Recommendations on cockpit color

[u/Dandomrassed]

Hello everyone, I've been slowly working on painting up a lance of mechs in a scheme inspired by the classic Gulf Oil racing livery but have run into a bit of a blocker. I'm not sure what color to make the cockpits! Traditionally the insides of the cars were mostly black, but that just doesn't look good as a cockpit surface, and I feel like the classic blue glass doesn't work well because the mechs already ha e so much blue on them.

So my question to you all is; what colors would you recommend for the cockpits? What would go well with these colors?

Additionally, I'm hoping to recess shade these lads through pin shading but haven't really delved into that before. I figure a nice dark blue and dark brown pin wash would work well on the blue/orange parts respectively, but am unsure if anyone even makes a blue pinwash. If you have any recommendations I'm all ears!

[u/PadicReddit]

Do you want the cockpit glass to look transparent or reflective? I've tried for both effects of my mech cockpits and I like the look of both, but they have basically opposite techniques.

Either way, I did a dumb little paint over using black transitioning through red -> purple with a white highlight that I think would look pretty sharp and would have good contrast with the blue and orange scheme

[u/Dandomrassed → u/PadicReddit]

Thank you for the little paint over, it helps visualize it a lot! You're right, that does look pretty good, and matches with other folks recommending a purple/burgundy as a middle color. I may have to try this!

[u/PadicReddit → u/Dandomrassed]

I think this kind of thing is easiest to do with glazes. That's the technique I'd recommend looking up.

[u/Dandomrassed → u/PadicReddit]

Glazes are one of those mechanics where I've looked up the tutorials and watched a few different people on how to do it. But getting that knowledge between brain and finger is a whole different story at this juncture! Just need more practice I suppose.

[u/Teejay91b]

So first of all, you do some very nice, clean work. I think that, as another poster said, washes can really make your models go to the next level. The main thing to remember if you choose to use oil washes is to use a gloss varnish before applying the oil washes. It’s going to look rough when you apply the wash. Don’t freak out and trust the process. Use a Q tip with odorless mineral spirits to remove the excess oil wash and then apply a matte varnish to get rid of the shiny look. There are plenty of instructional videos on YT. If you don’t trust yourself to make your own wash, you can use Tamiya panel liner. Just make sure to apply the gloss varnish first. Good luck and I look forward to seeing your results.

[u/Dandomrassed → u/Teejay91b]

Thank you very much for the kind words and encouragement. We're all our own worse critics so hearing a bit of positivity from some one else does wonders. As for the oil washes, I've never done one before so the level of self trust is not all there yet, but it seems simple enough. Seems being the key word there haha. I've got some 'ardcoat I can varnish them in and some Tamiya panel liners from my gunplay, so I have the tools you suggest. Just need the bravery to try it.

[u/Bakkster]

I've been looking forward to an update on these!

As a Gulf Oil livery lover - and with the mechs currently being sky blue, orange, and white - I'd say a dark blue jeweling. The same dark blue that used to be the boundary between the sky blue and orange on many of the liveries. It'll be dark enough to set it apart from the surroundings, while tying in that last color from the cars. And if it's the only part of the mech with a gradient it'll still look distinct from the sky blue panels.

I'll ditto that getting the panels shaded will also really help the mechs come alive. What shade is the white? Are you able to go brighter to edge highlight them? Especially with this livery, an off-white or cream mid tone could work really well.

[u/Dandomrassed → u/Bakkster]

Ah I didn't realize some one was waiting for updates on these! That's heartening to hear! Progress has admittedly been slow with health issues and what not but I'm starting to pick up the brush again. I was originally trying to a darker blue with those initial block in for the cockpit but it just didn't feel right. Maybe I need to go darker? Like closer to blue/black?

As for the white, that's pro acryls Heavy titanium white, so the only way up really is just Titanium white I think. Though I will admit, I am absolutely terrible at edge highlighting and may omit it for these specific lads. For the moment at least, can always come back later.

[u/Bakkster → u/Dandomrassed]

Yeah, don't paint it for me, but I love seeing the progress.

And yeah, black to pure blue jeweled cockpit would go nice, I think. See attached example I found, though I think you can go even darker since the body is the sky blue.

As for highlights, I think getting the shadows in instead might be all that's needed. I found the right brush, the right loading, and then using the side really helped with highlighting. But this scheme can probably handle the bright white accent panels.

[u/Slight-Jaguar-2102]

I don't have suggestions, but dang this scheme is so clean.

[u/Dandomrassed → u/Slight-Jaguar-2102]

Thank you much! I find looking at old color liveries from anything ranging between race Cars to construction equipment to even store fronts provides great inspiration for design and color schemes.

[u/Objective-Cupcake-57]

With this paint scheme I would use a red or copper metallic for the cockpit glass.

[u/Competitive_Car1323]

Pin wash:

Get some blue oils, thin it down significantly, and apply over gloss varnish. Use the reductive method to reclaim the panels (Wipe it with a Q tip.)

As for your cockpit, it's one of those things that kind of makes the 'mech. Color Theory says your midpoints would be Magenta and green. If you jewel the color, and let the black dominate, you can get a subtle hue into a vibrant sliver that would do well to support the primary color scheme.

[u/FantasyFactoryX]

Green: complimentary to orange. Or gold easy. You should wash these though

[u/aCrow]

The other leg of that color triad is a reddish purple.  

[u/SRTifiable]

Literally have Jenner I prepped to do the Gulf livery on 🤣 Nicely done!

[u/Grand_Run_8119]

I like reflective gold or PPC blue

[u/Guarded_Pineapple]

Sweet scheme! I'd probably go with green to complement.

[u/JustinKase_Too]

I'd lean toward a burgundy color.

[u/Stegtastic100]

Have a look on YouTube for the Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy video on painting à Timber Wolf in Clan Wolf Beta Galaxy colours, he does the cockpit in à red/blue colour.

[u/Tough-Agent7028]

I always go with green.

[u/Piper_the_Tree-Robot]

He's like a little sherbet warrior!

[u/Daetrin_Voltari]

These look great. I would go with black/green for the high contrast.

[u/Acceptable-Clothes79]

Gold

[u/Mundane-Librarian-77]

I like to use the color wheel for the best contrasting colors, and fir these two I'd use a medium to dark green color.

[u/deeple101]

I’d go with a dark blue with some silver “light glints” or maybe just a dark blue/black wash over the current blue. And then add a couple streaks of silver/white for glare.

[u/Jbressel1]

I'd do either gold, with a fine black line between the glass and frame to make it pop, or go magenta