Looking for input on my yellow paint scheme

[Fnord]

This is my very first attempt at painting yellow, so future models will probably look a lot better. Also, I am well aware of the mold line on the hussar (I did try to remove it, but apparently enough was left on the front for it to be clearly noticeable when I painted the model). The eyes on the hussar will be re-done (I tried to wet blend for the very first time, and it did not work out as well as I had hoped), and there are still some details that needs to be painted. But for an overall look of the models, what do you think?

[xupgrayddx]

yellow is a pain to paint. I think they look pretty good, the dry brush on the shadow cat came out nice. maybe take it a little easier on the brown wash (to bring out the yellow more) and add some metallics.  I wouldnt sweat the cockpits, i too tried wet blending, failed, and now i just stick with "normal" jeweling.

[Fnord]

I've spent most of my wargaming career painting green & brown, which is one of the main reasons why I went for yellow, it offers a fresh new challenge, and I might improve as a painter.

You are probably right about the brown wash, the next batch will have a bit less on them, and will hopefully look better. I still want them to look like they have been in use for a whole (henche the scorching at the end of the barrels, another thing that I have never done before).

[Vlads Fangs]

 O0

[maddyfish]

I like your yellow, esp the Hussar, looks alot like my yellow Hussar

[Trebuchet3025]

I think yellow is a great color to work with. It offers a lot of great contrast and shading possibilities. Here's a few pics I have handy.







So by all means, go yellow. Yellow is cool. :)

[Thorsdad]

This is my very first attempt at painting yellow, so future models will probably look a lot better. Also, I am well aware of the mold line on the hussar (I did try to remove it, but apparently enough was left on the front for it to be clearly noticeable when I painted the model). The eyes on the hussar will be re-done (I tried to wet blend for the very first time, and it did not work out as well as I had hoped), and there are still some details that needs to be painted. But for an overall look of the models, what do you think?

Looks like a pretty good light desert camo pattern

[Free lance]

I think they look really nice. I am nobodys expert painter but they are far better then mine. also gotta give props on that dire wolf. my favorite mech and it looks sick in that yellow/brown camo.

[KolonelK]

They look really good.  But depending on what type of yellow you want to end up with, you need to look at different base colours. 

In my opinion, painting yellow on directly is a recipe for disaster (especially over black).  It takes a lot of coats, normally looks streaky, and discolours depending on your undercoat.  Putting down a base colour of a decent tan or flesh colour with a lot of pigment (GW foundation paints, and I hear that Reaper or PP are doing something similar if you have a mad GW hate-on), saves you several coats.

I tend to usually paint towards a final result of a mustard yellow, and I start with Iyanden Darksun (GW foundation paint), then highlight up through two shades of yellow (Privateer Press Cygnus Yellow, and something that lost its label and I suspect is either super old GW or an IKore paint, which is slightly paler than the PP colour - so you could also just mix in a touch of white).

For a desert tan I still use Iyanden Darksun, but put a brown wash over it before highlighting again with the Darksun then the Cygnus Yellow (very lightly).

I am no master of very bright yellows and tend to avoid them, except as detail around gun barrels, or a unit marking.  With any luck Trebuchet will reveal the technique he used on his Night Gyr.

[Fatebringer]

It's got a good weathered appearance :) I especially like the power look near the barrels :)

[Amalor Myrnnyx]

Yellow is one of the most difficult to make look good. The real trick to it is that you can't follow the same techniques as other colors.

The best way, in my experience, is to start with white primer, and then do a thinned bright yellow. A chestnut or even a flesh wash over that will make the lines pop, and darken the yellow to the color you want. A drybrush over that with a similar shade of yellow will clean up the panels.

here;s an example of that:

[17th Spartans]

Oh Amalor Myrnnyx I have been missing seeing your posts sense the Forum went down. That Sun Cobra is great.  :o :o :o :o :o I just picked up one the otherday and it is Primed and ready to go. Now to find that pot of yellow paint....... ;D 8)

[JoeKickAssX]

Using blue on the cockpit was pretty sweet Fnord, stands out rather well.  [rockon]

[Amalor Myrnnyx]

Oh Amalor Myrnnyx I have been missing seeing your posts sense the Forum went down.

I've been taking some time off. I'll have some new pics up later today.

[jimdigris]

I think you're doing fine, Fnord.  Remember, a mech stirrs up a lot of dirt whenever it stomps around.  If it looks bright yellow, then it's  a hanger queen.

[Fnord]

I like your yellow, esp the Hussar, looks alot like my yellow Hussar

I see that great minds do think alike ;)

I think yellow is a great color to work with. It offers a lot of great contrast and shading possibilities. Here's a few pics I have handy.



So by all means, go yellow. Yellow is cool. :)

How did you do that cammo? It looks absolutely stunning. I like the blue on yellow one as well, although it might simply be me who is a bit of a chauvinist :P

In my opinion, painting yellow on directly is a recipe for disaster (especially over black).  It takes a lot of coats, normally looks streaky, and discolours depending on your undercoat.  Putting down a base colour of a decent tan or flesh colour with a lot of pigment (GW foundation paints, and I hear that Reaper or PP are doing something similar if you have a mad GW hate-on), saves you several coats.

