In part 2 of this series of articles I’m gonna deep dive a bit into what I’ve learned so far about colour schemes. I’m gonna walk you guys through what went through my mind in selecting the colour scheme for my yet to be named Space Wolf Successor Chapter.
An Easy to Paint Scheme
Getting my miniatures painted for my Successor Chapter quickly was a key concern for me hence why I picked Mechanicus Standard Grey as the key colour.
The rationale behind this is simple; as I do not yet intend to pick up an air-brush; my primary means of priming my models is through a rattle can. I picked Mechanicus Standard Grey for two reasons:
- Priming with Citadel’s Mechanicus Standard Grey instantly gives me my base coat which I can then paint on top of
- Even before I had decided on Space Wolves as the chapter that my Space Marines would be based on I really liked the combination of grey, gold & metallic silver as my key colours
Make An Accent Stand Out
As I was painting I realised that I needed to make some bits of my miniatures stand out hence the choice of gold for the skull element on the chest of my Space Marines as well as the trip on the left pauldron plus the guard and end of bladed weapons.
Utilising the colour gold in this instance gives people a colour that they can focus on and it makes my Space Wolves a little more interesting visually.
It also makes the grey scheme less boring. As I continued to paint more of my successor chapter I started to use red for the weapons just to shake things up a little and to make each miniature a little more interesting on the table top.
Practicality
The other colours are picked were a little more practical in how I envisaged shock troops to appear like in the 41st Millennium. The other colours I used and why I used them can be summarised below:
Leadbelcher
Some sort of metallic makes a lot of sense as it is needed on weapons and other bits that is required for a soldier.
Leadbelcher is also a colour that can be used on for other future projects in all kinds of ways.
Mournfang Brown
I really liked the idea of my units have leather pouches, etc and Mournfang Brown is a nice shade that complements the grey and the gold accents.
Abaddon Black
Black was a no-brainer as I used it initially for weapons and also for the hair on some of my unhelmeted units.
It’s also a colour that was needed for the joints on my Space Marines where there were banded elements that needed to look flexible.
Also I wanted all my bases to be black so it really made sense to also use it on my Space Marines.
For washes I basically use Nuln Oil now for the Leadbelcher bits and also Agrax Earthshade for the main parts of the armour alongside Reikland Fleshshade which dulls down the gold a little & gives it a bit of a reddish burnished look.
So there you have it. 3 things to consider when picking a colour scheme for your army.
Hope this helps!
Storm Gate Games 