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Gday all
I have a good selection of Valejo paints from the model colour Range and was wondering what colours are the most common to use for Dark age figures? I have used Citadel paints for ancients in the past but have moved onto Valejo for mainly WWII and now have gone back to Ancients/Dark ages.I want the minis to be acceptable and not too gaudy. So any suggestions would be really apreciated.

Cheers Turk

I use Valejo. As colors go, I look at osprey or online pictures of dark age stuff. I use straight out of the pot, or mix a colors. No set color use for my end.

There seems to be a bunch of bright colors to earth tone stuff out there.

Check out Wayland Games Vallejo Paint sets.Colours listed in the Anglo Saxon, Norman, Viking and Barbarian sets are ideal.I am happy with them anyway

Pretty much any paint will do to be honest its the colour selection which matters I am experimenting with P3 paints at the moment but use whatever gives me the colours I want when I need them. The important thing to note is that the Ancients liked there bright colours & garish combinations. However in practice such where difficult time consuming or expensive to get & didn't last that long in the field.

I find using a modified army painter Speed painting technique also helps as painting a brown wash over even the brightest colours does tend to take the edge off them.

Foundry, for me, three shades ready mixed, Ok, with them about 75% time but I like most of the colours, but I have bought the deals when they did brushes with them as well.

Steve M

All I use is Foundry paint and Vallejo inks and washes.
Not a fan of Vallejo paint - too thin - and GW paint is overpriced junk of the first order, there's more pigment in my spit after I've licked a brush.

If you're worried about gudiness, most bright colous can be shaded with browns to dull them down, or with opposites (shade red with dark blue for a deep red, and blue with red for a deep blue, for example).
And all colours can be made to look natural and worn with a dusty hilight. I use Foundry Rawhide C as a final soft hilight on reds, blues, greens, greys. It does add a nice, weathered look, which is what you want because bright gaudiness is often the order of the day for ancients, but needs softening on such small mini's.

Thanks for all the responses,very appreciated Like i said i have quite a collection of Valejo and feel while the paints are ok im not quite getting the colours i want. I am experimenting with Coat D Arms paints at the momment and feel they give better coverage. I will probably buy one of the Foundry paint sets in the future as most seem to Favour them. They are a tad on the expensive side so i will wait for my Tax return and get a set. I have some Anglo Danes painted up and about to apply army painter to see what result i get. Ive used it on Macedonian Phalangites and the result is very pleasing.

Foundry and CDA are made by the same company, HMG, as are P3 from Privateer Press.
CDA is their own brand, but Foundry is the premium range of the three.

All three ranges have exceptional pigment quality and content, and do cover better than others. One thing they don't do too well is ink; the Foundry and CDA inks aren't great. The inks in the P3 range are a huge step forward, but still Vallejo inks are the best choice, and the washes are pure genius (although GW were the first to market that type of wash, they've done their usual trick of reducing quality and the new ones are just not as good as the originals. Vallejo washes are both cheaper and better).

I dont like inks with Matting pigment in them so tend to use the Windsor and Newton artists inks with a dash of acrylic gloss varnish added. granted this makes your figures glossy but I dont have a problem with that as I use aqueous alcohol solution as my thinner of choice.

Valejo washes are very good and easy to use. As the paint goes, it does seem to go on thin at times but I like the control I get from them. I find if you take time to mix them longer then it is a much more solid color.

I have trouble figuring out the valejo inks and what exactly I should use them for, they seem to go on bright. I feel I should try to mix a given color of ink with some black or darker color ink.