LilLoser's TMM Medusae Kabal Dark Eldar

Here are a few photo's of my test scheme for my Kabal Medusae.


I decided to work this scheme up inspired by a Karl Kopinski Sketch http://thedailyjump.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/dark-eldar-vignette.jpg

And the current Dark Eldar Codex cover



I've noticed a growing trend with dark eldar armies to use TMM armour instead of matte colours. Just like the widely used 'lining' technique (where the edges of the armour are given an extreme highlight: see GW's army for examples), metallics highlight the highly detailed kit and segmented armour prevalent on the Dark Eldar kit.

However painting with metallics requires a different mindset and set of techniques. You cannot shade nor highlight as you normally would. I am compiling a tutorial that I shall be posting on this site on how went about painting this miniature that I hope will be of some use to the community.

LilLoser

I really like the look of the scheme, I'm so tired of black armies! I'd like to see how you do a vehicle like that.

Nice to see something other than the usual extreme highlights for the new Dark Eldar.

That metallic scheme works really well.

I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Thank you for all the kind comments. I've written up a tutorial on how I have done the armour for my website. As a thank you to the readers and the creators of this site, I've decided to post it up here as well.

Stage 1: Basecoat

Basecoat black and dust white (dusting is a technique where you spray the model with white primer at a 45 degree angle on top of a black basecoat: I will cover this in a future tutorial).

Method: VMC Light Turquoise, Citadel Dark Angels Green, VMC Oily Steel (60:10:40)

Make sure this coat is even and consistent.









Stage 2: 1st highlight

Highlight all armour plates with mixture given above but with a touch more oily steel, leaving the recess between the plates. This enforces the silver pigment, and the recesses will become more pronounced when we start to shade him.








Stage 3: Glaze

Wash entire model with:

Citadel Asrumen Blue, Citadel Dark Angels Green, Citadel Black Ink (80:15:5).

I added VMC Glaze Medium to help break up the Dark Angels Green, but Thrakka green would work just as well. I only used it because I had some green left over from the last stage. Don't use too much black as this would really make the model look dull.







Stage 4: Final Highlight.

Add Citadel Mithril silver to the first mixture of:

Method: VMC Light Turquoise, Citadel Dark Angels Green, VMC Oily Steel (60:10:40)

and start highlighting the plates as you would a normal model. Introduce more mithril silver until you are highlighting with pure mithril silver.

NO MORE HIGHLIGHTS!








Stage 5: Shading.

I wash the armour 4-5 times with:

Citadel Asrumen Blue and Citadel Tharkka Green (80:20) or with pure Asrumen blue of Thrakka green.

Be selective with the area's you choose to shade, do not blindly wash the entire model. Start shading the model from the recess' of the armour and 'dragging' the wash with your brush to the extreme edges of the armour.

Do not shade the extreme edges and after a few shades, you will see that your model is taking shape.



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Stage 6: Black Lining.

I found that I could not get a satisfying contrast between the armour plates using blue and green washes alone. So, for the very deepest recess', I used black ink mixed with the above washes, then an extreme shadow of pure black ink to separate the armour plates.








And that's how I did it.

Give it a whirl, try different colours and experiment. If you have found this useful, or better yet tried this out on your own model, please get in touch. I'd love to hear your thoughts and see your pictures.

All the best,

LilLoser

Looking good. I've been thinking of experimenting with ways of exaggerating the exuberance and glamour of the Duke with different methods. Pearlescent paint, liquid light and developing images onto the hulls of Raiders and even glitter have come to mind. I shall give your idea a try.

Awesome tutorial. Something I will definitely be considering when I get to my painting stage. Though I'll need to figure out how to alter it for dark purples.

This is a very impressive paint scheme.

its simple, cleanly executed and is just plain impressive in its simplicity.


Very nice.

Looks Great! Keep the pics coming!

Looks great, I can't wait o see more

Thank you everyone. To anyone who will try this, even with a different colour, I would love to see the result. Post it up here, or better yet, create a full topic. I'd love to hear how people handle this technique and what they think of it.

Here is the finished result:





I hope you have found this tutorial useful. For more pictures check out my project blog on this site.

LilLoser

I LOVE THAT SHADE OF PURPLE!

How did you do it?

Tickle my chin and I'll tell you.

EDIT:

Here's a copy and paste job from another website I post on. I don't think I can talk about the purple in isolation, as the turquoise armour changes it.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I do agree that the purple is quite a saturated colour to contrast with the scheme, but I am only using it sparingly. I quite like how it jars with the cool metallics and I think makes for an interesting spot colour.

