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
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.
Assemble your models
Before the painting begins you need to prepare your miniatures for the project. This may require cutting, filing, and gluing to assemble your miniature. We’ll show you how here. In some cases miniatures come preassembled and in that case you can just dive directly into Priming Your Models.
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Using Colour Primers
Priming is an essential part of painting your miniature. With our signature Colour Primers you can save loads of time when painting while ensuring that you have the best possible foundation for a smooth and impressive paint job. In this section we’ll show you the do’s and don’t of priming and talk a bit about why we make our Colour Primers the way we do.
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Painting a mini
You’re now ready to start painting! Applying an even and smooth basecoat layer to your miniature is vital to the painting experience. In this section we’ll share some tips and tricks on applying paint, thinning it to the right consistency, and everything else you need to know to nail that first basecoat.
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The Colour Triad System
Using an airbrush can be a great time-saving tool for hobbyists and we’ve made this technique even easier thanks to our unique Colour Triad System. With three colours developed to achieve a rich Base coat, vibrant Mid tone, and bright Highlight – we took the guess work out of colour selection for you.
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Bases make a difference
Completing a battle-ready base is a fantastic way to add theme and unity to your miniature or army. Guess how much it could add to the overall appearance if you were to add a few more techniques to really boost your basing? We’ll teach you how.
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