Just out of curiosity do you have any other armies or is this your first major one?

One word: Stunning!

Killmaimburnkillmaimburn wrote:Just out of curiosity do you have any other armies or is this your first major one?

First major army that I've collected. I've already bought most of the blood angel units now so I started buying Grey Knights which I have a few of now My painting hasn't quite yet caught up to my buying yet

CT GAMER wrote:One word: Stunning!

Thanks!

We all have the paint-lag problem Eggroll, and I think it more than fair to say that we don't produce results like you. That being said though...

MOAR!

Thanks Cypher, I'll be posting "moar" soon enough

Been a long time since my last update. Haven't got any progress to show yet though, only have some basic work done on a 10 man dev squad. Also busy painting up a Librarian in Terminator armor (metal version) which should be done soon. This post however is geared towards my airbrushing gear since I got some new equipment recently and figured I'll document it here since I've gotten quite a few questions recently about what I use.

First off here a shot of my airbrushes. From top to bottom:
1. Iwata Revolution BR (0.3mm)
The Iwata has been my only airbrush until about two weeks ago. I still love it and it's definitely a workhorse that produces excellent results. An awesome beginner brush that produces great results. Recently the trigger has been sticking more often and requires more tear down cleanings which has been a pain.

2. Harder and Steinbeck Infinity 2 in 1 (0.15mm) (Includes larger paint cup and a 0.4mm needle and nozzle)
The H&S Infinity is an airbrush I bought 2 weeks ago which is an amazing piece of precision machinery. The fitting and finish on this AB is incredible and the 0.15 nozzle atomizes the paint very well. It does tend to be a bit more finicky though probably due to my inexperience with the brush at this time. Out of box results have been fantastic though so it was definitely worth the $280 price tag. Also includes some cool new features like the adjustments at the back of the brush.

3. Veda WD-180 (0.2mm Chinese Airbrush) (Includes quick release (MAC Valve) and 0.3mm needle and nozzle)
The last one is the Veda airbrush which is a chinese airbrush. Just got it in the post today and it came with a 0.3 needle/nozzle set and quick release set with the air adjustment valve. The brush has a built in MAC valve near the nozzle which I tested a bit. This is a ripoff of the MAC valves found on the Iwata Microns. Not sure how well it works on the Micron but front the 5 min test I did with it, it didn't see all that useful. I'd rather adjust the PSI from the pressure regulator attached to my desk. The finish on this airbrush is a bit more rough, you can see the machined areas and the thing is definitely heavy. Feels almost twice as heavy as the infinity and might get uncomfortable during long painting sessions. The needle also seemed to have more of a rough finish and the test results reflected this. The paint atomization is less fine and it seems to spit and clog more often than my normal iwata. I'll have to see if I can polish the needle later but overall, for the $50 bucks it wasn't a bad deal. Also great was the included quick release set I bought along with it which I've attached to the other brushes as shown in the pic. Now I can swap between any three very quickly without having to unscrew/screw the hose.


Next pic is my airbrush holder that's secured to the side of my desk. It holds up to 4 airbrushes though I only have 3 slots installed. Also holds my air regulator and moisture trap. Black hose from the regulator also has the quick release valve end installed.


Here's a shot of my main air compressor. It's a Campbell Hausfeld 3 gallon hardware compressor. The thing is LOUD, not sure about exact db but I'm guessing it's in the 80's. Charges up to 100psi in about 3 minutes so I usually run it during the day to charge the tank and run the AB from the tank at night. The blue coiled hose from the compressor runs to the air regulator that's on my desk from the previous pic.


This show shows the modified fittings I put in after I got my new Grex compressor. The Grex is tankless so I wanted to be able to use the Grex to charge the 3 gal tank when I run it during the evenings. The Grex runs at 55db so noise is not an issue thankfully. The Grex will charge the 3 gal tank up to 60psi in about 4-5 minutes. In the picture I took out the safety release valve, installed a T fitting in place, reinstalled the safety valve at the end of the T fitting and a quick release coupler at the other end.


When I use up the pressure and want to use the AB more during the evenings, I just attach the quick release coupler from my Grex to the tank and charge it up to 60psi that way. Works perfect!


The whole setup looks like this: Grex Compressor -> 3 Gallon CH Compressor -> Air Regulator & Moisture Trap -> Airbrushes
That pretty much sums up my whole setup right now. It's pretty elaborate but in no way necessary for achieving good results. I worked off the CH compressor and Iwata brush for over a year before getting the recent upgrades.

Thanks for that detailed run-down, very interesting!

Nice setup Eggroll! Thanks for sharing. Grex looks happy as a clam there. I used to run a hardware compressor just like yours (different make). Not bad in a pince & if you own your own place so you don't have to worry about disturbing your neighbors... but now that I have a hobby compressor, things are much better all-round.

Eggroll I do not know how I missed this thread!? Beautiful work great blending using your airbrush. Looking forward to more of your work. SUBBED!!

Not a problem Vitruvian.

Gits - Thanks! The Grex is great and seems to be working well. Hopefully it'll be reliable in the long run.

GreyDeathOne - Thanks!

Btw shane, you made me go completely full slow and order an iwata micron cm-c + .

My wallet says eff-u.

My hobbying says youdaman!

wow wow wow wow wow wow those look amazing, awesome, cool, nice, red and so much more.
it seems to be that you like dreadnoughts
do you play battles with this army?

Haha, Tom I didn't say anywhere in my log to buy a $500 iwata . Heard lots of good reviews for it though, just make sure you baby it, the replacement parts cost an arm and a leg.

Brennian - Thanks. Dreads are cool for sure I don't play the game, just into the hobby side of painting and collecting.

Damn you Eggroll! teasing me with updates and all i see is pin up pics of beautiful air compressors! :-)


what's next on the bench dude? anything you're working on for us to see soon? or are you having a hiatus from the hobby for a bit? I really would like to see more of your amazing work soon! if it wasn't for you i would never have gotten an airbrush set up! and i'm glad I did!

