Hi. I'm still sorting out my paint schemes for my Tyranids and I'm trying to come up with a good color design for my 'stealers. Below, I have a (really bad) picture of two test bugs painted similar with some minor differences except in one aspect: the carapace.

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/ZeeWulfSN/stealercolors.jpg
(Note about the camera that took the picture: its a kodak easyshare CX6200 2.0 megapixel from about 2000. Only reason I have it is because it was a 'gift' so that I'd start taking pictures....generally, I prefer my Cannon Rebel 2000 EOS 35mm with the 300mm lens with macro settings, but I've got nowhere to develop film for several hundred miles! I suppose I'm going to have to eventually get a real digital.)

The left one was painted up with a 50/50 mix of Red Leather and Mahogany, with a dash of Medium brown added for flavor. It was then covered in a Flesh Wash, the carapace was painted in Regal Blue, flesh-washed as well for depth, but the red ribbing was left alone to stand out. The carapace striping was painted on using a single fine brush, each stripe individually painted.

The right one was painted with the same base mix, but was then covered in a chestnut ink to make it redder. Regal blue was applied to the ENTIRE carapace (which is the important difference here that I'm trying to decide on.) and then flesh-washed, and the striping was applied with a crazy-bristled splayed out brush en-masse.

I'm trying to figure out which one is the better design, so, any suggestions, I'm open for. In fact, I quite welcome them. Especially in regards to the carapace stuff. In the meantime, I'm going to see what I can do about borrowing someone's camera so I can get some better pictures...

I think you need to think about what you actually want your Genestealers to look like and how you want them to fit in with the rest of your swarm. It is very hard to tell which looks better in thsi picture. The stripes you painted onto the carapace of the left one look good. However it may just be the picture quality that is making them seem to blend well with the paint on the model. However both models seem to look identical.

I find that with carapace highlights you can use either directly applying the highlights or drybrushing them. A better idea of what effect you want would make it easier to judge which is best. I am not sure what those flesh washes and paints will all look like together as visualising them in my head is rather hard. Say what kind of a look you want for your swarm and if you want your Genestealers to stand out in some way.

I like the colors but my only criticism would be that the are both very dark. IMO you should keep one color dark and the other color bright (or at least brighter) for added contrast.

Yeah, I was afraid the camera would fail me on this....I'll be borrowing one later and hopefully it should stand out some more. I know the stealers blend well with the Army, standing next to some gaunts they fit right in. Its more whether or not to keep the red on the carapace. But yeah...I'm going to borrow a better camera and hopefully get a clearer picture.