I think my scheme is a little bland. Help me spice it up?

[tanagra]

This is an older picture from when I first started playing 40k, but my scheme remains the same (minus the black lines on the carapace). Catachan green on the skin and Gore Red on the carapace.

Looking at all my models, I feel the skin color just disappears when not under direct light.


Any suggestions on how I can change that? I'm open to anything at this point. A different color all-together, using a slightly different shade to highlight...

I just want some advice before I buy more paint is all.

[Deleted]

You can make the carapace pop a lot more by just painting in the recesses with a black wash. (aka "shade" as the new GW washes are called now..keep forgetting that) Then if u feel like putting more time into it either feathering or wet-blending some lighter red onto the edges will make it pop even more.

There are a lot of different ways to make the skin pop more, but what i like to do with gaunts is prime them black, then prime them with white primer, leaving the black showing in the recesses. Then, off the top of my head, a wash of two parts green shade and one part brown shade (Sorry can't remember the names of the new GW paints) should make a nice tone thats relatively close to ur old one. No guarantees on the color though since i haven't tried that mix :/ but thats a really easy one-step method to make the skin pop out. If the wash feels too thin you can mix in a dab of catachan green to increase the opacity

Hope this helps!

EDIT: painted up an extra ripper using the technique mentioned above



Skin: 3:2:1 mix Green wash, brown wash, catachan green
Carapice: Red gore, black wash, blood red highlight
Tongue: 50:50 mix red gore, red wash
Pick out teeth with skull white

To make your nids a bit more unique, you can also either add patterning on the carapace (ripper was to small for this though) or add some red dots or some other pattern where the skin meets the Carapice



Only advice for claws etc is to water down the black paint or use a wash to paint them, that way they wont be a solid black

Also, id definently base your models. Bases can make or break the look of ur models

[Davor]

How about using a different green? I almost think it looks drab. Maybe a brighter or darker green. This one looks boring so that is why you think you need to change it.

Maybe feathering the carapace will help it Pop out.

[Squire]

I'd go with Orphenox's advice. A bit of black shade where the carapace plates meet, then a slightly lighter red on the edges of the carapace plate. That way each plate will stand out. Try to make sure there isn't too extreme a leap between the existing red colour and the red highlight, or it'll look weird and won't look natural.

You could try picking out the teeth. I paint the entire mouth and eye sockets of my nids black, then paint the tongue pink before picking out the individual teeth and eyes in skull white. Some people don't like super white teeth like that and prefer a more yellowy bone colour for teeth, but it's just a matter of taste. The white stands out more and the bone is a more natural colour

With all painting, do things you are comfortable doing and use a good brush. Use a fine detail brush for the touch ups I mentioned.

[Macradon]

Highlights!
Highlight are great to make a color scheme pop out! And some washes/shades would be awesome to see.
When people paint some light/brown skins for 'nids, they usually use washes because washes are awesome.

[jvh792]

Add some color to the black claws and hooves and teeth. The black probably looked good in your mind, but with your red and green turning out so drab, it has nothing to make stand out. Black works best against bright color if you're going for "pop". But against 2 other drab colors, it only adds to the bleh factor.

[jvh792]

I even see black highlights on the carapace. I'd try several other colors and see what you like best. Perhaps a light blue for carapace instead of the red? Adding white highlights to that would add tons of crisp and clean looking pop. The claws being black may work out then.

[gozolve]

I think a wash would work wonders. Also may be look into getting a brighter color to fill in the joints. I think just catachan green with no shadows or highlights makes all of the awesome details of the model get kind of washed out.

[Protagonist]

There isnt enough contrast between tge carapace/skin tones. Washing/highlighting should help with this

[Macradon]

When I get home from vacation, I'll try to paint something that matches your color scheme and see what I can do.

[monkeychuka]

I started with a similar colour scheme to you.  My basecoat was Camo Green.  You could try dry brushing lighter colours over the top.  I used a heavy drybrush of Nurgling Green. Then light dry brush with a mixture of Nurgling Green/Ushabti Bone. People have commented that I have 'Zombie' nids now but I like it.  I blogged about it here

[jvh792]

I agree. Lighter color highlights will help a lot. Gunna stick with ditching the black claws though