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Hello, as some of you might've seen in my P&M blog, I'm working on a cyber-Plague Marine squad for my Iron Warriors. These are counts as Plague Marines who have lots of bionics to make them look the part. Here's a few of the ones I built:


What I'm wondering is how I can paint the bionics to look different from the regular metallics. Iron Warriors wear dark, iron-colored armor, which is usually the color of bionics. I've tried painting the bionics in brighter shades on other models, and it never looked good. I'm thinking of maybe washing them with another wash of black or two, but I feel like there's diminishing returns on that. Regardless, I want them to be noticeably different at a glance, so I don't surprise anyone with them being Plague Marines. I thought of gold bionics, but that's entirely too ostentatious for Iron Warriors.

Any suggestions would be welcome!

E: And a picture of what my standard scheme looks like would probably help, wouldn't it?

The problem is that you have a color scheme with "metal" as a main color. And your bionics, that are basically metal parts have to be noticeable so this squad can be identified on the gaming table.

I think I would simply give a specific tint to these bionics. I'd paint them as normal metal, and then apply glazes and washes to get for example shades of blue. This would make the bionics look different from the "grey" metallics of the power armour.
As for the color, I'd try blue or purple 'cause it would work well with the yellow of the shoulder pads.

Maybe paint the bionics so they look all rusted?

 Minus wrote:
The problem is that you have a color scheme with "metal" as a main color. And your bionics, that are basically metal parts have to be noticeable so this squad can be identified on the gaming table.

I think I would simply give a specific tint to these bionics. I'd paint them as normal metal, and then apply glazes and washes to get for example shades of blue. This would make the bionics look different from the "grey" metallics of the power armour.
As for the color, I'd try blue or purple 'cause it would work well with the yellow of the shoulder pads.

Yeah, I've painted bionics before but they were on Marines who weren't mostly gunmetal colored. I tried green and it just looked funny; I'll give them a blue or purple wash and see what's what. Good call with the complimentary color!

Marshall Ragnar wrote:
Maybe paint the bionics so they look all rusted?

They're Iron Warriors, not Death Guard! They gotta take at least a little pride in their equipment

If they're supposed to be plague marines then why not try a green tint to the metal and some nurgle style bits. It has already been established that some iron warriors follow the path of the blood god, ie kroeger, in storm of iron. So it makes sense that some could devote themselves to nurgle.
Very nice minis by the way, how do you get your hazard markings looking right. Mine always look uneven.

Why not something like a bronze, or a verdigris copper (the green can hint at their Nurgle affiliation) to distinguish the bionics from the power armour

Seraphim Sepia and Agrax Earthshade would be awesome I think.

tomcat31 wrote:
If they're supposed to be plague marines then why not try a green tint to the metal and some nurgle style bits. It has already been established that some iron warriors follow the path of the blood god, ie kroeger, in storm of iron. So it makes sense that some could devote themselves to nurgle.
Very nice minis by the way, how do you get your hazard markings looking right. Mine always look uneven.

I have a squad of Khorne Berserkers for that very reason! There wasn't any precedent for Nurgle worshippers in the ranks of the Iron Warriors though, and I wanted to avoid Nurgley bits for the most part, hence the bionic conversions. I did try a green wash to the bionics but didn't really like the look of it. And thank you for the kind words! As for how I get straight lines? That's pretty much down to a steady hand, highlighting the lines (which somehow makes them look straighter) and spending a fair amount of time covering up the spillover. I go by the mantra that the difference between a good paintjob and a great one is how much time is spent cleaning it up!

And Kan - I was thinking Sepia or Earthshade initially, but I didn't want to make it look like these guys didn't take care of themselves. Kind of ironic for Plague Marines, I know!

I tried the purple wash, and I think once I put in the hazard stripes the color will balance out and they'll look cool. I don't have purple anywhere else in the army, so it should make them stand out a little. Here's what it's looking like so far: