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I am looking for a lead on an actual RED red. I have tried all the offerings from Valejo, P3, and GW and I even have a couple of the OLD flip cap GW reds and they are all either too dark and on the purple or maroon end of the spectrum or fall towards orange too much. Whats the deal, does no one make an actual RED, like the color of a fire engine, Cherry, Red Apple, you know, that color you see when you open a crayon box and read RED?

Any leads would be great, thanks in advance.

um, blood red, vallejo vermillion, these are all true reds...

It could be an issue of you trying to paint on black, and not doing enough thin layers. It could be an issue of you highlighting with yellow and white as your mix colors.

If that's not it though, and you are applying the colors properly, I think you will are SOL if blood red and it's equivalents don't fit your definition. If that's the case I don't think you have the same idea of what red looks like as the rest of us lol!

You might try Army Painter Dragon Red primer - I got a can of this to try out on my Khorne army, but I thought it was TOO primary red.

Try vellejo modell color flat red

colorblind maybe?

Artists vermillion? crimson?

Tamiya colours?

Have you tried looking hard enough?

Can you post a picture of the shade of red that you are looking for since just red can mean many different things to different people. GW blood red is red to me but you call it fire engine red. So post a picture so we can help.

The problem with RED for miniature painting is that you need some shadow and some highlight... so even the truest RED won't solve your problems.

The best recipe I've found so far is:

P3 Sanguine Base
Some sort of dark armour wash
Red gore over brush all but recesses.
Red gore : blood Red highlight.
Blood Red extreme highlight.

Thanks for the replies.

Red Gore=Maroon towards purple
Blood Red=Orangey Red

I have a bottle of the old GW Red Ink and that is RED red, but it's an ink.

I took all the reds I have and put a blop of them next to each other on a white index card and there is an obvious blank between these two "versions" of red.

Oh well I will figure something out I guess. Thanks for the suggestions guys I will look into those other brands.

Thats suprising my blood red is about as red as you can get.

Hey, no problem. Good luck.

My suggestion, and this may annoy the FLGS purists out there....

Folk Art Acrylics by Plaid, found in place like Hobby Lobby and Michaels. Go to the store and look, the web site doesn't do justice to some of the colors.

try painting tentacle pink, then going over it with blood red. It sounds more like you either have a dodgy pot, or you are painting it over something that's affecting it.

blood red, should be a bright, arterial, red. It should be about as red as you can get! But it is translucent, so depending on what you paint it over, the final results can vary.

Although, you may just be very, very colour sensitive. Unfortunately, paints are based on subtractive colours, so the primaries are cyan, magenta & yellow, you don't really get a "True" red!

HamHamLunchbox wrote:colorblind maybe?

Its funny, but I said that after reading the OP. I think he might have some problems with red, because red is RED to me anyways

Try painting under a light with a halogen bulb. It will do wonders.

I work at a paint store and most of the time the problem with reds is also the color underneath. I always use the atronomican grey citadel foundation on before putting on red so that would help to also reduce the coats needed, but a any kind of grey undercoat would work i guess.

Blood Red is Red. It used to be orangey red but that was changed, it is now a fire engine red. You are likely painting over black or a dark colour and not getting a true red as a result.

Ruby red from the old GW line is the same as the current Blood Red and they are both 'true red' in the way you describe it.

REally? ...how long ago did they change Blood Red?

I've played Blood Angels FOREVER and have tons and tons of red in the various different bottles from GW (and other brands too).

Currently I've been using the slightly older bolter-shell small paint-pot version... but I have tons of the newer flip-top variety also. Are you telling me they are gonna be different colors?!? ACK!

HA, Blood Red is chemically the reddest colour you can get. Do you think GW would release a set of paints and not have the three primary colors in their truest form? Its basic stuff...

Try the old gw ruby red now sold by coat 'd arms.

I think a good 'true/deep red' colour (without blue/purple in it) could probably be acheived with mechrite red basecoat, blood red on top of that, then wash with baal red wash to knock some of the orange out of it.

For blokes, red is just red. http://www.thedoghousediaries.com/?p=1406

darkkt wrote:I think a good 'true/deep red' colour (without blue/purple in it) could probably be acheived with mechrite red basecoat, blood red on top of that, then wash with baal red wash to knock some of the orange out of it.

For blokes, red is just red. http://www.thedoghousediaries.com/?p=1406

And how many reds are there in your chart ?

I understand OP's problem. You want a deep red, not ornagey red (like blood red is). I also have never been happy with red as the nice reds you see are alot of layers and work..

I have no experience with this product but it looks quite promising.

http://www.thearmypainter.com/gallery_presentation.php?GalleryId=61&Gallery=Dragon

Lol - research would have been good before posting that link then... oh well!

Now I think about the more serious suggestion I put, the main issue is going to be getting depth into the model's recessed areas. When i was painting my Khorne bezerkers, I threw a brown wash directly over the mechrite red, then drybrushed blood red and did the baal red wash all over - it added what I considered to be a natural shade to a deep red colour.

If you really want a bright red, get a red enamel paint at a hobby store or craft store. The one i have is made by Testors and it is very bright. The only problem with enamel is that is dries faster than acrylics and is more viscous than acrylics. If you rather stick to acrylic paints only, prime the area you want red with white first then apply the red.

aye, I have the same problem. Red is a very difficult color to get right, and you need to be careful of what you are painting over.

That being said, have you tried P3 Khador Red Base? That covers over any undercoat pretty well (naturally it works better over not-black).

GW's blood red is as red as anything gets.

I like Guard Red by Testors, as well as Chevy Engine Red (also Testors). If you use an enamel as suggested above, be aware that you will need thinner to clean your paintbrushes (enamels being non-water-soluble).

helgrenze wrote:My suggestion, and this may annoy the FLGS purists out there....

Folk Art Acrylics by Plaid, found in place like Hobby Lobby and Michaels. Go to the store and look, the web site doesn't do justice to some of the colors.

I use a lot of this cheap paint. WalMart sells it and I'm about to do a squad of world eaters with them