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I am trying to create a "conscript" army for IG that will feature seperate gangs for the individual squads..... i want each squad to have its own character and feel but i also dont want to end up with a hodge-podge looking army on the tabletop...... in doing so i have gotten stuck on how to find that balance between consistency and identity... can any other dakka members help me out? Do any of you have this problem?

Well most military units, conscript or not, have a Standard Operating Procedure. However, often you will find slight variations within the SOP, such as an extra piece of kit someone carries, so on and so forth. So have dudes have with war trophies, or maybe a few pieces of random hodgepodge stuff they picked up from a dead comrade(such as an extra pouch). Another thing would be to have a stripe of different colors on a shoulder pad, or create some kind of fluff making each squad represent its homeworld through a different marking. Think of it like a common US street gang's colors, or flags. I also think it would be okay to variate certain things within the army, like slightly different camo patterns. Say one squad/gang has OD uniforms, the other has OD with a hint of tan stripes, so on and so forth. You have lots of options, and I'm curious to see what your final product shows up as. Good luck!

One way I've seen work is to colour-code under the base, e.g conscripts have a red circle, infantry squads have blue and veterans have green. This helps sort out the models, but doesn't help once they are on the table and if they are standing next to each other.

you could try using 2 or 3 standard colours for clothes, but apply them to different bits of the models? So one squad can have brown or green trousers, while the other squads might have the same colours used on jackets. Each squad can then have individual details and accent colours. You should end up with a reasonably random and individual hodge-podge of models, but they all conform to the same colour strategy.

Simplest way to make a lot of "civilians" look uniform? Give them all armbands/headbands of the same colour. For research, I looked up riots in google images, and tried to find photos where people looked coherent in colour. I also agree with Flinty: 2-3 darkish colours, and 1 bright colour to tie them all together.

I would say, do all the pants and bases the same, and go crazy with the rest of the painting!

Depends on how much detail your willing to go into. It can be a simple color switch. Each of my Ork units has a different color of pants to signify what unit they belong to. In addition I paint the rim of the base in different colors for each squad.
My Guard a went a bit more radical.
3 Sgts, each with a different color of clothing, each with a different unit symbol, but matching in theme and character:

Each member of the squad matches clothing color and unit symbology.
Melta Vet Squad #1:

Platoon squads (very different, only SGTs and Vets get banners and helmets, yet the theme holds together).


(EDIT) In your case, your looking for a "gang" theme. So consider going with Catachans and having each unit use a different color of bandana (like real gangs do). You could even label the rim of the base with the "gang name" to help keep them identified to each other; Squad Crip, Squad Blood, Platoon Zetas, Command Squad MS-13, etc...

Helmet stripes and shoulderpad stripes are great for Imperial Guard.

I actually put squad numbers on the left shoulderpads while platoon numbers are on their helmets - looks cool and keeps them easy to identify.

Weapons teams get extra gear, while kit is sorted to the squads role - squads plasma and snipers have a lot of long range gear (binoculars, scopes) while flamers and meltas get fixed bayonets , GL squads all carry extra grenades, that sort of thing.

I've been thinking about this one too. Only, that i'd be using an Inquisitorial army. Coteaz as my HQ and also using IG allies for their heavy support assets. Using a uniformed guard force, and the brunt of the army comprised of henchmen warbands. I figure it would lend a bit to the army. Coteaz is known for having a mix mash of different operators in his service. So, in some terms. Pick up Coteaz for your army. That way. If you want to run IG you could have a mixed army with a lot of different looking figures.