I managed to get all my 3000 parts primed. Now to test color.
I bought some new paint colors specifically for my Alpha guys. Tough to buy paint from pictures online, but I think I got pretty lucky. I picked out swatches from the Vallejo Catalog and ended up with medium blue, light turquoise and blue green.
I based this guy in medium blue, then gave a quick overhead pass with the light turquoise. Looking good but could be mistaken for Ultrasmurfs in the wrong light (not necessarily a bad thing for Alphas, mwuhaha). To get those green tones in, I did a quick wash of all details with the Secret Weapon Algae wash.
That's a good start, but still not as green as I want. I followed it up with a broader tonal wash at the edges of panels with GW Athonian Camoshade. Here it is midway through.
Now to get some contrast, I started picking out details in grey. These will be NMM steel eventually, but I just wanted contrast for now. There's also a touch of blue green edge highlighting here.
And for the final touch, some nice orange rust to contrast the blue. This is done with my favorite Modelmates Rust Effect. There will be more later, but this gives you the idea.
I was a little nervous at first, but I think it's coming together. It'll look even more menacing when I darken up some of that grey and have a little more contrasting trim. What's everyone think? Hoping to carve out a few hours this week to do all my airbrushing. Tough to find a good multi-hour block to paint this many models.
~Deet
I don't know, man...that wash seems like a bad idea. Shouldn't the bright green be on the edges not the recesses?
ReplyDeleteWhat if you base coated in the green you want, and then washed with blues? Basically getting blues in the recesses? I think if you did 5+ coats of blue wash it would work and be very easy to do a large army that way.
Deet, this might not be a bad idea. You should try a test model.
DeleteI want blue models. Not green. It's not a bright green on those edges- it's really meant to look more like corrosion. I'm not sure what green edges would be other than a magical glow or something. Plus, that amount of washing would be a pain in the ass.
DeleteI already based everything last night. I did one model with the same two blues, but then airbrushed a little bit darker green in the same places so I could get a cleaner transition. I'll try washing that tonight and see how it comes out.
was going for a palate similar to this:
Deletehttp://shiftedmatrix.com/wp-content/gallery/alpha_legion_done/chosen1.jpg
I'll be going back in with some black/blue oil wash to darken things up later.
Just trying to help out. Alpha legion are often a greenish blue, with green on the edges. That's why I thought doing the blue wash method might work. I did an alpha legion army a while back as a commission. It is very difficult to get the blue-green effect right and not spend ages on it.
DeleteIts a pity I don't have more pics of the work I did online but here are of the vehicles. http://tauofwar.blogspot.com/2012/01/commission-alpha-legion-rhino-horde.html
The guy wanted blue armor highlighted up to scorpion green. Was really tough to make that transition.
Thanks Tim. Sorry if that sounded crabby not the intent. Appreciate the input. This army is a tough one. I'm fighting wanting to constantly improve my models but needing to speed up my process with less and less hobby time.
ReplyDeleteOh and those rhinos are cool. I couldn't picture what you meant but it's an interesting take
DeleteNo worries. Alpha legion are a tough army to get right, but I support you in this! To the painting table!
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