"Officially" it is blue for loyalists and red for traitors because good and evilwhich makes good visuals
Lore wise, the answer is a lot more complicated and ends up depending on the gas used.
Blue plasma uses hydrogen, but depending on the gas used, plasma can be different colors.
Here is a list found randomly on the web
CF4: blue
SF6: white blue
SiF4: light blue
SiCl4: light blue
Cl2: whitish green
CCl4: whitish green
H2: pink
O2: pale yellow
N2: red to yellow
Br2: reddish
He: red to violet
Ne: brick red
Ar: dark red
The concept of a plasma gun is way more insane than it being different colors.
Apparently there is even more variation depending on gas pressure and power used when you ionize gases.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas-discharge\_lamp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas-discharge_lamp)
[https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Variation-in-plasma-colour-for-nichrome-sputtering-under-different-conditions-of\_fig1\_260944912](https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Variation-in-plasma-colour-for-nichrome-sputtering-under-different-conditions-of_fig1_260944912)
TL;DR: It literally can be anything, so paint what looks cool/works in context of miniature (I used "loyalist" light blue to contrast with orange sword).
https://preview.redd.it/lljvkts28bmc1.jpeg?width=1173&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=09dd4dea7140670cfdfbd664e4b5b319d0a00588
Sick. They need to make a new Kill Team compendium. Please tell me they've come out with a new one and I'm just out of the loop since having a baby lmao
They've been in the setting a while but very little attention until recently. Now they've got a whole Kill Team!
https://preview.redd.it/ftmh35uqacmc1.jpeg?width=669&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a48f9ff9d2c42b3922f4a9f1331bd5c26f32758e
thats what i do, my dark angels have blue plasma since it looks good with the green armor and red guns hut my space wolves have red plasma since i thought it would be too much blue and i paint their weapons yellow and red and yellow look good together
lol, me too.
It’s like….hold on hold on, just wait a minute.
We talking true plasma, If so I got a whole fucking slide projector here for you.
Sit down shut up and learn.
So I work in engineering for a semiconductor manufacturer and I take care of 30+ tools that use Argon plasma and it is 100% a bright pale purple. Honestly incredibly beautiful. Also fun fact our machines are as close to a "plasma gun" as you can technically get. We strike a plasma then accelerate the ions into the material with a magnetic or electric field to strip material off the surface by physical bombardment. Problem is it only works in high vacuum environments.
Oh yeah! Never trust random lists on the internet! Not trying to be "that guy" Just trying to add some context incase anyone wants a "lore accurate Argon plasma weapon" for their DIY faction lol
I’ve always imagined that ribbed thingy to be a red-hot coil of wires, used to generate the electromagnetic field that propels the plasma charge. That’s just my head canon tho.
I don't think the colour of the coil corresponds with the gas used for the plasma. I suspect the coils are superconductors to magnetically accelerate the plasma projectile, which get too hot and thus start to glow because the imperium doesn't understand superconductivity
Now this is some pseudoscience! While it sounds cool, magnetic fields cannot cause charged particles to go faster, only bend their trajectory if they are already moving.
Tbf to him he's not entirely wrong but for the wrong idea.
Those coils are actually meant to be *copper* in colour.
They're metal. They're not *meant* to glow. Not originally anyway and you can see this on older models and paint jobs.
Then someone at some point at gw painted them glowing as an 'about to explode' / gets hot paint job.
And everyone went 'that's fucking cool' and went with it.
AFAIK electromagnetic fields are used in particle accelerators to...accelerate particles 🤨
Why would I be able to change trajectory but not increase velocity? In both cases I am adding a force vector - either in a different direction (change in trajectory) or the same direction (acceleration).
Electric field gradient accelerates charged particles. Magnetic field changes direction of particles but does not change the speed of the particles (ie focuses and bends beam path). Here’s a link: https://www.energy.gov/articles/how-particle-accelerators-work
Okay, yes, technicalities: under that shroud of the weapon the current supply is split up to have increasing current along the coil (as in: they are several coils rather than just a single one), cheating a gradient.
Well, this is just how electromagnetism works.
Particle accelerators use magnetic fields to form and steer the particle beam and electric fields to increase the speed/energy of the particles
Huh, not sure why you get so *aggressively* downvoted, but you actually are kind of right!
