Your thoughts on decals on a camo pattern.

[House Davie Merc]

Sorry I can't post pics right now.
I'm redoing my old merc unit from the unseen days.
The old lead and Ralidiums had a 3 color camouflage.
Base coat of Citadel Elysian green, Citadel Castellan green,and a
pewter gray stripe between them. The stripes are at a 45% angle
looking from the front/back.
These will be staying home most of the time.
I'm replacing my travel minis entirely with the new plastics.
I'm still using the Citadel Elysian green for a base coat but using
Vallejo model colors Cam olive green and green grey for the camo pattern.
I'll be using black ink over a gloss coat between the  armor panels,setting decals,
and then recoating with matt coat.

I still have a bunch of custom unit decals I had made by FPG years ago.
It's a blue/yellow checkered shield.
With these colors in mind, for a camo unit:

1. Should I use white or black number decals on the units?

2. Should I consider changing the colors of my custom decals to a
olive/black checkered shield to keep the subdued look or will the brighter
symbols look good on the camo units?

3. Even though these are supposed to be camouflage should I consider
using black/yellow hazard stripes to make them pop?

TLDR?
I'm painting my unit in a 3 color green/gray camo.
Should I make everything subdued colors or will it look good
to make the decals colors that pop?

[Daryk]

I'd go with subdued markings personally, but you do you! ;)

And good luck with being able to post pictures again! :)

[House Davie Merc]

I'd go with subdued markings personally, but you do you! ;)

And good luck with being able to post pictures again! :)

Yeah-I'm not even going there yet.

I've had problems posting pics before and once I finish a few current projects
I'll have to figure it out all over again.
I need to pic up better  lighting as well.

As for all subdued that's kind of what I was thinking, but on minis this small I don't know
if you'll even be able to see the details if I make them all subdued. It might come out to dark.
Hence me asking others opinions.

[Luciora]

I leave mine clean.   It's for display/play after all.   Why not show them off.

[ISD]

Personal preferences: I attempt to do my (badly freehanded) numbers black-white (black for a bottom-left shadow or general outline, off-white for the actual, slightly smaller number). On your green pattern I'd use white numbers if I had to choose.

Anything that's painted bright (or bright decals) will get toned down a bit with washes and weathering so if you do these, starting with very subdued colours they may become difficult to see later on.

And I love hazard stripes in reasonable doses Smallish highlights in key places to make them pop a bit, like you said.
I'm not too fond of the look of a full-blown limb covered in this pattern, it gets a bit too distracting in my eyes. But again, it's a personal preference

Hoping to see pics soon enough!

[House Davie Merc]

ISD ,
I'm leaning towards the white numbers at this point.
Black would go with the subdued colors but I think dark
numbers would barely be noticeable by the end. Let alone readable.
I can never quite get a wash to work well with these colors, so I think I'm gonna
skip a wash and just put a single light layer at the edge of the panels,gloss coat,
then use ink for panel lining.
I like adding decals after that gloss coat. Sometimes a REAL light spot wash just on the
decals can shade them a bit as well.
I think I'm going to mostly complete one and experiment with some small
black/yellow hazard stripes in a limited use to see how it looks before a mat coat.
Maybe if I keep them small and limited it won't overload the camo pattern yet add detail.
Thanks.

[ISD]

Sounds like a good plan to me

Regarding the decals and varnishes (gloss|matt coats) I read somewhere years ago that if one applies a gloss coat, then applies the decals and finally a matt coat, that keeps the silvering away. I dislike decals in general, but this made the results look better :)