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Hey guys,

I’m getting back into Warhammer 40k and I really need some help creating my army color scheme and creating a process to paint it. I already know that I would like to paint them Sa’Cea sept style (light blue) with lots of really nice light blues. I would also like to use a light silver for decoration. I would like to base them with snow bases, which I have never done before. I am a perfectionist and don’t mind taking longer than usual to paint these, as long as they look FANTASTIC when done. I do have some decent painting skill but any posted advice or links to tutorials/advice is greatly appreciated and will be used in the crafting of this army.

So, I need to enlist the minds of the expert painters here on Dakka to help me come up with a paint scheme and process. I encourage anyone/everyone who posts to this thread to try to constructively work together to make this the best it can be.

Consider this a Dakka-Dakka-community-painting-project.

Once we get some good suggestions in here, I can try to paint up some test models and I’ll post updates for constructive criticism. The criticism will shape the other test models to be painted, until a perfect scheme is reached, upon which point I’ll begin on the army. From there I’ll transfer over to a Painting Blog (in the Dakka Painting Blog section) and post updates while I apply the final paint scheme to the army models. Finally, I’ll post a full army photo.

Anyone who significantly helps me with this army will have their forum name painted elegantly on the base of a fire warrior or squad leader. I’m looking for more in depth help then just “Use Fenris Gray lol”, of course. What color is the base color for the armor? The FW pants? The FW boots? Do I do a wash? Do I drybrush? Do I highlight, how many layers and what colors/mixes? How do I make the snow base? How do I make ice, both chunks and frozen puddles? Etc, etc, etc.


( Inspiration Photos ) – CURRENTLY BEING UPLOADED
Here are some links to some nice inspiration photos, especially for the color.

GW (For color/theme)
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/326644-Guardian%20Dice.html
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/46495-Lightning%20railhead%20Blue%20team.html
A little bit lighter blue, more of a teal or aquamarine-blue than this:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/436789-Tau%20XV8%20Crisis%20Battlesuit.html

Non-GW (For color/theme)
http://harlequinromantique.deviantart.com/art/Lady-of-the-Ocean-353189602


( Current Test/Proposed Scheme ) – NONE YET SUGGESTED

( Test Model Photos ) – NONE YET

I've been painting a blue (slightly darker) riptide at the moment but there are lighter panels, so if you would go for a scheme like this then I could share the recipe.

I cannot push washes enough. I paint almost exclusively using washes now as they give fast, good looking results.

Undercoat/prime your models white, then wash the blue armour with either a slightly thinned blue wash, or a suitable blue paint that has been heavily thinned. Wash the bits you want grey with a thinned black wash, or a heavily thinned grey paint.

The good thing about a white prime, with a thin blue wash is that a lot of the white will really shine through on the raised areas giving you that icy lookin the dice picture you posted. You can always use a thicker or thinner wash to adjust the effect, and can use a clean, wet brush on the undried wash to "clean" some areas, making them lighter, and a clean dry brush (or paper towel) to draw up excess wash if it pools too heavily.


Some of my stuff painted exclusively using washes and inks:

Olim: That would be appreciated.

SilverMK2: I've only got black primer currently, it'll be a while until I can pick up some white primer. Would painting white over black primer work?

Thanks to you both for your advice, by the way! Any help is much appreciated.

This weekend is a holiday weekend in Canada so I'll have some free time to experiment and work on my armies.