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So, I'm hoping to pick up some paints tomorrow at my FLGS' annual sale to start work on some space marines I've been prepping, but to a new painter like me, the expansion of GW's paintline has made the process of figuring out the right colors to achieve the look I want even more daunting.

My color scheme is pretty straightforward: yellow bodies, red helmets (very Imperial Fist-esque). The thing is, most of the yellow models I see tend to have that pale, flat yellow. I'm looking for a more rich yellow, almost more of a goldeny orange, if you will. For my fellow Americans (because I'm sure the signs are different in other countries?), think caution sign or lines on the road yellow. If none of that rings a bell, Caterpillar Inc.'s yellow is a good match for what I'm looking for as well.

Any advice on what the right paints would be to achieve that look? For anyone who may have achieved a similar color, any advice on process or how you layered colors would be appreciated as well!

You're going to your FLGS... to look for paints... for an army you want to paint....

How about using your own eyes, to find the paint YOU want to use, for YOUR army? Bit much to ask for others to pick your paints for you...

 Johnno wrote:
You're going to your FLGS... to look for paints... for an army you want to paint....

How about using your own eyes, to find the paint YOU want to use, for YOUR army? Bit much to ask for others to pick your paints for you...

Thanks for the constructive advice!

I'm going to assume, having lurked the boards here for a while, that not all paints are created equal, and neither are all yellows. I was hoping that someone who's done some yellow painting in the past (which I understand to be one of the harder colors to paint) could give me some insight instead of me learning via trial and error.

For what it's worth, I know the shop has a pretty wide selection in the GW and Vallejo lines...

Reaper yellow is pretty good stuff, Vallejo is great too.

Citadel Yellow isn't that good at showing color in my opinion.

 tavoittamaton wrote:


I'm going to assume, having lurked the boards here for a while, that not all paints are created equal, and neither are all yellows. I was hoping that someone who's done some yellow painting in the past (which I understand to be one of the harder colors to paint) could give me some insight instead of me learning via trial and error.

For what it's worth, I know the shop has a pretty wide selection in the GW and Vallejo lines...

No amount of ensurance from someone online is going to be enough to prove to you that something works and something doesn't. It's still going to be trial and error, you're just going to pick what you believe is the least risky approach.

What someone else views as the best yellow, by coverage or colour, is not going to be the same as you view as best. You're going to just be painting the same colours as someone else. Even if you pick the best option, after viewing what someone else has painted by looking at pictures, it may not be what you ultimately want yourself. Therefore, trial and error.

So, I ask again, why not trust your own eyes and experience, and pick the paints yourself?

You got something against causal conversation or something? This like the fifth thread I've seen you actively harassing people on there threads.
On topic I prefer Vallejo yellows myself. I usually do a golden brown base coat before I start the yellows. Turns out real nice. They have a good series of tones depending on if you want lighter or darker. I have found that thining the yellows 1:1 is to thin. I've been trying 3:1 paint to water.

Not a specific paint suggestion, but I've heard people get better results for yellow if it's over a brown undercoat.

Best of luck.

 Johnno wrote:
No amount of ensurance from someone online is going to be enough to prove to you that something works and somethi... etc...

Yeah whatever man... Guess we should just shut the forum down right now then, and all go live as hermits. Thanks for the input.

 tavoittamaton wrote:
I was hoping that someone who's done some yellow painting in the past (which I understand to be one of the harder colors to paint) could give me some insight instead of me learning via trial and error.

I think Golden Yellow and equivalents are nice colours, some of the others can look a bit limey. I haven't found any Yellows that cover particularly well (not even among oils). Best thing with yellow (even small sections) is to undercoat in white. You should get a nice bright colour and it's easy enough to paint. Even if it doesn't cover it will look like a heavy wash with white highlights, which is actually desirable.

Check the Compatibility Chart to see what matches what. I would try to avoid GW paints if possible. They are okay paints, but you tend to pay the most and get the least paint. And they dry out quickly once you start using them.

Take a look at the guys I have posted in my gallery. I think that's the sort of color you're looking for. Funny thing is though, the colors I used were both browns. Despite being called browns, both are very deep,rich yellows and go on pretty well. The paints are both Vallejo: Filthy Brown and Scrofulous Brown.

Yellow is hard to paint....period.

My suggestion is to bring a color sample of the yellow you want to paint to the store tomorrow and ask them for input on what yellow to buy as well as what basecoat to put under the yellow.



Personally, I'm a fan of the now-discontinued Golden Yellow. However, I put down a base of also-now-discontinued Dheneb Stone as a foundation layer, which made for a very nice base for the yellow. GW makes equivalants in both base and layers paints ... I just don't know what they are called.

If you intend to paint a lot of yellow in the future I HIGHLY suggest investing in a basic airbrush and learning to thin your paints. I have found that the color goes on best with an airbrush.

The funny thing about yellow is that you would think it needs to be thick in order to get good coverage, but actually works best when it is well thinned

I use gw paints for my bad moon orkz. I have found that progressive coats working through the color range gives the best results. I use black undercoat then i paint in this order
Rhinox Hide
Scraga Brown
Averland sunset
Yriel Yellow
Flash Gitz highlight

hope this helps out.

Just start with a white primer, go with the brightest yellow you can find and then give it a wash of the current GW Sepia (whatever that new name is).

Personally I've found spray paints to be great, Army Painter Daemonic Yellow for one, or Krylon dual paint+primer sunshine yellow (don't be fooled by the primer part, undercoat it with white primer so you don't need as many layers).

I've recently switched to using an airbrush, so white primer, followed by Averland Sunset and then zenithally highlighting with a brighter yellow like P3 Cyngar.

All in all it's the sepia wash that makes it, I don't even highlight after, but you're more than welcome to, I'm sure it will add even more depth.

Check my gallery for examples of how this technique looks.

Ok, well More Dakka has an amazing looking yellow, so i would follow his advice. I believe im going to myself.

I've tried a lot of different yellows, meaning different manufacturers as well as different hues (light to dark). If you're going for a very bright, stark, blinding yellow, start with a white undercoat and use a lighter yellow. For a bolder yellow, having a light brown or orange undercoat helps a lot. Trying to apply a yellow by itself never works out, the color just doesnt have enough strength to overpower whats beneath it without a ton of coats (annoying to do) or an extremely dense pigment paint, which tends to be mucky on models.

That being said, I'd suggest you grab a good middle of the road yellow, not the brightest or the darkest, and experiment with applying it over different basecoats to see which final yellow you like the most.

Wait so OP do you want only GW paints or can it be any paints?