It may look rather unusual because of the metallic colour itself. In some light the model is bluer, in others, it appears slightly greener. Underneath my daylight bulb the model appears greener (out of interest, what colour would you say this model is?).



If we take a quick look at the colour wheel we can see that green is further away from purple, than blue is. Underneath my daylight bulb the purple contrasts the colour more than it would be when the model was viewed underneath another light.

I have also used this purple inspired by the front cover of the Dark Eldar book.



I still have to shade the purple down (I'm sorry i just noticed that this is an older pic where I have not shaded or highlighted it: a complete cop out I know, becuase you can only judge what pictures you see). I am still looking for a reliable technique of shading the purple to resemble the front cover. I don't want to add black because that would just dull the purple. And I don't want to add blue either, because that would bring the colour too close the armour.

I am going to experiment by adding a dark red and brown to the liche purple, only then adding black if necessary.

Thank you for the feedback, and the compliments. That's exactly what I needed, thank you.

LilLoser


Short answer:

1) Base: Liche Purple. make sure this is a good even coat.
2) Shade: Liche Purple with VMC Burnt Umber (scorched brown for the citadel range) and a touch of Scab Red. Be careful with this stage, as this will really make the purple dark.
3) Highlight: Liche Purple and Space Wolves grey. Start off at 90:10 and work up to around 60:40 for the extreme highlights. If you highlight this stage a little too extreme just wash with Liche purple.

LilLoser

I really like that metallic look, it really looks to me like kabalite armour was meant to look like that

I'm going to use your tabard color as the purple base for my army. I love it.

For me looking at the model I see green, purple, and I'd like to see some orange. The wheel dictates that too, using the triangle, and so perhaps using some orange sparingly will help give some pop. Paint the eyes, and maybe pick out some small details too, and see what you think. Very nice.

LilLoser: You're models look Fantastic. I need some help with your color wheel. I have never seen one with the polygon shapes in the middle. Would you take the time to explain the use of this color wheel in a seperate thread, it would problably be useful to everyone!

@ Todo: Thank you. I wanted something alien, and not many imperial armies have an all metallic look (looks worryingly over at the astral claws)

@ Xelkireth: go for it man. I'm looking forward to see your first batch of painted models.

@ Dark Mark: Yup your right, but think straight orange would disrupt the purple, blue/ green balance I have. I have however used it sneakily on the model...the tabard is a dead flesh colour, not too far removed from orange on the colour wheel. Although it does not grab attention, it helps break up the model. Plus if you look at my project log, you can see that i've used gold on characters to help mark them apart from rank and file. I fully intend to take advantage of the colour disparity I have on the current model above by painting my Wynches with bronze armour.

By using gold (orange) sparingly on rank and file, I can break up the army into visual 'sets' of colour.

@ Archon. Many more accomplished persons than me have talked about colour theory. I will certainly write up a summary for you however, and offer some links that I found useful when researching.

Actually, does anyone know where I could find a Dark eldar version of this?

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/smp.php

Even a blank Kabalite warrior picture would do.

Cheerio.

LilLoser

A painter doesn't exist.

This however, does.

Tried to colour that image in photoshop to see how my scheme would look, however it is quite hard when you want the highlights to be extreme... Otherwise it is useful, you should be able to use it, LilLoser.

Your scheme looks awesome!
And like a lot of work.

Keep it up!

Beautiful work, and as stated by the majority of posters, it is great to see armour that isn't just black with a bright edge.

I was tempted to use the same technique for my models when they turn up, but I fear Xelkireth has already nabbed the colour scheme I was after.

I shall save this tutorial though. Fine, fine work.

Raucir

This is beautiful stuff. To think I was going to stoop to using pearlescent color-shifting paint on my models, your method gives them the sense of the color shift as is. Excellent work that.

Thank you all for the compliments on the scheme.

And as promised here is an article I have finally finished compiling on my thoughts on colour theory:

http://loserstudio.blogspot.com/2011/07/introduction-to-colour-theory.html#more

I hope that you enjoy it. And please, I would appreciate any comments, criticism or feedback on it.

Thank you.

LilLoser

Nice article on color usage. As a miniature painter of 20 years I never considered basics of color theory until recently. Great guide that I will apply to my eldar once I get off this DE kick(NEVER!).