Colour Scheme in the New Citadel Paints

So it has been, ouch, over a month since I have posted anything and I'm afraid I haven't done much. Many reasons, work has been insanely busy (were less than 33% manned!) and this has led to me getting home late and missing out on my post work, pre wife getting home, model slot for the last few weeks. Secondly the aforementioned wife finally had enough of me being sprawled out across the dining room and I got kicked out. This means I now have a spare room for all my hobbies out of the view of any guests! But first it needed tidying and then buying some flat pack furniture to work and store stuff on. Thirdly, and this is entirely my fault, my other hobby(?) of PC gaming called me back over Easter and I found my self travelling back to Skyrim and punching people to death as a giant cat!

But the major issue, and this wasn't my fault, was the change to the citadel paints in which I must have been the only person remotely interested in GW models who didn't know about this. So after spending literally months settling on a colour scheme I had a little toys out of pram moment when I found out and called a halt to all painting (and as it turned out modelling as well). In hindsight I'm glad they changed just as I was starting out on a mass army paint, but it still irked with all the money I had invested in the last generation of paint. Now most of this wont matter, white is still white, black is still black, metal is still metal and many of the other paints I will use so little of anyway I'm not bothered. What I was bothered about though was making sure the main colours of my scheme remained the same. So I ordered greens, browns and creams (plus a few others) from the new range and settled back to await their arrival.

Just finished repainting up a test guy and in some ways I'm glad I waited. The new paints are on the left in both photos the right is my previous settled colour scheme. Now the greens are actually incredibly similar, Orkhide which was the base is a dead ringer for Caliban so know issues there (so for anyone wondering it therefore doesn't look anything like the previous dark angels green, apart from being dark green I suppose), the Castellan green was slightly lighter than the old Catachan but next to each other you can't tell much difference. All good so far, Karak stone (still thin but not as bad as the old Khaki) was covered by Ushabti which looks pretty much like bleached bone for trousers and pith. My only real issue has been the leather. Mournfang looks nothing like Calthan brown (again apart from also being brown), cheers for the comparison chart GW. But as much as I liked the old boots, they were so easy to do and I think looked really good, the effect you do get with Mournfang is a bit more like spit and polished brown leather, so I cancelled the panic order of 6 pots of Calthan while they are still available and I'm going to persevere with the new paint. Finally Balor brown replaced Tausept Ochre on the bases and its not quite the same, little less orangey, but I actually prefer the new look to the bases while at the same time they look close enough to the old that you wouldn't really notice.

So with a reinvigorating of enthusiasm I should hopefully have some models done for everyone to see soon. It will take me a while as spare time is in short supply but at least now I'm finally settled with what I'm doing and can just crack on.

Desert bases or possibly a Woodland scheme?? Thoughts?

So here is the final model colour scheme I have settled on (went for green cuffs in the end, khaki ones was just too much khaki and the photo doesn't really do justice to how well I feel the darker green complements the jacket).

While I have been too busy unfortunately to get on much further, I have now got most of a couple of Squads based, helmet badged, undercoated and part painted. 

As I work towards completing them I have a question. (sorry to badger for opinion again!) 

While I love the model colour scheme now (this is the final test model and I am basing all on him but he is negative helmet badge which ties the belt buckle in nicely and I went a bit overboard on the trouser wash!)                                                                                                                                                                                  I am wondering about the base. I really like this base scheme and I think it helps to make the model pop? but I am wondering whether a forest like earthy green base and green grass might go better? See I'm also starting to wonder whether sand coloured vehicles will go with these guys or maybe green is required to match the jackets and would be better? Once again I would value opinions as having got into this position after 2 or three months of collecting, stripping, cleaning, testing! and finally painting, I am now loath to base them up wrong!

With Easter fast approaching I want to use the time I have off to push on and at least get these two squads finished as well as a few other things (Platoon Command Squad, finish the 5 part completed Ratling conversions, Plasma Gunner conversions, first lascannon battery).

Also I decided I don't really like chain swords so will be converting all sergeants/officers to carry this straight heavy sword pattern, what do we think? 

I figure as well as looking cooler (well I think so) I can decide, depending on the list, whether each one counts as a power sword or just close combat weapon, without having to resort to magnets and interchangeable bits or just having twice as many models and only using one half each time. Although it does mean remembering which ones are powerswords during a game!

Cuffs the final hurdle!

Gents thank you once again for the comments and just need one set of final thoughts to settle on the colour scheme and get started painting. I realised after doing this that Winterborne was right and I should have got the base painted to get the true effect, but limited time tonight so just tried these out (the cuffs are now about twice the size on this poor guy!).

