Original Eldar Paint Schemes?

[kelvingreen]

Does anyone know what the official colour scheme was for the Howling Banshees back in the Rogue Trader and second edition days? I assume Bleached Bone was involved somewhere. If anyone knows the Dark Reaper scheme, that would be handy too; I'm not intending to paint mine in the original colours, but I'd like to use the schemes as a starting point for variation.

If there's a White Dwarf or an older How to Paint Citadel Miniatures volume floating around, do point me in that direction. Thanks!

[Apologist]

White Dwarf 127 is the one you're after. It includes a complete 'Eavy Metal guide to the different aspects, along with some great designer's notes on the schemes; plus the original background for Craftworld Eldar. Well worth picking up.

As a rough idea, the schemes were very similar – Banshees were largely white, with red/green accents (the exarch later reversed this scheme), and the Dark Reapers were black with red accents.

+++Edit+++
Here's a link to a spread from the WD
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_v-QnkPLGATg/Ss...4/eldar_lg.jpg

[Fenrisian Ale]

I can't say the Citadel colours, as back then I used to use the cheaper humbrol paints.

However, when I get home tonight I could look up my old compendium book and see if it says in there, maybe in one of the original eldar codexes.

basically banshees were bone coloured bodies with green helmets and orange hair.
Reapers were a dark blue body with black helmets and weapons.

As I say, I'll see what I can dig up tonight.

[kelvingreen]

Thanks both. I should be clear that I'm after the specific Citadel colour names. I have the second edition Eldar book on the way, but I don't remember a painting guide in there; I may be wrong on this. White Dwarf #127 looks like a good bet though!

Thanks again!

[Captain Brown]

Here are some examples I have done.




Other than the Exarch all those are original lead models painted shortly after they were first released in blisters of 5 models.




Hope that helps,

CB

[Fenrisian Ale]

I have looked through all my reference material for 1st and second edition.

all I can find is generic reference to the colour, but no mention of the specific paint colour names.

I was thinking though the names of the paints have gone though many name changes since those days, even if you can find the names back then you may have to convert the names a couple of times to get to the current day name.

sorry I couldn't be more help.

[kelvingreen]

Hope that helps,

CB

It's not what I'm looking for, Captain, but I really like your colour schemes and I might steal your Dark Reaper one; I have something else in mind for my Banshees. I like the crisp and unfussy style you've used, and that's something I'll try to achieve in my painting.

I have looked through all my reference material for 1st and second edition.

sorry I couldn't be more help.

Thank you for taking the time to look! Do you have White Dwarf #127? If it doesn't mention the specific paint colours either, I may not bother chasing it.

[kelvingreen]

Well, I found a copy of the Warhammer 40,000 Painting Guide from 1994, and it tells us the following information.

Banshee armour is painted in Snakebite Leather for the flexible parts and Bleached Bone for the plating. The helmet is given a coat of Blood Red with a Blood Angel Orange highlight. The text doesn't match the stage-by-stage photographs here and says that the helmet is done in Woodland Green with Goblin Green and Sunburst Yellow highlights.

The Dark Reapers are painted in Chaos Black with Moody Blue highlights, with a Bleached Bone faceplate. The missile launcher is given a base of Blood Red, with -- guess what? -- Blood Angel Orange as a highlight.

[Apologist]

I've just looked through WD127 and it doesn't have any specific colour details, I'm afraid. Interestingly, the colours kelvingreen mentioned do tally with the single painted banshee on the back cover, assuming the reds are for the hair and the greens are for the faceplate (rather than the helmet itself, which is Bleached Bone). I don't think you'd go far wrong if you used the colours mentioned in kelvingreen's post. Hope that helps!

[chromedog]

The notes for the painting did cover it in WD 127.
P54. Under the "Heavy metal" heading. Aspect warriors.

Aspect Warriors have very simple colour schemes, making them quick to paint I found that the simplest approach is to paint a base colour over the entire miniature except for the helmet and the weapons. As each of the Aspects has a definite range of colours, the choice of base colour was a simple matter: deep red for the Fire Dragons; dark blue for the Dire Avengers; black for the Dark Reapers; dark green for the Striking Scorpions; dark grey for the Swooping Hawks; and deep bone for the Howling Banshees.
As well as the painted models on the back cover, there are more examples of Aspect Warrior painting schemes on the full-colour page in the Eldar army list itself. As you can see, each scheme is different but each Aspect uses the same basic colours. Using this basic set of colours, you'll find an endless variety of actual painting schemes can be devised, giving each
squad its own individual appearance and at the same time making its Aspect instantly identifiable.

