How to Paint Everything: Marvel Crisis Protocol - Echo

Hey everybody! In today's How to Paint Everything: Marvel Crisis Protocol, we are going to take a look at how I painted Echo. She comes packed in the Echo, Tigra and Ronin character pack, which recently released in November, 2025.

Maya Lopez, debuted in Daredevil #9 (1999) is of Cheyenne decent and the adopted daughter of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. As such, her comic book life begins as an adversary of Daredevil. After nearly killing Daredevil in a final confrontation, she realizes that he is the man she loves, Matt Murdock. Unable to come to terms with her upbringing and Fisk's lies, she flees the United States. Later, she resurfaces as the first Ronin aiding the New Avengers at Murdock's request. Eventually, she passes the Ronin identity to Clint Barton and returns to using her Echo persona.

Echo's miniature proved to be an interesting challenge, since I've never painted Native American skin tones before. I wanted to be careful about the colors I chose, without accidentally veering into racial stereotypes. The handprint on her face was a fun bit of freehand practice, and the feathers are a nice touch too.

Below you'll find a handy paint chart featuring all of the colors that were used on Echo. Let's get to it!

Color Chart for How to Paint Everything Marvel Crisis Protocol - Echo

Color Chart for How to Paint Everything Marvel Crisis Protocol - Echo

credit: Brushwizard

Skin

Basecoat - Reaper Master Series Tanned Shadow: Citadel Doombull Brown Cool Shadows - Basecoat Mix: Citadel Altdorf Guard Blue Warm Shadows - Basecoat Mix: Citadel Tuskgor Fur Layer - Reaper Master Series Tanned Shadow Highlight - Reaper Master Series Tanned Skin Highlight - Reaper Master Series Tanned Skin: AK Interactive Ivory Glaze - Reaper Master Series Tanned Skin: Citadel Doombull Brown Lips - Citadel Bugman's Glow Eyeliner - Vallejo Model Color Black: Citadel Rhinox Hide Eye Whites - AK Interactive Ivory

As I mentioned in the introduction, it was very important to me to try not to go too far with the red tones in her skin. I wanted her skin to be just slightly more reddish than Reaper's base Tanned Skin color, but I didn't want to lean too far and have it end up becoming a racial stereotype either.

I started with a basecoat of Tanned Shadow mixed with a small mount of Doombull Brown. All of her skin was painted with this mix and I made sure to have even coverage. Using this mix, I then added Altdorf Guard Blue to it and painted that into all of the recesses and other areas that would be shaded, such as the bottom half off her face, under her chin and neck. With a fresh batch of the basecoat mix, I added Tuskgor Fur in and paint that on and areas that needed warm shadows, such as her cheeks, nose and some areas of her arms.

Next, I painted a layer of Tanned Skin on all of the raised areas of her muscles. Highlights were done starting with a layer of Tanned Skin, followed by another highlight of Tanned Skin mixed with Ivory. Finally, I used a mix of Tanned Skin and Doombull Brown to create a glaze. This was then applied to all of the skin, which helped to tie it together.

Her lips were painted with Bugman's Glow, her eyes were painted with a mix of Black and Rhinox Hide and finished off with Ivory.

Face Paint

Basecoat - AK Interactive Ivory Highlight - AK Interactive White

The handprint on her face started with a layer of Ivory and then a few simple highlights of White.

Hair

Basecoat - Vallejo Model Color Black: Citadel Rhinox Hide Highlight - Previous Mix: AK Interactive French Blue Highlight - Previous Mix: AK Interactive Ivory

Her hair started with a basecoat of Black mixed with Rhinox Hide. French Blue was added to the original basecoat and painted on as the first highlight and then Ivory was added to that mix to do the final highlight.

Feathers

Basecoat - AK Interactive Ivory Highlight - AK Interactive White Dark Tips - Citadel Rhinox Hide Dark Tip Highlights - Citadel Rhinox Hide: Citadel Gothor Brown

The feathers in her hair and on her elbows were given a basecoat of Ivory and a highlight of White. The White highlight was painted as lines coming out at an angle from the rachis of the feather (The central shaft of the feather where the barbs come out). The tip of the feathers were given a Rhinox Hide basecoat followed by a highlight of Rhinox Hide and Gorthor Brown mixed together.