Nerdfest09

Eggroll wrote:Haha, Tom I didn't say anywhere in my log to buy a $500 iwata . Heard lots of good reviews for it though, just make sure you baby it, the replacement parts cost an arm and a leg.

Yes you did. You seduced me and all these other people with your siren call of 'looooooook... airbrushes are aweeessooooommmmmmeeeee' (which interestingly enough reached #2 on the charts in sweden in 2009 btw) therefore you are completely responsible, and a bit of a tramp.

nerdfest09 wrote:Damn you Eggroll! teasing me with updates and all i see is pin up pics of beautiful air compressors! :-)


what's next on the bench dude? anything you're working on for us to see soon? or are you having a hiatus from the hobby for a bit? I really would like to see more of your amazing work soon! if it wasn't for you i would never have gotten an airbrush set up! and i'm glad I did!

Nerdfest09

Heh, the model pics will be coming shortly. Hopefully this weekend I plan on finishing my repaint of a terminator librarian by then and hopefully start on my devastators again.

MajorTom11 wrote:

Eggroll wrote:Haha, Tom I didn't say anywhere in my log to buy a $500 iwata . Heard lots of good reviews for it though, just make sure you baby it, the replacement parts cost an arm and a leg.

Yes you did. You seduced me and all these other people with your siren call of 'looooooook... airbrushes are aweeessooooommmmmmeeeee' (which interestingly enough reached #2 on the charts in sweden in 2009 btw) therefore you are completely responsible, and a bit of a tramp.

Haha I was just showing off my goods. You could have bought the cheap chinese airbrush off ebay instead Once you get your Micron I'm sure you'll be shopping for a 3rd. BTW I wanted to get a Sparmax but De Serres was all sold out :(

Eggroll, I'm too impressed man, everything in this thread just rocks with so much awesomeness. I love the darker looking blood angels.

Just a question about your pre-airbrush days. Did you paint your models like so?

1) Prime Black
2) Rust Colored Primer
3)Dark Red Color (I think MajorTom said something like Burnt Cadmium)

and then just begin to pick out the highlights? I'm curious because I like the dark and gritty look your BA have, and kinda wanna copy it >_>

Damn, there's a lot of inspiration on this thread. I hope you don't mind, Eggroll, but I might try a variation on your priming/highlighting/shading method on my 1K sons. I like the shade you get from your colors!

Not sure if you answered it before in the previous 15 pages, but do you use any protective sealer? If so, what do you use?

Alfndrate wrote:Eggroll, I'm too impressed man, everything in this thread just rocks with so much awesomeness. I love the darker looking blood angels.

Just a question about your pre-airbrush days. Did you paint your models like so?

1) Prime Black
2) Rust Colored Primer
3)Dark Red Color (I think MajorTom said something like Burnt Cadmium)

and then just begin to pick out the highlights? I'm curious because I like the dark and gritty look your BA have, and kinda wanna copy it >_>

Thanks Alfndrate! My pre-airbrush days did not include any BA work. I only started doing a BA army because the quality and time saving techniques afforded by using an airbrush. If I was to do BA models without an airbrush I would still prime in the rust colour and then blend by hand the shadows and highlights. Would take a lot longer to get the same effect but it is possible. Feel free to copy the dark and gritty look, I'm sure I'm not the first to do it

HF Izanagi wrote:Damn, there's a lot of inspiration on this thread. I hope you don't mind, Eggroll, but I might try a variation on your priming/highlighting/shading method on my 1K sons. I like the shade you get from your colors!

Not sure if you answered it before in the previous 15 pages, but do you use any protective sealer? If so, what do you use?

Thanks Izanagi. Don't mind it at all, just make sure to post your 1k sons. If I actually finish my current army and my grey knight models, 1k sons is a project I'm definitely going to have to put on my to do list.

Yup I used to use protective sealer. Recently on my troops I've been lazy but since I don't game with them I figured it doesn't matter. All my tanks have it though. I do a base coat with Krylon Gloss Spray and then I apply Testor's Dull Cote after. Works quite well and doesn't affect the colours but it will dull down the metallic areas. You can always go over the metallics after with satin varnish but again...laziness prevails

Finished off the Librarian in Terminator armor tonight. This was a repaint of an older paint job before. Didn't like the old model so I ended up simple greening it and repainting. Got to love the metal models.

First off, here's the old paint job:


And here's the new paint job:

I don't see any difference...
...
...
HA! I can almost say that with a straight face! He not quite though Amazingly fantastic work, as always!

Wow that Librarian is very nice.

You can see how much your painting skills have advanced since the first paint job, how long is it between the current and the original?

joshoftheforest wrote:I don't see any difference...
...
...
HA! I can almost say that with a straight face! He not quite though Amazingly fantastic work, as always!

AHHHH! Reason I decided to repaint him was because the gf made a comment about it looking too 'cartoony' with the blue and yellow. After I showed her the new paint job, she said "you repainted him completely? he doesn't look different".
Thanks josh

GiraffeX wrote:Wow that Librarian is very nice.

You can see how much your painting skills have advanced since the first paint job, how long is it between the current and the original?

Thanks. This guy was especially painful to do since he has so much details all in one model. I think I did the original about a year to 14 months ago.

Nice work Eggy! your librarian is beautiful, the new scheme isn't as monotone or chalky as the original and I can see heaps of differences and subtle naunces of variation in tones and details, is this the same mini that appears as a cameo in your display cabinets early on in this thread? or am i having strange dreams again?

as usual looking forward to more, more ,more from you! interested to see how you plan on re doing your devs?

Nerdfest09

I see the difference egg. The new model is much crisper and tighter than the old, as well as having a bit more naturalistic feel. Very well done I might add. Dropping the yellow from the design (and I'm a big yellow fan) was a very good decision.

