With the advent of second edition epic, I’m considering a handful of repaints if I can find old players selling out and having old models left over.
Specifically, I’m interested in: what colors do you guys use to approximate the First Order paint scheme? Thinking “what if I find a $20 raider” or similar. Maybe the Gozanti as well.
Black and white has no secret. For the red I like some dark red like the Mephiston Red from Citadel. I feel it's a perfect match that need no more but the gloss varnish if you like it.
I'm in the process of painting an FO Raider. Just using various different blacks. I think that variation is key - if you paint a big ship all one black it's going to look really flat, since a panel line wash won't show up well. I mostly use Tamiya model paints, and have done mine with Flat Black as the main colour, with individual panels picked out in Dark Iron and Rubber Black. Those are good because they have different finishes as well as shades - iron is slightly metallic and rubber is very matt. But really, I don't think it matters what blacks you pick - if you use about 3 different blacks you'll get something similar to the FFG paint jobs. For the cockpit I used silver with clear red over the top, which gives it some brightness, shine and depth, but a gloss or metallic red ought to work similarly.
22 hours ago, Minaith said:Black and white has no secret. For the red I like some dark red like the Mephiston Red from Citadel. I feel it's a perfect match that need no more but the gloss varnish if you like it.
Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but I look at the panels on the FO ties and it almost has some light blue hidden in the white. It doesn’t feel like flat white.
I am definitely going to check out that paint cast for inspiration though!
And thanks for the tip on the correct red.
22 hours ago, JanjyGiggins said:I'm in the process of painting an FO Raider. Just using various different blacks. I think that variation is key - if you paint a big ship all one black it's going to look really flat, since a panel line wash won't show up well. I mostly use Tamiya model paints, and have done mine with Flat Black as the main colour, with individual panels picked out in Dark Iron and Rubber Black. Those are good because they have different finishes as well as shades - iron is slightly metallic and rubber is very matt. But really, I don't think it matters what blacks you pick - if you use about 3 different blacks you'll get something similar to the FFG paint jobs. For the cockpit I used silver with clear red over the top, which gives it some brightness, shine and depth, but a gloss or metallic red ought to work similarly.
3 hours ago, ScummyRebel said:Maybe my eyes are deceiving me, but I look at the panels on the FO ties and it almost has some light blue hidden in the white. It doesn’t feel like flat white.
I am definitely going to check out that paint cast for inspiration though!
And thanks for the tip on the correct red.
Black with a subtle grey drybrush, white with an extremely subtle blue or grey wash, both accents just to avoid the flat look. But these things are usual painting tricks more than colour matches. Same on the red, you can highlight it with a paler red.
So, comparing my Raider to the Upsilon, the FFG black is noticeable less dark than the blacks I've used. At least in person. Not sure it shows up in the photo.
More of a very very dark grey.
But the various blacks look fine alongside it. I don't like the white panels so didn't use them (citing the Silencer as precedent), but my feeling is that the FFG white is brighter than the one used in the movies, which is more of a grey and shows distinct weathering in corners. It looks almost sandy on Jakku.
If you paint the panels grey, they will look whiter in contrast with the dark hull. I've also noticed a real difference between 1.0 and 2.0 FO panels.
I'd previously (during 1st Edition) kept up on converting at least 1 imperial ship to match the First Order color scheme. I've tried a few different tactics for matching the color scheme. My favorite results are below. For the solar panel color I have been using a custom blend of Citadel Administratum Grey lightened with Citadel Scar White. I, regretably, do not know the exact ratio as it was done to-match-by-eye-on-the-fly (this will prove problematic when the current pot runs out). I've done the black ship models two ways. First (TIE Striker format) as just a matte black of Citadel Abaddon Black with a dulling 1:8 nuln oil wash. The second (TIE Aggressors) is Tamiya X-1 Black Gloss base and a drybrushing of Citadel Abaddon Black. As you can see by the TIE Silencer reference (having only received paint to the solar panels and cockpit) neither matches. In both cases my black is blacker than FFG's default black; which I could call more of an extremely dark grey than a black. The cockpits are filled with a 1:2 ratio of Tamiya X-7 Gloss Red to Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black and then traced in Citadel's Mechanicus Standard Grey.
Though neither of my attempts matches the FFG extremely dark grey I think I am most pleased with the physical table appearance of the TIE Aggressor's gloss-to-matte black finish. It provides the best depth and contrast for the detail in the model, something that gets lost in Abaddon Black with Nuln Oil.
I've found Vallejo's game color Ghost Grey to be a good match to the "white" solar panels.
