So, even though my army is Raptors, I LOVE the Raven Guard themselves and I’m finding it harder and harder not to start painting some up. I’ve been looking at a lot of great RG models to get ideas and I think I’ve come up with a method to experiment with that I thought I’d share before I get started.
I tend to paint black armor by basing black, and then spraying dark grey from above, and then washing the model in Nuln Oil. (If you don’t have an airbrush, you can just base the whole model grey and then black wash–it has a similar effect) That takes care of any shine in the paint (GW black paints tend to be a bit glossy on their own), plus give a touch of natural highlight. Nuln Oil has been excellent for this technique because due to the higher level of pigment in it compared to the older GW black wash you get a much darker stain. Then you highlight up with true greys in layers and edges.
What I’ve been thinking is that for Raven Guard, since “Raven” black in real life has a touch of blue to it, I would use a 50/50 mix of Drakenhof Nightshade/Nuln Oil for the wash step, and then blue-greys like Russ Grey for layers and edges. That would give more of that touch of blue on a raven’s feathers when the sun hits them.
Thoughts?