I am no master of very bright yellows and tend to avoid them, except as detail around gun barrels, or a unit marking.  With any luck Trebuchet will reveal the technique he used on his Night Gyr.

I did that mistake when I was brand new to wargaming (back in 98). I tried to paint yellow on grey plastic... the result was horrible. The ones in the original post are first painted white (too cold to spray paint them, although that it what I usually do), followed by two layers of "sun yellow" (Vallejo) followed by a wash of Devlan mud (GW wash), and then drybrushed with sun yellow followed by a 50/50 sun yellow/white. I neither have the time nor patience to paint my models to a showpiece standard, and it is better to have some decent looking models than one great looking one and a lot of unpainted ones.
 I've never really understood the GW-hate. GW might not be a small charming company anymore, but they are not actually evil. And I find it funny that a lot of the GW-haters seem to love privateer, even though privateer is becoming more and more similar to GW with each passing month.
 I'm looking forward to seeing your Trebuchet in the future.

Yellow is one of the most difficult to make look good. The real trick to it is that you can't follow the same techniques as other colors.

The best way, in my experience, is to start with white primer, and then do a thinned bright yellow. A chestnut or even a flesh wash over that will make the lines pop, and darken the yellow to the color you want. A drybrush over that with a similar shade of yellow will clean up the panels.

You got such a bright & vibrant looking yellow through drybrushing? That is really impressive, usually drybrushing will result in a slightly dusty/dirty looking models. I'll have to try that technique on a future model (possibly one of my many unpainted models from another system), to see how it works out.
 Also, while we are on the topic of flesh wash, that is a colour that can work miracles on its own. I have a big monster that won the spot as the 3rd best painted monster in a warhammer tournament about 6 years ago (64 players in total in that tournament), simply by applying a single coat of flesh wash on white (and then I painted details like eyes & teeth).


And thanks for all of your nice comments. Now I really feel like painting more!

[KolonelK]

I did that mistake when I was brand new to wargaming (back in 98). I tried to paint yellow on grey plastic... the result was horrible. The ones in the original post are first painted white (too cold to spray paint them, although that it what I usually do), followed by two layers of "sun yellow" (Vallejo) followed by a wash of Devlan mud (GW wash), and then drybrushed with sun yellow followed by a 50/50 sun yellow/white. I neither have the time nor patience to paint my models to a showpiece standard, and it is better to have some decent looking models than one great looking one and a lot of unpainted ones.

Exactly.  I paint to a tabletop standard - I'm capable of doing (to my mind) a quite detailed job, but I need to invest far more time in it than I'm willing to for figures that are primarily for play.  Something like this:

is about 90 minutes per mech, then a bit of time to do basing (maybe 15 mins?).  The yellow there is just Iyanden Darksun, highlighted with Sunburst Yellow.

I've never really understood the GW-hate. GW might not be a small charming company anymore, but they are not actually evil. And I find it funny that a lot of the GW-haters seem to love privateer, even though privateer is becoming more and more similar to GW with each passing month.

I've become quite the fan of Privateer of late, to the point where Warmachine is now my preferred gaming system over anything else.  I can see why they attract the GW departees, but also the ire of the haters since they're very successful, and while their minis aren't cheap, I don't think the pricing is outrageous (for example, I can buy a heavy 'jack for a couple of bucks more than the atrocity that is the Atlas II).

I can't get behind bashing a company over their pricing or marketing policies, gaming is entirely a luxury market - if you don't like what they're doing, take your business somewhere else, or find another hobby.

[Fnord]

Exactly.  I paint to a tabletop standard - I'm capable of doing (to my mind) a quite detailed job, but I need to invest far more time in it than I'm willing to for figures that are primarily for play.  Something like this:

is about 90 minutes per mech, then a bit of time to do basing (maybe 15 mins?).  The yellow there is just Iyanden Darksun, highlighted with Sunburst Yellow.
I've become quite the fan of Privateer of late, to the point where Warmachine is now my preferred gaming system over anything else.  I can see why they attract the GW departees, but also the ire of the haters since they're very successful, and while their minis aren't cheap, I don't think the pricing is outrageous (for example, I can buy a heavy 'jack for a couple of bucks more than the atrocity that is the Atlas II).

I can't get behind bashing a company over their pricing or marketing policies, gaming is entirely a luxury market - if you don't like what they're doing, take your business somewhere else, or find another hobby.

Those models still look very nice. Far better than most models that I see around here (we have some semi-professional wargamers in my club, like parts of the Swedish ETC team, who spend a lot of time on their armies, but apart from those,  most that I see are (far) bellow your standard)

Warjacks are quite a bit more expensive than the Atlas II, at least over here. An Atlas II coasts £9.95, while a warjack costs ~£25 (the cheapest ones costs £20, and the most expensive ones costs £39, ~£25 seem to be the most common price though). I won't deny that they are quality models though, and I've been tempted to buy one or two to paint. Heck, I was close to getting a warmachine army, before I found battletech.
 I guess the privateer hate has not reached Stockholm yet. It seem to still be considered the small nice company, that takes good care of its customers (unlike the big evil GW, though I have to say that I have had nothing but good experiences with GW's support over the years).