The new librarian paint job is beautiful, brilliant blue.
Do you plan on doing a video.?Your technique with
the airbrush is some of the best I have ever seen.
A small video would certainly help some of us novices
out here.

That is an impressive amount of improvement in a year!

nerdfest09 wrote:Nice work Eggy! your librarian is beautiful, the new scheme isn't as monotone or chalky as the original and I can see heaps of differences and subtle naunces of variation in tones and details, is this the same mini that appears as a cameo in your display cabinets early on in this thread? or am i having strange dreams again?

as usual looking forward to more, more ,more from you! interested to see how you plan on re doing your devs?

Nerdfest09

Thanks Nerdfest. Good eye, the old one was in one of my display case shots from before.

Nothing special planned for the devs yet. Just going to do them as standard batch troops.

Gitsplitta wrote:I see the difference egg. The new model is much crisper and tight than the old, as well as having a bit more naturalistic feel. Very well done I might add. Dropping the yellow from the design (and I'm a big yellow fan) was a very good decision.

THanks Gits!

dad1946 wrote:The new librarian paint job is beautiful, brilliant blue.
Do you plan on doing a video.?Your technique with
the airbrush is some of the best I have ever seen.
A small video would certainly help some of us novices
out here.

Thanks though I don't have access to a vid cam to record any tutorials. Most of the techniques I use can be found in many of the youtube vids out there already.

Llamahead wrote:That is an impressive amount of improvement in a year!

Thanks Llamahead!

Eggroll, I don't mean to be pushy, but your work
is head and shoulders above anyone else on youtube.
Keep up the good work.

Sweet job on the librarian! More eye candy please .

Hmmm...

I'm gonna shock you and not totally kiss your bum this time lol! I note you did not use Zenithal this time, and for me it's a bit of a let-down as the blue of the armor is rather flat compared to the usual nuances of your work. Meanwhile, the plasma glow, red shoulder pad and pretty much everything else looks just amazing...

Shame on you MajorTom! he's obviously still just learning, lol... :-)

I do agree with you about the red shoulder pad and glow, Eggroll's done a nice job with the re paint, and I don't think it looks 'out of place' amongst his other work, maybe they didn't have any gloss coat in the battle barge when he was touched up after battle? i actually (the more I look at it) like the face on him, it's very subtle and softer than I usually see on a mini and I actually quite like it!


Nerdfest09

I don't know if the zenithal technique was really needed here. The blue seems over powering and flamboyant, but thats how librarians are, blue plated warp sissies... I think the paint job is top notch, and I get enough shadows from just the lights used to take the picture, so I don't think zenithal was needed. but thats just my uninformed opinion.

Thanks guys!

@Tom - Ouch I feel so rejected. j/king He does have a bit of zenithal to him though not as much as the normal red marines and the gradients are more visible in person, the photo is a bit over exposed and does make his left leg a bit too blue. Anyhow, appreciate the feedback!

Eggroll could you please list out the cleaning supplies I need to purchase to make sure I take care of my ab's proplerly? Thank you in advance.

I don't think cameras like high saturation R, G's or B's, the more primary a color get, the more it seems to 'flatten' it... Lol, sorry for letting you down, but, if it makes you feel any better, I would have told anyone else great job! Don't blame me if you you set the damned bar too high lol

Kal-El - I use watered down simple green though I hear windex works as well.

Tom - No worries, I was just kidding around.

what do you do just basicly spary it through your air brush, then whala your done? Kinda crazy easy imo if thats it.

I actually just went out to buy some simple green today. I had to stripe paint from some bad primer jobs...thats why I have not updated my own thread with new pics.

How long do I need to soak my stuff to get the paint off? I know you have stripped some models from reading your threads.

Kal-El wrote:what do you do just basicly spary it through your air brush, then whala your done? Kinda crazy easy imo if thats it.

I actually just went out to buy some simple green today. I had to stripe paint from some bad primer jobs...thats why I have not updated my own thread with new pics.

How long do I need to soak my stuff to get the paint off? I know you have stripped some models from reading your threads.

Yeah I let it sit in the cup for about 5 mins and then spray it through, cleanup with a q-tip. For stripping models I leave them in there for a day or more if I forget about it

lol rock on man, thank you!

LOL... that librarian looks great, although I have to agree that there's considerably less shading than your standard BAs... which is really a great signature of your figures.

Speaking of the shade, I read through the small run-through you gave in one of your first pages for you do the initial colors on your troops.

Pre: Prime w/ colored primer (rust?)

1) General coverage w/ Blood Red (mine'll be a different type)

2) Add shadows w/ your mix of red+black opaque

3) Watered down opaque red to take out orange-tinge.

Question about the shadows: what areas do you choose to target to spray with the #2 mix? I know it's a bit vague, and I think from your pics I understand, but would you mind if you showed a 'level' shot of one/two of your standard BAs for a better idea? I'd like to see what they look like, instead of an up-raised shot.

And this was the best I could do with re-phrasing it, without asking you if you "hit them in the crotch at all" ... sorry, man, and thanks in advance!

-Remi (HF Iz)

Well, there are obviously a few cosmetic changes to the paintjob that have given it a marginally better look.

I saw the first pics and thought "that seems somewhat lacking compared to the standards of the rest of Eggs work" THEN I read the text at the top of the post an it clicked

The change between the first librarian colour scheme and the second is incredible. needless to say the new paintjob is miles better and it looks absolutely great

HF Izanagi wrote: LOL... that librarian looks great, although I have to agree that there's considerably less shading than your standard BAs... which is really a great signature of your figures.

Speaking of the shade, I read through the small run-through you gave in one of your first pages for you do the initial colors on your troops.

Pre: Prime w/ colored primer (rust?)

1) General coverage w/ Blood Red (mine'll be a different type)

2) Add shadows w/ your mix of red+black opaque

3) Watered down opaque red to take out orange-tinge.