There in no particular order and some are more inclined towards possible Command model schemes but I suppose I could use any of them for the army, they were pretty quick. I'm leaning towards the green but worry while good looking loads of these models might look a bit dull? Also like the plain Khaki but have doubts for the same reason. I didn't actually try gold and green which I think I might use on Command models if I pick the green. The gold was only meant as Command cuffs but could be used and I have redone the red better to see if it now gets liked more. The only thing I haven't done that I would like to do is a silver selection (maybe green/silver or black/silver, but I have no mithril, which I assume would be the colour to use?). Just added a Red and Green as an after thought which I quite like and may use for artillery if nothing else.

Khaki Cuffs

Khaki and Gold Cuffs

Green Cuffs

Khaki and Red Cuffs

Red Cuffs

Red and Gold Cuffs

Khaki and Green Cuffs

Red and Green

I'm pretty certain I don't want to change anything else on the model (love the green trouser stripe) so its only the cuff that will be coloured this way (and on command models the braid). So what is the thoughts? or is there a colour that you think would be good that I have miseed? I dismissed blue but you never know.....

Green Jacket ideas continued.....

    

White Epaulettes

Khaki Trousers

Gents thank you all so much for your comments so far, really helping. Col Ackland thanks for the Mordians, made me have a go at the red cuffs and in general its a good blog. Just reread my post and see what you mean! lol!

Started off by trying white epaulettes over black, didn't think it worked.

Then tried changing the trouser colour to something more contrasting, really like this khaki but I'm not sure whether the orangey brown was adding something that is lost by taking it out?

Also tried black trousers but not that big a fan.

Then tried red cuffs, like them but not 100% convinced, think they look good without being great.

Then tried grey epaulettes, they really didn't work so added some stone which again I quite like.

Finally thought if I quite liked the khaki trousers it was worth trying the epaulettes in it, which I think goes if I keep the khaki trousers.......

Black Trousers

Not 100% sure about anything, the model now looks like the Khaki epaulettes photo and he is growing on me. Kind of miss the brown trousers though....but not sure why as I like the khaki more (that sounds really stupid but not sure how else to put it!). 

Black Trousers

Red Cuffs Back

Red Cuffs Front

Grey with Stone Epauletes

Khaki Epaulettes

In answer to your guys points, I'm not sure black on the cuffs would look right without black elsewhere but I don't like the trousers in black and want to leave everything else bar the epaulettes untouched. I really like the white insignia on the gun and don't really want to change it as again it moves away from what I originally really liked.

I don't want purple cuffs as I can't have the uniform too untraditional and purple is for me. Silver possibly but i can't work out how to make silver cloth not just look shiny and metallic. The one thing I really am keen to try is black and silver epaulettes.

I just want to say again I really appreciate all your guys comments and help, and I think about everything you guys have said, but for me to like this Army it can't move too far away from a traditional British Army uniform.

As for making Command Models stand out I'm not sure, I like where other people have different coloured cuffs, but i have decided for my army I definitely don't want to do that, I want the Command and veterans and all platoons wearing the same jacket to be the same colour scheme, maybe only differentiated by the braiding. Other squads I was quite happy to be different if they did something different ie. cavalry, artillery. I do understand the 100 Guardsman aren't an Napoleonic army point, but I still feel I want at least those functions to be changed by a differing but complimentary uniform.

I don't know, hitting a rut of indecision again and all the time my Blue and Red Praetorain is flaunting his easy on the eye colour scheme at me.......its kind of infuriating to have loads of models, be willing to paint them but be frozen by indecision on how to go about it, if I get it wrong and say 30 models down I decide, actually I don't like it I don't know what I would do. Can't believe I hadn't thought about this much before when it's such an important decision and their are 100's of guys and hours of time at stake.

Once again your help and comment is very much appreciated.

A Green Jacketed Praetorian Army, thoughts please guys?

So thought I had better start a new thread as its a slightly different discussion. After thinking about it, and with a little bit of encouragement from Col Winterborne I am seriously considering a full Green Jacketed army based on this test model. I really love him but I accept that at least the epaulettes need to change, going to test out grey/white I think, any other suggestions?

So what I now need a bit of advise on is, do you think it needs any other changes? I might try out a grey/white trouser as well?

and finally I suppose do you guys think I should do it? I think part of me will be a little bit sad that they are not red jackets, but I think its a great look in its own right.