FIRE DRAGONS. I gave the miniature a base coat of a mix of Imperial Purple and Red Ink. I then thinned this down to a wash which I applied over the entire miniature except for the helmet and weapons. For the next step, I applied the first stage highlights with Blood Red The softer areas of the Aspect suit need to remain darker than the hard plates, so I gave them only small highlights on the edges of the creases and raised areas. I picked out each of the hard plates in Blood Red and highlighted them with Blood Angel Orange and Skull White. I gave the helmet a base coat of Spearstaff Brown with a spot of Orange Ink, highlighted with Sunburst Yellow and Skull White.
I decided that painting the Aspect rune on the front of the helmet in black would look dramatic and add to the feel of the model. These runes can actually be painted on any part of the armour or left off altogether - it's up to you. I find the easiest way to paint them is to use a sharp pencil tolightly draw out the rune, then paint it in using Chaos Black thinned down with Black Ink. When you use a pencil to draw onto a model, it's important to make sure that the paint is completely dry and hard, and that you only draw very lightly.

DIRE AVENGERS.I got the overall blue colour scheme by putting a base coat of Marine Dark Blue on in a thin wash. When this was dry, I highlighted with Ultramarine and Skull White. The undersuit was left darker than the top plates so there were no final highlights. I chose yellow as the secondary colour because of the striking contrast with blue. I gave these areas a base coat of Spearstaff Brown highlighted with Sunburst Yellow and Skull White. The black and white stripes on the helmet crest and gun are particularly effective and are a clear way of indicating the squad.

DARK REAPERS. Iused a black undercoat on this miniature instead of the normal white. This creates a deep shadow, jusi leaving the highlights to be added. On the undersuit, the highlights are a mix of Chaos Black and Skull White with the final highlights in Elf Grey. I highlighted the top plates with a mix of Chaos Black and Moody Blue, then added Skull White for the final highlight mix. I picked red as the secondary colour because it contrasts dramatically with the black and bone of the overall scheme. Finally, a coat of gloss varnish of the helmet makes the whole miniature particularly effective.

STRIKING SCORPIONS. I thinned down a mix of Woodland Green and Chaos Black and applied this as a base coat over the whole model apart from the weapons. I highlighted the softer areas by adding Skull White to the original colour; for the hard plates I used Goblin Green and Bilious Green to highlightI chose yellow as a contrasting colour as it combines very effectively with the black on the underside of the helmet and backpack, as shown on the rear of the model. The Blood Red gems look very dramatic set against the green armour.

SWOOPING HAWKS. Squads of Swooping Hawks ale often differentiated by the colour of the outer feathers on their wings; I picked yellow and turquoise because they look striking together and go very well with the overall feel of the model. I made up the turquoise colour by mixing Ultrmarine and Woodland Green in a ratio of 1:2. I then highlighted this base colour by adding Skull White to the mix. Once the highlights were dry, I painted on a few very thin washes of turquoise ink to enrichen the colour. This ink is mixed from Blue and Green Inks in the same 1:2 ratio as the paint.
HOWLING BANSHEES. I got the bone effect on the Banshee armour by applying a base coat of Bestial Brown and Ore Brown. I then highlighted this with Bronzed Flesh and Skull White with a final highlight of pure Skull White round the edge of the plates. I painted the hair using a base coat of Terracotta, highlighted with Blood Angel Orange and Skull White. I then added a wash of Chestnut Ink to tone down the white and create a richer colour. If you want, the Banshee's loincloth is an ideal area on which to paint the Aspect rune or just a
decorative pattern. WEAPONS. The look I wanted to achieve for the weapons was an antique gold effect to suggest venerable age and fine craftsmanship. I used a base coat of Chaos Black over all the weapons to create a very deep shadow. I then covered this almost completely with a mix of Shining Gold and
Brown Ink, highlighted by adding more Shining Gold and Mithril Silver to the base mix. A final thin glaze of Brown Ink helped to smooth it all out You can achieve an even more intricate effect by painting fine filigree work on the weapons. To do this, I use a base coat of Chaos Black; when it's dry, I paint on very fine interlacing lines of Skull White, adding a thin glaze of Orange Ink to give a gold effect.

WARLOCKS. The only thing that I had to bear in mind when painting the two Warlocks was that they have dark robes and their helmets ale a bright contrasting colour. I got the purple colour by using a base coat of Imperial Purple and Chaos Black, highlighted with Imperial Purple and Skull White. For the blue, I used Space Marine Blue highlighted with Ultramarine and
Skull White. The runes on the robes were painted on in Skull White and shaded with Yellow and Brown Ink.

John Blanche.

[Apologist]

Must get my autosensors updated – cheers Chromedog!

[chromedog]

'Twas nothing.
I scanned that issue into my computer a while ago.
Well, all of the pertinent Eldar stuff, anyway. Army list, background, painting stuff.

[violenceha]

Was that the same issue Mike Mcvey talked about the colors he used to paint them?

[kelvingreen]

The Eldar in #127 are painted by McVey and Tim Prow, but it's not clear who wrote the text chromedog quotes above.

McVey has the main author credit on the Warhammer 40,000 Painting Guide, but there are six others mentioned as part of the 'Eavy Metal team; again it's not clear if McVey wrote the entire text.