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I'm painting an Officer of the Fleet and have painted his uniform in Skull White since I want it to be really shiny white. But now I'm facing a problem. What works best as highlight and wash?

Since I can't go any lighter, my thought is that I should use Fortress Gray to do the high points and maybe a washed down codex or maybe even adeptus gray for the lows.

What do you think? What works best?

Thanks.

use a fortress grey base, then highlight up to white. if you want it to be a cold, commanding white, add a touch of blue to the fortress grey. if you want a warmer white, use a pale brown instead of fortress grey. for an example look at this for the brown http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat460022a&prodId=prod1060248

and this for the blue http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat460022a&prodId=prod1130379

Thanks. I'm not sure that's what I'm looking for, the brown and blue are too vibrant but it's a good start and has given me some ideas on how to progress.

It seems I should've looked this up first, now I have to repaint the white that I so painstakingly brushed in place.

Oh well. At least I learned something. :-)

This is what a white uniform looks like.


Maybe a wash with a slight blue in it and then drybrush with white to avoid repainting.


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The other method of starting with a grey and working up to white highlights works well for hard surfaces like vehicles and armour but not so well for cloth.

Great, I'll try that. Thanks!

When I paint white cloth, I start with a base of a very light blue, then I work up form there.

You dont really highlight blue, so much as you shade the areas where it should be darker.

I use 50/50 Shadow/Codex grey, 'whitened' down as a basecoat, and build up the white from there.

So, the reverse could still be applied then. Start with white and shade the recesses slightly with blue. (Since I already have a white model, that is.)

I would strongly recommend against a pure blue as then you will end up with a light blue uniform. Stick with light grey or tan/khaki for shade colors depending on if you want a warm or cool white. Remember that white reflects the ambient colors around it more strongly than most colors, so the tint is likely going to be determined by other factors if it is very white. That's why a naval officer uniform look somewhat blue in pics- they are showing the cold fluorescent light. Get a flash pic of one in outside or amongst the buildings, and it looks different (see http://johnfenzel.typepad.com/john_fenzels_blog/images/2007/05/02/song_zuying_naval_officer.jpg). If you want it to look realistic, look at your base colors, other uniforms, vehicles, etc. and use that as a guide for warm or cool.

White is one of the hardest colors to get to look right, In your case shadeing might work, but its going to be tricky. I find it much easier to build up to white. If I was going to try and save your models i'd try useing a very very light blue or a very very almost white gray, and then expect to have to repaint the model.

I would say, white undercoat, space wolves grey base coat over this, then SWG mixed with white, then a few coats of white, then if you need further shading apply a watered down blue wash in the resesses and then touch up with white.

Tom


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I would say, white undercoat, space wolves grey base coat over this, then SWG mixed with white, then a few coats of white, then if you need further shading apply a watered down blue wash in the resesses and then touch up with white.

Tom

I use fortress grey, Codex grey, Space wolf grey and then skull white to build up my white on the High Elves.

For my white-helmeted sternguard, I start with adeptus battle grey foundation to cover the black primer. Then I paint codex grey. Then I wash it with blue wash and then build up highlights with spacewolf grey and finally skull white.

This gives it a fairly cold white that ties into my blue armor.


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if you are going to do a blue wash, do it before you paint the white (or else make sure you just put it in the recesses) otherwise you will just tint the white blue.

Although white is used to get that bright, clean look, its just too much for the eye. You can't highlight pure white.

I always find the best mini's with a white look are painted with a dull white then highlighted with pure white.

Not the best example but looks cool still..



stupid edit button..

Cool, indeed.

Thanks for all the input. Just wish I'd have posted this before I started. But there's always paint remover. :-D

Well, if you really want to highlight white there are plenty of acrylics out there that says "White" or "Titanium White" on their tubes but there are REALLY subtle differences in shading (some are a tad yellower than the others, others less intense in its brightness). Careful though: they're not made miniature painting, so try the brand first on a test model to seeif the paint is too thick or too thin or too runny.

Or when using GW colors, I think layering will work.

Basecoat: white
1st layer: Any gray or neutral-ish color depending on mood (Codex, Space Wolves, Kommando, even Catachan Green or Elf flesh)
2nd layer: Bleached bone or a light color mixed with white (yellow, or a light blue. This will also depend on the 1st layer you used)
3rd layer: Skull White

This has been a very useful read. The project I am starting is going to be the first time I will be painting with white as a major colour, so I am taking notes. I want to get the plan in place before I start so I don't have to strip miniatures any more than I have to.

Thanks for the input guys.

berglin wrote:Cool, indeed.

Thanks for all the input. Just wish I'd have posted this before I started. But there's always paint remover. :-D

If you are willing to strip the model, try a super-thinned down wash (blue, grey, whatever) or try painting a darker shade (again, colors suggested above) in the recesses before you strip the model. If it works, you've got a painted model. If it doesn't, you were going to strip it anyway.