Varying Colours for Space Wolves

[The Wolfguard]

Hey there,

 

Kind of new-ish to space wolves in that I started a pack a while ago, and wanted them to be the army I spent the most effort on. However things fell through the cracks a bit.

 

Either way come 8th edition my pack is getting some love and attention after I finally used them in a game in 8th and absolutely loved their playstyle. My army at the moment mostly consists of thunderwolves, (my army in the 1k point game was 6 thunderwolf cavalry with various melee weapons, 5 wulfen, a leader on cavalry and 5 termies versus about 60-70 orks which was pretty awesome).

 

 

However I'm not quite a big fan of the 40k grey-ish colour that's used for armour, to be honest I'm not a big fan of armour that isn't really silver. So, I was firstly wondering what are your opinions on thunderwolf based armies? I'm aware they got nerfed but they seemed to do a good job in my game especially when backed up by Wolf Lord and Wulfen (and I do plan on using Harald Deathwolf too).

 

Secondly, I was going to do a more silver scheme, this might seem out there but I was hoping to base it on some pictures I saw:

 

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Images/Product/DefaultBL/xlarge/BLPROCESSED-Leman-Russ-cover.jpg

 

https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/1/1b/SW_Legionary_Mk_II.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20150104100923

 

https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/2/2d/SW_Pre-Heresy.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140810205051

 

 

now I'm aware you could argue that maybe they're meant to be grey and the light is off however that picture of Leman is amazing and I'm in love with it. So I wanted to go with a silver coloured armour with a blue tint to give it a kind of "cold" feel. But, obviously the wolves are typically their grey-ish colour and I was wondering, would this be kind of looked down on or frowned upon?

 

Last point is I'm not such a great painter and I'm wondering how to paint my wolves, they've been undercoated black since my white spray has gone icky. I can't find as many guides as I like for someone that's not so great at it, I'm willing to put in time but lots of people seem to use spray guns etc? I liked this scheme for them on the GW site:

 

https://www.games-workshop.com/resources/catalog/product/600x620/99120101091_ThunderwolfCavalryNEW04.jpg

 

Yet am not sure how to replicate this?

 

 

Thanks in advance and I'm really excited to join the pack, I'd love to set up a project thread like others but wasn't sure if I'd be welcome doing that in this section! :)

[Jarl of Wulfen]

The official GW scheme uses grayish blues/blueish grays. They base in The Fang, layer with Russ grey or Fenrisian grey. I hand paint all my stuff, no airbrushing. I do a darker gray scheme, more akin to the 2nd and 3rd pics you linked. I prime with black, basecoat with mechanicus standard grey. Pick out metal details with either hashut copper or ironbreaker. Then I shade all of that with nuln oil.

[Joe]

I've never liked the ice blue armour that Space Wolves have in Warhammer 40,000. Frankly, the muted colour scheme in the Age of Darkness is far more appealing. Whilst I'm all for experimenting with a silver/blue-ish tone, I'd still recommend the classic grey. You'd be surprised at what you can pull off.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViJXAQjjCVk

 

The former tutorial focuses on using Games Workshop's range of paints and primers; the latter is mixed, and will provide you with an insight into how best to use spray guns and the like. Even if that's not the scheme you go for it'll give you an idea of how best to apply your coats.

 

Hope that helps. \o

[tylerw]

I thnk the grey-heavy version looks like pure garbage, even when done beautifully. A grey-heavy figure looks nice right up until it's next to literally any other color. I choose to make a bit more of grey-blue-to-blue in my stuff to avoid this, and use plenty of yellow/red/gold complements to keep them looking somewhat bright. If you like the grey though, go nuts. 

[The Wolfguard]

Thanks very much guys they're very helpful! My marines have already been undercoated silver for now (it's a bit bright as of yet) but I'll have a look at whether I want to swap them to be grey or carry down the more armour-ish route.

 

 

I think I might have confused things a bit, when I said  "I'm wondering how to paint my wolves, they've been undercoated black since my white spray has gone icky. I can't find as many guides as I like for someone that's not so great at it, I'm willing to put in time but lots of people seem to use spray guns etc?"