Question about the shadows: what areas do you choose to target to spray with the #2 mix? I know it's a bit vague, and I think from your pics I understand, but would you mind if you showed a 'level' shot of one/two of your standard BAs for a better idea? I'd like to see what they look like, instead of an up-raised shot.

And this was the best I could do with re-phrasing it, without asking you if you "hit them in the crotch at all" ... sorry, man, and thanks in advance!

-Remi (HF Iz)

Thanks. The process I use now is a bit different but it's mostly to save time. It produces mostly the same results.

Knowing where to put shadows is hard to describe. Unless you have a good understanding of light it's better to just use a general spray from about 45 degrees above at start. Check out Major Tom's grey knight tutorial which goes over it in detail.

Imperial Monkey wrote:Well, there are obviously a few cosmetic changes to the paintjob that have given it a marginally better look.

I saw the first pics and thought "that seems somewhat lacking compared to the standards of the rest of Eggs work" THEN I read the text at the top of the post an it clicked

Haha thanks Monkey!

warwookie wrote:The change between the first librarian colour scheme and the second is incredible. needless to say the new paintjob is miles better and it looks absolutely great

Thanks warwookie.

Very impressed Eggroll - looking forward to what's next

I love the shading, and the dread looks awesome. Nice work.

Thanks slice'n'dice and DiAF.

Got another model done last night. This time I wanted to see how the new VEDA airbrush that I got for 50 bucks off ebay performed. After using it, I have to say it's just as good if not better than my iwata revolution. These days the revolution's trigger is a bit worn out and tends to jam sometimes. With the VEDA I've been able to do finer spray patterns and the way it breaks down makes cleaning the whole thing a lot easier as well.

Anyway, onto the model:



I had primed this one along with 7 bikes, 2 attack bikes, another land speeder, 2 predators and one razorback this past Sunday. Went through 1.5 cans of primer and ended up with red boogers .

Good lord that's impressive!

very nice!

Beautiful speeder. The only thing I would add would
be the glow effect on the exhaust.

That's looking awesome, it's nice to see the effects an airbrush can achieve in the hands of an excellent artist.

Goddam that's purty... That's more what the red on my SR looks like irl, yet somehow my camera always flattens it...

Your photo skills are as good as your painting and ab skills, it's not fair!

Got my micron in the mail today

Looks awesome Egg, great to see such talent.

Wonderful!

Thanks for all the comments guys.

dad1946 wrote:Beautiful speeder. The only thing I would add would
be the glow effect on the exhaust.

Yup I was thinking about doing it but the actual exhaust has the turbine fan blades inside so I figured I'd leave them as is without a glow. If it was glowing, the fan blades would probably melt and be useless.

MajorTom11 wrote:Goddam that's purty... That's more what the red on my SR looks like irl, yet somehow my camera always flattens it...

Your photo skills are as good as your painting and ab skills, it's not fair!

Got my micron in the mail today

Thanks. What kind of camera are you using? My shots usually turn out better when I'm using the lightbox. Bigger vehicles I have to do w/o and I notice a big difference in colour representation.

You take the micron for a test spin yet?

Nope, still at work. Might take it for a spin tonight or on Sunday on my Crassus though!

I am just using an ordinary cybershot... I should really grab the d5 from the office to try and take some hdri shots, that would be a surer thing. I have a lightbox, and diffusers, it just seems the this particular camera sensor blots out reds and other strong primary's. As you know I am a bit of a research nut, and have even tried the ikea frosted waste bin lightbox from massive voodoo, but it all just tends to come out similarly. Even the grey knight photos are pretty poor representations of the final mini... I'll figure it out one day lol.

very nice as always.

Can you post a link to the Veda airbrush? I've found the 180 Veda airbrush gravity fed on ebay for about 40$ AU shipped to NZ, is that the right one? 0.2 and 0.3 mm ?

MajorTom11 wrote:Nope, still at work. Might take it for a spin tonight or on Sunday on my Crassus though!

I am just using an ordinary cybershot... I should really grab the d5 from the office to try and take some hdri shots, that would be a surer thing. I have a lightbox, and diffusers, it just seems the this particular camera sensor blots out reds and other strong primary's. As you know I am a bit of a research nut, and have even tried the ikea frosted waste bin lightbox from massive voodoo, but it all just tends to come out similarly. Even the grey knight photos are pretty poor representations of the final mini... I'll figure it out one day lol.

Ah, yeah the DSLR really makes a big difference as well. You should definitely try out the D5 first and find out the best settings since you still have a whole army to photograph.

king88mob wrote:very nice as always.

Can you post a link to the Veda airbrush? I've found the 180 Veda airbrush gravity fed on ebay for about 40$ AU shipped to NZ, is that the right one? 0.2 and 0.3 mm ?

Don't have the link but yeah, the Veda WD-180 with the 0.2 and 0.3 needle and quick release is the one. Great deal considering locally, an Iwata quick release kit is already 20 bucks.

Well, I've been lurking on your thread about a month now. Time to say these are the best Blood Angels I've ever seen.

40kFSU, you said my thoughts exactly. This army looks incredible. The landspeeder is far-and-away the best I've ever seen.

THanks 40kFSU and Arkion!

Another update...finished off a SM bike model today. Got 6 more of these guys sitting around that I'll have to get to soon. Going to work on an attack bike next.

Looking very nice, Eggroll.

This stuff is FANTASTIC! Superb work man! I'm amazed!

Oh, nice bike!

Great looking mini's.

They are just indecent! Thanks for sharing

Best.
Blood Angels.
Ever.

F*ckin' subscribed.

The bike is pretty amazing, but the land speeder is just perfect. I thought it was a cg render when I first saw it.

These are amazing. Makes me want to get my paints out and start painting my space marines.

Hey eggroll how are you doing the glow for the eyes? That an AB or brush? I read major toms blog, but I don't understand the push pull thing he is talking about.

Thanks guys!

