Hero Forge is an online character creation tool that allows users to fully customize and create their own unique tabletop miniatures. One of the most exciting parts of Hero Forge is the ability to customize your mini with millions of colors and designs.
Understanding the Color Options
Hero Forge provides several different color options to choose from when designing your mini. The main color sections are:
- Primary Color – This controls the main color of your mini.
- Secondary Color – This provides an accent color for details.
- Tertiary Color – Adds a third color option for extra details.
- Skintone – Customize the color and tone of the skin.
- Hair Color – Choice of natural hair colors or fantasy hair colors.
- Eye Color – Depict realistic or unnatural fantasy eye colors.
In addition to these main color sections, you can also customize the colors of clothing, armor, weapons, and accessories. Advanced color options include split colors, gradients, patterns, and special effects like glow.
Using the Color Palettes
When selecting colors in Hero Forge, you choose from a wide variety of color palette options. Here are some tips for using the palettes:
- Default Palette – This contains the basic rainbow palette of colors, from red to violet.
- Natural Palette – Realistic hair, skin, and earth tone colors.
- Metallic Palette – Shiny metallic colors like gold, silver, steel.
- Fantasy Palette – Vibrant, saturated colors perfect for fantasy minis.
- Special Palettes – Palettes for camo, neon, paintball, and other themes.
- Custom Palettes – Create your own palette with unique colors.
The color selector also includes options for adjusting saturation, lightness, and hue of colors. This allows you to create softer, pastel shades or richer, deeper tones of any color.
Applying Colors to Your Mini
When you’ve chosen your colors, applying them to your mini is easy. Here are tips for color application:
- Click a color, then click the part you want to apply it to.
- Use the eyedropper to sample a color from elsewhere on the mini.
- Right click with a color selected to apply to all similar areas.
- Use the paint bucket to apply a color to an entire area, like clothes.
- Add split colors, gradients, or patterns for more complexity.
As you apply colors, you’ll see your miniature come to life on the preview pane. Zoom in and rotate the view to ensure you’ve colored every detail to your liking.
Advanced Color Techniques
Hero Forge provides several advanced color features that can take your mini’s design to the next level:
- Split Colors: Assign different colors to different parts of the same item, like split-colored hair or eyes.
- Gradients: Transition smoothly between multiple colors for a blended effect.
- Patterns: Add customizable geometric patterns or flourishes to surfaces.
- Image Maps: Import a custom image to use for advanced texturing.
- Special FX: Make items glow, add holograms, give metal realistic patinas.
Spend time experimenting with these tools to realize the full creative potential. The key is layering colors, textures, patterns, and effects for truly unique results.
Recommended Color Strategies
Certain color strategies tend to produce great looking miniatures. Here are some approaches to try:
- Complementary Colors: Choose opposite colors on the color wheel like red & green or blue & orange.
- Triadic Colors: Pick three colors equally spaced on the color wheel for vibrance.
- Analogous Colors: Use colors next to each other on the wheel for harmonic combinations.
- Neutral + Accent: Use a neutral tone then make one area an accent color.
- Combine Metallic & Non-Metallic: This adds visual interest and depth.
Choosing colors that inherently go well together by following color theory principles helps ensure your mini looks professionally designed.
Matching Real World References
One way to pick appealing colors is to match real world references. Here are some examples:
- Replicate natural hair, eye, and skin colors for life-like human portraits.
- Match the colors of animals like horses, tigers, or birds.
- Recreate natural color patterns like tortoiseshell or calico.
- Copy the colors of plants, flowers, and landscapes.
- Reference photos of clothing, fabric, and textile designs.
Mimicking colors that already look great in nature is a foolproof way to add realism and visual interest to a mini.
Planning Your Palette
Taking time to plan your overall color palette helps ensure a cohesive, aesthetically pleasing look. Here are some tips:
- Make a list of the colors you want to use for each part of the mini.
- Limit your palette to 2-5 colors for simplicity.
- Sketch your color scheme on paper before implementing it digitally.
- Verify colors complement each other using color theory.
- Cross reference your colors with real world inspirations.
Advance planning allows you to conceptualize your color palette digitally painting colors by number, creating the look you envisioned.
Troubleshooting Color Issues
Here are some common color problems and how to fix them:
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Colors seem disjointed and random | Plan a more cohesive palette using color theory principles |
| Colors are dull and lack vibrance | Increase saturation levels of hues |
| Some colors appear darker than expected | Adjust lightness upwards to brighten overly dark tones |
| Mini feels flat and lifeless | Incorporate more color variation, textures, effects |
| Too many colors competing | Limit palette to 2-3 colors, use neutrals & accents |
Assessing your color choices critically helps spot areas for improvement. Don’t be afraid to undo colors and try different combinations until everything comes together.
Conclusion
Customizing colors is one of the most exciting and rewarding parts of creating miniatures in Hero Forge. Take time to explore the advanced color options and use strategies like color theory, references, and planning to make colors vibrant and cohesive. Fix any issues that pop up by tweaking hues, saturation, and application. With millions of colors and limitless combinations, you can bring any character concept to life.