Advice on a paint scheme wanted!

[Zeratul29]

So I've decided on an order for my sisters. I want to do the order of our Martyred Lady. I like the color scheme of black armor with red cloths and silver detail. Plus the aunkh is their symbol and I've always liked Egyptian. Any suggestions on how to make the scheme stand out? What kind of red works for this Order? Any advice or pics you guys have would be greatly appreciated!

[*Furyou Miko]

Huh, it is kind of ankh-like. Didn't really notice that, but it makes sense, ankhs being a death sigil and all.

[WarriorFish]

The traditional colour is a bit brighter, Blood Red (or whatever it's called now) but there's nothing stopping you from using a darker red for example. I think that would look quite good with the black and silver.

[Fibonacci]

You might find this useful

The B&C Sisters of Battle painter.

[Grgobart]

Well I can offer my Sisters, as an example of how a darker red looks like (on an almost Martyred Lady scheme)

And, if it's not too obvious to mention, there are quite a few pictures of Sisters in the Gallery!

[Zeratul29]

Hmm, yes I think I'm gonna go with a brighter red than that. Thank you for the comparison pic Grgobat. Any suggestions on how to do highlights for black armor?

[Jacinda]

I can tell you what I have done, but I am not exactly an award winning painter.

 

Most of the armor is black. Legs, arms and shoulders. Chaos Black, Abaddon Black, "jar-head" black, whatever you use.

This is LIGHTLY dry brushed with Codex Grey. I just want the edges of the plates to get a little lighter.

 

The corset is painted with Velejo's German Grey, followed by the LIGHT dry brush of Codex Grey and topped with a Nulin Oil wash. The studs are painted Leather Brown followed by Gold (both Velejo) before the wash.

 

I trim my OoOML with gold instead of silver because I like it better. Silver is traditional. With gold, first paint a medium brown and then again with gold. It makes the metallic colors stand out better.

 

The underside of the shoulder pads are also painted German Grey.

 

Robes are painted Mepheston red (or Scab Red) then Blood Red followed by a light highlight of Blazing Orange for any characters. The underside of the robes are painted Buff (another Velejo color -- Bleached Bone is close) followed by a light, thinned coat of pure White.

 

Weapons are also red painted just like the robes; Scab Red, Blood Red, dry brush the edges with Blazing Orange. Pick out all the details you want; gun barrels, grenades, ammo pouches, hoses and fittings, etc.

 

When it is done, I paint the whole model with a brush on matte varnish followed by a quick spray of Purity Seal.

 

Finally, for the last step, go back and paint the hard armor (arms, legs, the top parts of the shoulder pads and the neck ring) witrh 'Ard Coat. This glossy shine highlights the pure black and gives those parts a hard look as well.

[Zeratul29]

Thank you Jacinda. I will definitely be using some of your tips!

[Jack Burton]

It seems there are two popular ways to high flight black armor: subtle highlight or extreme highlight.

 

Subtle highlighting is the highlighting you probably already know and love. Pick a gray or often a blue gray like GW shadow gray and highlight up to it from your black.

 

Extreme highlighting gives your armor a nice sci-fi feel and is accomplished by using very high-contrast highlights on areas of the armor that would reflect a lot of light.

 

Here are a couple tutes I like to read on black that discuss both methods. Don't let anyone tell you one way is The One True Way To Paint. You can make either look stunning on the tabletop.

 

https://miniaturemiscellany.wordpress.com/tutorials/painting-black/

 

http://www.jrn-works.dk/tutorials/tut.php?tut=paintingBlack&lan=eng

[*Furyou Miko]

I like to highlight black armour by using a matt varnish, then just picking out the raised surfaces with gloss varnish. Gives a very subtle effect though.

[WarriorFish]

If you're lazy efficient you can use Charadon Granite (or whatever it's called now), you can work more over to give the black a slightly greyer appearance too if you'd like. I think this would work well on Sisters too, as most of the armour is covered by cloth, symbols etc so it can save a lot of time and still look good.