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Pick a colour scheme

PLAY IN COLOURS

Playing games with painted miniatures is 100% cooler than with grey, unpainted ones. Painted miniatures make your games come alive with immersion and add fun to every session!

Read on and we’ll teach you a bit about what to consider when picking the colours for your board game, miniature, or army. Use this as inspiration for your next project – or ignore it completely and come up with something crazy and different!

COLOUR THEORY

Colour is complex – but knowing just a bit about colour theory can help you choose a colour scheme that works well for your army. Understanding the relationship between colours and how they mix can help you achieve great results. Colours on opposite sides of the circle are each other’s complementary colour since they create a lot of contrast when used together. Neutral colours like white and black can be thought of as being in the center of the wheel, and so naturally you can always add these in the amount you need to get your colour scheme to work. Below you will find three examples of how you could select colours from the colour wheel. We started by selecting the skin colour for the model and decided on the other colours based on these patterns, getting wildly differing results each time:

Complementary

By using a complementary colour we can make certain elements pop. It is an easy scheme to paint. Here the muted blues of the orc’s skin make his rusted armor stand out and emphasize the battle damage.

Split-complementary

You can create even more life in your models with a split in the complementary colours. Here the shadows of the orc’s skin are a cooler turquoise compared to the highlights and it also doubles as verdigris on the armour.

Analogous

This scheme can help you get a realistic and balanced look, even when the subject is something fantastical and magical. By using only red, orange, and yellow hues this orc is radiating a scorching magic fire.

Dipit says

The right colour combo tastes great,

but looks even better!

Dipit says

Awesome Metallics

The Army Painters range of Warpaints™ comprises of 18 different coloured metallics from the very realistic Gold, Iron, Silver and Bronze looks to the fantastical Azure Magic and Zephyr Pink. Our secret ingredient is Fairy Dust, a transparent metallic Effects Warpaint™ that will turn any colour into a metallic. You can drybrush it on or mix it right on the palette.

Be adventurous in your palette

Choosing contrasting colours ‑ or colours close to each other (see the color wheel) – all results in different looks. Sometimes least apparent combination of colors works the best – or colors not associated with a particular army, like white armour for dark elves, or pink for alien horrors from deep space. Go for it! It will turn heads at any gaming convention.

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