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Pictures of Eavy Metal painted models is not proof. They have always painted what they thought was correct or looked good.

If you doubt, find me the painted Cypher figure. You know, the one incorrectly painted in Dark Angels Green.

What does the Insignium Astartes book tell you to use? That book is hyper detailed on codex markings.

SaintHazard wrote:Okay, so your source is an outdated codex that has had four subsequent codices (which trump anything and everything said in previous codices) released after it...

...while my source is models painted by the 'Eavy Metal team (and I challenge you to find a single one with a yellow tabard).

Excluding Space Wolves, because 1) they don't follow the normal color scheme anyways and 2) yellow is one of their chapter colors.

Hint 1: codex SM refers any interested painter to: 'Insignium Astartes' and 'space marine hobby compendium'.
Hint 2: guess how those librarians are painted there....

Sorry 'eavy metal paintjobs aren't solid sources. Heard of artistic freedom? Some of their space marines are invalid from a codex purist perspective. If we just look at codex SM, there is NO given color for psyker tabards.

SaintHazard wrote:

These are 5th edition Librarians in Power Armor.

Yellow tabards are second edition fluff.

Standard tan cloth is fifth edition fluff.

Again, like I said, there is nothing wrong with using second edition fluff.

My point is only that it is exactly that: second edition fluff, and not fifth edition.

All the Librarians you posted apart from the first one are Dark Angels. DA are not a strict codex chapter and they never followed that part of the codex. Even in 2nd edition Ezekiel DA chiel Librarian had creme robes, probably because cream is more with the DA theme. That doesn't mean the codex doesn't suggest yellow.

There is an alt paint scheme of that Librarian (left) painted for BA and he has a golden yellow tabard.



Just because some Librarians and chapters don't follow the blue yellow thing, doesn't mean it isn't still a codex guideline.

1hadhq wrote:

Henners91 wrote:@1hadhq

The DAs are pretty adherent to the Codex, their only major deviation is the Deathwing and Ravenwing.

Pretty, yes. Completly, no.
So are deathwing apothecarys ( DW colors + white helmet ) and apothecarys in general ( either codex or company+white helmet )
divergent from codex scheme.

Chaplains seem to be black wherever they roam.
Librarians usually are blue, except SW and Mephi.
Techmarines seem to prefer red. Again, SW have to differ.....
Apothecarys range from "all white" to "only a few white bitz".

DA 4E codex, page 59 shows the Chapter colour schemes for the various roles, all in definitive language:
E.g. "Chaplains and Interrogator-Chaplains wear their armour jet black, their distinctive death mask helmets coloured bone white".

Henners91 wrote:

1hadhq wrote:

Henners91 wrote:@1hadhq

The DAs are pretty adherent to the Codex, their only major deviation is the Deathwing and Ravenwing.

Pretty, yes. Completly, no.
So are deathwing apothecarys ( DW colors + white helmet ) and apothecarys in general ( either codex or company+white helmet )
divergent from codex scheme.

Chaplains seem to be black wherever they roam.
Librarians usually are blue, except SW and Mephi.
Techmarines seem to prefer red. Again, SW have to differ.....
Apothecarys range from "all white" to "only a few white bitz".

DA 4E codex, page 59 shows the Chapter colour schemes for the various roles, all in definitive language:
E.g. "Chaplains and Interrogator-Chaplains wear their armour jet black, their distinctive death mask helmets coloured bone white".

Did I claim otherwise?

Took the apothecarys right from that codex/page, seems a specific role ( apothecary ) either adopts to DW or company colors.
More Apothecarys and other roles of a different scheme than codex SM pics/illustrations needed a bit more time to find.
Threw the DA from memory in.....

I just meant to say that as far as I can see, it's not implied that there are any divergences within the DA (other than the Termi ofc).

SmackCakes wrote:All the Librarians you posted apart from the first one are Dark Angels. DA are not a strict codex chapter and they never followed that part of the codex. Even in 2nd edition Ezekiel DA chiel Librarian had creme robes, probably because cream is more with the DA theme. That doesn't mean the codex doesn't suggest yellow.

Actually, the first one is a Dark Angel. The second one, we can't tell. Could be Aurora Chapter, or even Invaders.

SmackCakes wrote:There is an alt paint scheme of that Librarian (left) painted for BA and he has a golden yellow tabard.



Just because some Librarians and chapters don't follow the blue yellow thing, doesn't mean it isn't still a codex guideline.

Actually, that'd be a desert tan, not yellow.

Again, tan cloth.

Yellow looks like that first one I posted, which you've conveniently ignored.

