Pastel, Pink, and Goddamn Intimidating

Painting a Chaos army in pastel pink is a massive gamble. Do it wrong, and the Lord of Excess looks like he wandered out of a candy store.

But do it right? You get something terrifying.

This project proves how we can take a risky concept, win a Golden Demon pin with it, and escalate it into one of the most unique legions we’ve ever built.

Grab a drink, sit comfortable and read, how this madness unfolded.

The Birth of a Perfect Legion

We have a client who never does things by halves. Box arts? No. Never. He wants armies that people talk about for years.

When he came to us with an idea for an Emperor’s Children army, we knew standard purple wasn’t going to cut it.

The “My Little Pony” Risk

The concept was risky: a pastel pink and blue scheme with heavy Non-Metallic Metal (NMM) on the armour and the trim. And as the pastel armies often look like “My Little Pony” crap, we had to be super careful.

We wanted it pink, but goddamn intimidating. We spent a long time dialing in the contrast and the weathering on the test model (a single Chaos Space Marine) to make sure it looked like a warrior, not a toy.

Breaking the Bank

We nailed the look, but we needed to know if it resonated. We posted just the front and back of that single test marine on our social media. The reaction was instant.

It gathered 2k reactions and some comments. The comments proved that the “intimidating pastel” vibe worked, and the client gave us the green light to go massive.

The Phoenix Rises

With the scheme locked in, we had to see if it scaled up. We took the centerpiece model, Fulgrim himself, and applied this high-contrast pastel style to him. It was a lot of pink, a lot of blue, and hours of NMM gold.

We posted the Primarch on Instagram as well, and it didn’t went well. It broke all our previous records. The community was obsessed, and we knew we had something special on our hands.

Watch the full video here.

Golden Demon Validation

We were so confident in the quality of that first test model that our painter, Emily, decided to take it on a road trip. She built a small custom diorama for the marine and entered it into the Golden Demon at Essen Spiel.

In the most competitive painting arena in the world, that test model won a Notable Pin. This project evolved from a cool army concept into literally award-winning work.

Heavy Metal and Resin

To push the uniqueness even further, we refused to use stock vehicles. For the tanks, we sourced Ikarus Pattern conversion sets. These kits completely change the silhouette of the vehicles, making them look sleek, alien, and perfectly suited for Slaanesh. Just like the infantry, these tanks are one-of-a-kind.

The Full Host

Finally, we painted the rest of the legion. We tackled every available unit: Lucius the Eternal, two Lord Exultants, a Lord Kakophoni, and squads of Flawless Blades, Noise Marines, and standard CSM.

Every single model received that same “Golden Demon” attention to detail, keeping the pastel tones sharp and the metals shining.

The Homecoming

The client was super happy with the result. He received a massive army and a genuine piece of studio history. When we shipped everything, we included the original test model on its diorama:the one that won the pin at Essen.

It belongs with its brothers.

Your Vision, Our Award-winning Brushes

This project started with a risky idea. “Make pink scary”. It ended with a Golden Demon pin.

Maybe you have an idea that sounds crazy on paper. Maybe you want a color scheme that shouldn’t work, or a conversion concept that requires sourcing rare parts.

Most painters play it safe. We don’t. We live for the projects that push the limits of what a wargaming army can look like. If you want a collection that is truly unique, send us a message.

Let’s build something goddamn intimidating together.

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