Scheme Reference
All Sword of Light regiments use a flat red paint scheme in the field and on parade.
Field Manual: Draconis Combine
Artist Notes
1. (Optional) Make a base. I applied PVA glue using a cheap brush, then dipped the base in sand. I then used another cheap brush to clean up any spill from the feet and legs.Let it dry for a couple of hours.
2. Apply cheap white rattlecan primer.
3. Apply two thin coats of Army Painter Fanatic Basilisk Red (a dark, cool red)
4. Paint the metal parts in Vallejo Model Color Gunmetal Grey (if you have the old ranges, it’s Vallejo Game Color Gunmetal.) I mostly hit the weapons, but in this case i left the center torso LRM5 untouched.
5. (Optional) At this part i paint details like weapons and the cockpit. The cockpit is Army Painter Fanatic Matt Black, followed by a rough L-shape in Army Painter Fanatic Angel Green (a deep, dark green), followed by a smaller L-shape of Army Painter Fanatic Pharaoh Guard (medium teal), an even smaller L-shape Army Painter Fanatic Aqua Alchemy (light teal), and a tiny dot of Army Painter Fanatic Ice Yellow (yellowish off-white). The medium lasers use the same layers in an U-shape, and the medium lasers use Basilisk Red, followed by Army Painter Fanatic Pure Red (medium cool red.) I then added a few dots of light reflection with pure Ice Yellow.
6. Layer Pure Red over almost everything that is still Basilisk Red, leaving out the undersides and the recesses.
7. Highlight the Pure Red, using a mix of Pure Red and Army Painter Dorado Skin (a very bright skin color.) The first highlight should be noticeably brighter than the Pure Red without drifting too much into pink. Hit pretty much all edges with that, leaving out those that clearly face downwards. The second highlight should be almost pink and hit the top-facing corners, less is more here to make your mini not look pink. You can also hit some edges close to the cockpit with the second highlight color to put some more emphasis on the eye-catcher that is the cockpit. I also painted the holes of the lrms with Matt Black.
8. Apply some highlights to the gunmetal parts using Army Painter Fanatic Plate Mail Metal (clean, bright silver). Some brushstrokes on the sides of the barrels and leg machinery, top-facing edge highlights on everything else.
9. (Optional) Freehanding the logos and some other details. You can absolutely go for decals or even leave them out. I used Ice Yellow for the leg hazard stripes, cleaning them up with the underlying reds. I also used ice yellow for the “burning sword”, which honestly is just a rough line art of a sword with some stripes representing the fire coming from the front. For the Draconis Combine logo, i just made a small dot of Matt Black, put an even smaller dot of Basilisk Red inside, then drew a line roughly resembling the dragon of the Draconis Combine.
10. (Optional) For the base, i first cleaned up the mess i made with Ice Yellow. You can use white, it won’t make a lot of difference. Then i applied a layer of Army Painter Speed Paint Forest Sprite. I drybrushed that with a mix of Ice Yellow and Army Painter Fanatic Rainforest. I then painted some of the bigger pebbles with a deep grey and highlighted them with a light grey, which i mixed using leftover paints on my palette. I painted the base rim in Matt Black, painted the stripes in Ice Yellow and then put a thin layer of Army Painter Speed Paint Zealot Yellow over that.
11. Apply AK Interactive Ultra Matte Varnish on everything.
12. (Optional) Apply AK Interactive Glossy Varnish on the cockpit and lasers.
13. (Optional) Finally, I glued on a few red flowers.
