Raven Guard Black

[Larkyn]

I was wondering how black armor would look if I didn't do any grey/white highlights, as Raven Guard are stealthy, it gives me the excuse to be lazy that the armor of the astartes is a matte black, that doesn't reflect light at all. I'm a novice painter at best, and highlighting kills me every time I try to do it.

Of course, the few non-black areas (any white, shoulder pad edging, etc.) would probably get highlighted, or perhaps not...

 

Opinions?

[Solid Zaku]

It would look like my army does right now....nothing but a basecoat and a distinct aroma of complacency and shame. If you're having trouble getting black right, then try watching shading and highlighting tutorials. Or try a new color scheme, the RG did have some successors after all.

[GumbaFish]

It would look like any other flat color on a miniature, lacking depth or interest.

[Imperial Deceit]

There is a good reason why military weapons are painted matte black, and if you are trying to have a stealthy looking army then matte is the way to go. I find that a lot of painters have weird opinions toward this, on the one hand they claim that a tank shouldn't look like it just came off the assembly line as it has probably seen many many centuries of war. On the other hand they also believe that your space marines themselves should be shiny and clean. I paint all of my pieces with a matte finish on the primary colours because if you understand optics then you know what reds do in darkness. They are also all clean because I feel that even an ancient vehicle will be maintained with the utmost care, battle damage repaired and properly cleaned. It appeases the machine spirit.

[Jacinda]

Painting black with depth is actually easier than you think. First, take a look at the classic Raven Wing Attack squad.

http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_Custom...ain_873x627.jpg

 

For the most part what you get is black with lined highlights. It works with angular models pretty well, but there are two things to notice. First, it's not black. The base color is a dark grey. Second is the edge highlights themselves. You don't have to have a steady hand; you can just do a light dry brushing over the whole model so that the lighter grey hits all the edges.

 

You can do this easily with black spray primer, The Fang (Fenris Grey) and Abbadon Black (Chaos Black) and a small pallet to work from. Prime the models black.

Mix 2 parts grey to 1 part black and paint the whole model.

Drybrush with The Fang.

 

To finish off the model, paint the weapons in Leadbelcher and give them a wash with Null Oil. There you go. Tournament ready in no time. You can always do more -- shoulder pad trim jumps to mind right away -- but the basic method stays the same. What ever you chose to do the point is that the trick to painting black while maintaining details and depth is to not paint black; paint dark grey.

[GumbaFish]

Imperial Deceit I think you are talking about something different. Having the miniature matte does not have to do with highlighting it, it has to do with how you varnish it pr mix matte medium into your paint. You can have a highlighted miniature that is matte and one with no highlights that is satin or glossy.

[striker8]

Imperial Deceit I think you are talking about something different. Having the miniature matte does not have to do with highlighting it, it has to do with how you varnish it pr mix matte medium into your paint. You can have a highlighted miniature that is matte and one with no highlights that is satin or glossy.

 

This so much this. Matte just means a flat non reflective surface and even the flatest matte finish reflects some light.

 

Even something painted flat black in real life will have areas that are brighter and shifting to grey and even white on very sharp angles, along with and areas of shadow that will be dark and black.

 

If you want to paint an army with black armor and imply they wear a non reflective black to be stealthy you just don;t use many light highlights. You use very dark grey for most highlights with an occasions medium grey spot here and there on corners and such places light would catch.

 

Remember you can;t highlight white and you can't shade black. Meaning with white you may only add shadow and with black you can only add highlight. Black sprayed mini's without highlights aren't painted just base coated and you can't spin it any other way.