Wyoming Fox's Space Wolves & Tau Blog [Broadside Conversion 4-27-14]

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**wyomingfox**

DarkStarSabre wrote:WIP on the Nids is nice too. Whole nid scheme is nice. Makes me jealous with my simple scheme.

You wouldn't be so jealous if you knew how long that scheme takes me to paint

. Each guant alone takes roughly 6-8 hours to paint. There are 32 painted spine guants (which the new edition made inferior to termagants

). So that is over 200 hours on one squad

.

**DarkStarSabre**

So applying that to my swarm....

Er.

I don't want to do that maths.

And those are just the gaunts!

**wyomingfox**

nerdfest09 wrote:I actually am very fond of your original purple grey ones! they just remind me of the really early wolves I've seen around!

It probably helps that they are all 2nd edition models

. I have to agree that the older SW pewter models have a very appealing look to them and thus a special place in my heart. The purple grey color you are fond of was actually lifted directly from the box art of a preditor tank that GW painted in SW colors. I simply took the box art over to a True Value store and after a digital color match, they made me an entire bucket of latex paint.

But you have actually inspired me to buy some space wolf parts and a couple of bitspudlo's thunderwolves (critters) and spend some time doing them up with some care and attention!

Thank you very much for the compliment. Glad I could inspire

. The two tone wolf pelt takes a bit of time...but in the end, it has a very natural and pleasing result.

sw's were my first army as well and will always be a love of mine although my Marines Exemplar are taking up all my time now!

I know exactly what you mean. Tyranids have been taking up all my time for the past 4 months or so. The pace that I have been modeling and the hours put into revamping my nid list even took its toll physically. In fact, I ended up pulling my mid back out of allignment due to all the continous activity bent over that caused two of my discs to bulge

.

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DarkStarSabre wrote:And those are just the gaunts!

Yep, the Flyrant was around 200 hours by himself and was painted over a 3-4 month period.

**wyomingfox**

Well an interesting little discussion pursued on a P&M thread in regards to how gallery pics get voted very low... and it got me to thinking (no, nothing caught on fire). So I decided to copy some of my musings onto this thread for easy reference in the future. Heah, deep thoughts by Wyomingfox don't happen every day

.

Again, in regards to how people vote in the Dakka Gallery...It is obvious that art is in the eye of the beholder. None of us would argue that. What one person saw fit to vote as a 7, another might construe as a 9.

However, I think any talented painter would be slightly amiff if his work was given a 0 or a 1 without some constructive critisism explaining the low rating. And yes, you are not the first talented artist who has complained of bum scores. Similarily, I often become exasperated when I see a model that is given a painting score of a 8-10...when it is only primed. Ultimately, the ratings are meant to be a tool for both the artist and the gaming community at large. If posters go around giving meaningless rankings than the tool becomes less effective.

Personally, I would prefer if artist's disabled voting on all of thier WIP (which is what I have started doing) as well as post complied pics of thier work shown at different angles rather than single pics of each pose. I just think it would be more usefull if the gallery board's top pages were not clogged up with numerous stages of the same work of art (which has happened in the past). Then if you saw a finished model you particularily liked, you could always click on the owner's gallery and explore his WIP photos or links to his P&M threads.

Gaud looking is what tens are for .

Still, I don't know if the OP was complaining about recieving a 7-8 or if he was complaining about recieving a 0-3. As I said earlier, one person's 7 might reasonably be anther person's 9. However, one person's 2 should never equate to another's 9...doing so completely destroys the usefullness of the ranking system, which inconveniences not only the artist but the community at large.

I guess I would break my voting down in stages:

Note: Conversions, Interesting Poses, Water effects, Green Stuff Sculpting, Elaborate Bases, ect play absolutely no role in my vote for painting but are covered under the "Coolness Rating".

I also try my best not to let my personal feelings reflect in how I rank models.

Lastly, I often find myself voting on models in which part of it is a 9 while the rest of it...how best to say it...well it seams like the painter got either bored or tired and wanted to move on to something else. Like say an amazingly detailed banner that ranks in IMO in the 9s, but the rest of the model is just base painted with sparse or no highlights (what I would rank as a 5-6). This will likely bump his paint score down a notch or two. Anyways...

NA(0): Model is only primed, not painted, or vast majority is not painted. Again, I think it helps when WIP pics are left disabled as I really only want to vote on finished pics. Sometimes really (and I mean gawd awefull) blurry pictures will earn this rating.

1-3: Majority of model is painted. Painting is very sloppy with no clean boundary lines maintained, colors overlapping. Color selection is very poor and glaring.

4: Boundary lines are largely maintained with little color overlap. Good color selection.

5: Boundary lines are maintianed with no color overlap, no highlighting or shading. If highlighted, a poor job (shakey hand syndrome) will earn a 5.

6 - 7: Crisp solid highlights and shading; Layering is neither blended or gradual. Models with significant dry brushing (besides fur) can reach this level, but seldom higher due to the grainy texture... and that it is an easier method compared blending

8: Highlights and shades are gradually worked up to create a blended effect

9: Devil is in the free hand details. This exhibits the same blending of highlights as 8 but incorporates significant free hand details like mottled spots on animals, scroll work, glyphs, emblems, scars, ect that are sharp, precise and flavorable.

10: Golden Deamons. Shows a mastery of blended transitions and free hand details.

The thread can be found here http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/373495.page

**DarkStarSabre**

A wonderful guide there and much along the ways I myself think. And it gives pictures as a more than sufficient guide!

**Gitsplitta**

Interesting thoughts and a great guide wyfox. Having pondered this topic before, my best suggestions was an electronic one. Simply have the top and bottom 10% of scores discounted when calculating the average rating. That would help eliminate some of the random votes or votes with an agenda.

**wyomingfox**

I had some spare 2nd edition hand flamers I wasn't using and so decided to convert my own combi-flamers. The top one utilizes a 4rth edition bolter (newest style). This one has been added to a Wolf Priest.

The bottom one I have posted for Gits ammusement seeing as he enjoys the old school theme

. It uses a 2nd edition bolter as it base with the ammo clip converted to a side feed. The 2nd edition CF hasn't been green stuffed yet and is currently sitting in by bits box

.

**Gitsplitta**

Very nice conversion WyFox... The old bits are great to have lying around aren't they?

**wyomingfox**

Damn your quick Gits

. And yeah, they can provide some usefull customization, especially when certain options are not available. Too bad GW no longer has thier bits catalog. Them was the days of bliss back when you could get any metal bit you wanted: Hive tyrant right leg...no problem. Blood Andels Power Sword...you got it! Now a days if your wanting bits off a blister its...bend over and buy the whole kit :(.

**Gitsplitta**

Oh yeah... I remember when they had an accident at GW and a bunch of shelve's fell down. You could by "bags" of unsorted bits... got some really neat stuff in my bag. 'course that was years ago.

I frequent the bits merchants now... expensive way to go but not as bad as buying a whole boxed set for one or two bits.

**31rls31**

nice wolves sir!

keep up the awsome work.

**wyomingfox**

Thanks 31rls31! I just finished highlighting the black areas Saturday night, but I will wait on posting pictures till I have painted the various bones and teeth.

By the way, what is the story behind your user name?

**wyomingfox**

Well, I was hoping to get the bikes done before fall hit...but that didn't happen. I did complete the highlighting on the black areas. Just have the bone, parchment, decals, and flocking left...so close.

Anyways, I will be away traveling during the upcoming weekends and will likewise be taking a break from the internets:

Sept 24-25: Wade House Civil War Reinactment
Oct 1-2: Prarie Du Chien and Gays Mills
Oct 8-9: Apostle Islands north of Bayfield, WI
Oct 15-16: Door County

Be seeing you guys

**wyomingfox**

Usually I highlight black using Shadow Grey, followed by 1:1 Shadow Grey and Space Wolf Grey, followed by final highlight of Space Wolf Grey. But I wanted the highlights to be a bit more subtle so I used a simple buildup using 3 highlights to get from black to shadow grey: 2:1 Black & Shadow Grey, 1:1 Black and Shadow Grey, and Shadow Grey. I am happier with the results.

**Gitsplitta**

Love the work on the video screen!

**Rawson**

Interesting use of roughrider lances with your swiftclaws! You going to be adding any of the new SW stuff?

**wyomingfox**

@ Gits: The video screen was easy. Just dark angels green over a scorched brown base. Then thin highlights building up from dark angels green to scorpion green to yellow. Finally a white dot in the corner.

@Rawson: Thanks. I like the idea of swiftclaws launching spears at thier fleeing enemy from on top of thier steel mounts. In regards to the new SW kits, I actually picked up the new battle force last year,; needless to say, you will see some of the new bits showing up later on...like in the long fang to the right below:

Both the head and the legs are from the new battle force sprue.

**wyomingfox**

OK. So a little update on the LF and SC. Just finished painting the faces. This is my second attempt at utilizing CMDantes flesh painting technique. Though in each case, I get a much different result. His faces usually have a more peach/orangish cast to them. Where mine are more pale/whitish.

I started with a Dheneb Stone Base (its a very light khaki -- almost an off white).

I then applied multiple thinned washes of shade to the entire face that consisted of a Dheneb Stone/Warlock Purple (basically a Pink)/Heavy Charcoal (Very dark grey) mix. Heavy Charcoal is the Vallejo equivalent to GW charadon granite.

I then applied a glaze of Matt Medium/Baal Red/Devlan Mud (what CMDantes refers to the tone) to the cheaks and mouth area before adding Baal Red directly to the inside of the mouth.

I then applied a few thin layers of dheneb stone as a initial highlight which I built up to Dead White on the furthest highlight.

I then washed the model with the original shade and afterwards reapplied the extreme highlight to the tip of the nose, cheak bones, and bridge. I think I could have skipped re-adding the highlight.

Next I applied a thinned mix of dheneb stone/warlock purple to the lower lips and a thinned glaze of Magic Blue/dheneb stone just below the eyes.

