Astra Militarum Camo

[Darkdefiler]

Hi guys. This is my first ever post here, and ever related to 40k. I started building an AM army and I've decided I want to paint camo on my troopers. I have done a few guys and I'm looking for some feedback on how the camo looks and if anyone has tips to getting a better result. Please be gentle I'm trying to get back into this after 15 years and they are a WIP!

 

 

 

 

[WarriorFish]

Welcome to the B&C! :D You've got good colour choices for the camo but I'd look at refining the pattern. It's something you'll have to do a lot so getting it right and easier to do is well worth it! I'd recommend making the splotches a bit smaller, perhaps the white and blue together with the black on top?

[Darkdefiler]

Hi WarriorFish thanks for the welcome. I'm sat around with nothing to do today so I went ahead and painted a guy up with white and blue pairs of markings then black in gaps, using smaller patches. The one on the left, better? ^^

 

 

[Edit] Having opportunity to see the models close up in my pictures showed me there were plenty more places where I could put black markings, so I'm going back to him

[WarriorFish]

Looks good, but don't cover too much of the light grey, as the camo bits should be secondary to it. Do you give the model a wash? I blue or black wash on the fatigues before you apply the camo colours would help give the cloth more depth plus washing is quick and easy :)

[our_baz]

Welcome to the guard! I don't paint camo on my troops so I'm prob of little help, but I agree with Warriorfish that colours work well together you just need to make the pattern a tad smaller, but you are braver than me painting all that camo! There are some very talented painters in the forum have a look at their threads for ideas to help you with your camo. I would also add some depth to your base grey, it looks a little flat (are you using Fortress Grey or similar?). You can either lay your base grey down, then wash with nuil oil then go back over with your grey. Or second method would be apply a base of grey a tone darker than the one you are using (codex grey or similar) then go over with your current grey (fortress or similar), then apply your camo over. This will give a dark area in the creases and a sense of depth.

[Darkdefiler]

Thanks for the replies guys. I base coat black, paint codex grey then lightly apply fortress grey over that. I experimented with black wash with some earlier models and decided to do the black wash after applying the camo mainly because it dulled the white a little

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I use the stippling method for camo. My guys end up looking like they're wearing multicam, which is cool since that's kinda what I was going for. I then wash the fatigues with earthshade (to match the base color). I basecoat in ushtabi bone, then I stipple on waaagh flesh, and then wash with earthshade. That's my camo. I'm thinking that for my next round of guardsmen, I'm going to stipple in some balor brown for a bit more earthy bias, and then wash with earthshade.

[march10k]

So your camo pattern is similar enough to mine (in different colors) that you might benefit from my technique. My colors are medium gray, light gray, khaki, tan, and medium brown. Holy hell, that's five colors!! Well, it's actually pretty simple to apply. I'll describe the technique and let you decide how to adapt it to your colors, or you can just ignore it.

1. First, the whole uniform gets medium gray.

2. Next, I paint on small khaki splotches, leaving space in between for light gray splotches.

3. After that, tan splotches that touch/overlap the khaki splotches.

4. Then, light gray in the gaps, but not touching the tan/khaki, so everything is surrounded by the medium gray.

5. Finally, small brown dots on every khaki splotch.

I don't have any good pics of the overall pattern, but here's a pic of the tan/khaki splotch with the brown dot:

[Father Mehman]

Huzzah for more camouflage and welcome to the Imperial Guard, trooper !

Like Ulrik, I also stipple my camouflage. It gives the pattern a nice look, I think. I'll give you an example although I need to retake the picture. Where's a light box when you need one?

Those are two guardsmen with the stipple camouflage on them. It's a really simple process but I don't know how well it would translate with your colours. You could always give it a go and if it doesn't look right just strip the model and start over. Here's how to do it:

First, find yourself an old brush that you won't be using again. Usually an old drybrush will fit this bill. Second, cut the bristles close to the ferrule, the metal band holding the bristles. My preference is to leave about two model heads sat ear-to-ear length of material there so that you end up with a more randomized pattern. Third, get your pot of paint, dab the newly-fashioned stippling brush in, wipe off most of the paint, and then start stabbing your model with the bristles. Make sure not to scratch the model with the ferrule, though.

Hope that helps !