Kal-El - I airbrushed the glow using the VEDA AB. Might want to PM tom about the tutorial, I'm sure he can explain it better than I can

New update: Attack bike done:

amazing, as always. keep on the good work!

Amazing, excellent blending on the attack bike, is that airbrushed on?

G'day Eggy, how's it going? you've been a busy man! I can't verbalize just how much I am blown away by the landspeeder! absolutely breathtaking work, it looks fantastic, the weathering and shading as usual are just beautifully done, i'm now nervous about painting my two sitting on my shelf! (i'm still airbrushing speckles!) your attack bike is just as good too! the gunners face is great and everything just looks imo perfectly done for the chapter! the right amount of embellishments the right colour, the right shading, really just everything is how I imagine how it would look! i'd also love to see the glow effect even subtly on the jets of the speeder?
if you ever don't have the spare money for models to paint i'm sure Dakka would pull together and just send you things so we could continue to be blown away by what you paint! you are just amazing Eggy, a really outstanding artist and someone's blog I recommend to anyone who cares to listen to me (I tend to go on....)

thanks for painting!

Nerdfest09

Beautiful work as always egg, man I just love how your red turns out... very nice & just a bit gritty.

kingjayko wrote:amazing, as always. keep on the good work!

Thanks!

medabee wrote:Amazing, excellent blending on the attack bike, is that airbrushed on?

Thanks and yup, it's airbrushed. I do most of my work with an airbrush.

nerdfest09 wrote:G'day Eggy, how's it going? you've been a busy man! I can't verbalize just how much I am blown away by the landspeeder! absolutely breathtaking work, it looks fantastic, the weathering and shading as usual are just beautifully done, i'm now nervous about painting my two sitting on my shelf! (i'm still airbrushing speckles!) your attack bike is just as good too! the gunners face is great and everything just looks imo perfectly done for the chapter! the right amount of embellishments the right colour, the right shading, really just everything is how I imagine how it would look! i'd also love to see the glow effect even subtly on the jets of the speeder?
if you ever don't have the spare money for models to paint i'm sure Dakka would pull together and just send you things so we could continue to be blown away by what you paint! you are just amazing Eggy, a really outstanding artist and someone's blog I recommend to anyone who cares to listen to me (I tend to go on....)

thanks for painting!

Nerdfest09

Hey nerdfest! Yeah I've been busy though not all with painting - work has been busier lately so my hobby output has slowed down a bit. Thanks for all your kind comments, I've been trying to keep up with a few painting logs when I get the chance and yours is one of them. It's nice to see the progress you've been making with your army and the improvements you've made so keep it up! As a kid, my problem was always I never had the money for the hobby though had plenty of time. Growing up, money isn't an issue but time is now - funny how things work. Anyway, keep up the work on your paintings and don't worry about the speckles, just experiment with the paint mixes and you'll eventually find what works best for you.

Gitsplitta wrote:Beautiful work as always egg, man I just love how your red turns out... very nice & just a bit gritty.

Thanks Gits!

Thank you eggroll, i might send him a pm. I used really watered down paint and brushed it on mine. its not as bright, but I got the effect. I got my AB and stuff, been messing around with it. I painted some shoulder pads the other night with np. I am still trying to figure out how thin to get the paint. I don't speckle anymore, but I think its to thin now because the paint seems to move on the model. Am I right? What pressure did you use again? 15psi?

Thanks Eggroll, :-)

once again eggroll beautiful just beautiful work on the landspeeder. I can't wait to dive into my Ravewing now

Kal-El wrote:Thank you eggroll, i might send him a pm. I used really watered down paint and brushed it on mine. its not as bright, but I got the effect. I got my AB and stuff, been messing around with it. I painted some shoulder pads the other night with np. I am still trying to figure out how thin to get the paint. I don't speckle anymore, but I think its to thin now because the paint seems to move on the model. Am I right? What pressure did you use again? 15psi?

Go with 20-30 psi at the start. Don't go lower until you get used to painting at the higher psi. Lower psi will require that you have a better handle on the paint mix though will allow you to paint finer lines.

GreyDeathOne wrote: once again eggroll beautiful just beautiful work on the landspeeder. I can't wait to dive into my Ravewing now

Thanks Grey. I'm dreading painting up the rest of my ravenwing battleforce box though.

I need to learn how to airbrush. Your results are spectacular.

Kal-El wrote:Hey eggroll how are you doing the glow for the eyes? That an AB or brush? I read major toms blog, but I don't understand the push pull thing he is talking about.

Push pull technique is basically just describing the fundamental physics of the brush. If you load up a brush, and then drag it in short strokes across a sheet of paper, you will note that the paint is thicker where you lifted the brush. This is because you create a little pile of paint when you lay a loaded brush down, and then as you drag, you take most of it with you, leaving a heavier, more opaque deposit towards the end*. With thinned paint, you can leverage this effect to create little gradients and blends, so you drag your brush towards the source of light in the case of OSL to intensify the effect closer to the source. It takes some practice and patience, but can be effective.

*NOTE - There are exceptions, on particularly long brush strokes, your brush loses all it's paint by the end and trails out in at the end of the stroke. This technique only really shows if there is brush travel involved, you have to move the brush, even just a little bit, otherwise you just end up with a chalky little pool.

Airbrush is superior to be sure, but the problem is that not all airbrushes are that accurate and fine that you can nail an eye nicely. Screw it up, even a little, and you just screwed the head and potentially backpack and chest as well. It requires practice and confidence to pull it off, and a nice AB too. That being said, I have heard of a trick where you cut a small hole into some card, and hold it just above the eye (not touching the eye, you have to leave a few millimeters to get a soft edge) and use that to prevent speckle and to target your spray more accurately. This is something I'm going to have to try next time the opportunity presents itself!

