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Hey, I'm having real trouble painting yellow and I'm wondering how people do it? Any brands or techniques that produce good results would be great to hear of, thanks

 Spyro_Killer wrote:
Hey, I'm having real trouble painting yellow and I'm wondering how people do it? Any brands or techniques that produce good results would be great to hear of, thanks

Which models are you wanting to paint?

What colour primer are you working over? You will struggle with black, as yellow is a fairly translucent paint regardless of brand.
If you imagine paint as pigment suspended in clear solution, metallics, yellows and reds often have more clear solution than pigment visible when used, and show the primer through more readily.
The way we cope with this is to put a stronger colour down first.
If you want a sunny yellow, you can put a mid brown down first and do a few thinned layers of yellow over it. For a different tone, try starting from Orange. There's also nothing stopping you from starting from white, which will give the brightest result.

I would suggest basecoating over white. Certain paint brands have better coverage, such as P3, which is invaluable when painting yellow.

I would shade with purple, then highlight with a mix of yellow and ivory.

Yellow and white are usually considered the two hardest colours to paint, so you're not a alone. Start with white or grey undercoat, my personal preference is Tamiya grey.

I'm far from a pro, but years ago when I painted Bad Moons, I found (apologies - some of these are probably old Citadel) a couple of thin layers of Iyanden Darksun, and then you take it from there with progressively brighter yellows until the level that you want - from memory I went Iyanden Darksun > Averland Sunset > Golden Yellow, and then on to highlights with the ultra bright yellows.

There are two bases I use for yellow. Both generally need 2-3 even coats for a nice smooth finish, but at a push if you're in a hurry you can slather 'em on thicker, or do a quick brown or grey undercoat first.


Vallejo Game Color heavy ochre (more like tausept ochre) - it's an orangey yellow, suitable for higher saturation yellow.

Vallejo Game Color heavy goldbrown (more like a mustard yellow) - more brown-yellow, suitable for lower saturation work.

Thanks guys, sorry I am using them for space marine chests as a I play scythes of the Emperor but as you've said yellow can be a nightmare

Yellow doesn't have to be evil. I think the reason a lot of people struggle with is that they expect it to behave like many wargame paints where one or two coats will work or they attempt to paint it over a black undercoat (which will make you wanna pull your hair out). As has been said above, many thin coats over white will yield the best results.

I use the Minitaire yellows by Badger. Yes, they're airbrush paints but they work just fine with a brush and I personally like them better than my Vallejo Game Color for painting yellows. I have complete sets of both lines and use both for different applications, but the Minitaire yellows are especially good for brush painting. I do thin them slightly with water/flow-aid or with airbrush thinner. The base coat can be in the thicker side, but over reducing is best for the midtones and shadows because it will give better control. Patience is key, but the results are worth it.

Here's the process:
Base coat white.
Many thin layers of the brightest yellow. Wait until the previous layer is dry before applying the next. Minitaire paints are notorious for drying quickly (too fast for airbrush use in some cases, but that's another discussion) so it won't take long.
Apply the next darkest yellow (midtone) in thin layers as above.
Apply the shade in thin layers as above.
Bonus points if you apply a purple wash or ghost tint in the crevices. (Purple and yellow are compliments, so a tiny bit of light purple wash in the darkest recesses will make it pop.)

Here are the specific colors I used. It was initially done with an airbrush, but touchups due to masking, handling, and learning mistakes were done with a regular brush. I've done the entire process with a regular brush on smaller units.
1. Base / Edge Highlight: Minitaire 121 Irradiated Yellow
2. 1st Shade: Minitaire 125 Warning Yellow
3. 2nd Shade: Minitaire 126 Pumpkin
4. 3rd Shade: Minitaire 129 Scorching Red
5. Ghost Tint: Minitaire 170 Yellow over entire surface.
I later applied Ghost Tint: Minitaire 173 Magenta over the entire dark red area (1 Magenta : 5 H2O) for the purple element.

Here's a sample of the results.

It's not hard, but it is time consuming. How far you want to go with something like this will depend upon the number of troops, any time constraints, and your overall level of patience.

winterdyne wrote:
There are two bases I use for yellow. Both generally need 2-3 even coats for a nice smooth finish, but at a push if you're in a hurry you can slather 'em on thicker, or do a quick brown or grey undercoat first.


Vallejo Game Color heavy ochre (more like tausept ochre) - it's an orangey yellow, suitable for higher saturation yellow.

Vallejo Game Color heavy goldbrown (more like a mustard yellow) - more brown-yellow, suitable for lower saturation work.

Note that per Vallejo, the VGC 'heavy' colors use the same formulation as the VMC line and have exact equivalents as well. According to the Vallejo Game Color pamphlet Heavy Ochre would be 70.856 Ochre Brown and Heavy Goldbrown would be 70.877 Gold Brown. Handy if your local retailer only carries the VMC line.