

Any chance of some close up pics of the robes? Sorry to threadjack but you may have just saved me days of my life

Close ups of the robes





These were quite easy and fast to make btw.

Since I'm already posting pics I may as well show you one of my two upcoming cult trucks

This is based on an Italeri model 1/35 : Chevrolet 15-CWT.



The tires have been widened to better blend in with the normal GW vehicles.

All unnecessary trim has been left out.

I'm considering adding a more "aggressive" exhauspipe as well.

You are da man! thanks for the pics and loving the robes.

Is it medical gauze you are using or some other type of cloth?

WingWong wrote:You are da man! thanks for the pics and loving the robes.

Is it medical gauze you are using or some other type of cloth?

Mmmm.. I believe it's the type of cloth you would use to polish silver ... or maybe blow your nose with =)

I think medical gauze is too "couse". You need some very fine woven cloth. If the robes are still too course in their texture, you can paint them with a thin layer of PVA glue once they have dryed.

Apart from that, the method lends itself well to "mass production" in my opinion.

Good luck on your conversion job

Spacewolf grey, as Gorgon suggested, is blue enough to give references to the original colours, and it is light enough to contrast a classic purple. It would probably be possible to mix a light purple/pink colour to give the same effect in contrast to a dark blue.

I'm really looking forward to seeing more of this!

While waiting for the GS to harden on my hybrid conversions, I decided to have a go with the purple/grey paint scheme as recommended earlier in this thread.

By the way, I haven't painted a miniature in 5-6 years so I'm a bit rusty still.









Comments/suggestions?

-stoiss

That doesn't look like you are rusty at all. The red parts are very effective and the right hand (from the stealers perspective) eye is just nasty. Overall very interesting colours that carries the stealer idea well. Maybe the highlights are a bit too dramatic for this close view, but they will look very good from one foot away. The different colours on the body/claws and the rest of the "flesh" make it look a bit like parts from two different animals. They are close, but manage to look pretty different. It might be just my personal preferences though, so don't blindly take my word for it. I'd try to wash the back shield with the same purple (watered down) as you used on the arms. Or make something similar with the drybrush colours, a bit more purple/grey rather than grey/white.

I have to admit I've been slacking lately .. well I've been busy with other things and to be honest I needed a little break from the GS work (damn that stuff takes time).

In the mean time I have painted up my genestealer patriarch (got it from eBay).

A little disclaimer. I had huge problems capturing the correct tones/colors of the figure with the camera in my cellphone. I ended up digging out my 8 year old Casio QV-3000EX (that thing is HUGE by todays standards).











I know the pictures are quite revealing when it is this close up, but the figure does, imho, present itself quite nicely from 1" or more away. The good thing is it didn't take all that long to paint. I'm actually considering extending my GS cult army (once I'm done with it) with a 'nid army in the same colors. =)

Very Nice
whats that huge model thingy at the end??

I'd go with some lighter colors on the bases. I find that dark minis on a dark base just 'blend in' with the table, but if you go with bright paints and a dark base, or a dark mini and light base, it helps to make the mini 'pop' off the table.

Well I agree that maybe the model+base is a bit too dark. The original idea was to avoid the classic purplle/blue flashy colors. I think I'll try to ad a bit more aggressive highlighting in order to break of up the model more.

I think you're right about highlighting. Aggressive highlights would take you away from the classic scheme while maintaining some of the old flair.