[Lord of the Night]

I am considering starting a Space Marine Company of my own to match some of the others here, and the Astral Knights might be my choice. However I am unsure of exactly what colour armour this depiction of Chapter Master Artor Amhrad sports; is it a white-grey or silver or silver-white, or something else entirely? And what Citadel paints would I need to use to achieve that colour?

Can anyone answer these questions?


LotN

 

[Nordicus]

Hum the image is a 403 forbidden unfortunately - Otherwise I will gladly weigh in

 

[Lord of the Night]

Hum the image is a 403 forbidden unfortunately - Otherwise I will gladly weigh in

Odd. Changed from link to actual image.


LotN

 

[Nordicus]

Odd. Changed from link to actual image.

There we go!

From what I can find around the various databases, the armor is silver-white which I would say is a metallic colour. If you want to achieve a very white metal, there is a quick and easy way to do it, that only requires two paints:

- Vallejo Air: Steel
- Nuln Oil

Steel is a air paint, but has enough pigments to be able to be painted on with a brush and will cover almost any undercolour in one coat. It is also thinned down, so you can put it on fairly heavily and still get a nice even coat when it dries. (After I discovered this about the Vallejo Air line metals in general, I have hardly used anything else. They're that good!)
It is a very bright metal color and should do very nicely for the model above. It also has more metallic flakes than any non-gold GW colour, so you will get a very solid metallic colour.

It is also very good for drybrushing, ironically enough, because of the high pigment it has. I use it for edge highlighting on my models and the final metal sheen.

Alternatively, if you want more shadow in the model you can use Ironbreaker as a undercoat, Nuln Oil it and use the Steel as drybrushing.

 

[MidnightSun]

Looks like a very bright silver with blue to me - white with blue trim would be too much like a bunch of other Marine chapters, in my opinion (Praetors of Orpheus spring to mind as one, I'm sure there are others).

I'd do it how I did my GK; black undercoat, basecoat Leadbelcher, wash it Drakenhof Nightshade (probably Nuln Oil in this instance - for GK you want blue steel but for Astral Knights, you don't want the trim to match the armour), layer it Ironbreaker, edge highlight Runefang Steel. For the blue, I'd be tempted to do a darker blue than in the picture; light blue and white has never worked for me as a colour scheme, whether it's Marines Errant in 40k, Azorius in MTG, or whatever. Macragge Blue in a couple of coats to make sure it's solid, edge highlight Calgar Blue.

 

[Lord of the Night]

- Vallejo Air: Steel
- Nuln Oil

Steel is a air paint, but has enough pigments to be able to be painted on with a brush and will cover almost any undercolour in one coat. It is also thinned down, so you can put it on fairly heavily and still get a nice even coat when it dries. (After I discovered this about the Vallejo Air line metals in general, I have hardly used anything else. They're that good!)

It is a very bright metal color and should do very nicely for the model above. It also has more metallic flakes than any non-gold GW colour, so you will get a very solid metallic colour.

Interesting. I wouldn't have thought that an Airbrush Paint could be used like that. Would you suggest a white or black undercoat then a layer of the Steel Air? Or a Leadbelcher basecoat then a Steel Air layer?

And I assume the Nuln Oil is for the standard wash-darkening of the edges and trims, etc.

Would you say that all the Vallejo Air Metallics, ie Arctic Blue or Signal Red, could be used like that? I'm no Airbrush painter but if they can all be used like that, i'd be very interested.

Looks like a very bright silver with blue to me.

I'd do it how I did my GK; black undercoat, basecoat Leadbelcher, wash it Drakenhof Nightshade (probably Nuln Oil in this instance - for GK you want blue steel but for Astral Knights, you don't want the trim to match the armour), layer it Ironbreaker, edge highlight Runefang Steel. For the blue, I'd be tempted to do a darker blue than in the picture. Macragge Blue in a couple of coats to make sure it's solid, edge highlight Calgar Blue.

Also interesting. Would you suggest a light, medium or heavy wash of Nuln Oil over the Leadbelcher? Also a total layer or partial layer of Ironbreaker?


LotN

 

[Nordicus]

Would you suggest a white or black undercoat then a layer of the Steel Air? Or a Leadbelcher basecoat then a Steel Air layer?

Personally I use a black undercoat for metallics in general. The shade will be a bit darker, but it's more forgiving if you should miss a spot. White will just make it a right pain if you cannot reach a spot, where black will simply be a shade. You can see my newest post in my PLOG for a example of how the Air paints look - I have used the darkest one they have, which is Gunmetal: The Vallejo equivalent of Leadbelcher.

I would get both Gunmetal and Steel in the Vallejo line. Then you can experiment if you wish to use Steel exclusively or apply Gunmetal as a basecoat first.

And I assume the Nuln Oil is for the standard wash-darkening of the edges and trims, etc.

Aye exactly - Depending on what you go for you can either use Nuln Oil, Aggrax Earthsahde or a watered down Vallejo Smoke. Seeing as you're going for a clean silver, Nuln Oil is your best bet. One could argue blue shades, but personally I think they often look too blue and then it more looks like a cheap pendant bought at a gift shop than actual metal.

Would you say that all the Vallejo Air Metallics, ie Arctic Blue or Signal Red, could be used like that?

Absolutely - All Vallejos Air metal paints are far superior in my humble opinion. GW wins by having some shades not available anywhere else (Brass Scorpion being a prime example), but if you can find the same shade with Vallejo Air, it's usually better in my experience, not to mention easier to work with as you don't need to water them down with any form of thinner.

 

[DeathKlokk]

Anybody else think it's funny that the guy has 13 swords as decoration on him and is carrying an axe!?!?