Lastly, I painted in the eyes with black, filled in the area in white and marked the pupils. Also painted in the teeth with skull white. I think I should have painted in the eye areas with scorched brown rather than black.

Like I said, the end result was more of a pale, slightly pink flesh. Which is fine given that they are the Rus, 3 of the members will be white haired and old, and that it is a winter scene. But it would be nice to know how he adds that orange/peachy glow.

Anyways, I have also painted the bone areas (teeth and skulls -- damn there is alot of skulls) as well as finished off the purity seals. All that remains is to paint the decals, hair and flock the bases (snow and grass).

**Gitsplitta**

Not bad wyfox. All my caucasians end up well tanned... yours are nice and pasty-pink!

**wyomingfox**

Just like me

**wyomingfox**

Finally Finished!

Well several new paint schemes went into this batch of models. As a recap:

New red color technique

New two tone wolf tails and heads

My first beard! And a new hair color that represents graying brown hair.

A blended plasma gun...rather than my previous dry-brushings

My first assault bike

New highlight for black panels, tires, gun casings

First time that I drilled out the barrels

First auspex

First time granting a model names

In the swift claw below, I wan't sure how to approach the auspex, but in the end, I elected a simpler paint scheme with the glowing green screens and buttons.

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By far my favorite out of the lot is my second long fang. I was really worried about how the head would turn out, but in the end, the beard turned out great. Looks even better in person.
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**Gitsplitta**

They all look really good wyfox. Clean and sharp. Beautiful work on the lenses too. Do your bikes come with lances or was that your idea?? It was a great one in any case.

Looking forward to fighting these guys some day.

OH, O.T. the boys just finished a 2000 pt nids vs. marines battle. Ended in a draw but they both did really well.

**wyomingfox**

Thanks very much Gits. The hunting lances are from the 2nd edition rough riders. Just something I thought would look really cool given that they are riding iron horses.

Did your sons play against each other with you reffing the game? Do they often play against each other?

OT Double Time: I finally had a chance to stop by the Labryth Games last Thursday Night as my study group was canceled.

They had two tables set up and 4 people were playing. Tim was reffing and two other fellows were building. I saw 2 Dark Angels players, 1 Grey Knights, 1 Dark Eldar Player, 1 Tau and the rest ellude me. The Tau and the Dark Angels armies were very well painted. The armies were pretty small though prolly around 750-1000 as most of the guys are just getting into it and building up for the escalation league.

**Gitsplitta**

Yes, first time they played each other. I was reffing plus giving tactical advice (little one needs it more but the eldest still could use it from time to time). Not that they always listen to me...

Sounds promising!

**wyomingfox**

Something I noticed last night and I thought I would post my observation on here. Take a look at the bike. Low look closer at the wheels. Now back to the rest of the bike. Now focus back on the wheels. Unfortunately the rest of the bike is not as "smooth" as the wheels, but it could have been, if I had gone over it with Vallejo GC Satin Varnish.

Wheras the model was origianlly given a spray coat of gloss varnish followed by a matte varnish sealer, the wheels were given a smooth semi-shine surface with an additional satin varnish. The difference sticks out in person and is actually pretty easy to see in the pictures as well.

**Gitsplitta**

I've fooled around a bit with the Vallejo Satin with my airbrush... haven't made it a permanent part of my methodology yet, but I know it's a stable with a lot of very good airbrush painters. Perhaps I should give it another try.

Unfortunately my compressor has developed a leak... looks like a crack in one of the hose housings. With no $ to replace it... could be a while before I can tackle any more marines. Might be painting orks for quite a while.

**wyomingfox**

Hmmmm...another reason to come over to my house you say?

*whistles as he gazes at his air compressor and brush gathering dust*

Anyways...

This is the first I have heard about using satin varnish in a brush...do you dilute it? Just asking because it (well any varnish) tends to cake on the pallet and leave residues on the paintbrush more than other paints. I would think you would have to be extra careful in cleaning out your airbrush regularily as the varnish dries really hard.

**Gitsplitta**

The Vallejo satin varnish that I have is especially formulated for an airbrush.

What kind of set-up do you have?

And I'll make it over to your place eventually... this weekend I'm going down to Rockford for Rock Con... going to try my 1850 pt MW army out... that is if the various parts of it come in time for me to finish it. *sigh*

**wyomingfox**

I have two Land Speeder multi-meltas that I could lend you. One is nicely painted, and the other one is dry brush painted. I would NOT mail them to you though

! Might possibly have a third but it could have been lost...can't remember.

My airbrush set-up....hmmm...I forget. Will take a look at this weekend and maybe post some pics.

**Gitsplitta**

I may have to take you up on that. I'd scavenge the MM's off my two normal LS but they're old and metal and as such glued on. I ordered two new ones from a bits provider but I don't know if they're going to get here on time. I could probably just take a pic of one and make a little cardboard mock-up which would get the idea across. I suspect given the circumstances and the state-of-painting of the rest of the army my opponents would understand.

Don't know what you're airbrush set-up is??? For Shame!