 

 

I meant my literal thunderwolves, I'm not too sure how to do the blue etc? The colour for the marines is still up in the air however I really like working with silver as it looks like typical armour and I wanted to use that with wooden handles on axes etc for a more typical viking look potentially? 

 

 

But yeah, bad wording on my part. I quite like the silver for my marines as a starting point - I'm wondering about the literal thunderwolves and their fur and how to replicate a darker look for them mostly.

(I'm also wondering if going against the norm paint scheme for Space Wolves is unheard of.) 

 

 

Edit: for Clarity, my space wolf marines are basecoated silver, I'm thinking of a light blue wash to give them that cold-shine and pick out edges etc with gold. My thunderwolf.. wolves, are undercoated black and I'm really struggling to find a good way of painting them and making them look good.
 

Edited July 26, 2017 by The Wolfguard

[Rune Priest Jbickb]

Welcome!

 

So first off color variance has been done before and is totally welcome, it's your army afterall.

 

For fur I tend to do white base and layer washes until I like the look. Sadly I don't have pics to show at the moment.

 

As for Thunderwolves, they were needed and buffed simultaneously imho. Wulfen and Biker wolf priests are strong support for them and Harald Deathwolf is Quite epic these days. They are no longer the epitome of the melee unit but they can still wreck some face given the opportunity. And support needed.

[Dantay VI]

Welcome to the Fang.

 

I have also gone off the blue-gry colouration of the Space WOlves and have moved to using Standard mech grey for my 30 & 40K Wolves.

 

However if you want a more silver look, I would recommend looking at Creamywynchs thread here:

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/278141-vlka-fenryka-the-volsung/?p=4650749

 

He has done some great stuff, unfrtunately a lot of his pictures are lost due to photobucket issues.

 

I also recommend Vykryls thread

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/295375-vykryls-great-company-wip/?p=4422952

 

And lastly, maybe consider betrayer41 and his 30K space wolves, with whom he has done a metallic grey

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/293519-the-night-of-the-wolf/page-60?hl=+betrayer41

 

As fr that Thunderwolf, drybrush with successively lighter greys, then come in with washes to tint and sahde the greys to give you a nice dark almost black colour.

 

Hope this helps.

[The Wolfguard]

@jbickb they do seem ridiculous with support. It was my first game with wolves and on my first turn I forgot a ridiculous amount of wolves. I lost 1 and a half wolves due to ork shooting from one squad of shootaz and lootaz because firstly I forgot to use the armour save bonus from cover and I forgot they were toughness 5 which sucks! I also in the next round of combat forgot the rerolls of 1 from my leader and forgot the wulfen +1 attack but the next phase when I remembered them they minced through everything. I can't wait to put Deathwolf and Rockfist into my army and see what they can do! (Also Wolf claws seem so good, as well as Great Frost Axes!)

 

@wolf_priest_Dantay that seems like a good way to doing wolves, I know how to drybrush so I think I can do it! I just wish I had a few more greys that's all! Them threads are all amazing and I love them all. Honestly I'm kind of taking the lazy way out with my marines because I have a silver spray I really like, and the silver looks great I just need to figure out how to make it have a "cold" look to it - along with wanting to add lots of damage and blood since I don't believe wolves would be able to fight for very long till they're.. well.. quite bloody. 

 

I'll get some pictures up in the morning maybe to show you what I mean as I don't feel like I'm doing it justice. It's not really a greyish silver at all I was thinking of :S

[Dantay VI]

Well you could always make a mix from blac to brown and dry brush using that to get a very very dark brown look too.

 

Fr a cold colur, I would go with a nun oil wash to darken the silver, drybrush he silver back in and the a wash of watered drown drenhof for a dark blue or a guillemann blue glaze for a brighter blue colour.

 

Blood for the blood god, is pretty decent. For gre creamywynch uses a mix of glue to get the stringy look and for the gore mixes a taiya smok with red (maybe blood for the blood god).