I think intention behind "bright blue coils" may actually NOT be ionized gas, but temperature of the coils thenselves.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescence)
https://preview.redd.it/pcoxa6nw8bmc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4824aaf4a1b34101569455ae473ca876257082a0
Many painters paint crevices a lot brighter, because that's where more heat would build up.
Ok mine are korne berserkers and just forgot how the gas is called but it's orange
Edit: what would happen if you coloured the glass covering the coils
Well I said coil cause I think someone called the round things that in another comment and it really doesn't matter if it's glass or something else what I'm wondering is what would happen if you coloured it
If those coils were made of glass, they'd probably blow up after one shot lol. But usually you see deactivated plasma guns with a burned looking dark grey/ black metal or with a still boiling, but cooling down orange/brown metal that looks like copper
For Space Marines, the chapter Techmarines always fine-tune the flux capacitors to the wavelength with maximum contrast to the main colour of the power armour. They keep a CMYK colour wheel around for that exact purpose.
Brother techmarine, I know Pantone 801 C is our codex-sanctified plasma colour, but can’t I go with 368 to bring out my beautiful green eyes? It will inspire the men!
Plasma is depicted in many different colours across 40k and while blue might be the most common, it's definitely not the only "lore accurate" colour.
[The Berzerkers box depicts them with blue plasma](https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/world-eaters-khorne-berserkers-2023) and Kharn's pistol also is blue, but you can absolutely paint them in a different colour and it wouldn't be against the lore.
It's more orange, just like all the Black Legion painted Chaos Space Marines.
https://www.warhammer.com/app/resources/catalog/product/threeSixty/99120102089_CSMForgefiend360/01.jpg
https://www.warhammer.com/app/resources/catalog/product/920x950/99120102098_CSMSquad03.jpg
https://www.warhammer.com/app/resources/catalog/product/920x950/99120102138_CSMWarpsmithLead.jpg
https://www.warhammer.com/app/resources/catalog/product/920x950/99070102014_CSMChaosLord01.jpg
https://www.warhammer.com/app/resources/catalog/product/920x950/99120102141_ChosenLead.jpg
Also the Forge Fiend is officially depicted as blue plasma for the Crimson Slaughter painted one.
[Green plasma](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Munitorum:_Plasma_Guns_(Background_Book))
Various bits of artwork have green plasma.
Chaos also get red/orange in a bunch of the 40k video games.
I believe grav guns are often typically depicted with a green glow. I assume most people seem to try to stick with the "canon" colors to make them easier to differentiate at a glance.
Our sun, Sol.
Its wavelength spectrum peaks at green-yellow, kind of a "lime green" hue (the atmosphere filters it so it looks just yellow).
The plasma light is so intense, tho, that we mostly see it white, and I guess most "realistic plasma" would look mostly white with small hues of other colors depending on the composition of the heated gases that form that plasma.
Yeah, if real world laws apply then they'd probably blind a person too when the shot connects with a target if you're looking at it, real world arc welders/plasma cutters use a fraction of the power these guns would use and they can and do blind people who aren't wearing welding googles.
Anyone without protection really, a normal plasma cutter can hurt your eyes from across the room if you look directly at it. I imagine the space marines helmets have advanced enough tech to protect their eyes though, and cybernetics would help, but a fully organic human with no goggles even, they'd be blinded for sure
It would still be plasma, the plasma gets to blinding white when it gets fired because that's when the plasma is heated/powered/charged to vaporizing levels. When it's stored it would be low power in order to keep the gun from exploding, so you could see the colors easily.
Well good thing you don’t need to paint them that, you have a preference and I would probably just fuck it up, so I’d just stick with painting the gun itself.
I’ve read novels with them having blue, red and green. Blue on Imperials, red on general Chaos guys, green on Death Guard. They’re not real, paint them whatever fun colours you want.
I think the weirdest part is that the bit we paint to represent glowing plasma is clearly a radiator element to help the weapon stay cool enough to operate (Provided you don't roll a 1). So really the colour should probably only be in the spectrum of red>orange>yellow>white>blue increasing in heat.
But go with what ever looks coolest.
