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Hi guys

I'm thinking about starting a small pre-heresy alpha legion (love all that sneaky-snake spies theme) but I'm not really certain about the color.
I'm searching the right base, a deep blue-metallic to work on: someone know if there is a color of this kind in the various ranges (vallejo, etc..)?
Of course, if someone has some kind of other base/tip about would be really appreciated.

Many thanks

Have you checked FW's new paint line?

The colors were made specifically for 30K Heresy/Pre-Heresy.

That would be my first stop.

Well... I e-mailed Forgeworld about how they painted the Alpha Legion from the Horus Heresy series Book III.

Fire up your air brush!

ALPHA LEGION
1. AIRBRUSH WITH THINNED TAMIYA GUN METAL
2. AIRBRUSH FROM TOP OF MODEL WITH TAMIYA FLAT ALUMINIUM
3. MIX A LITTLE TAMIYA CLEAR GREEN WITH TAMIYA CLEAR BLUE (25/75 MIX) AND AIRBRUSH OVER THE MODEL IN 2 THINNED COATS
4. AIRBRUSH ARMOUR PANELS WITH TAMIYA CLEAR BLUE. BLENDING FROM MIDDLE OF FIGURE DOWN, SO THE STRONGEST BLUE COLOUR IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PANNELS
5. AIRBRUSH FROM THE MIDDLE UPWARDS WITH TAMIYA CLEAR GREEN
6. USING AN AIRBRUSH BLEND A HIGHLIGHT ON THE HIGHEST PANNELS (HEAD, SHOULDER PADS, TOP OF BACKPACK) WITH TAMIYA FLAT ALUMINIUM WITH A TINY AMOUNT OF TAMIYA SKY BLUE, EXTREMELY THINNED DOWN.
7. APPLY SEVERAL TIN COATS OF TAMIYA CLEAR BLUE OVER THE HIGHLIGHT AND BLEND INTO THE SURROUNDING AREA.
8. SILVER – BASECOAT WITH LEADBELCHER
9. WASH WITH NULN OIL
10. HIGHLIGHT WITH LEADBELCHER IN STRIKING MOTIONS TO CREATED CHIPPED AND WEATHER APPEARANCE
11. HIGHLIGHT WITH IRONBREAKER

Sorry for the caps, I copied it from a PDF. Basically, FW painted the models bright silver, then used a green glaze and a blue glaze to get the metalic blue green look. Very striking, looks awesome, but is very painting intensive. I'd hate to try and do this without an airbrush.

You could probably come kinda close using GW paints and a paint brush, but...

Nice one Tam - been wondering about that myself...... I reckon though that its very doable just with brushwork. Trick is gonna be though ultra thin glazes using retarder to make blending immediate. Wet palette a must. Defintely gonna give this a go once I've cleared my ridiculously full 'to paint'shelf lol

BUT WAIT!

There is an easier way to get that same look!

**Credit to Mike French over on HERESY 30k**

Do the metallics as described above

Then do a light layer of clear green from the top
Cover that with clear blue until the color suits your taste
Wash with guilliman blue and you are done

This guy was done doing FW's scheme step by step



while this guy was done with the "improved" method



I find the second way to give much smoother results, mainly because there are less steps, and also that extra layer of silver near the end can cause an undesired look as seen in this picture



you can see the "flecks" of silver showing through much more. just doesnt look as good IMO