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Hi guys. I'm new to 40k, and want to play Salamanders.
I found GW's official guide to paint Salamanders, but it's... green. too green. I want more dark, heavy green. so I thought: what if I paint Caliban green only?

I tried, and satisfied but it's too dark. it looks like Dark angel. Still other parts are standard Salamanders 2nd company's colors....

anyway I want to keep on this color. is it okay painting salamanders with caliban green?

First, welcome to Dakka.

Your army, your paintjob. Run with what works for you. Anything that’s not grey plastic is a major victory for everyone playing.

I know for Ultramarines I’ve seen them in everything from powder blue down to almost black. And every shade in between. Could some of them be mistaken at first glance for another chapter? Maybe. But once you look at the details, chapter markings, etc. it all comes together. I suspect the same will happen to you. Someone quickly glancing at them might say “nice Dark Angels” but on closer will change to “Cool looking Salamanders!”

Especially once you set them on fire.

Thanks! It's great that color schemes are not that strict.

The thing about Space Marines right now is that any paint scheme can use any Chapter Tactics; it doesn't make any difference so long as your opponent knows what Chapter Tactics you're using.

And if you're just using a 'slightly off' color, I don't think anyone would care. If you're putting Salamander's iconography on them, it's pretty obvious what army they are.

If you want a darker scheme, you might also try using olive drab. You could use a base of Castellan green with one of its appropriate highlight colors (elysian green?) Might not look quite as dark angels.

Starting from an olive green is definitely a good base for darker Sallies. The scheme I used for my HH Salamanders was to basecoat olive drab, then just mix in more and more green for highlighting, before hitting it all with a dark green wash to satura the colour a little more.


Once you have the black pads, white markings and some flame motifs, it's clearly still a Salamander rather than a DA.

@syd - Welcome to Dakka!

For my ten-penneth, I have to agree with Nevelon - if you aren't happy with one particular aspect of a scheme, then change it for something you do like because it's all about what you're comfortable with. Personally, I paint my Salamander veterans with black helmets - but GW has their's painted green. It's no problem, because I like mine the way they are. The point being - don't feel bound by what GW or anybody else is doing, go your own way with it. Of course, GW examples range from Emerald Green, to Olive Green to Forest Green so you can do any shade that catches your eye.

As for the paint side, perhaps it may be more beneficial if you go away and take a look through Google images, Lexicanum and other members here on Dakka, find some examples close to what you'd like to achieve, then post them here (Giving credit to their owners of course) and then you should get some more constructive advice as we'll be able to see the shade of green you'd like to achieve. Hope this helps you.

To echo the words of other posters, in a slight different vein, the principle is called The Rule of Cool. It only really matters if you like the paint scheme at the end of the day. Hell, you could do your marines in Camo and be just fine.. of course, in the Rogue Trader days, there were Marines in Camo.

Thanks everybody!
I did not thought of olive green. I will try waaagh flesh and castellan green this week