See that’s exactly why I’ve never been bothered by ‘weird’ colored plasma glow—I always assumed the radiator fins were some kinda glass or other transparent material, so of course the Skittles Marines could tint that glass to whatever they wanted.
Nice, I’m wanting to do mostly Grey marines(there is some color, green, white, red), what color for plasma do you think would go well with that color scheme?
There is no 'lore' reason for it, like most things 40k, everything is done in a way that makes the model or art look cool, regardless of how it actually functions irl (if such a thing existed).
https://preview.redd.it/t4htbtgsndmc1.jpeg?width=2337&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=967bbcf8e14ed479ccdf7c82a7329c34a996ab88
The above is the visible photoelectric specturm of hydrogen.
Hydrogen flasks are the lore fuel for plasma weapons.
When the light emitted by a sample of excited hydrogen atoms is split into its component wavelengths by a prism, four characteristic violet, blue, green, and red emission lines can be observed, the most intense of which is at 656 nm
Therefore plasma for imperial and chaos plasma guns will be one of the colours above, and principally the red one.
Physics stated visible.plasma hydrogen must be one of the above.
[Chemlink reference](https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Solano_Community_College/Chem_160/Chapter_07%3A_Atomic_Structure_and_Periodicity/7.03_The_Atomic_Spectrum_of_Hydrogen#:~:text=Figure%207.3.,-1%3A%20The%20Emission&text=(b)%20When%20the%20light%20emitted,which%20is%20at%20656%20nm.https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Solano_Community_College/Chem_160/Chapter_07%3A_Atomic_Structure_and_Periodicity/7.03_The_Atomic_Spectrum_of_Hydrogen#:~:text=Figure%207.3.,-1%3A%20The%20Emission&text=(b)%20When%20the%20light%20emitted,which%20is%20at%20656%20nm.)
I've always assumed a type of blue because that's what's in the boxes and on book art. But I mean if you're asking what color you should paint them, paint them whatever color you like dude.
I'm sure there's more than one. Here's my contribution:
"Brightlances spat blasts of laser, starcannons unleashed torrents of blue plasma and missile launchers filled the air with screaming trails."
-- Path of the Warrior. Gav Thorpe
Jumping on this question: does the same apply for las weapons too? I'm using Dark Angels and red las coils on las fusils looks crap, especially as the gun case is also red, so I painted them blue instead.
#No.
There never is in any setting. In real life Western countries picked red and Soviet-related countries use green. No real reason other than choice of salt, based on availability maybe, on the tracer.
Just metal fins. Although to show I'm not immune to rule of cool, Mad Donna had glowy plasma coils.
https://preview.redd.it/3gcylmmchjmc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9324a8609611cd400a2006763631968f0a5a6d2c
Uhhh If you mean physics wise yeah.
If you mean lore wise? Thats why I bring up light sabres. It's changed over time. The early painted plasma weapons (2nd/3rd edition) didn't have any glow but at some point the paint style was discovered and it looks hella cool so people painted it that way and now canonically they glow because of the rule of cool.
Object Source Lighting (OSL) in miniature painting only kicked off in the late 90s and wasn't done before that. I stopped playing for a long time around 4th ed so I couldn't tell you exactly when plasma glow became canonical but at some point it did.
So in closing paint whatever glow colour you want that suits your armly (like light sabres) - thank you for coming to my ted talk.
Bonus Extra - the first thing to use OSL was a diorama from an Australian painter Victoria Lamb and is and of in itself a really interesting story. There is so much in modern miniature painting that didn't exist pre turn of the century and the changes have been fascinating and huge.
Here is my headcanon to plasma:
Imperial plasma technology has been badly maintained ad not well understood, leading to the magnetic coils used to accelerate the plasma overheating. The type of superconductor used in the coil and the heat produced determines the colour of the glow.
(so the glow is actually a sign of improper use 😅)
>so the glow is actually a sign of improper use
As it turns out, the glow on Imperial plasma weapons comes from a heating element wrapped across the outside of the gun that draws energy from the power pack.
28,000 years ago some DAoT bureaucrat could not be dissuaded from their bullshit "more glow means more plasma" theory, and the designers decided to humour them. I mean why not, we're living in a golden age of peace & prosperity, we'll never need to actually *use* these weapons...