Eggroll wrote:

Kal-El wrote:Thank you eggroll, i might send him a pm. I used really watered down paint and brushed it on mine. its not as bright, but I got the effect. I got my AB and stuff, been messing around with it. I painted some shoulder pads the other night with np. I am still trying to figure out how thin to get the paint. I don't speckle anymore, but I think its to thin now because the paint seems to move on the model. Am I right? What pressure did you use again? 15psi?

Go with 20-30 psi at the start. Don't go lower until you get used to painting at the higher psi. Lower psi will require that you have a better handle on the paint mix though will allow you to paint finer lines.

I agree here, although depending on the ab, and if they use vallejo air paint or another ab ready paint out of the bottle, it may be feasible to jump right into 10-15 psi. In general, 20 psi for coverage work, and 10psi for detailing is what I have found works best from my research, and also recent tests.



You are bonkers my friend, a RW battleforce and more vehicles?!?!

I thought of an idea for my own guys I thought I would throw out to you btw, I think I will be painting a few squads as succesors, a lamenter tactical squad, a flesh tearer assault squad etc etc. I was thinking it would be a fun way to break up all the red, and still be on-target fluff wise and rules/wysiwyg wise. Just throwing it out there, would love to see you tackle a few of those schemes too!

Finally, I tried the Micron... oh man it is awesome. I have little experience with AB as you know, but the smoothness of the action and the way the thing is balanced is amazing. It is very subtle, it isnt that different from my ps900's, but with a little experience under the belt you can feel the difference between the audi and the ferrari engines if you know what I mean. Highly recommend you have a go one day!

Thank you eggroll and major tom. I got an infinity 2 in 1; the same one eggroll is using. the lower the psi I go the thinner the paint correct? Right now I have my setting between 15-20psi. I am just getting familiar to the right thinkness of the paint and trigger control atm. I did not do any AB today since I worked on my GK's all day. I think I am going to get the hang of it pretty fast though. I use mostly GW paint. So Vallejio has an actual "Air" paint??? I might have to just switch to that if I am reading that right.

Fantastic job also with your models eggroll; you are giving me something to strive for. Painting with a brush can get old sometimes lol.

Correct, for thinner paints. In general though, there shouldn't be too much varience, I have found thus far that only a tiny bit more thinner is neccesary for a 10psi 'sweetspot'

Vallejo does have a 'Model Air' range, works straight out of the bottle in general, and comes in a ton of colors... I love it myself.

Looks like you have made another AB convert in Kal-el Eggy! You really should be sponsored!

ShumaGorath wrote:I need to learn how to airbrush. Your results are spectacular.

Thanks! Join the club, all the cool kids are doing it

Kal-El wrote:Thank you eggroll and major tom. I got an infinity 2 in 1; the same one eggroll is using. the lower the psi I go the thinner the paint correct? Right now I have my setting between 15-20psi. I am just getting familiar to the right thinkness of the paint and trigger control atm. I did not do any AB today since I worked on my GK's all day. I think I am going to get the hang of it pretty fast though. I use mostly GW paint. So Vallejio has an actual "Air" paint??? I might have to just switch to that if I am reading that right.

Fantastic job also with your models eggroll; you are giving me something to strive for. Painting with a brush can get old sometimes lol.

Thanks Kal-El, switching between AB and brush is nice when one gets a bit tiring. As for Vallejo air, I don't use it since I find it a bit too watery, I'm fine just doing the mixes with GW or P3 paints and putting that through the AB though it is more convenient I guess.

MajorTom - Yeah successor chapters would be a nice break from all the red. My display case could use more colour. Not sure if there are successor colours that are that different though?

My collection is still growing though, a bunch of vehicles, more marines, more HQ's. I've got at least another 2 years worth of painting left to go through everything.

I know what you mean for the airbrushes, the fit, finish is vastly different between the high end stuff like the iwata and infinity from the cheaper chinese ones like the veda. The veda does offer excellent value though and is a great all around AB. I ended up bending my 0.2mm needle last night during cleaning. $#@! Got too careless, my original iwata needle is still straight though.

You make me want to make time to paint so badly, very inspiring work. I could stare at your photos for hours.

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I still gotta hand it to ya Eggroll; still one of the best BA armies I've ever seen.

Though I'd have to agree: painting vehicles isn't as fun as infantry sometimes.

I only started with the airbrush because i'd heard all the cool kids were doing it! and eggroll and majortom are like the coolest kids in school right now! both exeptional artists!

now eggy get on with the battleforce!

Nerdfest09

Yeah, I think I will end up getting a new AB as well, mine isnt up to snuff to do good work.

If you still want to stick with BA successors that are different, Lamenters are your best bet. Yellow with a checker pattern on the shoulder pads/

Gonna have to go with Whalemusic on this one, Lamenters would probably be the your best bet, and I'd love to see how you do yellow.

Side note: Whale, you get those CHS Stormraven pieces yet?

Havent got them yet, no. I preordered them, I dont think they have shipped yet.

Mmmmmm an Eggroll level army of Lamenters! hot damn that'd be an awesome army! yep i 53rd the choice!

Ah, just looked up what the lamenters' colour scheme and looks good. Was thinking about doing IF at one point so the yellow for the lamenters should be just as good. Not sure about the heart thing though...hmmm, will have to wait and see.

Have a look at Solar_Lion's Lamenters. You'll be sold (especially on giant yellow space taxis).

Yellow is the new black Eggroll, go for it!

If you wanted to change it up from your BA a bit more, you could do it as a Badab War Siege list, or even Tyrants Legion maybe.

Wow. I hadn't peered into this thread for a couple months... I'm blown away. Such absolutely perfect Blood Angels.... Congratulations.

inmygravenimage wrote:Have a look at Solar_Lion's Lamenters. You'll be sold (especially on giant yellow space taxis).

Thanks for the tip, he's got some get work though can't say I'm a fan of the checkered pattern and hearts. Makes things a bit too comical. Will have to think about it a bit more but at the moment I'm leaning towards an IF army if I do start up some yellow marines.

Gitsplitta wrote:Yellow is the new black Eggroll, go for it!

