How to achieve this black but weathered / sandy rock look from Conan Exiles

[Heijoshin]

Hey everyone, 

Im looking to achieve the blackish and weathered / sandswept ruins look as seen in the video game Conan Exiles. 

Problem is I am not sure how to 1) achieve the right black look to make it weather and 2) to add what looks like the sandy / browny coloured sand weathering seen on the top. 

Does anyone have any tips on how to achieve this on say the Bone-Tithe Nexus or on some larger base rocks for instance? 

Here are some reference pics: 

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CnUcHppWgAAsc5-?format=jpg&name=large

https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/conanexiles_gamepedia/f/f6/Sandswept_1.jpg?version=aa19e59800d8c16bf57b56d7353fc127

https://gameranx.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/20180517110715_1-700x438.jpg (not the best quality pic, but it highlights where the sand is falling at least). 

Any tips are appreciated! Thanks! 

[Redking]

Probably just go with the normal black paint job and add some weathering powders.  You might also try a Tyrant Skull drybrush to get the coloring you want, but the powders will give you a better dirty feel.

[Heijoshin]

8 hours ago, Redking said:

Probably just go with the normal black paint job and add some weathering powders.  You might also try a Tyrant Skull drybrush to get the coloring you want, but the powders will give you a better dirty feel.

This is great, thank you! To be honest, I never even knew weathering powders were a thing, but they seems exactly what I need though. Thanks a lot! 

[hammer49]

Though id maybe not use black but a very dark grey or dark brown so you still have the option of black for shading

[Heijoshin]

1 hour ago, hammer49 said:

Though id maybe not use black but a very dark grey or dark brown so you still have the option of black for shading

Thanks for the tip! 

I guess I could prime it a dark grey, then nuln oil wash or glaze it down to almost black.

[Kramer]

35 minutes ago, Heijoshin said:

Thanks for the tip! 

I guess I could prime it a dark grey, then nuln oil wash or glaze it down to almost black.

You could even try a diluted Black templar contrast on top of it to get to almost black and it gives you the first build up of color

 

[Heijoshin]

31 minutes ago, Kramer said:

You could even try a diluted Black templar contrast on top of it to get to almost black and it gives you the first build up of color

 

That's also a great idea! Pretty easy to bring it down to black then if I prime dark grey instead of trying to highlight up. 

[Kramer]

26 minutes ago, Heijoshin said:

That's also a great idea! Pretty easy to bring it down to black then if I prime dark grey instead of trying to highlight up. 

Absolutely. My experience with black templar is that in a thin coat the highlights are quite grey. That's on a wraithbone primer. So a slightly darker primer might get you to where you want. 

[Heijoshin]

23 minutes ago, Kramer said:

Absolutely. My experience with black templar is that in a thin coat the highlights are quite grey. That's on a wraithbone primer. So a slightly darker primer might get you to where you want. 

Are you generally thinning with water or the contrast medium? Is there any difference? 

[Kramer]

21 minutes ago, Heijoshin said:

Are you generally thinning with water or the contrast medium? Is there any difference? 

Out of curiousity I tried it. But contrast and water genuinely don’t mix. You’ll absolutely notice when your brush isn’t dry enough. 
so contrast medium is definitely  my advice. (Bit expensive but so far I’m still on my first pot. 

[Kugane]

Doing a grey like standard mechanicus, drybrushing it quite roughly and focus on the edges with your highlight colour, probably an off white in this case maybe celestra grey. Cover it all in a  9:1 mix black templar:lahmian medium. After that add sand texture here and there and I personally like to weather stuff by very lightly and very dry drybrushing with tyrant skull or the likes. This step is extremely easy to mess up and look unnatural. The less on your brush the better. Finally, after all that is done. There may be some powder all over your model from drybrushing. I tend to use a 1:1 mix of lahmian and aggrax earthshade to "wash" the dusting away where i don't want it to be. Also the aggrax adds some earth tones where needed. In your case however that may be a desired effect though to have some light dusting here and there.

 

Also when i google conan exiles ruins... those ruins seem to almost have a slight purple tint to them. Maybe mess around mixing a tiny hit of purples into your black templar?

Edited February 25, 2020 by Kugane

[MitGas]

Depending on the mood, don't go for true blacks - but that is mainly the temple in the sand. Outside of that you should go for muted highlights (so no bright whites as the final drybrush etc.) and like so many others said, weathering powders are the perfect solution.

[Heijoshin]

3 hours ago, Kugane said:

Doing a grey like standard mechanicus, drybrushing it quite roughly and focus on the edges with your highlight colour, probably an off white in this case maybe celestra grey. Cover it all in a  9:1 mix black templar:lahmian medium. After that add sand texture here and there and I personally like to weather stuff by very lightly and very dry drybrushing with tyrant skull or the likes. This step is extremely easy to mess up and look unnatural. The less on your brush the better. Finally, after all that is done. There may be some powder all over your model from drybrushing. I tend to use a 1:1 mix of lahmian and aggrax earthshade to "wash" the dusting away where i don't want it to be. Also the aggrax adds some earth tones where needed. In your case however that may be a desired effect though to have some light dusting here and there.