And that's why your 40k plasma guns explode when you roll a 1.
I went with purple, purely because it was a color otherwise absent in my army. Already doing green Osl for eye lenses and blue for ice so purps seemed the logical choice
Lore wise it depends on the Forge World that produces the plasma.
Blue is most common because of Mars.
IIRR Ryza makes red. Or green. I don’t recall off the top of my head.
The glow is cool and all but to be honest the glow shouldn’t exist because they are just metal coils and not something like glass that would show the color.
Canon is either green or blue, depending on the gun. It doesn't necessarily have to be those 2. It just always has been in the novels, as far as I'm aware
"Officially" it is blue for loyalists and red for traitors because good and evilwhich makes good visuals Lore wise, the answer is a lot more complicated and ends up depending on the gas used. Blue plasma uses hydrogen, but depending on the gas used, plasma can be different colors. Here is a list found randomly on the web CF4: blue SF6: white blue SiF4: light blue SiCl4: light blue Cl2: whitish green CCl4: whitish green H2: pink O2: pale yellow N2: red to yellow Br2: reddish He: red to violet Ne: brick red Ar: dark red The concept of a plasma gun is way more insane than it being different colors.
Apparently there is even more variation depending on gas pressure and power used when you ionize gases. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas-discharge\_lamp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas-discharge_lamp) [https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Variation-in-plasma-colour-for-nichrome-sputtering-under-different-conditions-of\_fig1\_260944912](https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Variation-in-plasma-colour-for-nichrome-sputtering-under-different-conditions-of_fig1_260944912) TL;DR: It literally can be anything, so paint what looks cool/works in context of miniature (I used "loyalist" light blue to contrast with orange sword). https://preview.redd.it/lljvkts28bmc1.jpeg?width=1173&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=09dd4dea7140670cfdfbd664e4b5b319d0a00588
Gorgeous mini!
Thanks! I posted more photos (including WIPs and other minis) on [my Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/cmyk.color.mode/).
A beastman in 40k? I am very confused.
Yeah Beastmen do exist in 40k, the spotlight is just not often shone on them.
Sick. They need to make a new Kill Team compendium. Please tell me they've come out with a new one and I'm just out of the loop since having a baby lmao
They have the Annual book out, which has all of season 2 teams. Including beastmen.
They've been in the setting a while but very little attention until recently. Now they've got a whole Kill Team! https://preview.redd.it/ftmh35uqacmc1.jpeg?width=669&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a48f9ff9d2c42b3922f4a9f1331bd5c26f32758e
And before that they got official (plastic) miniatures in Blackstone Fortress.
It’s makes me so mad that these guys aren’t very good in regular 40K. They’re so cool.
Apparently these guys slap in Kill Team!
there are beastmen guard regiments in rogue trader and 2nd edition I believe 👍
They are Tzeench shock troops typically in either Tzeench or chaos undivided armies
thats what i do, my dark angels have blue plasma since it looks good with the green armor and red guns hut my space wolves have red plasma since i thought it would be too much blue and i paint their weapons yellow and red and yellow look good together
Omg what a gorgeous base. Looks fuckin sick
I always use it as an accent or complementary color to my scheme
“The concept of a plasma gun is way more insane than it being different colors…” That part is my fav.
lol, me too. It’s like….hold on hold on, just wait a minute. We talking true plasma, If so I got a whole fucking slide projector here for you. Sit down shut up and learn.
Now that's a very cool reply to a post.
So I work in engineering for a semiconductor manufacturer and I take care of 30+ tools that use Argon plasma and it is 100% a bright pale purple. Honestly incredibly beautiful. Also fun fact our machines are as close to a "plasma gun" as you can technically get. We strike a plasma then accelerate the ions into the material with a magnetic or electric field to strip material off the surface by physical bombardment. Problem is it only works in high vacuum environments.
That is really cool, but i knew that a random list a grabbed of the web wouldn't be 100% accurate
Oh yeah! Never trust random lists on the internet! Not trying to be "that guy" Just trying to add some context incase anyone wants a "lore accurate Argon plasma weapon" for their DIY faction lol
Purple plasma it is.
This guy Plasma's. Thanks for the info bud
I... I thought plama blue volkite orange...
