So, buzzing off all the Mantic Forge Fathers knocking around Golem Painting Studio it was inevitable I also do an army of my own. (Hey, I wanna field them at the Warpath 2012 Invitational.) Orange seems to be winning out in my colour scheme at the moment, so let’s talk about its influences a little more.
Photoshop colour scheme over Tommie’s superb paintjobs. One of the misleading things about Photoshopping miniatures is you think your alternative colour choices looks awesome, when in fact it’s actually the original painter’s crisp highlights and colour blocking.
’70s and ’80s Scifi Heritage
Dark God of the Transformers mythos – Unicron – was a metallic spacebot with facial hair. When I first saw the Storm Rage Veterans he sprang to mind.
He will provide you with new troops to command.
Unicron is a child of 1980s, when orange seemed to be the signature colour of science fiction. I remember it vividly from Gerry Anderson’s Space:1999 and UFO series. They’re orange THEY MUST BE IN SPACE. Maya (left) has orange hair – she must be an alien.
This was influenced by the colour of of NASA spacesuits, or more specifically the Launch / Entry Suits they more which were deliberately bright to help rescue crews spot crews that’ve bailed out on Earth. Then when they’re in space astronauts change into white suits as it reflects heat better and it’s easier to spot against the grimdarkness of space. I digress…
For non-Brits who weren’t exposed to the horrors of UFO, orange is also synonomous with retro sci-fi thanks to Star Wars.
Agreeing with me is Dave King of Bederken Miniatures. One of his many projects is a Rogue Trader force painted rather than as the established Warhammer 40K universe would have you expect … “away from gothic and towards early eighties science fiction. I wanted them to be able to walk into an episode of Rogue Trooper or ABC warriors and look the part.”
A C100 Female Marine?!
Check out Dave’s retro lead blog. It’s cocking brilliant.
Squat Heritage
Squat boxes and detachment cards for both Warhammer 40K and Epic were orange.
Blimey, remember datafaxes?!
But the models themselves weren’t – they were typically green and red. It wasn’t until the White Dwarf in Space subscription model came along that we saw a Games Workshop Space Dwarf (not Squat) in orange. But that was chosen more because he’s wearing a modern spacesuit more than the old Warhammer 40K card components.
And so we come to my seond experiment with Forge Fathers and orange, this one also influenced by Beardy Bastards. The first used far too much yellow and will not be shown in public. It’s Vomit Brown, Ogryn Flesh Wash and Dheneb Stone highlights. It’s an experimental model that’s had parts redone a few times, and is rough in places so the photography’s deliberately slapdash.
The Future’s Grimdark. The Future’s Orange.