 

I have found, using black paint with bftbg work pretty well then pure bftbg to give differences in shading work really well.

 

 

[Hellrender]

maybe i misunderstood it, but if you want to know how to paint thunderwolf cavalry:

 

https://youtu.be/-EIKHXgymJY

 

and if you want a very simple, yet effective way for blood splatter:

 

https://youtu.be/BLEuqHcOpJw

 

 

Dantay's videos are also excellent, but those videos are made by really experienced painters, and they do often use techniques with airbrushes, altough i do not know if that applies to these videos. WarhammerTV doesn't use airbrushes and is meant for people that want effective schemes, using tools that are easily availble in your local GW store. 

 

I do recommend watching all of it :) can never get enough familiarity with all sorts of techniques 

 

 

 

[The Wolfguard]

Hellrender Oh wow I somehow never saw that thunderwolf painting vid from Duncan! That's a very easy and effective way of doing it, I quite like that. That blood splatter is very easy to do as well so I will be picking up some of that paint for sure. I'm a bit worried too much splatter in that effect might look a bit 'basic'  or boring? I plan on using a good amount of the stuff.. I don't think my wolves would be clean fighters after all..

 

Wolfpriest Dantay that's what I've done so far, I'll try to get pictures later after work permits but I have a light silver spray (non GW), I've nuln oiled it, dry brushed rune silver over it and then used the nightshade wash. I'm thinking of drybrushing silver again onto the flat parts as they look a bit 'dirty' so to say from the washes still. Them gore tips are amazing, I love them. I'd love to copy the first one but won't be able to pick up all them paints. 

 

Quick edit: has anyone used Valhallan blizzard? Is it any good? I've put polyfilla on the bases into a certain shape that looks like snow drifts and was going to put valhallan blizzard over it so it'll follow the shape of the polyfilla. I've never used any paint like it or whatever it is and am unsure of how it'll look +worried about it going wrong on my wolf base. Also could you paint the blood splatter effect from the video Hellrender posted onto the snow and it look decent or?

Edited July 27, 2017 by The Wolfguard

[Bloody Legionnaire]

This guy has a pretty good guide on how to paint that metallic grey you were talking about. 

 

http://battlebunnies.blogspot.com/2016/05/vlka-fenryka-deciding-on-colour-scheme.html

[The Wolfguard]

So after a bit of testing I have a rough idea for a scheme:

 

http://imgur.com/a/ymwek

 

Lots of pictures I'm afraid because I can't get good lighting so was messing around seeing what I could get. I tried a mild blood effect on him, meant to look like his chainsword has hit something and blood has splattered on his helm. I hope that's how it looks anyway. I want to do more work on the charms to make them look more bone-like and I want to work on neatening it up but other than that it's what I think I'm settling with.  Oh and obviously work on the base.

 

In the pictures with flash on they look very silver however it's actually come out like a grey-like silver which has worked quite well. Got any constructive criticism on what you think I should change or add/do?

[Cubano]

I think the blood achieves the effect you're looking for.

 

Are you planning to keep the traditional pauldron markings/colors? There are potentially implications for WYSIWYG/tournament play where it's important to distinguish between grey hunters, blood, claws, etc..

[ORKILL]

All I see is grey.

[The Wolfguard]

Cubano in honesty I've not looked into the traditional markings. I probably should have a look, I just figured they were obviously blood claws from chainswords and pistol but maybe not! I can't see myself in any tournaments but I'll have a look into it. 

 

Orkill I assume you mean that in a good way? I hope so anyway! 

 

 

I'm glad you think they look alright. I'm not a great painter but trying my best!

[TeamLando]

I do mine like this: Spray Black, Dawnstone base color, nuln oil wash to get in all creases etc, administratum grey as a main "cover all power armour" color keep some dawnstone in the creases, then Ulthuan Grey on the highlights :)

I go Sven Bloodhowl so there's a lot of red details on shoulder pads and knees etc, can provide pictures late rmaybe.