 

Also when i google conan exiles ruins... those ruins seem to almost have a slight purple tint to them. Maybe mess around mixing a tiny hit of purples into your black templar?

This is great, thanks! I will give this a whirl for sure. 

Regarding the purple tint, was that from pics of the desert ruins? That could be the case, as I have a terrible abilitly to take colours out of an image. I was thinking of doing something similar to what you suggest, but with a reddy brown mix as I noticed that some pictures have a reddish brown tint to them, but that could just be the sun setting in the images. 

I should really get my eyes checked out....😁

Edited February 25, 2020 by Heijoshin

[Heijoshin]

3 hours ago, MitGas said:

Depending on the mood, don't go for true blacks - but that is mainly the temple in the sand. Outside of that you should go for muted highlights (so no bright whites as the final drybrush etc.) and like so many others said, weathering powders are the perfect solution.

Yeah, I think a true black would make it really hard for me to weather properly and would be out of place. Thanks for the highlight tips. So with this you mean just generally not do the traditional last bright highlight step? And as others have said, just stick to a grey? 

I think weathering powders will be the best way to go. Slap on some dark sand colours will make it look great. I guess a matte varnish spray afterwards would be needed? 

[Kugane]

1 hour ago, Heijoshin said:

This is great, thanks! I will give this a whirl for sure. 

Regarding the purple tint, was that from pics of the desert ruins? That could be the case, as I have a terrible abilitly to take colours out of an image. I was thinking of doing something similar to what you suggest, but with a reddy brown mix as I noticed that some pictures have a reddish brown tint to them, but that could just be the sun setting in the images. 

I should really get my eyes checked out....😁

If you cant do it by looking at it, one way is to screenshot it and open it in paint and sample random areas to see what colour it is. I havent checked for the ruins, just guessing there are some purples in there :P. I am sure if you sample the highlights you will find just that.

also, i have had decent results using very small ammounts of texture paint to add weathering to buildings and vehicles. I use make up sponges that i rip apart and kind of dry "sponge" blend some texture around here and there. Do it on a test piece first though since adding too much of it can just make it look way too messy instead

[Battlefury]

A true bloack colour for the stone itself would probably look unnatural imo. I would recommend you to take a dark grey as a basecoat, then shade it with any black wash and lighten it up again by drybrushing the base colour again, and then with a slightly brighter middle grey tone.

I would suggest these:

as the Base colour

for the 2nd drybrush

Why that greenish grey? It already will give you a very very slight gritty and dirty tone to the overall stone. But tbh, you will not see it very much, since the green in the colour is not really dominant at all.

After you have achieved the result, you could again slightly wash it with a sepia wash, wich would give it a little dirty tone.

And there you could apply a variaty of pigments, for the dirty look. You could also achive a similar result by drybrushing the stone with some brown colours. The very difference would be, that you won't have texture on it this way. With pigments you will gain some texture to the stone.

Hope this helps!

[MitGas]

On 2/25/2020 at 8:12 PM, Heijoshin said:

Yeah, I think a true black would make it really hard for me to weather properly and would be out of place. Thanks for the highlight tips. So with this you mean just generally not do the traditional last bright highlight step? And as others have said, just stick to a grey? 

I think weathering powders will be the best way to go. Slap on some dark sand colours will make it look great. I guess a matte varnish spray afterwards would be needed? 

Either omit the last drybrush, just add a tiny bit of white so that your last highlight is still pretty muted or be generous with pigments, which would be my best bet - you could slap em on after drybrushing and use them to blend everything together. I think Battlefury is right on the money with those two colors - add a sand-colored pigment, maybe add a tiny bit of a red pigment as well (those images all have a slight reddish hue to them - the sand color looks more like a skintone than classic sand) and you'd be golden I think.

A varnish can work but will change the look a bit usually - makes the pigments less visible. There are pigments fixers and white spirits for fixing them too  and I've been told they work a bit better than varnsih but I think you best bet would be to get some cheap cork and a spare base and simply play around with it. It's very difficult to emulate exactly the lighting seen in game engines in mini scenery from my experience but I'm certain that you will manage to get very, very close in this case.

Maybe this will help a tiny bit:
 

[Heijoshin]

@Battlefury & @MitGas seriously, thanks to both of you. truly i'm very thankful for the both of you for taking the time to help. 

So here is how I am thinking of going after the advice from the both of you (There will be some questions here as well :D) 

1. Base colour with the German Grey.
   1. Would the Vallejo German Field Grey spray work as an alternative? Seems to be very close. I ask because if I do my mortek guard in a similar fashion to the nexus - it would be great to get them done in a big batch. 
      1. If that is too greenish, perhaps I can find another grey basecoat like standard mechanicus grey?
2. Verrrry light dusty drybrush with something like Citadel Rhinox Hide. 
3. 2nd more pronounced dry brush with Vallejo Green Grey or a neutral grey
4. Add the pigment weathering. 
5. Varnish / seal the pigments in

Battlefury, you mentioned adding a sepia wash (Something like Reikland Fleshshade perhaps?) to it if I wanted to bring it back to a dirtier tone. At what stage would the both of you think this should be added? Straight after basecoat? Or after one of the two drybrish stages? 

Once again, thanks a lot to the both of you for your help in this! 

Edited February 27, 2020 by Heijoshin

[MitGas]

1. I fear the Field Grey spray is a bit too light for your darkest tones (I don't own the color so I can only go by Google Images) - you'd need to add a shade on top of that (Could either be a black or brown to reddish-brown one, you could even mix em up to get some visual interest). But you still need enough contrast even if it's your goal to stay away from true black here.

2. Rhinox Hide is a bit dark, I could imagine it's actually darker than the Field Grey. Ideally your drybrush color is a bit lighter than the base.  But if you're not against mixing colors, you could easily add a brighter color to rhinox hide to get a good color for this step. It doesn't even have to be exact as a bit of variation is a great idea for scenery or scenic bases. The darkest parts should stay off-black as else it's becoming too uniform once pigments get introduced.

3. I'd switch the strength of those two drybrushes around - the one at step 2 should be more pronounced, while this one should add color variation and be less uniform. Can be really patchy.

4 & 5 sounds cool and this is where the magic happens. The pigment will mask a lot of the work before it and unify it so you can be sloppy during those other steps. Which is always a plus!  

If you've got a spare base or two you should do a test model first before you try it on your favorite mini though!

[Heijoshin]

1. You could be right. After looking at some images too, it does look quite light in tone. I think the Panzer Grey could work? (You can see it in action here - https://youtu.be/NAHaR9h8ZTc?t=140)

2. Not problem at all to mix paints to lighten it up a bit, or use something like a mournfang brown instead lightening up if needed. 

3. Gotcha! So the brownish 1st drybrush can cover a lot more of the mini? 

4&5. given my painting skills, sloppiness is a given! 😄

I'll do some tests on some spare minis and other things to get an idea and some much needed practice! 
 

 

[MitGas]

2 hours ago, Heijoshin said:

1. You could be right. After looking at some images too, it does look quite light in tone. I think the Panzer Grey could work? (You can see it in action here - https://youtu.be/NAHaR9h8ZTc?t=140)

2. Not problem at all to mix paints to lighten it up a bit, or use something like a mournfang brown instead lightening up if needed. 

3. Gotcha! So the brownish 1st drybrush can cover a lot more of the mini? 

4&5. given my painting skills, sloppiness is a given! 😄

I'll do some tests on some spare minis and other things to get an idea and some much needed practice! 
 

 

The Panzer Grey looks kinda Skavenblight Dinge-y with less brown in it (which is good here). I would use a wash/shade over it probably too to get a good off-black for the deepest recesses but it's probably a pretty decent starting point. 

I'd absolutely drybrush most of it with the brown before proceeding with the other drybrush and pigments. Cause the pigments will overpower all other steps anyways so you can be more liberal before. The best thing is that you can remove them easily though before you fix them, so it should be easy to get the right amount.

Looking forward to your tests. You'll rock it! 

[Heijoshin]

7 minutes ago, MitGas said:

The Panzer Grey looks kinda Skavenblight Dinge-y with less brown in it (which is good here). I would use a wash/shade over it probably too to get a good off-black for the deepest recesses but it's probably a pretty decent starting point. 

I'd absolutely drybrush most of it with the brown before proceeding with the other drybrush and pigments. Cause the pigments will overpower all other steps anyways so you can be more liberal before. The best thing is that you can remove them easily though before you fix them, so it should be easy to get the right amount.

Looking forward to your tests. You'll rock it! 

Perfect! Looks like I have got all my steps sorted!

For the wash would you recommend something like Agrax Earthshade, Nuln or Reikland Fleshshade? Something along those lines to get that off white. I feel Agrax has some nice earthy tones to it. 

I'm super stoked to try this out and see what it will look like! Thanks again for all your help! 
 

Edited February 27, 2020 by Heijoshin

[MitGas]

22 minutes ago, Heijoshin said:

Perfect! Looks like I have got all my steps sorted!

For the wash would you recommend something like Agrax Earthshade, Nuln or Reikland Fleshshade? Something along those lines to get that off white. I feel Agrax has some nice earthy tones to it. 

I'm super stoked to try this out and see what it will look like! Thanks again for all your help! 
 

I'd probably mix those washes directly on the model to get some natural variation but would use that wash after the basecoat, not after later stages - it's just there to get that almost-black color if you start with a basecoat like the Panzer Grey. With pigments and the two drybrush stages (none of them are really bright colors), you won't need to blow out strong highlights to get that "muted" look. The pigments will do that by themselves as they'll make it dusty and the dusty surface won't reflect lights strongly. I'd rather get a few pigments (let's say a rust color, a sand color and an almost white color) and mix those and apply some more of the almost white pigments on the highest parts and then just blend them together. That is really easy and works remarkably well.