While I've done the odd project here and there (like this guy):
...I haven't batch painted Orks in a long time, and since all the Citadel paints changed I need to do some tests to determine my new color scheme, primarily for Ork skin. The rest of it I tend to mish-mash anyway since Orks don't wear no friggin' uniforms!
I don't exclusively use Citadel paints. I use a mix of that, Vallejo, P3, and the odd pot here and there. Mostly I use Citadel out of habit, unless I find a color I like better in another range, either due to pigment tone or coverage, or both. For these experiments I'm focusing on the new Citadel greens, because I haven't worked with them much yet. If I don't find a scheme I like I'll fall back to Vallejo colors, but likely I'll end up with a mix of both.
Here is one of the first ones I did, following a paint tutorial I found online. It's a combo of Waagh Flesh, red and green inks, Skarsnik, and a final highlight of Gauss Blaster Green. I also did the metal using the new corrosion and rust technical paints.
Overall I think it looks fine, but I don't care for the color tone of the skin. If you know color theory you know that many mixed colors, like green, can have a warm or cool tone to them. A green with more blue in it tends to be more of a cool color, whereas a green with more yellow in it tends to be warm. Overall my Orks have always been dominated by earthy warm tones, as I feel it makes living things feel a bit more real.
This Ork is the same paint scheme, but with a final highlight of Livery Green from the Vallejo line, which is an almost neon yellow-green mix. Very bright.
Here are the experiments next to one another. The outer Orks are the cooler skin tone, and the center Ork is the warmer one. By comparison the outer Orks to me look almost mint-colored, which is not a favorable comparison. The nice thing about Orks is that these few test models won't really stand out in a crowd, so I can still use them on the table.
It's also worth noting that the center Ork is using a different metal technique. You start by painting the gun a darker brown, like Mournfang Brown, and then blotch a darker orange, then drybrush a medium silver, like Chainmail or Ironbreaker, and that's definitely going to be my metal treatment for the stock and file Boyz. I love the corrosion/rust effect, but I think it's a bit much for regular boys, and so I'm going to reserve it for vehicles and larger models.
BTW, I've found it invaluable to keep a log of the colors and techniques I use for my various armies. Everyone takes a break from time to time, maybe to paint a new army, or possibly go outside? Relying on your memory to recall how you got that particular shade of red on your cloaks, or a really good leather technique, is not very reliable. My log is a simple doc with bullet points of colors used, and it has proven very valuable over time.
I dusted off my old ork collection for the same rumours and am trying to come up with a decent colour scheme. Saw your post and its inspiring. The chequered effect on the wings is freakin awesome! Please could you tell me how you achieved that?
ReplyDeleteHey Dafridge, I'm glad you like my work. I have a finished Battlewagon I've been meaning to post, I'll get to that today so you can see what you think.
ReplyDeleteCheques are easier than you might think. The first rule is to remember that it's Orks, and they probably can't paint a straight line to save their lives. Once you accept that then you'll better accept imperfections that really don't get noticed versus the overall effect. If you look at my plane (and battlewagon when I put those up) you'll notice that the squares are not perfectly proportioned with one another.
The next trick is to paint color first, then paint over that with black. I used to try and paint in cheques by doing the color over a black undercoat. In theory it seems like less work, and has a certain logic to it. If you want your colors to look good that means layers, and layers create a lot of opportunities for mistakes. It's easier and faster to layer a large area than several small ones. So I paint the mustard color (mournfang brown, then the old snakebite but you can use Vallejo leather brown or the new GW XV-88, then balor brown, then a reikland flesh shade wash and a seraphim sepia wash), then I paint the black cheques over the color.
But, before you do that, the next trick is to use a Pigma Micron 02 pigment ink pen to sketch in the cheques. A Micron pen is essentially a pen that holds pigment ink that will go over your acrylic paints just fine. You can find these pens at most good art stores and I think Michael's craft stores carry them as well. The 02 is a fairly small pen point giving you nice thin lines. I find it easier to use a pen to try and do straight lines than a brush.
The lines left by those pens are somewhat reflective, so I varnish them with a matt varnish to even them out versus the black paint, but most people probably wouldn't notice.
Once you draw in the lines for your cheques you can decide where you'll put the black versus color. I go for maximum mistake coverage or to preserve a particularly good looking area of color.
Finally, any really ghastly mistakes you should feel free to cover up with metallic scratches, oil, dirt, mud, poop, or whatever you use to make your vehicles look sufficiently Orky. :)
Good luck with your cheques! I know that sounds like a lot of steps, but they really make the process much easier. Send me a link when you get them done, I'd love to see the results!