Painting the AGDITC Colony Quarters by Dieselpunk Minis
A Step-by-Step Sci-Fi Terrain Painting Guide
This fantastic Colony Quarters build was painted by Dieselpunk Minis, showing how a fairly simple color scheme can turn an unpainted 3D print into a detailed, lived-in sci-fi room.
The idea behind the room was to create a retro-futuristic living module for a Colonial Technician.
The Concept
The original idea for this room was to create a retro-futuristic living module for a Colonial Technician.
In my vision, rooms like this in the Aliens universe should be highly standardized — cheap, mass-produced, and modular, almost like a giant space-age flat-pack system. They would be ready-made modules that could be quickly installed in colonies and space bases.
I wanted the design of the room itself to visually emphasize this standardization. That's why I decided to run one distinctive color band throughout the entire interior, crossing both the walls and the furniture.
The idea is that all these elements are part of one factory-designed module. They cannot simply be moved or replaced because they are integrated into the walls and the utility systems of the colonist's living quarters.
This also means that there should be very few genuinely movable pieces of furniture. In this case, I decided that the only truly movable element would be the bedside cabinet. Everything else is permanently integrated into the structure of the room.
The continuous color band therefore isn't just a decorative feature. Its main purpose is to create the impression of a cheap, standardized, mass-produced plastic module — designed to be functional and economical, and built specifically for the colonization and exploration of space.
Most of the furniture is therefore built directly into the room, with only a few items being movable.
The finished result has a wonderfully industrial, used-future appearance.
1. Prime the Entire Room
The first step is simple.
Cover the entire model with black spray primer.
Once that is done, spray a lighter grey primer from above.
This creates natural highlights and shadows before you even start painting. The upper surfaces receive more of the lighter grey while the deeper areas remain darker.
It is a quick way of giving the room some depth right from the beginning.
2. Paint the Yellow Color Band
The yellow band is one of the most important parts of the room because it visually connects the walls, furniture and equipment.
Start by brush painting all the areas that will eventually be yellow with:
Matt White – Army Painter
Don't worry about making it yellow yet. The white gives the yellow paint a much brighter base to work over.
Also paint the window frame white at this stage.
Add the Yellow
Over the white basecoat, airbrush a mixture of:
10 drops Yellow – Vallejo Model Air
1 drop Chocolate Brown – Vallejo Model Color
The small amount of brown tones down the yellow and helps create the industrial mustard-yellow appearance.
Add Lighter Yellow Areas
For lighter areas, add a small amount of:
Lava Orange – Army Painter
to the original yellow mixture.
Final Yellow Highlight
Finish the brightest areas using:
Pure Yellow – Vallejo Model Air
3. Mask the Yellow Areas
Once everything is completely dry, protect the yellow color band and the window using masking tape.
Take your time here.
The masking allows you to paint the rest of the room without constantly worrying about accidentally covering the yellow areas.
4. Paint the Floor
The floor is divided into darker outer sections and a slightly different inner area.
Outer Floor
Paint the outer section with:
Tenebrous Grey – AK
Inner Floor
Paint the inner floor using:
Chocolate Brown – Vallejo Model Color
Next, lighten the inner floor with a 1:1 mixture of:
Light Earth – AK
Chocolate Brown – Vallejo Model Color
Finish the highlights with:
Light Earth – AK
You don't need every floor panel to look exactly the same. Slight variations actually help make the room look more realistic.
5. Protect the Floor
Once the floor is completely dry, cover it with masking tape.
Yes, more masking!
But protecting the finished floor makes painting the walls considerably easier.
6. Paint the Walls
Paint the main walls using:
Light Earth – AK
This creates the warm off-white/cream color seen throughout the finished room.
For the highlights, mix:
10 parts Matt White – Army Painter
1 part Yellow – Vallejo Model Air
Apply this to the brighter areas of the walls.
7. Remove the Masking
Once everything is dry, carefully remove the masking tape.
You should now have the main colors of the room clearly separated.
Paint the upper edges and thickness of the walls using:
Matt Black – Army Painter
At this stage the room really begins to come together.
8. Add Variation to the Floor
A perfectly clean floor doesn't really suit a hard-working colony.
To add some variation, create several stains using a wash made from:
Heavily thinned Tenebrous Grey – AK
Don't try to make every stain identical. A little randomness helps the floor look naturally used.
9. Paint the Kitchen and Work Area Details
Now comes the fun part — picking out all those little details built into the room.
Paint the coffee machine, touchpad and areas around the keyboards using:
Tenebrous Grey – AK
The small piece that resembles bread is painted with:
Cork Brown – Vallejo Model Color
Highlight the grey equipment with a 1:1 mixture of:
Tenebrous Grey – AK
Basalt Grey – AK
Highlight the bread with:
Light Earth – AK
This also helps add some surface texture.
10. Pick Out the Smaller Details
Paint individual details on the touchpad and coffee machine using:
Basalt Grey – AK
Then create the final highlight by mixing Basalt Grey with a small amount of:
Matt White – Army Painter
Buttons and Controls
Paint the buttons on the keyboards and equipment white first.
Once the white is dry, add tiny colored details using:
- Red
- Green
- Orange
- Blue
Painting them white first helps these small colors stand out against the darker equipment.
11. Paint the Bed and Window Area
For the bed details and the device sitting on the bedside cabinet, use:
Basalt Grey – AK
The storage boxes along the window use a combination of:
Basalt Grey – AK
Tenebrous Grey – AK
Anthracite Grey – AK
This gives the individual containers some variation rather than making everything the same colour.
12. Add Metallic Wear
Give the storage boxes along the window a light drybrush using:
Plate Mail Metal – Army Painter
A drybrush is ideal here because it catches the raised edges while leaving the darker colors underneath.
Finish the bedside device by painting its small switches and controls.
13. Add Scratches to the Floor
Now we can make the room look properly lived in.
Create scratches on the floor using:
Heavily thinned Tenebrous Grey – AK
Fill the deeper scratches with:
Tenebrous Grey – AK
Use the same color to add smaller scratches around the edges of the floor panels.
You don't need hundreds of scratches. A few carefully placed marks can create the impression that people and equipment have been moving through this room for years.
14. Add Some Personality
Finally, add little details that make the room feel as though somebody actually lives here.
In this example, Dieselpunk Minis added a coffee stain along with several small personal items and pieces of clutter.
These tiny details are what transform the room from simply being painted terrain into somewhere that feels occupied.
The Finished Colonial Technician's Quarters
And that's it!
The combination of the warm off-white walls, industrial yellow color band, dark flooring and tiny colored controls gives the room a very recognizable retro-futuristic colony appearance.
The weathering and personal items then finish the effect, making the room look used rather than freshly installed.
Paints Used
For anyone wanting to follow the tutorial, here are the main paints used in the original guide:
- Army Painter: Matt White, Matt Black, Lava Orange, Plate Mail Metal
- Vallejo Model Air: Yellow
- Vallejo Model Color: Chocolate Brown, Cork Brown
- AK: Tenebrous Grey, Light Earth, Basalt Grey, Anthracite Grey
- Black spray primer
- Grey spray primer
- Masking tape
You don't have to own these exact paints. Similar colors from other miniature-paint ranges can be substituted.
The important part is the overall progression of colors rather than matching every bottle perfectly.
Make It Your Own
One of the fun things about 3D printable terrain is that two people can print exactly the same room and end up with completely different results.
You can follow this color scheme closely, change the yellow to another colony color, make the room cleaner, weather it heavily, or add your own personal details.
Print it. Paint it. Make it yours.
English
French
German
Italian
Russian
Spanish