Colorful Protectorate (could use some advice)

[Iff]

After a half-year painting hiatus, I've recently picked up my paint brushes again. I'm sinking my teeth into the Protectorate, the faction I've recently started as my secondary faction. Inspiration for the colour scheme comes from various sources: the Hare Krishna Menoth I saw on these boards, the stained glass Menoth I saw in NQ once, and India in general. I started off with some pictures off internet of Indian fabrics and powdered paints and took it from there. The general idea is to go wild on warrior models and their cloth outfits: khaki will be the neutral base (think burlap), with splashes of orange, pink, blue, green and purple.

I painted a Hierophant first and was very pleased how it turned out. Colourful without being garish. Next up I painted Rhupert. Some darker colours to make him stand out a bit (being a mercenary), but still fitting into the overall theme. The next part was getting a warjack fitting into the theme, without lots of cloth on the model to apply my colors too. I'll add two pictures of my Vanquisher, mostly finished by still WIP. I'm not quite pleased with the way he came out. The scheme seems to miss balance overall, he doesn't seem to fit in...

Primary reason for this post: Could you please let my know your thoughts about the Vanquisher and the way I applied my theme to the warjack? Fitting to the theme, balanced (colour-wise), interesting? It seems to miss something, but I'm not sure how to fix it, or if I'm just overly critical and second-guessing myself. Any feedback would be most appreciated. Thanks.

[Exemplar's_Gaze]

Solid work on the Vanquisher's jewels.

And I actually really like the scheme. It is colorful without being crazy.

[Mod_Plarzoid]

Wow. I like the colorful scheme, and your technique is awesome - those gems on the Vanq are stunning.

I agree that the Vanq is missing something, but I can't quite put my finger on it...

I don't see any purple on him, and you have purple on the other two models. Purple doors would be a bit much, but what about some freehand up there? Take inspiration from Henna tattoo designs? You *obviously* have the brush control to do it. You could put some on the big empty panels on the back too.

[adary]

What I think would improve the vanquisher is some more contrast on the legs and the central torso armor plate. You have overlapping armor plates there that are pretty much the same color. Adding some more color there might make it pop a bit more. Otherwise great job on the models (even though the base is a bit plain for my taste).

[crab-people]

thats actualy an awsome scheme, looks great.

[Wumby79]

My thoughts about the vanquisher is that it's, well, naked. The Indian culture has lots and lots of cloths and fabrics, so the vanquisher has no robe, just the small tabard thing. But clothing him would be horrible. It's great as is, and I think tabled with a mix, the scheme would be balanced out just fine.

[volt_ron]

Dude, these looks great! So clean!

[MidnightFox0083]

Looks really good!

How'd you do the bases?

[MOZZ]

What I think would improve the vanquisher is some more contrast [...]

My thoughts about the vanquisher is that it's, well, naked.

Adary hits one nail on the head, I don't think there is enough contrast in the neutral color. That's what I'd fix first.

Wumby also has a good point: there's too much neutral color showing on this model. If wishes were horses, I'd say freehand a ton of menofixes and other filigree on there. Look at the patterning common in some types of indian architecture. Now, I'm not saying that you make your jack look like a freshman girl's henna tramp stamp but patterning would allow you to introduce color to flat surfaces. It would be hard as hell but if you used geometric designs from muslim architecture instead that might help too.

[anthonicus]

Ya really good work esp for coming back from such a long hiatus! The jewels and the highlights on the menofix are especially nice. You have a steady hand and a clean style. I agree with the posters above that mentioned more contrast, especially on the armored areas. If you sign a bright light directly on the miniature you'll see that certain areas receive more light. So paint those areas brighter with stronger highlights. This is also especially true about the pipers face. You are on a great start but more highlights and deeper shadows will give his face more expression and character.

[TheInfidel]

Quiet and understated. Well done. I don't think that I'd change much, but that's how I roll. I like large areas of muted colors paired with, or rather contrasted by, splashes of bright vibrant detail.

All in all, I like what you've done.

[Iff]

Thanks for all the comments. Very helpful, I think it "clicked" now. It's not that a lot of khaki is inherently boring (as I feared), but that my khaki is just a but flat, which leads to boring. It's funny that it's so easy to advice someone else to add more highlights and shadow to make the model pop, but it's so difficult to notice it on your own models.

I'm going to give it some more work on the khaki first and work in some more highlights. After that, I'll add a few spots of purple as well. If that doesn't fix it, I'll have to bite the bullet and go with freehand. For some reason, I'm quite afraid to do those, similar to OSL. Mozz, great tip on the islamic geometric figures. Thet look awesome, but I don't think I could pull it off on such a small scale.

However, that leads me to the basing. First to answers one question: The bases are done with textured plasticard by Woodland scenics, it has the tile pattern etched into it. I cut out circles and glue them into the base. I agree that they're a bit plain for now. I'm planning to make an army display base and add a large menofix mosaic in a couple of different colours across the entire tile floor. That should spice it up a bit. Alternatively, or additionaly, I'll take Mozz's suggestion on board and paint some of those geometric patterns on the tile.

Will try to put up new pictures of the Vanquisher after the weekend.

[Dunvane]

Very cool scheme. I think it's... interesting, that it looks like those models are standing on the holodeck aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, but I really like the scheme.

[Iff]

Well, it's done. I added more depth and highlights to the khaki, mostly on the boiler doors, the thighs and the right arm. It was really interesting for me to see how much of a difference that made. The colour seems much warmer and more alive. I also added purple in two spots and gave the gold some more work. I'm really pleased with the way he turned out now, I think your suggestions really helped me tie everything together. Thanks again for the detailed advice.
He now fits beautifully next to the hierophant, I'm definitely continuing on this path to get a 35 or 50 point army painted up. The basing seems to be a point of contention, but I'll leave that for now. I think I can still fix that at the end, if it still looks like a holodeck by then.

On to the pictures: