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as varl says, something darker than blue for the wash could work well, and if you combine it with brighter lights the mini would look like a cromed chavalier in his super-shiny armour, which creates a great effect (thought it´s better to use it only on special characters, like the hq, to make them clearly visible over the rest and also give them a unique aura), if choosing from those three i think the middle is very good painted, but it seem somewhat just like another out of the mill marine, so the right one has it because he´s kinda unique.

apart from it consider making a lesser change (weird-colored shoulderpads, differently painted boots or gloves, a contrasting helmet, etc.) and change the icon just slightly (EG: put the icon downwards and place a skull or other kind of imp decoration in the middle) to create your own sucesor chapter, that´s allways interesting

I think the middle one is the best. I advise against using straight black as your shadow since it sucks the life out of the model. It dominates the colors if you use it and makes it look really dingy and unpretty.

Hey since we are judging smurf color schemes what do you think of these bros? the sargeant doesn't have as much white in the highlight so I'm trying to decide which looks better. Thanks

Tyronus Fruitridge Powers wrote:
I think the middle one is the best. I advise against using straight black as your shadow since it sucks the life out of the model. It dominates the colors if you use it and makes it look really dingy and unpretty.

Hey since we are judging smurf color schemes what do you think of these bros? the sargeant doesn't have as much white in the highlight so I'm trying to decide which looks better. Thanks

I am a fan of how they are turning out! I am normally not a fan of the powder blue look, but they are looking good!

So I decided that I am going to try drakenhof nightshade on the recesses. After it dries and I clean up the areas around the recesses, I will post pics. Stay tuned! :-)

Tyronus Fruitridge Powers wrote:
I think the middle one is the best. I advise against using straight black as your shadow since it sucks the life out of the model. It dominates the colors if you use it and makes it look really dingy and unpretty.

Hey since we are judging smurf color schemes what do you think of these bros? the sargeant doesn't have as much white in the highlight so I'm trying to decide which looks better. Thanks

hey what do you use for your gold shoulder trim? Also that powder blue is very cool.

The gold is vallejo model air gold and the blue is minitaire lagoon blue highlighted with a mix of lagoon blue and minitaire ancient bone.

sounds pretty cool, I´m not a big fan of the ultra-dudes, i think they acted like cowards during the heresy and like tyrants on the post-heresy , but i have to admit your color scheme sounds just great , and i wish i had your painting hability , anyway, think twice about all the sucesor-chapter thing, that way you wont have to be ashamed that your minis are part of that infamous chapter

I don't know what the modern range offers but Devlan Mud wash was a good way of finishing off these models.
You could experiment and create a wash using a very watered down brown paint of some kind and a little bit of dish detergent.

Plenty of online recipes for more detail.


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Tyronus Fruitridge Powers wrote:
I think the middle one is the best. I advise against using straight black as your shadow since it sucks the life out of the model. It dominates the colors if you use it and makes it look really dingy and unpretty.

Hey since we are judging smurf color schemes what do you think of these bros? the sargeant doesn't have as much white in the highlight so I'm trying to decide which looks better. Thanks

Sergeant for sure, the other is too faded looking.

By finishing off some of these do you meen just the gold parts? Because brown wash looks a bit icky on ultramarine blue (the actual colour) unless mixed with black wash. FYI devlan mud has become agrax earthshade.

Update: so I tried the nightshade and I am not impressed with the results. I may try a wash that I can apply to the armor plates (or whole mini) to finish it off. I am thinkng either the delvan mud equivalent or using the guilliman blue and hope that hits the recesses well. thoughts?

 Havok210 wrote:
Update: so I tried the nightshade and I am not impressed with the results. I may try a wash that I can apply to the armor plates (or whole mini) to finish it off. I am thinkng either the delvan mud equivalent or using the guilliman blue and hope that hits the recesses well. thoughts?

Why not try something out of the box like a green wash?

