Anyone have an idea how to get this type of exo-skeleton? (a carnifex that Keith Robertson painted)

holmcross

New member
Anyone have an idea how to get this type of exo-skeleton? (a carnifex that Keith Robertson painted)

Hi! First time on these forums, I\'ve been collecting a nidzilla army and starting the long road to a fully painted army.

I\'m totally in love with this color scheme (done by Keith Roberston) http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y181/Kislev01/carnifex.jpg . I think the exo-skeleton is done perfectly - white enough to provide excellent contrast to the carapace, but dark enough not to look like it was painted with chalk (which is my problem with most Levithian-esque color schemes). Its also less purple/pink then the others... the recesses are very brown with traces of purple. I love the way that looks.

I do bleached bone over a white undercoat, watered down liche purple for the cracks and details, then a light coat of watered down brown ink in the darker areas. I clean up the exo-skeleton with bleached bone.... and its here that I run into a problem. Painting over with skull white makes the model very white and chalky, and I wanted to emulate the look on Keith Robertson\'s carni, but I can\'t seem to make the exo-skeleton the right color... my attempts end up far too white.

I\'ve been practicing on a genestealer, I don\'t want to submit my poor carnifex to my experimental painting.

My recesses end up being a little red instead of having seperate traces of brown and purple. Maybe I just need to work on my technique.

Does anyone have a suggestion how I can match the tone of Robertson\'s exo-skeleton? I\'m in a bit of a rut :)

Thanks a ton!
 
This is what i think:

basecoat Bleached bone> shade beastial brown>purple ink highlights gradual bleached bone/white up to pure white

carapace looks like codex grey/black mixes up to fortress grey

Hope this helps
 

holmcross

New member
My problem is when I go for the final coats of white on the exoskeleton, the color ends up being very white.... and I wanted to have it end up being an off-white, kind of like the mini Keith did. If yo compare his with the typical levithian color scheme, the exoskeleton is not as bright white as the others. ( http://kofler.dot.at/40k/units/Tyranid_Hive_Tyrant_3.jpg )

and its not as pink/purple, either.

When you say highlight up to skull white, do you mean to only paint around the edges of the exo-skeleton with skull white? It seems like some of the bleached bone coats are superfluous... my model ends up being very white in the end.

thanks!
 
Maybe your adding too much white or maybe you could start with a slightly darker tone or maybe your not getting a solid enough layer of bleached bone before you go on to the other stages...i take it your working from a white primer?
The white tends to shine through the bone..maybe use a light grey primer instead. After all is said and done i guess its a matter of adjusting and playing about until you have the look you want

Errrr I\'m not helping here am I :)
 

Bigdennis52

New member
I might be a little off here but this is what I am thinking.

Basecoat is beastial brown of the entire area.
First coat of shading is bleached bone
Work your way up to a 50% mix bleached bone / 50% pure white
Ink with purple ink
Shade from bleached bone up to pure white

100% bleached bone
75% bleached bone / 25% pure white
50/50, then 25/75, then 100% pure white
for the final tip of highlights, put 10% light purple, 90% pure white and just enough should come off to provide that off white look

Just I guess it is personal look
 
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