WIP Ranger

[Tom]

Not sure how to proceed here so I thought I'd quickly ask for help - The red armour and green(?) gemstones are missing but I'm not sure if there's something else that this mini needs. Trouble is that I'm trying to make him look stealthy (no metallics and minimal bright colours where I can help it) so maybe that's why he's not very exciting to look at:

[The Allfather]

Looks damn good, the only thing I can really think of is maybe toning down or darkening his rifle a little bit, it seems really bright/pale, though that may just be the lighting.

[The Man They Call Jayne]

Looks great, although the gear on his back seems a little flat compared to the depth in the rest of it. and as said, the rifle is a little bright if stealthy is your aim.

[Tom]

Thank you for the suggestions, I think maybe both the rifle and gear on his back could do with some extra shading. I'm hesitant to highlight instead to increase the depth because I do want to try to keep him generally darker. The brightness on the barrel of the rifle is all from the lighting but it does stand out a bit, it might look a little better with some dark gemstones set into it too.

Speaking of which, any suggestions for the colour? I was thinking dark green but maybe that's too boring and I shouldn't worry too much about them standing out and use a bright spot colour?

[The Man They Call Jayne]

Well, if you were to keep the dark look, and you have the know how to do it, you could try an kind of Anti Glow. Instead of the gems throwing off light, they are absorbing it, making the areas around them darker and throwing of shadows rather than highlights.

I admit it might be too tricky to make work, but it could be an interesting twist on a well known method.

[Tom]

Sounds like a cool effect, I'd never have thought of that. Can you find any examples?

[The Man They Call Jayne]

I don't even know if it has ever been done. It just popped into my head.

[Chris]

That sounds like it could be a very interesting effect... So, I'm picturing it as a gem (obviously) with a dark shade around it. The gem is dark but distinct through highlighting, but perhaps a small pale gem effect on it to show how the light is being absorbed by it...

Could be very interesting!

[The Man They Call Jayne]

Yes. I also see it as where you would normally highlight edges further out with a glow, is shaded even more deeply. A shroud of living darkness protecting the ranger from his enemies.

[Tom]

After doing the red I realised how foolish the idea of my Eldar rangers looking stealthy on the tabletop was... They have to have that red there (and some of the others have white helmets too) so it seems silly to worry about the rest of the models' stealth abilities. Also, none of my other minis look anything like stealthy - not even my striking scorpions (who now have the USR stealth). So I've embraced the fantasy of the whole thing and added a few more metallic touches. I think I might also make the green a little less dull on the next lot. What do you think? (again just quick pictures)

[Rej]

If you still wanted them to seem kinda stealthy you could add some kind of effect to the cloak so it's like an active stealth cloak type of thing. No idea how you would paint it or anything but.
The models looking pretty cool, can't wait to be shot by them!

[loeldrad]

I think he came out great! Would love to see the whole unit painted up this way. I agree with you not wanting to go overboard on trying to make them look too stealthy and rather keep to the theme of your army.

[Thantos]

When hiding among a forest of christmas trees - they will be perfectly camouflaged

Solid paintjob as always Tom Good luck with the whole unit