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So with the new Tau codex just around the corner i thought it was time to dust of the old fire warriors and give them a new look.

This is the look i have mind. Now the black will be easy enough to do, its more specifically the green glow on the arms that i'm a little unsure about how to achieve.




I had thought about a form of OSL but it seems a little labor intensive for an effect i want to do on an armywide scale. So my other thoughts were to either just wash the areas with a green wash and hope that works the way i want it too or maybe get a glowing green paint and just add it to the right spots and hope that has the effect i'm after.

Anyone have any ideas or know where i can get a glowing green paint?? I plan on testing the wash option when my Firewarriors are finished stripping.


Cheers Dakka.

I think the wash method would work but you'd require a lot of layers of washes to get the effect you want.

I think an OSL approach would be faster imo

If you have an airbrush, that would be excellent because it would be perfect for this

Looks good but feels very Necron-ish with the dark grey-black and green glow.

IMO you've two options.

Go for a bright green 'edge highlight'; pretty simple...

Or paint the shoulders green to begin with and really thin the dark paint so it's of a milky consistency so that it retreats from edges and raised areas. I dunno how well I can recommend that approach though as I've never done it myself!

Use a paint type called gouache.. Its a water based paint that is totally opaque.. Comes in a varity of colors bright and dim colors.. If you color outside the lines of the line work its ok.. Take a damp q-tip not soaking wet and rub along the lines gently to bring up the paint on the surface and leave it in the recesses.. It is the easiest way to do the line work I have found..

Thanks for the replies folks.

Far Seer wrote:I think the wash method would work but you'd require a lot of layers of washes to get the effect you want.

I think an OSL approach would be faster imo

If you have an airbrush, that would be excellent because it would be perfect for this

I'm hoping that the wash method will look good. That's the first one i'm going to try. I do have an airbrush I'm not very good with it though. I can never get the paint consistancy right. I know it's supposed to be like milk but i can just never crack it.

Erik_Morkai wrote:Looks good but feels very Necron-ish with the dark grey-black and green glow.

You'd be surprised how many times people have told me that while playing The Last Stand or multiplayer in DoW2.

Henners91 wrote:IMO you've two options.

Go for a bright green 'edge highlight'; pretty simple...

Or paint the shoulders green to begin with and really thin the dark paint so it's of a milky consistency so that it retreats from edges and raised areas. I dunno how well I can recommend that approach though as I've never done it myself!

Edge highlighting does seem like the simplest of options aside from possibly washes. It will certainly be worth trying.
Your 2nd suggestion sounds really interesting. I'll have to give it a shot just for the hell of it. Got any examples of it?

ruff wrote:Use a paint type called gouache.. Its a water based paint that is totally opaque.. Comes in a varity of colors bright and dim colors.. If you color outside the lines of the line work its ok.. Take a damp q-tip not soaking wet and rub along the lines gently to bring up the paint on the surface and leave it in the recesses.. It is the easiest way to do the line work I have found..

Gouache you say? Sounds like it could be the sort of paint i'm looking for. Is it the sort of stuff you can just pick up at an art store or will i have to special order it from somewhere?



I'm hoping i can try the wash method later today. So i'll try and get pics up later. Just depends on whether my Fire Warriors are done stripping yet.

You should be able to find it anywhere that sells art supplies (i.e. oil paint, acrylic paint, water color, etc.)

Sweet, thanks mate.

R.E. examples of my second method... I have done it once (last weekend ) on the old GW Radaghast Mini:


I wanted the stone on top of his staff to look like it had some mystical green energy around it... so I painted it bright goblin green and then put some really thinned down codex grey on it... thataway the codex grey retreated from the raised edges and whatnot. The best way to describe the effect i was going for is to look at the picture and see where the bright grey highlights are... just imagine that the whole stone has a green tinge and that those bright grey bits are instead bright green I then drybrushed more goblin green over the top. It was pretty easy to do on a stone like that, but I don't know about a flat surface like a Tau Crysis Suit!

I will try get a picture for you some point this evening.

There's not really much of a glow to it for OSL without the light between the plates there. Perhaps take a more muted green or mix a close one with some grey to get something close to it and then use a fine brush on the edges of the panels.

Ok after painting two firewarriors last night (one edge highlighting, one wash) i have decided that edge highlighting is definitely the way to go. OSL will just be impractical at this level and washing them just makes them look too Tronish for my liking. I'd still be interested though in seeing a picture of your Radaghast Henners. You have me intrigued with your method.


Tau on the left is just some rough edge highlighting on the gun. The right is washed with a green wash. Pictures aren't great but then again my pictures never are.


The gun drone was also hit with a green wash and is VERY Tron looking.




I've also been wondering whether its worth going all out on the rank and file Fire warriors or just leaving the green edging to the battlesuits and tanks. I'd save time and would help the elite units stand out more. Plus i really like the fire warriors looking like this.
Black armour, Dark grey fatigues and only a little bit of bright green to make them pop.

One thing is for sure, I see this paint scheme and start to crave a Mountain Dew.

This is the best black scheme of any army I've seen yet. Does a great job of highlighting details naturally, while still being quite black. My first thought upon seeing it was Borg.

I really dig the glowing green, you've done a nice job. I think it's different as well, from the Tau I've seen (which aren't many), which IMO, makes it worth the tedium.

The OSL effect on that last pic you posted on his 'face' is amazing.

Uh the last picture (the spoilered one) isnt one of my firewarriors... It's a screen cap of the army painter in Dawn of War: Dark Crusade.

And now I feel real guilty for forgetting to take that pic... When I'm back in-country I promise to get one up!

Are you sure you don't like tron style? Because, man, the lining on that drone is very neat looking.

you might be able to highlight with like greys and whites than go with a candy over the top? if you want a more shiny look.

Hey Snrub... took me like ten years but here's an appalling picture of a not-so-good mini:



Not sure how well you can see it but it was the best I could do!