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I've really been floating in and out of the hobby, lately. I think I finally settled on a paint scheme that will suit my tastes and that is repeatable and quick. I've never played a game of 40k, I just like the mini's. I now have around 2000 pts, all stripped of paint now, and I wanted to really make an honest effort at getting into the game. Great timing, as my local GW just closed (Rockford, IL)

I whipped this guy off in under 2 hours (still have to do the jump pack).

Process:

Main Painting
Primer: White rattlecan (going to start using Tamiya Fine Primer)
Basecoat: Vallejo Night Blue applied with Iwata HP-CS
Zenithal Highlights: Four increasingly lighter shades of blue from VGC applied with an Iwata HP-CS
Helmet: Used Silly Putty as a mask, VGC off-white applied with Iwata HP-CS, then highlighted with white
Metallics: Based all metallic with VGC Gunmetal, then put a thinned VGC gold over top of the pieces that needed to be gold

Oil Wash
Gloss coat: Liquitex gloss varnish
Wash: Heavily thinned oil paint, black - this also tones down the high contrast zenithal highlights (may use dark blue in the future, not black)
Reclaim highlights: Mineral Spirit thinner with a q-tip to clean up the wash
Matte coat: Not sure on this, yet...because it looks kind of good with the gloss coat being toned down a lot by the wash...I may leave it with that slight hint of gloss

Model is not complete, obviously, but I think I have a good process down. It's repeatable, and the zenithal approach with the airbrush really helps keep me motivated because it looks decent and is not a ton of mindless brushwork.

I think I'm going to over-emphasize the zenithal highlighting step in the future because the oil wash really tones it down. Maybe I'll thin the oil wash more.

Let me know what you'd like to see different. More striking highlights / color transitions? Brighter golds? A non-crappily painted helmet/lenses?


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Ugh, I hate seeing my mini's up close...

What you have is good, so I’m just nitpicking here.

That level of gold is overwhelming. That’s honor guard level bling. I might tone some of it down to silver. I’d also use white for the rim and studs of the shoulderpads. White is the accent color of the 1st company, to which vanguard vets belong.

Once you hit some of the other gems/lenses/details the gold should also be a little less jarring as other things draw the eye.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with this guy!

Shoot, I should read up a little more on SM canon and history.

I do appreciate the comments and criticisms. As far as the gold, yeah, I was hoping the oil wash would knock it down a little. I may wash the golds again with brown to tone them back a little. You may be right about things being less jarring after I take care of the little details.


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By the way, I think the paint looks "grainy" because the clear coat when on too think. It was gumming up my airbrush as I sprayed it. Not cool, gotta thin that stuff out.

The blue, white and gold all look really nice but the silver looks a little gluggy. I'm going to assume it's your paint rather than your skill as the rest of the model looks great! Has the silver been hit with a wash yet?

Love it! Leave the gloss, it looks much more armor like.

The silver was hit by the wash, but I think I was too aggressive with the cleanup, as the little recessions between the segments on the chest didn't keep any wash.

I'm really hoping I can take this technique and use it on all my infantry mini's. For regular tactical marines, I should be able to knock a 10-man squad out to this quality in about 3 hours, I think.

Looking back...ya, overkill on the gold.

Think that toning some of the gold down to silver would help with that?

I would:

-do the gun casing in white
-Change the skulls to a bone color (as well as the un-painted parchment)
-Change the rivets on his left pad to a boltgun color
-add another spot color around to detract from the "AAAHHH GOLD!" effect like red on the gem on the sword and the eyes.

All good suggestions!

I'm going to paint tonight in celebration of my staving off of the purchase of a 3D printer. I was SO close to getting a MakerBot 2X today...$2700!

I'd like to make some terrain molds, but the entry cost is high. Probably waiting until the next gen of desktop 3d printers. Anyway, back on topic....