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So I started painting my Nids, I've tried all diff. color schems. I started to fall in love with my black base coat on my Nids. So I painted some of them all black with glossy armour plates on their backs, with a white/grey mix for their teeth and eyes.
Now my friend says that it looks like I'm just being cheesie and avoiding any real paint-job. It's true it is an easy way to paint an army, and do to this all black color you lose alot of detail. However, they do look dark and evil all black, like spiny shadows.

Well what do you think? I'm fence sitting on this idea. With encouragement I'll do it, with dought I'll go back to black/red or black/green. This is why I hate painting, I change my mind to much.

Satin black or gloss black with a semi-flat red or terracotta would look interesting. The black area might sort of float the contrasting red scales. I'd like to see an example of that one.

Kind of an 'Aliens' appeal I'd think... might look cool.

Any way you can toss up some pics of what you have? Would definitely help the masses give an opinion

Second the pics. Lets see them.

Start with black and work up drybrush layers. Do a big dark grey, a smaller lighter grey, and finally a detail metallic silver. Maintains the detail and looks wery nice.

sounds good. Glossed black looks great for nids IMO.

Doing nice bases will also make the point that you like the black, and are not just doing it because you're lazy. It'll also get you past the 3-color rule for many tourneys.

try adding blue, red or green glazes over the black - you can some really cool effects.
Maybe red eyes too?

There is an example of black painted Nids in the BBB. The guy in there really took the easy way out, just black undercoat and gloss varnish, with highlights on the pointy stuff (he also didn't paint the sand on his bases, which is legit if you want it to look like sand). As long as you have enough gloss varnish on it to pick up light and provide the natural shading that you lose from not highlighting, it looks good. Heck, it looks better than most of the fruity 'Eavy Metal schemes in our codex. I was considering doing mine in this fashion (makes going through 100+ gaunts a bit easier). While in the book he used yellow patterns on claws and carapace, you could get a very good effect by going with black skin and bone colored carapace.

Go for it dude! Like you said, it's both quite easy and quick. But, the main thing is it's gonna look dead hard!!
Even if i never liked the bugs myself, I'm half tempted to do a batch myself.
Hmmm, I WILL need some more xenos scum for Dark Heresy, btw...
Tempting...

Get some pics posted please, we wanne see 'em.

Black with red eyes FTW.

Although green or yellow eyes would also look suitably sinister. Hordes of flickering, ravenous eyes in the darkness.

For larger beasties, it may be a bit dull. You could break it up with subtle grey patterns or contrasting red, yellow, white, or green ala snakes, wasps, etc.

HungryTaz wrote:Kind of an 'Aliens' appeal I'd think... might look cool.

That's what I originally wanted to try with my Nids, but ended up "adding" quite a few colors until it was something totally different.

Back to the original question, like others have suggested, I'd use some very light drybrushing and then do the details (teeth, eyes, etc) in a color that makes them somewhat stand out. Put it all on a well thought out and detailed base, and it'd look bad-ass. In the end, it's your model; if you like it, then that's all that mattes, and let your tactics on the battlefield do the talking.