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Using the GW paint 'Kantor Blue'. Is it too dark? I can't decide on a color for the poor marines.

I think Kantor Blue is a bit dark. You might get better results with Macragge Blue. Kantor Blue would be better for Crimson Fists or Night Lords, whose blue armor is very dark. Ultramarines should be somewhat brighter.

I like it ! as long as you plaster those Ultra symbols all over them with arrows and what not it should look good!

that is just my opinion tho

lastly give yourself credit! its not painted badly! some of us wish they finish what we start so it ends up painted at ALL!!!

GW uses Macragge Blue, washed in the recesses with Drakenhof Nightshade followed by two highlights, one of Calgar Blue and one of Fenrisian Grey.

You can paint them any color you want. If you don't think they are Ultra marine enough, call 'em a successor chapter of the Ultras and you are all good. Heck you get to make up your own chapter name and stuff then. (Have fun with it.)

 ZergSmasher wrote:
I think Kantor Blue is a bit dark. You might get better results with Macragge Blue. Kantor Blue would be better for Crimson Fists or Night Lords, whose blue armor is very dark. Ultramarines should be somewhat brighter.

That's what I was thinking too, definitely on the dark side. I'm actually trying to put a space marine force together but am having a hard time deciding on a color scheme for them. I like the blue, but it seems a bit overdone. Reading up on the different chapters to see if one tickles my fancy re: color. Have a drop pod and librarian terminator that need painting but I'm not going to start until I find a look I like, testing on that rhino and a chaos tacsquad.

I don't see any problems using a darker blue for UM, but the way it looks currently is a bit too close to purple for me.

Perhaps add some black or grey to mcraggae blue? the kantor blue has a bit too much red in it, I think.

my £0.02.

Kantor Blue is on the dark side but I think it's fine if you like it. Kantor Blue is probably closer to what I'd expect for Crimson Fists.

But yeah, do whatever you like. Picking a colour for Space Marines is hard because whatever you pick, you are going to be seeing a lot of it I stopped collecting my Space Wolf army largely because I got sick of the grey I originally chose

Looks fine to be, I like my Ultras towards the darker side. Adding red, bright shiny gold and white squad markings and such will 'lighten' the whole model, so do some of that if the overall impression is too dark for your tastes.

I’ve seen Ultramarines in everything from powder blue to almost black. There is no wrong answer. I tend towards a richer sapphire myself.

On a techical note: of what I can see of your paint work, it’s fine. Your photography could use some work, so we can get a better view of your minis. It’s somethings I’m wrestling with myself. Neutral background, and multiple sources of indirect/diffused light would help a lot. The glare, particularly on the marine, makes it hard to see what you’ve done.

 SirDonlad wrote:
I don't see any problems using a darker blue for UM, but the way it looks currently is a bit too close to purple for me.

Perhaps add some black or grey to mcraggae blue? the kantor blue has a bit too much red in it, I think.

my £0.02.

Yeah, not liking the dark tone. Will def try to mix the mcrag blue, good call


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 Nevelon wrote:
I’ve seen Ultramarines in everything from powder blue to almost black. There is no wrong answer. I tend towards a richer sapphire myself.

On a techical note: of what I can see of your paint work, it’s fine. Your photography could use some work, so we can get a better view of your minis. It’s somethings I’m wrestling with myself. Neutral background, and multiple sources of indirect/diffused light would help a lot. The glare, particularly on the marine, makes it hard to see what you’ve done.

I still have yet to find a good set up to take pictures...my room in which they are set up is too dark, and I'm too impatient too find a suitable set up at my painting table. Will need to do that. All pics are done on my phone camera, galaxy s5.

I always use Macragge, Drakenhof, Drakenhof again in recesses, Calgar highlight, Fenrisian sharp highlight with a Guilliman blue glaze, gives an incredible, rich, blue colour and I do this on everything

rowboatjellyfanxiii wrote:
I always use Macragge, Drakenhof, Drakenhof again in recesses, Calgar highlight, Fenrisian sharp highlight with a Guilliman blue glaze, gives an incredible, rich, blue colour and I do this on everything

This is pathetic but how do I highlight?/no idea how to do that technique.

grumpy_newenglander wrote:

rowboatjellyfanxiii wrote:
I always use Macragge, Drakenhof, Drakenhof again in recesses, Calgar highlight, Fenrisian sharp highlight with a Guilliman blue glaze, gives an incredible, rich, blue colour and I do this on everything

This is pathetic but how do I highlight?/no idea how to do that technique.

Take your brush, use a lighter colour on all the sharper edges of the model, then if you want, do it again, being more selective (i.e sharp corners) with a lighter colour. It's a basic painting technique, I suggest you watch the official Warhammer TV stuff for reference.

grumpy_newenglander wrote:

rowboatjellyfanxiii wrote:
I always use Macragge, Drakenhof, Drakenhof again in recesses, Calgar highlight, Fenrisian sharp highlight with a Guilliman blue glaze, gives an incredible, rich, blue colour and I do this on everything

This is pathetic but how do I highlight?/no idea how to do that technique.

Take a look on Warhammer TV on YouTube. There's even a tutorial specifically for Ultramarines Duncan shows off both edge highlighting and drybrushing, and you can see the two models side-by-side to decide which is right for you based on what you like as output, and how much time you want to spend.