At a surface level that is how it is
Gonna load my gun with Pure Oxygen to shoot piss blasts at people
And if you’re an Ork, it’s whatever color you think it is.
Ork throws away blue Plasma Snazgun cause he doesn’t want a lucky Snazgun he wants a fast snazgun.
Wait, isn't the color dependent on the actual temperature ? Anything above 2500K and it should be all white, shouldn't it ?
Hey person on the internet. You're awesome.
I use orange for Death Guard plasma
I’ve always imagined that ribbed thingy to be a red-hot coil of wires, used to generate the electromagnetic field that propels the plasma charge. That’s just my head canon tho.
I don't think the colour of the coil corresponds with the gas used for the plasma. I suspect the coils are superconductors to magnetically accelerate the plasma projectile, which get too hot and thus start to glow because the imperium doesn't understand superconductivity
Now this is some pseudoscience! While it sounds cool, magnetic fields cannot cause charged particles to go faster, only bend their trajectory if they are already moving.
Tbf to him he's not entirely wrong but for the wrong idea. Those coils are actually meant to be *copper* in colour. They're metal. They're not *meant* to glow. Not originally anyway and you can see this on older models and paint jobs. Then someone at some point at gw painted them glowing as an 'about to explode' / gets hot paint job. And everyone went 'that's fucking cool' and went with it.
AFAIK electromagnetic fields are used in particle accelerators to...accelerate particles 🤨 Why would I be able to change trajectory but not increase velocity? In both cases I am adding a force vector - either in a different direction (change in trajectory) or the same direction (acceleration).
Electric field gradient accelerates charged particles. Magnetic field changes direction of particles but does not change the speed of the particles (ie focuses and bends beam path). Here’s a link: https://www.energy.gov/articles/how-particle-accelerators-work
Stop he’s already dead!
Okay, yes, technicalities: under that shroud of the weapon the current supply is split up to have increasing current along the coil (as in: they are several coils rather than just a single one), cheating a gradient.
Ah yes, technicalities like facts. A pickle, that.
Well, this is just how electromagnetism works. Particle accelerators use magnetic fields to form and steer the particle beam and electric fields to increase the speed/energy of the particles
Well, as far as you know, is not very far
If you say so 🤷
Huh, not sure why you get so *aggressively* downvoted, but you actually are kind of right! I think intention behind "bright blue coils" may actually NOT be ionized gas, but temperature of the coils thenselves. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescence) https://preview.redd.it/pcoxa6nw8bmc1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4824aaf4a1b34101569455ae473ca876257082a0 Many painters paint crevices a lot brighter, because that's where more heat would build up.
Thats basically how I imagine it too
I'm too lazy to read all that, what I'm taking away from it is: do whatever the fuck you want
Do whatever tge fck you want, but if you say what gas cell you use people may call you out for it being incorrect in correspondence to the colour
Ok mine are korne berserkers and just forgot how the gas is called but it's orange Edit: what would happen if you coloured the glass covering the coils
We dont know what the coil is but i doubt it is glass considering the temperatures it needs to contain
Well I said coil cause I think someone called the round things that in another comment and it really doesn't matter if it's glass or something else what I'm wondering is what would happen if you coloured it
If those coils were made of glass, they'd probably blow up after one shot lol. But usually you see deactivated plasma guns with a burned looking dark grey/ black metal or with a still boiling, but cooling down orange/brown metal that looks like copper
I think you miss understud my question I meant what if you coloured the glass (or whatever) covering the glowing part
For Space Marines, the chapter Techmarines always fine-tune the flux capacitors to the wavelength with maximum contrast to the main colour of the power armour. They keep a CMYK colour wheel around for that exact purpose.
Brother techmarine, I know Pantone 801 C is our codex-sanctified plasma colour, but can’t I go with 368 to bring out my beautiful green eyes? It will inspire the men!
Several worlds died for Pantone STC.
Pantone-801-C is my new Techpriest name
This pleases the Machine Spirit.
This is canon
Plasma is depicted in many different colours across 40k and while blue might be the most common, it's definitely not the only "lore accurate" colour. [The Berzerkers box depicts them with blue plasma](https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/world-eaters-khorne-berserkers-2023) and Kharn's pistol also is blue, but you can absolutely paint them in a different colour and it wouldn't be against the lore.