SaintHazard wrote:Actually, the first one is a Dark Angel. The second one, we can't tell. Could be Aurora Chapter, or even Invaders.

The first one you posted was an old school ultra marine. The second one you posted is a Dark Angel (see knee pad), the third one is also a Dark Angel. The fourth one, which I'm guessing is the one you are saying could be Aurora Chapter or Invaders... I feel you are just being argumentative here because you know full well he's not one of those chapters, you are just trying to take advantage of the fact we can't see his shoulder pad. But you're wrong anyway, He's a Dark Angel. Look at his book.

Actually, that'd be a desert tan, not yellow.

Again, tan cloth.

Yellow looks like that first one I posted, which you've conveniently ignored.

The one I completely ignored? Even though I fully acknowledged it when pointing out that it was the only one that wasn't a Dark Angel (Probably why it's yellow).

I do not agree that it is tan unless by 'desert tan' you mean 'yellow'. The parchments on his legs are tanned cloth, the tabard is clearly a different colour (namely yellow). You asked for one recent non-ultramarine non-chapter colour Librarian, and there he is, what more is there to discuss.

Draggin the topic away from the silly agument...

Anyone else notice that the Ultramarine Techmarine on the main website and product box has blue armour?

Yes, this techmarine is well known


Just to put a valid source in:

Insignium Astartes page 42:

Pic of 3 Librarians, shoulderpads and standarts.
Plus some text:

Librarians of all Codex Chapters wear blue armor with golden yellow tabards or robes.

Space Marine Hobby Compendium page 46:

A codex scheme of a librarian and 3 painted figs. No difference between the tabards and the standarts color = both a sort of yellow.
Plus the markings for ranks in black at the tabards.
Should be actual models, looking at the fact they are ultramarines and the shade of blue applied on them.

skrulnik wrote:If you doubt, find me the painted Cypher figure. You know, the one incorrectly painted in Dark Angels Green.

Given the lack of actual information as to his true identity (even down to the fluff never actually stating for sure which side he was fighting with in the Dark Angels' little civil war) and his apparent role as a sower of disinformation, it's always been a matter of debate whether Cypher's green armour was a mistake, or a very deliberate aspect of his background.


For the actual topic, fluff evolves. 2nd edition laid out very strict guidelines for the colouring of the various 'specialist' characters in a Marine army. When GW noticed that a lot of players were choosing to disregard that in order to paint their characters to match their own colour schemes, they loosened it up a little and added all sort of variations. So Librarians went from being always blue and yellow, to being generally blue, but sometimes just having part of their armour painted blue instead of the whole thing. And the yellow tabard is, I think, a casualty of the post-2nd edition move towards less cartoony colour schemes...

Well, Cypher's original fluff in 2nd ed Codex Chaos made mention of his black armor and lack of chapter markings.
I do not remember if that was carried through.

I am nearly positive that it was a Eavy Metal mistake, mentioned in a White Dwarf ages ago.

skrulnik wrote:Well, Cypher's original fluff in 2nd ed Codex Chaos made mention of his black armor and lack of chapter markings.

Not quite. It mentions his lack of obvious markings, but mentions his dark green armour as evidence that he was a Dark Angel.

At that point, while it had been established that the Dark Angels wore black pre-Heresy (to explain the change from the Rogue Trader colour scheme) exactly when the change happened hadn't been 'officially' explained. The bit about the Dark Angels repainting their armour green before the battle of Caliban to distinguish friend from foe came later.

Saint the First Old Style TDA Librarian has no Insignia shown; we do not know what Chapter it is from.

The Second more current TDA Libby is certainly DA; from the DA-green on the back of the Bone tabard to the Chapter Badge on his right Knee pad(a DA Winged Sword oin a DA-Green field) The 2 Libbys in PA cannot be fully verified but the first appears to have the DA chapter symbol on his left Shoulder pad(also on a Field of DA-green); and as the 2 models are pictured together and we can see the DA-Green field on the second Libby we can assume the second is from the same chapter.

The Red-shouldered Librarian is wearing a nearly Golden-yellow tabard highlighted up to bone(which looks horrid IMO). You may say that this is desert Tan(which is fairly accurate) but it is definitely yellow-tinted.

At any rate For full variations look to the Space wolves(although they technically do not have librarians, or techmarines, and are completely without apothecarys); or the Blood Angels(Chaplains remain Codex; Apothecarys, or sanguinary priests, are red with White trim; And Techmarines are fairly Codex, although they would be red anyways)

Edit: also one could look to the red Scorpians; whom all have Apothecarys in their Tac Squads, and May be mostly white, it is hard to tell from the 1 small drawing they have in the IA6 book.