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PAINTING·WHITE DWARF 317

Colours of the Tau Empire

May 2006·p. 68

THE SHORT VERSION

Four colour wheels give foundations and finishing stages for white armour, red armour, Tau skin and the familiar Tau Sept armour. The white recipe uses grey lining, the red progresses through stronger reds and the blue skin becomes lighter through flesh mixtures. Warm armour moves from orange-brown towards bone, providing a concise set of recurring materials that painters can combine across a cadre rather than treating every figure as a new scheme.

AT THE PAINTING DESK

Paints in this article

Every named colour below is searchable across the archive.

Codex GreyFortress GreySkull WhiteScab RedRed GoreBlood RedShadow GreyElf FleshVomit BrownBronzed FleshBleached Bone

Only explicitly named Citadel paints and mediums are indexed; unnamed colours and third-party products are not guessed.

EXPLORE RELATED TOPICS

Painting armour Painting skin & faces Painting techniques

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Find this article in White Dwarf 317, p. 68.

This is an original summary. Refer to your magazine for the complete article, rules, images and painting steps.

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EditorialWD 317 · pp. 42–43

Standard Bearer: Summer of War

Jervis Johnson traces the global summer campaigns back to Ichar IV in 1995, when mailed results, stories and photographs decided whether an Imperial world survived invasion. Internet reporting has made participation easier, but he sees the essential attraction as a shared reason to play and create memorable battles. Medusa V provides the latest opportunity, and Jervis asks participants to contribute narratives and unusual scenarios as well as recording wins and losses.

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LoreWD 317 · pp. 44–53

Index Imperialis: The Firstborn Sons of Vostroya

Vostroya’s elite Firstborn carry an inherited debt from the Horus Heresy, when the factory world refused to divert workers into soldiers. Guilliman’s settlement binds every family’s eldest son to service, with continuous replacement drafts preserving old regiments and their brotherhood. The feature connects this obligation to hand-crafted weapons, harsh training and stubborn pride, then explores the visual design, Studio painting methods and three ways to represent the regiment in the game.

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InterviewWD 317 · pp. 48–49

Birth of the Vostroyan

John Blanche explains how eighteenth-century soldiers and Russian Cossacks informed the Firstborn’s archaic appearance. Early sketches emphasise ornate long guns, imposing fur hats, distinctive officers and ritual details rather than centrally standardised equipment. He treats the drawings as prompts for sculptors instead of rigid instructions, explaining why the finished models can differ while retaining the character established by the initial concepts.

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May 2006Read summary