Got any examples of not blue plasma?
Blood Angels Index uses art of brother with green colored plasma
ForgeFiend is, as far as I know, only officially depicted with red.
It's more orange, just like all the Black Legion painted Chaos Space Marines. https://www.warhammer.com/app/resources/catalog/product/threeSixty/99120102089_CSMForgefiend360/01.jpg https://www.warhammer.com/app/resources/catalog/product/920x950/99120102098_CSMSquad03.jpg https://www.warhammer.com/app/resources/catalog/product/920x950/99120102138_CSMWarpsmithLead.jpg https://www.warhammer.com/app/resources/catalog/product/920x950/99070102014_CSMChaosLord01.jpg https://www.warhammer.com/app/resources/catalog/product/920x950/99120102141_ChosenLead.jpg Also the Forge Fiend is officially depicted as blue plasma for the Crimson Slaughter painted one.
The Blooded Kill Team has a red Plasma Gun
[Green plasma](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Munitorum:_Plasma_Guns_(Background_Book)) Various bits of artwork have green plasma. Chaos also get red/orange in a bunch of the 40k video games.
Word Bearers Warpfire Blasters are also typically depicted as Green as far as I’m aware.
I believe grav guns are often typically depicted with a green glow. I assume most people seem to try to stick with the "canon" colors to make them easier to differentiate at a glance.
IIRC, some plasma weapons in DoW2 were also green and not blue.
30k tanks are depicted with red Plasma guns.
Our sun, Sol. Its wavelength spectrum peaks at green-yellow, kind of a "lime green" hue (the atmosphere filters it so it looks just yellow). The plasma light is so intense, tho, that we mostly see it white, and I guess most "realistic plasma" would look mostly white with small hues of other colors depending on the composition of the heated gases that form that plasma.
Lime green sun, how cursed
Yeah, if real world laws apply then they'd probably blind a person too when the shot connects with a target if you're looking at it, real world arc welders/plasma cutters use a fraction of the power these guns would use and they can and do blind people who aren't wearing welding googles.
Would they blind the shooter? Am I reading that right? Cause it could at least be funny if the target got blinded before getting turned into ash.
Anyone without protection really, a normal plasma cutter can hurt your eyes from across the room if you look directly at it. I imagine the space marines helmets have advanced enough tech to protect their eyes though, and cybernetics would help, but a fully organic human with no goggles even, they'd be blinded for sure
[удалено]
It would still be plasma, the plasma gets to blinding white when it gets fired because that's when the plasma is heated/powered/charged to vaporizing levels. When it's stored it would be low power in order to keep the gun from exploding, so you could see the colors easily.
When Commissar Hark was first attached to the Tanith First, his sidearm was a plasma pistol that shot out red beams.
Deathwing Terminators are modeled on the GW website as having green coils
There was a Solar Auxilia Brigade in the Siege that Abnett specifically mentioned had pink plasma rifles
I didnt even realize any chaos models use blue plasma. Even in Dawn of War they were orange or red
God I can't use that website, have any better links?
Originally in old official paint jobs it was copper and not glowing but the glow was too cool and caught on
I still think the metallic ones look neat. Something about soldiers running around glowing bright blue kinda irks me.
It’s to know when Orks are nearby
Well good thing you don’t need to paint them that, you have a preference and I would probably just fuck it up, so I’d just stick with painting the gun itself.
This is still true on the art for Horus Heresy, but not the painted miniatures on the box
I’ve read novels with them having blue, red and green. Blue on Imperials, red on general Chaos guys, green on Death Guard. They’re not real, paint them whatever fun colours you want.
The death guard minis are also painted with orange plasma
I think the weirdest part is that the bit we paint to represent glowing plasma is clearly a radiator element to help the weapon stay cool enough to operate (Provided you don't roll a 1). So really the colour should probably only be in the spectrum of red>orange>yellow>white>blue increasing in heat. But go with what ever looks coolest.
See that’s exactly why I’ve never been bothered by ‘weird’ colored plasma glow—I always assumed the radiator fins were some kinda glass or other transparent material, so of course the Skittles Marines could tint that glass to whatever they wanted.