Will put the project idea in the queue. I need to finish off my BA army first before looking into other stuff. Got a lot of Grey Knight stuff bought and sitting in boxes right now waiting to be painting.

whalemusic360 wrote:If you wanted to change it up from your BA a bit more, you could do it as a Badab War Siege list, or even Tyrants Legion maybe.

Will take a look thanks.

Samus_aran115 wrote:Wow. I hadn't peered into this thread for a couple months... I'm blown away. Such absolutely perfect Blood Angels.... Congratulations.

Thanks Samus, stay tuned...there's most coming down the pipe!

--------------------------------------------------

Finally finished off 11 heavy weapons guys this week. I did 3 guys without helms so they can be swapped out into tac squads without looking out of place with blue helms...if I ever start playing this game. These guys have been sitting around for at least a month now after priming, just got bored with them and moved onto other models. Came back to them the beginning of the week and rushed through them. Overall I'm happy with the paint job given how fast I went through them though I do wish I varied up the poses a bit more, especially using some running legs or kneeling. Oh well...onto the pics:

Heavy Bolters:




Rocket Launcher:


Multimelta:


Lascannon:




Plasma Cannon:






Full shot of the guys on my desk:

Very nice attack bike and Devastators, Eggroll - OSL strikes again!

Out of interest, was the attack bike gunners head from that kit, or elsewhere?

Dysartes wrote:Very nice attack bike and Devastators, Eggroll - OSL strikes again!

Out of interest, was the attack bike gunners head from that kit, or elsewhere?

Thanks! I think all the mope head hair styles are from blood angel kits. I think that one came from the baal pred kit though I can't remember. I just picked it out from my bits box.

Eggroll, your thread never fails to disappoint. i love your simple clean style and the colour pallet used. This is by far the best army i have seen. I only wish i could stick to one project long enough the produce an army, i'm very jealous of your sticking power. Keep up the good work.

Those turned out beautifully eggroll! The tinting of the metallics worked on really well and the red and blue is just so striking... well done!

Do I really need to say anything?....really?.....Oh, O.k then, Eggy, again you astound me! and everyone else I imagine with your amazing Blood Angels, those speeders and bikes are beautiful and crisp and your dev's are just, well, heavy! the osl is as uual top notch and I love the use of the bare heads and tech helmets to mix it up incase you play (you so need too!) the multi melta guy is my pick for favorite of this update :-)
please,please keep painting, I do get those same old 'i'll never be that good' feelings but you know something? it's worth it to see your mini's as they will keep me pushing myself to try things I haven't done before (like paint green which i just did for instance) i've got some ideas from your speeders too, whether it comes to fruition or not is still to be seen!

so thanks again Eggy for being kind enough to not hide these from us!

Nerdfest09

Probably the best models I have ever seen.

They put my glowing skills to shame.

This army makes me want to go throw my whole 2000pt GK army I just finished painting in a fire.

Love the OSL and blue tints in the metal for the bolters. Really great touches.

I also started using the funky "rust" primer you use (used?) on your guys on your tut per the first couple of pages. I'm pleased, as it has a dried-blood color. When I start getting into more of the shading and HL, would you mind if I asked you a critique and a couple of improvement pointers?

Really great, as always, Eggroll.

-Remi (HF Iz)

Simply; I wish I could paint like you.

Nice Devastator Eggroll, but the lens glow seems a bit too red.

Hits_the_spot wrote:Eggroll, your thread never fails to disappoint. i love your simple clean style and the colour pallet used. This is by far the best army i have seen. I only wish i could stick to one project long enough the produce an army, i'm very jealous of your sticking power. Keep up the good work.

Thanks Hits! I'm jealous of your conversion skills! Funny you should mention sticking power, I've been very tempted to start a new army and am starting to get tired of painting red. It was in August of 2010 when I started these guys but I plan on sticking it through till the end and finish off every last BA model I have before starting on my grey knights.

Gitsplitta wrote:Those turned out beautifully eggroll! The tinting of the metallics worked on really well and the red and blue is just so striking... well done!

Thanks Gits. The blue was just an experiment with some Daler Rowney blue ink which turned out pretty well. I plan on tinting all my metallics in the future.

nerdfest09 wrote:Do I really need to say anything?....really?.....Oh, O.k then, Eggy, again you astound me! and everyone else I imagine with your amazing Blood Angels, those speeders and bikes are beautiful and crisp and your dev's are just, well, heavy! the osl is as uual top notch and I love the use of the bare heads and tech helmets to mix it up incase you play (you so need too!) the multi melta guy is my pick for favorite of this update :-)
please,please keep painting, I do get those same old 'i'll never be that good' feelings but you know something? it's worth it to see your mini's as they will keep me pushing myself to try things I haven't done before (like paint green which i just did for instance) i've got some ideas from your speeders too, whether it comes to fruition or not is still to be seen!

so thanks again Eggy for being kind enough to not hide these from us!

Nerdfest09

Nerdfest, I always appreciate your comments buddy. You've been improving your skills with each new update as well so keep it up. I'll be painting till I go blind or I lose both my hands so no worries about a lack of pics on my side

BoA.Raccoon wrote:Probably the best models I have ever seen.

Thanks!

Miss Dee wrote:They put my glowing skills to shame.

Thanks!

pdawg517 wrote:This army makes me want to go throw my whole 2000pt GK army I just finished painting in a fire.

Heh, don't put them in the fire, there's always simple green J/king, when I go back to the stuff I paint over a year ago I feel the same way and I have actually stripped some models to repaint. Everyone has different painting styles so don't be discouraged. As long as you keep painting I'm sure your skills will continue to improve. There's plenty of stuff out there that I look up to which is what keeps me going.

HF Izanagi wrote:Love the OSL and blue tints in the metal for the bolters. Really great touches.