Eldercaveman wrote:

 Havok210 wrote:
Update: so I tried the nightshade and I am not impressed with the results. I may try a wash that I can apply to the armor plates (or whole mini) to finish it off. I am thinkng either the delvan mud equivalent or using the guilliman blue and hope that hits the recesses well. thoughts?

Why not try something out of the box like a green wash?

I have considered it for some special characters, but I am really trying to replicate or come close to the color that GW uses for their Ultramarines. I have followed their step-by-step and it never comes out like theirs. Also, I am not a highly skilled painter, so I am trying to keep it as basic as possible.

Updated pics. I used the Earthshade wash on the torso up. Guilliman blue on the left leg. Thoughts on the armor color?

I think the blue wash is just saturating the blue color you already have, but not really shading the recesses (not enough, at any rate). I like the results of the earthshade better. as a personal preference, I just apply it directly to the recesses instead of across the whole armor surface. it leaves less of a dusty, dull armor look that way. but that's just me; some folks really dig that look and use it to great effect

 varl wrote:
I think the blue wash is just saturating the blue color you already have, but not really shading the recesses (not enough, at any rate).

yeah, exactly that, try a dark wash to give them a gimdark look, or stay with the earthshade one for them to look like dusty veterans, if you don´t like the resullt try something weird,., like a white or green or stuff like that (i saw the white one once and the mini looked like some kind of super-hero, the green one tends to be for necrons, but giving your marines the "alien shine look" gives them personality without having to change the "uniform pattern", the weird shades are allways funny, thought i don´t think they´r what you´re looking for, so try black or stay earthshade and all will go well)

Decided to give the GW layer technique another shot. Let me know what you think.

the helmet, shoulder pads and right arm look pretty good. the torso and legs seem a bit of a mess, though; looks like the wash went everywhere instead of just into the recesses. I think with the rest of the detail work you've done on other minis, this one will come out well.

 varl wrote:
the helmet, shoulder pads and right arm look pretty good. the torso and legs seem a bit of a mess, though; looks like the wash went everywhere instead of just into the recesses. I think with the rest of the detail work you've done on other minis, this one will come out well.

He is still WIP. I stopped with the helmet, pads, and right arm before calling it a night.

 Havok210 wrote:

 varl wrote:
the helmet, shoulder pads and right arm look pretty good. the torso and legs seem a bit of a mess, though; looks like the wash went everywhere instead of just into the recesses. I think with the rest of the detail work you've done on other minis, this one will come out well.

He is still WIP. I stopped with the helmet, pads, and right arm before calling it a night.

well, i was just going to say that the cammo-mess style at the legs is great

anyway, you´re a great painter , even if you´re with the blue guys , keep the good work going

Update: a little more work done on the armor. GW layering takes FOREVER. Lol

your first ones were very two dimensional. It's unfortunate, since the black wash isn't the bestestest of washes, but give it a whirl. Thin it out and apply it selectively so it doesn't all run down and pool. Your current attempt looks much better in terms of depth. Next step is getting lighting/color blending, as the inside of the greave strikes me as too bright. Don't get hung up on that though. For now, just focus on one technique, and when you have it solved, THEN go on to the other techniques. Remember, once you get better, you can always repaint the old models, as that is exactly what I did.

Thank you everyone for the comments and feedback. I appreciate it!

Anyway, here is an updated pic with a little more work done on the armor.

take whatever color you have, mix some white into it, and grab a thin brush. Apply this bright color to no more than 20 places, as lines along the edges of surfaces. So: Feet, top of the knee, one edge on the hand, one edge on the elbow joint, one portion of the arch on the mouth grille, one portion above one eye, and one portion of the helmet's top vent. There should be a highlighting or edging tutorial somehwere on dakka. ILets see if I can dig it up, and remember not to get distracted on the way....

it's a simple trick and it adds more depth to the model.

this is looking like a good, clean base. some edge highlighting, like poda_t suggests, along with your usual level of detail will really bring this model to life. I look forward to seeing the end result