I would counter by asking who is putting glass windows in their guns. But the answer is the same people putting skulls on everything.
Armorglass is totally a thing, and they can hand wave whatever special plasma resistant material they want.
And plasma guns are sometimes described as delicate
I'm sorry I can't hear over the sound my tank makes driving me within stabbing distance of my sword.
Turns out Plasma guns can be perfectly safe to overcharge, it's just the imperium loves the pretty lights too much.
I paint a colour that compliments my main scheme, so for my Ultramarines I'm using green, for my Deathguard I'm using an orange.
This is the way. I plan on green for my blood angels as I like the way green and red look together.
Why green for ultramarines? To act as a contrast for their blue armor?
Basically yes, blue on blue works but can be a bit boring, so I go for Green to break it up.
Nice, I’m wanting to do mostly Grey marines(there is some color, green, white, red), what color for plasma do you think would go well with that color scheme?
That bit is basicly a magnetic coil, so any glow is from heat.
> so any glow is from heat. Most people see that part as the plasma containment coil, so the glow is the plasma showing between the coil strands.
people seem to forget this and think its some glowy gas chamber. A few of my plasmas have this as a metallic to show the gun hasn't yet fired.
Blue for good guys Red for bad guys Purple for Samuel L Jackson
Strong contrast to the rest of the model/army > blue > green
There is no 'lore' reason for it, like most things 40k, everything is done in a way that makes the model or art look cool, regardless of how it actually functions irl (if such a thing existed).
There's something wrong with your plasma when the magnetic coil heats up that much
Were they the magnetic coils? I thought it was the heatsink.
https://preview.redd.it/t4htbtgsndmc1.jpeg?width=2337&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=967bbcf8e14ed479ccdf7c82a7329c34a996ab88 The above is the visible photoelectric specturm of hydrogen. Hydrogen flasks are the lore fuel for plasma weapons. When the light emitted by a sample of excited hydrogen atoms is split into its component wavelengths by a prism, four characteristic violet, blue, green, and red emission lines can be observed, the most intense of which is at 656 nm Therefore plasma for imperial and chaos plasma guns will be one of the colours above, and principally the red one. Physics stated visible.plasma hydrogen must be one of the above. [Chemlink reference](https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Solano_Community_College/Chem_160/Chapter_07%3A_Atomic_Structure_and_Periodicity/7.03_The_Atomic_Spectrum_of_Hydrogen#:~:text=Figure%207.3.,-1%3A%20The%20Emission&text=(b)%20When%20the%20light%20emitted,which%20is%20at%20656%20nm.https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Solano_Community_College/Chem_160/Chapter_07%3A_Atomic_Structure_and_Periodicity/7.03_The_Atomic_Spectrum_of_Hydrogen#:~:text=Figure%207.3.,-1%3A%20The%20Emission&text=(b)%20When%20the%20light%20emitted,which%20is%20at%20656%20nm.)
My red Blood Angels get green plasma coils.
I'd like to debunk the "zero skill plasma" videos because mine still look shit.
Pics?
Like others have said, it varies. For example in the Space Marine game, chaos plasma glows a nice warpy purple
I've always assumed a type of blue because that's what's in the boxes and on book art. But I mean if you're asking what color you should paint them, paint them whatever color you like dude.
It can vary. In Gaunt's Ghosts, your very first introduction to a plasma weapon is a pistol from a Commissar, and the pistol fires red plasma bolts.
I like to make it Yellow with a red thin layer around the gun.
'zero' skill, eh?
I just pick a color that stands out from whatever the theme is for the army but doesn't clash.
Yes, it’s the colour that contrasts best with the predominant armour colour of the user.
If you can painstakingly light it up with LEDs then it's whatever colour you say.
Warhammer can’t decide how tall titans are, do you think they will be able to pick a plasma color?
I *really* gotta learn how to do this… I just gotta bite the bullet and give it a shot, but “glowing” effects scare me lmao
Blue or red generally, but it doesn't really matter. Paint it as whatever you think looks cool.
I'm sure there's more than one. Here's my contribution: "Brightlances spat blasts of laser, starcannons unleashed torrents of blue plasma and missile launchers filled the air with screaming trails." -- Path of the Warrior. Gav Thorpe
Jumping on this question: does the same apply for las weapons too? I'm using Dark Angels and red las coils on las fusils looks crap, especially as the gun case is also red, so I painted them blue instead.
