Okay, before I even begin with any info on this delicate article, let me say a few things:
I have no intention to seem racially insensitive, so I’ve lightened up on any kind of humorous remark.
If I unintentionally offend someone, please excuse my ignorance and let me change the offending remark.
We are all one people of this earth, let’s try to get along!!

Intro:

Okay, so here’s how this is going to work, I can’t make a mini for every ethnicity I cover here (mostly because there are none.. let’s get some more ethnic minis manufacturers!!). So, what I’ve done is scour the web for pictures of a typical person of that particular ethnicity. I’ve given a picture of a man and a woman, because in pretty much every culture, women are lighter skinned than men are. Below the pictures, I’ve made some color swatches. I’ll try and convert them to Vallejo mixes (sorry, GW people can’t come up with these with only around 6 flesh colors!!), but you can also just compare and contrast. Also, I’ve tried to give enough swatches so that you can select three consecutive swatches to choose your own range, because variations in skin color can be seen even in families.

Now, you may wonder why different people’s skin is different colors. Well, there are only certain factors that control skin color. Everyone’s skin is basically the same, but what colors it is a black pigment called melanin. Again, everyone has melanin in his or her skin (except those who suffer from Albinism) but genetically people are born with more or less. Melanin is released by exposure to the sun and hormones, and it is concentrated in freckles and moles. Obviously, if you were to look at a map of the world with color swatches in certain areas you’d see people in cloudy climates have lighter skin, and people in sunny areas have darker skin. This is because more melanin helps absorb the sun, so it should come as no surprise that people with dark skin have less of a chance of getting skin cancer (or Melanoma, see how it all fits?). Blood also has a factor in skin color, it is the black melanin and red blood that gives us the slightly brown skin color we’re all used to.

As I said before, genetics is also a big factor and it gets really complicated but here’s a little anthropology for you: Back when there wasn’t a lot of people on the earth, people didn’t travel much once they figured out how to farm. Even those who did move a round a lot tended to stick to one area. Tribes usually consisted of several families who lived together, so you get all these areas of people being isolated for the longest time. It stands to reason these groups would all have similar features, so I’ll pop in now and then to give you the historical anthropological reasons on some of these. I’ve tried to go from the darkest to lightest colors, along with area. Right, Let’s get crackin’!!

African

Here we have two members of one of the most famous African Tribe, the Masaai. As you can see, the picture of the man caught a little glare but the color progression came out looking really cool. You might use this for a more natural Drow, but I am planning a fantasy skin tones article. Africans tend to have dark brown eyes and black hair.

Man: Black Brown #822, Chocolate Brown #872,50/50 Chocolate Brown #872 and US Tan Earth # 874, US Tan Earth # 874, 25/75 Brown Rose #803 and Cork Brown #843, Basic Skintone #815
Woman: Flat Brown #984, Mahogany Brown #846, Orange Brown #981,Cork Brown #843, Brown Sand #876

Australian Aborigines

Native Australians are a mystery. While their skin resembles Africans somewhat, their hair grows more like Indian Farkirs. The sun in Australian has a lot to do with this, but as you can see their skin tends to be more ochre looking. Speaking of Ochre, as part of their religion Aborigines go to places in the desert and grind ochre one rocks, making a type of body paint. Since they don’t wash it off for weeks or even months, you may want to add this to your minis by using earthtones in simple patterns. You can find many examples of their art online, but some symbols are a bit too complicated to go over them all here (a line may mean a stick, snake, or man lying down).

Swatches: Black Red #859, Burnt Cad. Red #814, Cavalry Brown #982, Red Leather #818, Orange Brown #981, Brown Rose #803, Basic Skin Tone #815, Light Skin #928

African American

I put African Americans in a separate category, mostly because their skintone is lighter than African-Africans... This is due to the fact many African Americans and Carribeans share both African and Caucasian ancestry. While I won’t get into a whole social discussion, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and the Narratives by Harriet Jacobs are good material on this subject. Hair and eyes can also be lighter, depending on the person. (PS, I just chose these celebrities because they’re easier to get pics of )

Man: Flat Brown #984, USA Tan-Earth #874, Orange Brown #981, Cork Brown #843, Basic Skintone #815
Woman: Mahogany Brown #846, 75% Red Leather #818/ 25% Mahogany Brown #846, Ochre Brown #856, Dark Sand #847, 80% Iraqi Sand #819/ 20% Ivory #918

Middle Eastern

Arabians and other tribes around the Egypt/Saudi area are right between Africa and Asia, and once again they exhibit characteristics of both. This skintone would also be good for Ancient Egyptians as well as modern ones.

Man: Flat Brown #984, USA Tan-Earth #874, Light Brown #929, 90% Flat Flesh #955/ 10% Orange Brown #981, Sunny Skintone #845
Woman: Hull Red # 985, Mahogany Brown #846, 70% Mahogany Brown #846/ 30% Cork Brown #843, 50/50 Mahogany Brown #846 and Basic Skintone #815

Indians

Yeah, as you can see I mean Indians from India, and not Native Americans, they’ll be coming up later. India is one of the southern most regions on the Asian continent, so in stands that they have darker skin than those in northern regions. Also, scientists theorize all culture came from India and then spread to Mesopotamia.

Man: Chocolate Brown #872, Flat Brown #984, Orange Brown # 981, Beige Red #804, Cork Brown #843
Woman: Mahogany Brown #846, English Uniform #921, USA Tan-Earth #874, Beige Red #804, 50/50 Beige Red #804 and Basic Skintone #815