Chest Emblem

Basecoat - Citadel Yriel Yellow Highlight - AK Interactive Warped Yellow

The yellow triangles that encircle her left breast were painted Yriel Yellow and then given a highlight of Warped Yellow.

Black Suit and Boots

Basecoat - Vallejo Model Color Black: Citadel Dark Reaper Layer - Previous Mix: Citadel Dark Reaper Layer - Citadel Dark Reaper Highlight - Citadel Dark Reaper: AK Interactive Ice Yellow Wash - Citadel Nuln Oil Boot Highlight - AK Interactive White

Echo's suit and boots are black. This time I decided to go with a mix of Black and Dark Reaper as the basecoat. Dark Reaper is a really nice blue-grey and it works well for black suits without going too green or blue. I add only a small amount of Black to the Dark Reaper to darken it without overpowering the color.

The layers start with another mix of Dark Reaper and Black, only this time I add more Dark Reaper in to try to get a mid tone between the original mix and straight Dark Reaper, which will be the following layer.

It was then highlighted with a mix of Dark Reaper and Ice Yellow. Similarly to the original mix, don't mix in too much Ice Yellow or it with be too stark of a highlight.

Finally I washed the entire suit with Nuln Oil to help tie it all together and the boots got an extra highlight of White.

Bandages

Basecoat - Citadel Administratum Grey Layer - AK Interactive Ivory Highlight - AK Interactive White Darklining - Citadel Adminstratum Grey

The wrappings on her arms and waist started with a basecoat of Adminstratum Grey. They were then given a quick layer of Ivory and a highlight of White. To help give them some definition, I repainted Adminstratum Grey in the recesses to add some shadows between the wrappings.

Sword Blades

Basecoat - Vallejo Model Color Black Layer - Vallejo Model Color Black: AK Interactive French Blue Layer - AK Interactive French Blue Highlight - AK Interactive French Blue: AK Interactive Pastel Green Edge Highlight - AK Interactive Pastel Green Edge Highlight - AK Interactive White

I wanted to try something different out this time for the NMM of the sword blades. This time I injected some Pastel Green into the highlights to see if the extra bit of color helped out.

I started with a basecoat of Black, this is going to be the darkest shadows in the reflection of the blade. I then paint a gradient layer using a mix of Black and French Blue, leaving some black showing. Another layer of French Blue is added, leaving some of the previous layer showing.

The first highlight on the blade was painted in the same manner, using a mix of French Blue and Pastel Green. It was then given edge highlights of Pastel Green and a more controlled edge highlight of White.

Sword Hilts and Handguards

Basecoat - Vallejo Model Color Black Highlight - AK Interactive French Blue Highlight - AK Interactive White

The hilts of the swords were given a super simple NMMish paint job. This time all I did was paint them Black, followed by two quick highlights of French Blue and White to give the illusion of the metal shining.

Brickwork Basing

Basecoat - Citadel Doombull Brown Layer - Citadel Rhinox Hide Layer - Citadel Tuskgor Fur Wash - Citadel Agrax Earthshade

The bricks on her base were given a basecoat of Doombull Brown. I then picked out a few bricks and painted them with Rhinox Hide and a few others with Tuskgor Fur. They were then washed with Agrax Earthshade.

Concrete Basing

Basecoat - Citadel Stormvermin Fur Stipple - Citadel Adminstratum Grey Stipple - Citadel Ulthuan Grey Wash - Citadel Nuln Oil

As usual, the concrete sections of her base were painted in my usual concrete recipe. This starts with a Stormvermin Fur basecoat. Then using an old brush I stipple the surface with Administratum Grey and Ulthuan Grey. It is then given a sloppy wash of Nuln Oil to give the surface some staining and color variations.

credit: Brushwizard

Echo is now ready to enact silent justice on the criminal underworld in my New Avengers list! Overall, I'm really pleased with how she turned out and I feel like her skin tone worked out really well.

A big thanks to Atomic Mass Games for sending these new boxes for this tutorial, I very much appreciate it! Have you picked up the new Echo, Ronin and Tigra character pack? Let us know in the comments, which of the new characters is your favorite. Hit me up on social media too, you can find me on Bluesky, and Instagram. Also, if you're on the Goonhammer Discord server, be sure to hop into the Marvel Crisis Protocol channel and join the conversation.

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