Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Three Blood Angels

Now that the Blood Angels Codex is out I've started painting some up.  The problem is deciding on which painting method to use.  Since the early days the Blood Angels have appeared in various colors.  All red, but different shades of red--from a solid, medium red, all the way to brilliant orange.

Now my personal opinion is that the color of the Blood Angels should be, well...the color of blood.  And that's not orange.  It's definitely a deeper red than that--more Red Gore than Blood Red.  So I did up a series of three test models to try to determine which result looks the best:

Model 1:  Primed white, then painted with Red Gore.  This requires a few coats of Red Gore, but the result is pleasingly bright.  The color looks decent, but maybe it's a bit too pink?

Model 2:  Primed black, then painted with Red Gore.  This requires several coats of Red Gore because it takes a lot to cover up the black.  But like the Mechrite Red over black below, the black primer is good in that I get instant shading, and instant dark lines between the armor plates, which adds a lot to the final product, I think.

Model 3:  Primed black, then painted with Mechrite Red.  Mechrite Red has much better coverage than Red Gore does, although I still need to put on two coats to make it even.  And I'm not sure it's quite the right shade of red that I'm looking for.  I think that it has a slightly orange tinge to it.  Also, its opacity makes it look less like blood because real blood isn't completely opaque.

Now which looks the most like blood?  I need to figure out which one, because there are a lot of Blood Angels in the pipeline...

11 comments:

Captain_Obvious said...

The last one, Mechandrite red I believe you called it, looks best imo. Very vibrant and bold. Plus, you have the shadows there from the black primer. I use a craft paint called Crimson Naphthol that gives me a similar look.
One suggestion though. I used GW Magenta Ink over my models and it really brightens it up alot.

Mordian7th said...

Good call - I've never been a huge fan of the 'fire-engine-red' blood angels. Personally I think #3 looks the best. To me this first is a little too violet, and the second is a little too crimson (though that's an ideal color for the Flesh Tearers). I have a hard time with reds myself, I really need to give the mechrite red foundation color a try - I like that result!

Jack Badelaire said...

The middle model. The one on the left lacks some of the definition and is a little bright for a "blood" color, while I agree that the model on the right has a slight citrus tinge to it. The model in the middle looks spot on to me.

Anonymous said...

I like #3

Col. Hessler said...

I vote for the body of #1 with the head of #2.

No, I'm not kidding. They all look well-painted.

Cheers!

Dan Eldredge said...

@Hessler: I took more time painting the helmet of #2, so I don't blame you picking that one. I like #2's helmet the best as well, and whichever scheme for the body I take, I'll be painting the helmets like #2's.

JamesCabak said...

#2

The 25mm Warrior said...

Dang... another person that can paint yellow! Looks good man! I'm jealous... my yellow always looks stupid.

Dan Eldredge said...

The yellow is a basecoat of Iyanden Darksun, followed by a complete coat of Golden Yellow, then Sunburst Yellow highlights and finally Bad Moon Yellow.

suneokun said...

I'd try the following:

black undercoat
2 coats of mechrite
Highlight in Blood Red/Red Gore to taste.

Simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve.

Dan Eldredge said...

That's essentially #3, but light on the highlights.