Zoxe 101: Standard Colors III - Fun Colors

Spicy Colors

As time goes on, the tools and methods we use continue to evolve.  Sometimes it's a desire to try some new trick you read or saw, or sometimes it's a desire to try a different product to see what the fuss is about.

With every project, however, there seems to be a set of colors that you just can't get away from.  In Zoxe 101, I'm talking about tools/items/colors that find their way into virtually every project.

This time let's talk about some colors that I use in many of my models to add some spice.  In this case, let's do it with some pictures.

Reaper Rusty Red.  One of my top 5 colors.  It's not red, not orange, and not brown, and has a very organic look to it.  It goes down smoothly, and accents cool tones well.  I am incredibly sad that this line is now discontinued, but it looks like Reaper Carnage Red is a close approximation.

Here's some examples from the past year:

Reaper Rusty Red:  The fern on the base, the gems on the leg armor and sword, tassel at the waist, and the gem under the sword.

In the White Knight, I used Rusty Red in a couple of different ways.  For the fern, I basecoated, then hit it with some Strong Tone (brown) ink, and highlighted with some yellows and greens.  The result was a convincing and sneaky little spash of color that still looked alien enough for the KDM theme.

For armor and gems, I basecoated, then put the highlights/gleams in by mixing in some pure white.  Simple and fast (and I suck at gems), the intent wasn't to distract from the other molded details but instead to add some color variety in a sea of cool colors.

It's a versatile color; with a wash to dim it down, it looks like an old rubber hose.  When I reworked the Disco Balls of Doom (SoB Derelict Ship Droids) from my box of shame, I expected to make several passes but ended up with a basecoat+wash = done.

Rusty Red, plus a Strong Tone Ink made these rubber pneumatic hoses very simple and convincing. (The red canister is actually a different color with different weathering).

Adamantium Black.  I'm a sucker for true metallics.  Used sparingly they can bring a figure to life. Adamantium is a dark bluish black metallic.  I don't use it on large surfaces (though a nearly black robot might be cool), but it sneaks into a lot of figures here and there. On humanoids, I use it for shadows of silver things (i.e. the underside of a shotgun).

For DFC, I wanted the cannon barrels to be black, but also wanted to give them some excitement/depth - Ad. Black to the rescue.

The really sneaky way I've used Adamantium Black is on "organic" monsters.  It's a great base color for horns, beaks, and claws of the evil creepies that our heroes fight against.  The first experiment was the KDM Phoenix, loved it, and continued from there.

Rusty Red accents, Adamantium Black gun barrels (dry brushed in gun metal).

Beak and claws:  Adamantium Black with a little dry brush to pull up the details.

Adamantium Black claws, hands and feet, with some highlights.

Scale75 Necro Gold and Dwarven Gold.  Scale 75 paints get a lot of hype.  These two colors live up to the buzz.  (I wish I could say that my experience with their silvers was the same; alas the jury is still out there).

Anyway, these two colors go together like peas and carrots for gold hoses and trim.  Necro gold is a brownish/greenish gold and works well with most of my monstery/evil color schemes.  The Dwarven Gold is a brighter color, with warmer tones and a bit of red in it.  I suppose it's intended for good guys.

I use them both in the same piece, go figure. Maybe that tells you something about my demeanor.

Often I use AP Stone Brown as the low base coat, then wet blend in the Necro Gold.  Once dry, I quickly pick in with some Dwarven Gold for a highlight.  The S75 golds seem to wet blend wonderfully.

Necro Gold / Dwarven Gold hoses and doodads. Necro Gold rivets

Necro Gold / Dwarven Gold hoses.