Nuclear Sunrise is a light vivid orange with a warm undertone. It builds a smooth gradient with Bright Red underneath and Fire Giant Orange on the highlights, all in the The Army Painter line. Substitutes are thin here, with Citadel Magmadroth Flame the closest same-finish option at 78 percent and no brand hitting the strong-match bar. Cross-brand swaps are adjust-on-model territory here, useful as a starting point rather than an exact replacement.
Nuclear Sunrise equivalents in other ranges
Nuclear Sunrise is awkward to replace. Treat the matches below as starting points for a mix rather than straight swaps.
Closest Citadel equivalent: Citadel Magmadroth Flame, workable at tabletop distance, not up close (delta E 4.3).
From Humbrol: Humbrol Clear Orange, a usable stand-in rather than a twin (delta E 4.6).
Green Stuff World's closest color: Green Stuff World Flaming Orange, close enough that batch variation matters more (delta E 1.1), but it is an opaque acrylic so treat it as a color reference, not a swap.
Nearest in the Vallejo catalog: Vallejo Light Orange, a swap nobody spots at arm's length (delta E 1.1), but it is an opaque acrylic so treat it as a color reference, not a swap.
The drift here is spread thinly across hue, lightness and saturation rather than leaning one way, so the mismatch reads as a general haze at delta E 4.3 rather than an obvious shift.
How to read the score
90+Close
80sUsable
<70Mix
Citadel
Humbrol
Green Stuff World
Vallejo
AK Interactive
Tamiya
Two Thin Coats
Revell
Scale75
About this color
Color profile
Highlight and shade ladder
Pairs well with
Try any paint in the scheme toolMatch difficulty
Found in 0 other brands with a same-finish match.
Where painters use it
Frequently asked
What is the closest equivalent to The Army Painter Nuclear Sunrise?
The closest same-finish match is Citadel Magmadroth Flame at 78% color similarity.
Is Nuclear Sunrise a one-coat paint?
Nuclear Sunrise is a contrast paint, made to basecoat and shade in a single pass over a light primer. One coat drops color into the recesses and leaves the raised areas brighter; a second coat deepens the tone if you want it richer.
What do I highlight and shade Nuclear Sunrise with?
Highlight Nuclear Sunrise toward Fire Giant Orange and shade it down into Bright Red, both The Army Painter paints in the same finish family.