So, the resounding opinion on the blue and off-white is that it’s cool, but not quite as inspiring as the Aquablight, and I agree.  It wasn’t difficult to paint, and isn’t too detailed either.  It wasn’t terribly *fun* to paint.

An interesting distraction, but nothing more.

So, those shredders will forever be a fun experiment, but nothing more.

I looked around for a small Legion model I could experiment on, and stumbled upon my metal Alt Lylyth.  She doesn’t have much skin showing (well, she does in certain places…), but there wasn’t really adequate room to test out a skin recipe.  Not like I’ll need to for the beasts, which have lots of skin to paint.  I have a Stinger primed and ready to go though, so

For reference, here’s the Battlebox I painted roughly a year ago.

Legion of “Aquablight” Battlebox, Circa 09/2011

Anyway, I found that Meridius Blue is a very close approximation to GW’s Hawk Turquiose.  I also found an old post where I went over how I did the skin.  I swear, one of the best things about having a painting blog is that I usually have a record of my recipes somewhere…

Speaking of, here’s the recipes I ended up using on this new Lylyth model.  Most of the blends were 2-brush blends, but the white on the hair pins, arrows, trinkets and bow were glazed.

The new Lylyth, Herald of Aquablight!

Skin:

1. Basecoat with Ironhull Grey
2. 1st Highlight with 50/50 Ironhull Grey and Midlund Flesh
3. 2nd Highlight 50/50 previous layer and Midlund Flesh
4. Wash with Armor Wash

Armor:

1. Pig Iron Basecoat
2. Wash of 50/50 Turquoise Ink and Water
3. Pick out the raised bits with Pig Iron
4. Highlight with Cold Steel

Belt, Hair Wraps:

1. Basecoat with Sanguine Base
2. Highlight with Sanguine Highlight
3. Final Highlight with 60/40 Sanguine Base and Carnal Pink

Had to work in Brass somehow… This *is* a steampunk setting, afterall.

Brass:

1. Basecoat with Molten Bronze
2. Wash with 50/50 Brown Ink and water
3. Highlight with Molten Bronze
4. Paint light reflections with Solid Gold

The cape came out particularly well, I think.

Cape:

1. 3x coats of Meridius Blue
2. 1st Shade with 50/50 Meridius Blue & Cygnar Blue Base
3. 2nd Shade with 50/50 previous layer and Exile Blue
4. 1st Highlight with 50/50 Meridius Blue & Arcane Blue
5. 2nd Highlight pure Arcane Blue

Feathers, Hair Pins, Bow, Arrows & Trinkets:

1. Basecoat with Morrow White
2. Wash with 50/50 Turquoise Ink and Water
3. Highlight with Morrow White

So, there is it.

What do you think?

About a week ago, one of the Privateer Press Insiders covered testing color schemes in cyberspace.  Lane Daughtry, in her Insider, describes almost the same process that Captain Spud of Lost Hemisphere did over a year ago, using layers and settings in Photoshop to essentially make a “coloring book”.

Lane’s Test Schemes

Anyway, the color schemes Lane tested out on her Angelius look great, and one of them really grabbed my attention.  The blue and off-white one just really struck me, and took hold in my mind. So, I had to try it.

Shredders make quick test subjects!

I used Cygnar Blue Highlight as the basecoat, and shaded down with Cygnar Blue Base.  I used Arcane Blue for the “blight” on the gums and the spine. The gums were shaded with Turquoise Ink, and then picked out with Arcane Blue.  The spines and scales were Menoth White Base -> Menoth White Highlight -> Morrow White.

Ladyzoid likes the blight along the spine. Do you?

While these are quick test models, I think they came out pretty well.  I think the white may need to be toned down some, and I need to find a highlight color for the blue.  I also think the blending could be better, but provided I did these while sitting on the couch in front of the TV and with no real light source, I’m OK with it.

What do you think of this scheme?

Do you like it more or less than my Legion of Aquablight scheme?

Legion of Aquablight

You know, now that I get the two scheme side by side, I’m not sure which one I like better.  I do know though, that the Aquablight scheme has to change.  It was done with old GW paints which no longer exist, so I’ll have to figure out how to do it with P3 paints.