So this ended up being an unintentional use of mostly contrast paints. I actually started doing the Watcher from Kingdom Death in this color scheme (still haven’t finished yet because of all those dang lanterns) and really liked the look for this team so I knew the main color recipe going in, which was based on playing around with contrast paints.
The main hook of this color scheme is making it look a bit glowy, which my method for glow or really even OSL is to hit the area I want to glow with a white or near white color then tint it with a glaze of my glow color. Easy.
Obviously there’s a step or two missing (painting all the texture, but that’s not really within the scope of this post, which is just all about the colors) but the gist is this: paint the model all over in Millitarum Green contrast paint, then do an allover layer of slightly diluted Shyish Purple contrast paint. The purple is very dark and that is a good thing, but you still want the green to show through, and it’s fine if it comes out a bit mottled, this is an otherworldly creature with imperfect skin. That being said, if you’ve got any spots that were completely missed by the purple you should probably go touch those up. The next step is taking a color that is near white, I used a pale yellow, to do all the lines/texture/bits I wanted glowy. Pale yellow works nice because if the glow color doesn’t cover it exactly it’s a lot less noticeable than if using a bright white. Here’s a progress shot where some of the lines have been added over the base colors:
The next step is an allover layer of Plaguebearer flesh and that’s what really ties it all together. It makes the light parts glowy and brings out the green that’s underneath the purple.
The characters I don’t have progress shots of but Karina for example, her dress and shoes are done with the same method:
Her skin is just Guilliman Fleshtone contrast paint, her hair is just Talassar Blue Contrast paint with Black Templar on top. The pistol was done with regular paints, just some quick nmm with black and white paints.
Tara on the other hand I wanted to stand out since she’s the leader:
Her monster arm was done with the same method as the creatures. Her cloak, skirt, and boots were done with a coat of Shyish Purple contrast paint then I went back with a light purple paint just to smooth out any rough looking areas & emphasize highlights. The leather was done with Wyldwood contrast paint, her leggings and tunic were done with Basilicanum Grey, and they all got a wash of diluted Shyish Purple. Light from her monster arm was done with a layer of Plaguebearer Flesh on top of her raised leg and the cloth above it. The glow in her chest was done with Plaguebearer Flesh, then I did some highlights with an off white and also used the off white on the cloth surrounding the glowy bit, then did another layer of Plaguebearer Flesh. Final spot highlights were done with white.
Her hair was done by putting down a layer of Plaguebearer Flesh then doing a layer of Templar Black on top, this comes out as looking mostly black but toned just the slightest bit green. The sword was sketched out in black and white then covered in a couple coats of Plaguebearer Flesh to give it that greenish yellow glow. The skin was once again Guilliman Flesh, with the tiniest bit of Plaguebearer on her chin and neck because of the light radiating from her chest.
And that’s it! The cool thing about using contrast paints like this is that you can do it with all sorts of different colors. Like just swapping out the Militarum Green and Plaguebearer Flesh for Talassar and Aethermatic blues would make for a similar high contrast paint scheme but with a blue glow instead of green. I like sticking to the Shyish Purple for shading because it’s super saturated and I like high saturation – if you use black or brown for shading it tends to desaturate your paint. Which is not inherently a bad thing as it would be beneficial if you’re going for more of a grimdark scheme.
Thanks for reading, I hope this was helpful and I’m happy to answer any questions that people may still have so please feel free to ask!
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