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Uruks are red
Goblins are green
My question for you
Is what does this mean?

Any sources or explanations or even speculation as to the variety of goblinoid flesh tones?

Are Isengard uruks a different shade thsn their cousins in Mordor? What is the story with those pus-pasty runts living under the Misty Mountains? &etc

How do you paint yours?

 Manchu wrote:
Uruks are red
Goblins are green
My question for you
Is what does this mean?

I'm one of those traditionalists who rejects green as a skin tone for LOTR orcs and goblins.

 Manchu wrote:
Any sources or explanations or even speculation as to the variety of goblinoid flesh tones?

Are Isengard uruks a different shade thsn their cousins in Mordor? What is the story with those pus-pasty runts living under the Misty Mountains? &etc

How do you paint yours?

For the various orc/goblin types in the game

- Isenguard Uruk-hai - I use the "official" dark read skin tone for these
- Mordor Uruks - I use a black/dark grey skin tone for these, based on the book reference to "black uruks of Mordor"
- Goblintown Goblins - I was not wild about it, but I decided to use the "official" pale skin tone for these
- All other Orcs and Goblins - I use a variety of neutral skin tones like khaki, light brown, tan, beige, etc.

At least, that's how I roll!

Having recently gotten a Return of the King box set and an addition box of 24 Orcs this is relevant to my interests.

I'm planning on not doing green, at least not too much. I may have one or two in there.

I had planned on doing warm, earthy tones maybe with a hint of green in the shading to make them more sickly looking.

Is there any kind of definitive word from Tolkien about what color the skin of Orcs should be?

 Dr_Keenbean wrote:

Is there any kind of definitive word from Tolkien about what color the skin of Orcs should be?

Sallow (a sickly yellowish colour) or dark. ('as if burned') You could also imagine a few grades in between. No hint of green. (ironic emoticon)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orc#Description

If you want to see a recent, epic nerd discussion about book-faithful orcs, look here.

 Vermis wrote:
If you want to see a recent, epic nerd discussion about book-faithful orcs, look here.

Oh myyyyy....

When I painted a few goblinoids for a friend of mine (He wanted a chess made of LOTR Minis) I painted the uruks brown to dark brown with some red/rosy flesh added for the lighter highlights, the goblintown goblins a pale yellow/fading greenish mix and the general orcs and goblins a mix of darker green with brown.

They came out okish, I guess.

One of my favorite features of the Isengard Uruk-Hai is that they look like burn victims. The blackened, reddish skin is simply fantastic, especially contrasting with the white hand makeup.

Some excellent orcs of the Citadel:

http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=86251.0

I paint mine a mixture of colours - greyish, brownish, reddish and yeah, some greenish. I want them to look like a horde of individually ruined mutants.

Tolkien was a bit sparse in his descriptions of the Orcs so I always had a sort of unclear idea of what they looked like - bestial and hairy, but probably not "human" coloured in any way.

I like the design on the Orcs in the Peter Jackson movies, at least the LOTR ones.

I quite agree, Da Boss. I will probably stick pretty closely to WETA's production design. I think there is a lot of very thoughtful reflection behind the work of those artists, and the GW folks following their lead. Doug and I were talking about this yesterday, and he mentioned how the Moria orcs are like cockroaches, squeezing through crevices, scaling the walls, and they even have exoskelton-like armor. To me, this appearance make sense because they are infesting a Dwarven hold, and can twist that infrastructure to their own needs, unlike their hillbilly cousins scratching out a meager living under the Misty Mountains. Those goblins are poor as dirt, under- and malnourished, diseased, and generally rodent-like. I could see their pale hides and hair being a result of generations privation.

As an attempt to create a more 'sallow' or sickly skin tone I just did a test with (using Citadel paints):

1. base coat of Rakarth Flesh
2. wash with a 2:1 mix of Athonian Camoshade : Reikland Fleshshade
3. highlight with Rakarth Flesh then Pallid Wych Flesh

The result is a really pale orc that looks like he just ate a lot of really old shrimp. It looks good but ultimately I decided it wasn't orc-y enough for me and I did the next few up like the box art.

Have you got a picture? That scheme sounds interesting.

Was looking at some Tre Manor orcs that had been painted by some studio on Facebook the other day. Bloody wonderful looking:
https://www.facebook.com/DeadFishPainting/photos/a.480527052072390.1073741847.227696097355488/502933879831707/?type=3&theater