Face Colors

When making polyhedron models, it is possible to color the faces in various patterns for purely aesthetic reasons. Certain coloring schemes are compatible with the symmetry of each polyhedron. In general I have not done that in this collection of polyhedra (except on the page which discusses coloring schemes). I have used color for other purposes:

• In compounds made from identical components, different colors may be used to indicate different components. For example, in this compound of five cubes, each cube is one of five chosen colors.
• In some of the stellations, each face is given a color based on a coloring scheme of the polyhedron being stellated. This helps one see that disconnected parts of the same face belong together.
• In the remaining models---the vast majority---I have colored the polyhedra's polygon faces according to the number of sides, e.g., all pentagons are green, and all pentagrams ("five-pointed stars") are blue-green.

Here is a table of the different colors used:

Knowing that each face is a single color and keeping in mind this relationship between colors and face types is useful for understanding polyhedra in which the faces intersect with each other. Note that the apparent colors vary according to the lighting conditions set in your viewer.

Virtual Polyhedra, (c) 1996,George W. Hart