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I've poked around the interwebs a little but I thought I would ask here as well, I'm looking to paint one of my Infinity models who has thermo-optic camouflage (think predator movie camo) and I wanted to paint him in a partially camo-ed state. Like his systems was refreshing or falling down, since the only time you use the actual models in Infinitiy (and not just a camo token) is when they aren't actively hiding... but they still get defensive bonuses for their ability so I want to visually model it.

Ahem. I'm leaning towards doing something like these tau stealth suits I saw a ways back:


(stolen from the google)

But I use clear acrylic bases so my models have that nifty "wherever you go, there you are" thing going on, and I'm trying to think of some kind of generic coloration or scheme to represent this. So far I'm looking into:

Greyscale

Blue/white - kind of like a ghost

or anything else that would work.

Any thoughts? Thanks for looking, if a picture of the model I'm looking to hide would help, just let me know.

I don't recall (I've certainly lurked your threads before - can't recall if I've commented) if you have an airbrush. If you do, Alclad chrome might be an option. It takes a hell of a lot of prep to apply it properly, but a (more or less) mirror finish on the camouflaged bits would retain that "wherever you go, there you are" element better than anything else, barring a partial recast in clear resin (which would look spectacular, I imagine, but would also be a hell of a lot of work, even compared to prepping for true-metal finishes).

Another possibility is color-shifting pearlescent paints. Again, they're not the most user-friendly products, being made primarily for automotive (and, to a much narrower degree, scale automotive) applications. A sufficiently light version (especially a cooler grey/blue base) might give a sort of Ghost in the Shell TO camo effect. Less flexible than chrome, yes, but easier to apply, if you can find the right product.

If those options are impractical, best I can think of is to simply mimic the Stealth Suit approach, matching the terrain to a cohesive basing scheme. Having mounted your models to clear acrylic, you'll just have to pick whatever terrain you think you'll play on most in lieu of a particular "home field." It won't be any more odd to have the camo mismatched to the table as it is to have terrain-specific modeled bases

I do, indeed, have an airbrush, though I'm an amateur with it at best. Partial recast would be fun but yeah I'm even more an amateur at that

Hmm maybe iridescent paint is the ticket.

Much food for thought, thanks for the input

You could go with a pattern such as wireframe, or the Infinity hexagons, to try and simulate a transition phase with the digital cells glitching out. (I know you can get hexagon stencils on ebay).

 Smacks wrote:
You could go with a pattern such as wireframe, or the Infinity hexagons, to try and simulate a transition phase with the digital cells glitching out. (I know you can get hexagon stencils on ebay).

This is probably how I'd go about it. I don't know how active camo works in Infinity fluffwise, but having the cells in the process of 'turning off' would look cool and not area specific.

Hmm this new idea is interesting, gotta find something to use as a reference point. Maybe dark blue with light blue/white grids/hexes?

Could almost use a frisket of the right shape but it would be hard to bend it around the contours of the model. And I don't wanna order one of those airbrush peelable mask kits just for the one or two models, but that would do it too. Hmmmmm.

How steady is your brushwork? If the area where you want the effect is sufficiently small, it might be worth masking off and spraying the base gradient, then freehanding the lines of the hex pattern. It would be a bit tedious, but shouldn't be terribly difficult. Less work, at least, than cutting your own stencil and trying to secure it around such complex shapes.

It might also be possible to make a stamp. You could cut the shape out of some heavy paper, or something spongy like dense foam or polystyrene, and then mount it on the back of an old brush.

Edit: maybe even rubber? Stamping on top of a real primer might give you a bit more traction.

Interesting ideas folks. Gonna have to figure one of these out.

So that's what I came up with. I got some good suggestions but this was the last model to do in the set and I like finishing projects so I went with simple. I did the greyscale with the blue/white line (but not as fancy as some of them) and then gave the greyscale side a glaze of plasma fluid ghost tint. He works for me. May try to refine the technique if I get the larger TO camo T.A.G./robot thing, but this'll do for now.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions folks