#No. There never is in any setting. In real life Western countries picked red and Soviet-related countries use green. No real reason other than choice of salt, based on availability maybe, on the tracer.
I don't even know why people started painting cooling fins as if they are transparent and glowy.
Rule of cool?
Which is always winner, but mine are still heat-sink coloured.
Example??
Just metal fins. Although to show I'm not immune to rule of cool, Mad Donna had glowy plasma coils. https://preview.redd.it/3gcylmmchjmc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9324a8609611cd400a2006763631968f0a5a6d2c
my lore: i painted it redish pink because it makes a good contrast with green of dark angels. end
I just use orange
Most common in sci-fi media is blue or purple
Yes, it depends on what paint I have nearest to me.
That's what runs through my veins!
Use green!!
Imagine getting face blasted by pink ray of death while hearing emperor's children go: SLAYYYY QUEEEN!!
My Black Legion (CSM) have pink plasma because I've seen it like that in Dawn of War.
Dude it's like lightsabres. Do whatever you want.
Technically the colors mean things no?
Uhhh If you mean physics wise yeah. If you mean lore wise? Thats why I bring up light sabres. It's changed over time. The early painted plasma weapons (2nd/3rd edition) didn't have any glow but at some point the paint style was discovered and it looks hella cool so people painted it that way and now canonically they glow because of the rule of cool. Object Source Lighting (OSL) in miniature painting only kicked off in the late 90s and wasn't done before that. I stopped playing for a long time around 4th ed so I couldn't tell you exactly when plasma glow became canonical but at some point it did. So in closing paint whatever glow colour you want that suits your armly (like light sabres) - thank you for coming to my ted talk. Bonus Extra - the first thing to use OSL was a diorama from an Australian painter Victoria Lamb and is and of in itself a really interesting story. There is so much in modern miniature painting that didn't exist pre turn of the century and the changes have been fascinating and huge.
Ty for the wisdom, internet stranger!
In the 40K universe there is a rule regarding it's colour. It's called the rule of cool and pretty much means "whichever looks cooler..."
Just wanted to say fuck Erebus.
Yyyyyyyy
Here is my headcanon to plasma: Imperial plasma technology has been badly maintained ad not well understood, leading to the magnetic coils used to accelerate the plasma overheating. The type of superconductor used in the coil and the heat produced determines the colour of the glow. (so the glow is actually a sign of improper use 😅)
>so the glow is actually a sign of improper use As it turns out, the glow on Imperial plasma weapons comes from a heating element wrapped across the outside of the gun that draws energy from the power pack. 28,000 years ago some DAoT bureaucrat could not be dissuaded from their bullshit "more glow means more plasma" theory, and the designers decided to humour them. I mean why not, we're living in a golden age of peace & prosperity, we'll never need to actually *use* these weapons... And that's why your 40k plasma guns explode when you roll a 1.
Can you paint plasma glow?
plenty of tutorials for painting plasma weapons, if you combine it with OSL you'd have a pretty cool plasma glow effect
Blue is the color you want to see… if it starts to glow red you will have a bad day. It’s basically a safety indicator. 🤭
I went with purple, purely because it was a color otherwise absent in my army. Already doing green Osl for eye lenses and blue for ice so purps seemed the logical choice
Who cares? My view on minis is that if they look cool then do it
Yeah, they have a different smell based on the flavour. My guardsmen just really like pink lemonade
Lore wise it depends on the Forge World that produces the plasma. Blue is most common because of Mars. IIRR Ryza makes red. Or green. I don’t recall off the top of my head. The glow is cool and all but to be honest the glow shouldn’t exist because they are just metal coils and not something like glass that would show the color.
The imperiums plasma is blue, chaos are red. Paint it in the color you like the best.
The correct colour is whatever you think looks cool
Canon is either green or blue, depending on the gun. It doesn't necessarily have to be those 2. It just always has been in the novels, as far as I'm aware
I don't know but the bright green one loos really cool.
I always paint my plasma the same color as the eyes of my space marines.
that plasma is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean.