# Eldar Harlequins color schemes



## eae

Hi everyone. 

I've recently started painting my DE army. It happened so that I got some Harlequins for Christmas, and now I'm thinking about how to paint them. I'm relatively new to painting but I try to do it right with as much quality as possible, trying every technique mentioned in the guides, and Harlequins are the very fine-detailed unit which would really require the best of my efforts to paint properly.

Unfortunately, there's not much information on the Web about the "approved" color schemes for this unit, all the more the Dark Eldar one. Basically, it's not even mentioned anywhere in the text and the only canonical picture of them is the 'eavy Metal harlequins (and it looks like there's only like 6-10 of 'eavy Metal Harlequins painted in the whole world).

So, here are my questions:

1. Do DE harlequins' colors differ in any way from their Eldar version? It seems that the troupe of harlequins travels from here to there and might occasionally fight on the side of Eldar or Dark Eldar alike, so my guess is no, the color scheme does not differ.

2. Should Harlequins' colors be similar to the main colors of their army? Again, as Harlequins are an external troupe that joins the ranks of some Eldar group for a limited amount of time, my guess is no. Or maybe they use their bands and fillets to show their current affiliation? That's a wild guess and I need an expert's opinion on this matter.

3. How exactly limited are the variations in the "default" color scheme of the Harlequins? I understand that there's actually no strict limitation and that the rules encourage me to make up a story of my own Harlequins that for some background reason chose to wear all-black with no exceptions or bright spots, but that's not what I need. I'm kinda perfectionist and I try to do everything "right" and "canonical" and perfect, but on the other hand I hate their default colors, so basically what I'm looking for is some canonical excuse to make them look something like this: http://www.coolminiornot.com/pics/pics14/img4ae35e0259037.jpg

Any help or opinion is greatly appreciated, 
thanks in advance.


----------



## Stella Cadente

there isn't a right or cannon way of painting harlequins, the right and cannon way for them literally is anything you want, they don't have set colours or patterns, it most likely depends entirely on the individual harlequin for what they wear, so it depends entirely in this case on the painter, its a unit that encourages imagination painting wise.

you can paint them bright pink with yellow, spots, and somewhere in the 40kverse there probably is a harlequin who is pink with yellow spots


----------



## VeronaKid

Greetings and welcome!

I couldn't help but get excited when I saw your thread. I'm a longtime huge fan of the Harlequins, and I'l ldo my best to answer your questions and offer some suggestions.

1. No, the DE Harlequins are in no way different from the Craftworld Eldar ones; basically, there are 4 groups of Eldar- The ones that live on Craftworlds, the Dark Eldar, the Harlequins, and the Exodites, who are kinda like refugees and who live on worlds far from the more "civilized" portions of the universe. The Harlequins regularly visit the other three factions, usually on the eve of a major conflict, to offer their support. They are completely unattached to any of the other three factions; they simply "show up" when fate deems them necessary to further an Eldar cause (whether it be for good or evil). So, the color scheme is completely unimportant and should be whatever you want it to be- the Harlequins are their own "army," really- they can just be taken as a sort of ally by either Eldar players or Dark Eldar players.

2. This is really a matter of personal opinion. I would suggest that you use a color or two as a spot color on your Harlies that will tie them into your main force. For instance, if your DE have black armor edged in green, then maybe use that on a small part- a leg or a glove- on each harlequin. But it is definitely NOT a must- if you take a look at how the 'Eavy Metal team used to paint their Harlies (back when they actually painted minis for love and art and not for use as simple advertisements. . . I digress) they were totally random and not tied to the main Eldar forces in any way. Most importantly, they still looked awesome. So, again, do what you want.

3. The harlies are, by definition, not tied to any one canonical color scheme. You can get as random, as different, as whatever, and still fit comfortably into the fluff behind the characters. The link to the mini you posted shows a really interesting take- there should be NOTHING stopping you from mimicing those colors, if that's what you like. Go for it!

And, most importantly, come back and post some pictures once you do!

Good luck, happy new year, and, again, welcome!


----------



## eae

Ok, I get the idea, thanks a lot, I'll be back with pictures... in a couple of months


----------



## Djinn24

Great advice VeronaKid! +rep


----------



## bitsandkits

there are no wrong or right way to paint them, after all they are yours and anything goes but if your looking for inspiration, they were named Harlequins by the imperium scholars because the dathedi suit would splinter there image into diamonds or jigsaw like pieces making them difficult to combat mixed with there acrobatic nature was reminiscent of European clowns from the 1500's.

heres the old school look
http://www.solegends.com/citrt/harlequins-01.htm


----------



## eae

Hi again.

After two weeks of bashing my head against the wall I came up with a color scheme that does include the traditional checkers. I wanted to paint pieces of shattered glass at first, but I was told that it won't look good at this scale.

So, my concept is goldish metal-like checkers with relief over a black background. I tried metallic paints at first but it didn't do the trick, so now I'm trying to do it in NMM technique. I tried it several times on a sheet of paper and now I'm stuck with two variants with which I need an advice. See the attachment.

I draw them in a similar manner:

Upper version from the photo:
1. draw grid with black
2. fill checkers with golden yellow
3. draw a gradient of the brown color (with blending) from the top to the middle of the check
4. draw a gradient of the white color (with blending) from the bottom to the middle of the check
5. draw the brown shadow on the lower edges of the check
6. draw the white highlight on the upper edges of the check
7. draw black grid again over the checkers

Lower version from the photo:
1. draw grid with black
2. fill checkers with golden yellow
3. draw a gradient of the brown color (with blending) from the top to the BOTTOM of the check
5. draw the brown shadow on the lower edges of the check
6. draw the white highlight on the upper edges of the check
7. DON'T draw black grid again over the checkers

The upper version doesn't appear gold or having any relief, but it looks neat. Refreshed black grid adds to this impression.

The lower version looks more natural to me but seems kinda dirty.

What I want to know is if there is anything I'm doing completely wrong, or how this method can be improved. Also, how do you like these checkers in general, are they okay to paint on a model?

Thanks in advance for your input.


----------

