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Other Stuff => Workbench => Topic started by: Ragnar on 16 September 2015, 07:47:23 AM

Title: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Ragnar on 16 September 2015, 07:47:23 AM
Hi there, I am painting some Wars of the Roses and wish to do some orange livery.  Can anyone please recommend a recipe using vallejos?
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Major_Gilbear on 16 September 2015, 10:01:19 AM
How "orange" are we talking about please - could you post an example?

If I know what you're after, I'm sure I can propose something suitable. :)
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Ragnar on 16 September 2015, 11:20:21 AM
Well, I am trying to match this orange. 

 (http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff278/Ragnarharius/WOTR/Mowbray-Coat-of-Arms%20jpg_zpsk2sb3tud.jpg) (http://s237.photobucket.com/user/Ragnarharius/media/WOTR/Mowbray-Coat-of-Arms%20jpg_zpsk2sb3tud.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Major_Gilbear on 16 September 2015, 11:46:27 AM
Okay, well that's quite a red-orange, and will need a little colour mixing I think.

I would start with a good basecoat colour, shade down, and then highlight up.

1) Vallejo Game Colour Hot Orange with a little Elf Skintone added. It may look a little bit pastel-coloured, but it will cover better over dark colours. Thin your paint down about half-and-half with clean water, and apply several coats to get a solid colour. Make sure these are fully dry in between layers, and note that you'll probably need something like three thin layers. You can use a small hairdryer set to a cool heat to speed this up.

2) Mix some Hot Orange with matte medium and glaze medium in a 2:1:1 ratio, and add some water to get a runny mix. Glaze over the banner, letting it pool just a little under the folds in the flag. Let this dry on its own, but after ten minutes you can use the hairdryer again if it's still tacky.

3) Repeat (2).

4) Add a little bit of Hexed Lichen to the Hot Orange glaze above. I'd put a little spot on the palette, and then add it in tiny amounts with the tip of the brush to get a nice deep orange-brown. This needs to be thin, so you may need to add a bit more water again. Glaze into the folds to achieve the darkest tone.

5) Return to your original Hot Orange and Elf Skintone mix, and add some matte medium to make thicken up the paint a bit but still keep it translucent. Using this mix, start your highlights.

6) Add a little more Elf Skintone and matte medium to the mix in (5), and add do a pass of small highlights.

7) After (6) has properly dried, you may want to do another pass with the same mixture, but keeping the highlights very small where the creases and folds are prominent or sharp.

Using the matte medium stops the paints getting too runny, gives you a totally matte finish, and still lets you paint transparent layers easily.

As an aside, adding matte medium to colours can make them look a bit brighter initially. As the matte medium dries over 24h, it gets more transparent and can leave the colour steps emphasised a bit more than you intended. I would therefore advise mixing the plain paint colours first, and then adding in the medium. You may also want to add a touch more shading or highlighting the following day if you feel it needs it.

If you feel that the orange needs to be a bit more yellow, you can either add a touch of yellow to the Hot Orange, or you can apply a really thin glaze of Yellow Ink and matte medium at the end (1 ink: 1 matte medium: 4 water, and don't let this pool anywhere!).

A quicker and dirtier method would be:

1) Apply hot orange to get an even coat. Maybe two slightly-thinned layers.

2) Shade with Sepia Ink

3) Shade again with Sepia Ink, mixed with a tiny dab of Violet Ink.

4) Highlight with Hot Orange.

5) Highlight with Hot Orange mixed with a little Elf Skintone.

I think that the first method gives you smoother colour transitions and better control, but the second method may suit your painting style better and allow you to get a good colour contrast quickly.

Hope this helps you! :)
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Ragnar on 16 September 2015, 01:08:41 PM
Major Gilbear, I am sorry to waste your time.  

What I should have specified was that I was after a basic, two or three colour layer recipe for mass producing wargames standard.  

I am sure your recipe will give amazing results but I was really after very basic info.

edit:  I paint in layers, I don't wash, can anyone advise, base and main colour?
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Major_Gilbear on 16 September 2015, 03:02:17 PM
edit:  I paint in layers, I don't wash, can anyone advise, base and main colour?

Okay, no problem.  :)


Better?
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: number9 on 16 September 2015, 05:03:51 PM
I'm pretty sure the vallejo model color recipe I used for the orange in the fig below was:

Red Leather
Orange brown
Sunny skintone

(http://36.media.tumblr.com/fa79fa27a92e1f0cbeecf1940093b1ba/tumblr_nn0ny6t2vY1qlzineo1_500.jpg)

Orange brown is my go-to orange color for figures. It isn't too terribly vibrant, covers well and can shade or highlight through any number of colors. Red leather is a good one-step below, and generally any of the vallejo skintones are a good one-step up from it.

It features below as well:

(http://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maj053QuPv1qlzineo1_500.jpg)

and here too:

(http://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5for9VYC91qlzineo1_500.jpg)

Best of luck to you!
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Captain Blood on 16 September 2015, 05:14:06 PM
I use Vallejo 'bright orange'.
For the base coat, I mix in a little bit of 'red leather'
For the highlight coat, I mix in a little bit of 'deep yellow'
For the tippity-topmost highlights, I also add a touch of white to the mix.

(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/14/577_12_09_13_10_52_08.jpg)

(http://leadadventureforum.com/gallery/5/577_10_01_10_1_47_20_2.jpg)
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Ragnar on 16 September 2015, 09:59:34 PM
Many thanks for the helpful replies and the lovely painted examples! 

Funnily enough number9, I use Orange Brown as part of my flesh recipe so wanted to move away from that colour for the actual orange.
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Dr.Falkenhayn on 17 September 2015, 05:06:32 AM
I'd recommend Amarantha Red 70.892 Model Color  :)
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Ragnar on 17 September 2015, 08:45:52 AM
Cheers Dr.  Another one to consider.
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Daeothar on 18 September 2015, 12:33:41 PM
Well, I am trying to match this orange. 

 (http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff278/Ragnarharius/WOTR/Mowbray-Coat-of-Arms%20jpg_zpsk2sb3tud.jpg) (http://s237.photobucket.com/user/Ragnarharius/media/WOTR/Mowbray-Coat-of-Arms%20jpg_zpsk2sb3tud.jpg.html)

What coat of arms is that? It looks decidedly (be it anachronistically) Dutch...
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Ragnar on 18 September 2015, 10:14:00 PM
I have it labelled as John Mowbray Duke of Norfolk.  The Freezywater book has his colours as azure over tawney.
Title: Re: Paint recommendation - orange?
Post by: Ragnar on 20 September 2015, 03:53:14 AM
I have it labelled as John Mowbray Duke of Norfolk.  The Freezywater book has his colours as azure over tawney.

Just to clarify, I took Mowbray's lion rampant and made the flag anachronistic i.e. I have not seen a parti-coloured flag for Mowbray but I did take the colours from the Freezywater book.  I was aiming more for aesthetics than accuracy.

The flag may yet change...