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A few months back in White Dwarf I saw Phil Kelly's Tyranid army painted in a black and yellow hornet type scheme. I thought that looked really cool, so I tried to do something similar with mine. I have made a discovery though: painting yellow over black = sucks.

This is making it even more difficult to layer the yellows to show highlights etc.

Does anyone have any advice on how to layer and blend yellows so they will look more natural? I've tried mixing the paints like usual but right now, you can clearly tell where one yellow stops and another starts.

Well, you managed to pick out one of the hardest things to do!

I would suggest using Ultraraider's tutorial to paint yellow over a black base:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-biX5vyhLYc&feature=plcp

He uses a dark brown to start working up into yellow, also he is using feathering to blend the colours, which is way easier than layering for a weak pigment with yellow.

I paint a lot of yellow as well but I go the opposite way, white base, then yellow then black, which is much easier for simple layering.

I'm almost wondering if it would be easier to paint the carapace areas white where I want the highlights, then layer downward to yellows at the base of the highlight

yeah, always start with the lighter color. Its much easier!

I can't remember what they look like off the top of my head, but yeah, if painting yellow it's probably easier to paint white first, then yellow, then do the black last. Black over white is like 1 or 2 coats to get a decent layer.

Also, pick up some Averland Sunset. It's reasonably yellow and covers black in maybe 2-4 coats depending on how thick you apply it. The flames on my warbuggy were done over a black undercoat, I painted the whole wheel guard/front panel with averland sunset and then faded it to blazing orange before going back over and repainting the black (so rather than painting yellow flames, I painted the whole region yellow then painted the black background.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/images-59981-27630_Orks.html

I'm really starting to hate this decision lol. Not having much luck so far; the yellow is looking splotchy or globbed weather I water it down or leave it thick

You need to use a "foundation" or heavy pigment paint to of yellow hue, before going straight to yellow when your dealing with a black undercoat.

An example when be, basecoating iyanden darksun, then working your way up to sunburst yellow.

an alternative would be to use the new ceramite white over the areas you want to be yellow, and the using a yellow wash or just painting those areas yellow, as working over a white basecoat would be easier.

I usually bridge the gap in colors with codex grey or a similar flat grey mixed with a foundation paint, followed by a straight coat of the same foundation paint, and then finally my top color.

I'd basecoat in a yellow Foundation colour, then add the black - much easier than the other way around.

prime your models white or yellow, then paint in some reds or greens or whatever your details should look like and then come in with the black!

Seriously, Averland Sunset, if you don't already have it, get it! It will still take 2-4 coats, but it'll be a breeze compared to using any other yellow.

Iyanden Darksun or whatever it's called from the old range is good too, but Averland Sunset is so much better because it's far more "yellow" where as the older foundation paints are more brownish in tone.

Just get some Averland sunset, lay down 2-4 coats to get a solid yellow, then you can highlight it with some brighter yellows and you're done.

I know that in this post is about phil Kelly's nids and I believe it says something about painting the yellow hope it helps

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/wnt/blog.jsp?pid=1700106-gws

I used Iyanden Darksun as a base over chaos black, and layered on top of that. I'm pretty happy with the results:

fox in a box wrote:I know that in this post is about phil Kelly's nids and I believe it says something about painting the yellow hope it helps

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/wnt/blog.jsp?pid=1700106-gws

Snakebite leather? That's even more impressive, snakebite leather has terrible coverage it would have taken HEAPS of coats unless he used another colour underneath to transition from the black to the snakebite.

@Vespa, that looks really good! Very impressive. How many coats of Iyanden did that take? I still prefer Averland Sunset myself, as it's more of a yellow rather than brown and it a bit more vibrant, but I guess it depends on what look you're wanting.

I did yellow on midnight blue for my hormagaunts.

Start with a base light armor sand, then paint yellow on top.

Two layers were fine. I use the Flames of War Valejo paint ... however you spell it.


Nice Hive Guards.

Why not start with a white undercoat, spray it all Yellow, use an airbrush (if trying Phil Kelly's blotches) or a regular brush for any other pattern to paint in the black, then highlight the colours as normal?