I also started using the funky "rust" primer you use (used?) on your guys on your tut per the first couple of pages. I'm pleased, as it has a dried-blood color. When I start getting into more of the shading and HL, would you mind if I asked you a critique and a couple of improvement pointers?

Really great, as always, Eggroll.

-Remi (HF Iz)

Thanks Remi and not a problem, when you get some work up let me know and I'd be happy to give you some constructive crit.

Popsicle wrote:Simply; I wish I could paint like you.

Thanks Popsicle.

l33tninj4 wrote:Nice Devastator Eggroll, but the lens glow seems a bit too red.

Thanks, yeah I think they came out a bit too flat. Had the same problem with my DC guys. Need to figure out a better method next time I do the red glow lenses.

I dunno, maybe mix in a bit of orange to make the center of the light pop a bit more?

Wow Egg, just wow. That's absolutely outstanding work.

One question. On the average mini what % is AB and what % is brush?

Truly awesome stuff, I never really cared for Blood Angels because the red always seemed a bit comic, but your style is just beautiful.

The only thing I'm not sure on is the blue glow on the plasma cannons for the devastators, with the blue helmets it looks more like a paintjob on the gun rather than the result of a blue glow. I always preferred your green glow

l33tninj4 - yup, going to have to use some orange on my next set of helms.

Cypher - If you're asking about % of time spent, I'd say about 30% AB 70% brush. The actual surface area covered is different though, probably 70% AB and 30% brush.

WarMill - Thanks. Yeah the blue glow on the plasma isn't carried over onto the helms since I did those separately and attached them at the end. Less noticeable on the lascanon since there's more of a contract I guess.

I was asking both actually. Nice precog move there.

Quick update...been busy at work lately with projects so less time for painting but have managed to finish off one of my commanders. Did a bit more work with freehanding on this one with the shoulder and cape. Cape turned out a bit meh but the shoulder came out better than expected. I copied the design from one seen on a terminator standard bearer from From the Warp blog. Anyway...on to the pics:

How did you paint the meander on his cloak?

I'm always amazed when people pull that off as nicely as you did!

That has got to be some difficult, painstaking and potentially tedious work!

Still, the results are awesome!

So.... how?!?

Egg... you've moved into the realm of the gods. That's all I can say.

Alpharius wrote:How did you paint the meander on his cloak?

I'm always amazed when people pull that off as nicely as you did!

That has got to be some difficult, painstaking and potentially tedious work!

Still, the results are awesome!

So.... how?!?

Thanks Alpharius. I actually never knew the edge pattern has a name...looks like I learn something new everyday.

I did the cloak pattern in one evening ~2 hrs. Just started with the black cloak, did some grey highlights on the folds. Then I did the main yellow belt with Iyandan Yellow, then did the two strips on the top and bottom of the main strip. Then went over with just black to fill in the pattern. Looking at the photos, you can see where my hands got shaky and some of the lines didn't come out fine enough. I did all my work using my size 0 WNS7 brush which helped a lot with accuracy. Next time around, I might try and use a magnifier so it comes out even better.

Gitsplitta wrote:Egg... you've moved into the realm of the gods. That's all I can say.

Thanks Gits!

That cape is beautiful. The purple looks like it is glowing.
Your saying that the meander is painted freehand with a brush. My god you have amazing talent. Can't wait to see more.

Eggroll wrote:
Thanks Alpharius. I actually never knew the edge pattern has a name...looks like I learn something new everyday.

I did the cloak pattern in one evening ~2 hrs. Just started with the black cloak, did some grey highlights on the folds. Then I did the main yellow belt with Iyandan Yellow, then did the two strips on the top and bottom of the main strip. Then went over with just black to fill in the pattern. Looking at the photos, you can see where my hands got shaky and some of the lines didn't come out fine enough. I did all my work using my size 0 WNS7 brush which helped a lot with accuracy. Next time around, I might try and use a magnifier so it comes out even better.

Well, that doesn't make me feel any better, as I am pretty sure I can't do that either!

I'll give it a try eventually though, so thanks for the mini-tutorial!

Eggroll: "Yeah, heres this thing I did that I don't think is very good"
Everyone else" "How do you even do that?!?!?!"
Eggs: "I dunno, it was pretty easy, i was bored"
Everyone: ಠ_ಠ

So to sum up, that's awesome, and I cant do it.

More very nice work, Eggroll. Where did you source the helmet from?

Whalemusic360 - Heh thanks, I guess that did come out sounding a bit pompos.

Thanks Dysartes. The helm is just a regular tac marine helm with wings from the dark angels veteran sprue

Eggroll wrote:Quick update...been busy at work lately with projects so less time for painting but have managed to finish off one of my commanders. Did a bit more work with freehanding on this one with the shoulder and cape. Cape turned out a bit meh but the shoulder came out better than expected. I copied the design from one seen on a terminator standard bearer from From the Warp blog. Anyway...on to the pics:

Eggroll my friend that model came out amazing! !! the free hand on the cape and the zenethal technique came out perfect. Beautiful model.
Cause of you and BuyPainted I bought the Sanguiary Guard box set to broaden my paint skills
Keep up the beautiful work.

Normally people quoting blocks of pictures annoys me, but I enjoy looking at Egg's minis so much that this is the first time that I just don't even care. Excellent work Egg; purely inspiring.

(and that wasn't a slight at you GreyDeathOne )

new models egg! I am bumping this to get you to do some more!

Cripes... loving the freehand on that shoulder pad... my attempts look like I painted them on using my face... how do you do it?

Thanks Cypher.

Kal-El - Soon...working on the honour guard for mephiston at the moment. Will have them done in a week or so...been painting a lot less these days.

broadcast - Thanks. I just use a W&N Series 7 size 0 brush and make sure the tip is always sharp and paint watered down. After that just make sure you don't overload the brush with paint and it's easier to control the paint placement.

Eggroll wrote:Thanks Cypher.

Kal-El - Soon...working on the honour guard for mephiston at the moment. Will have them done in a week or so...been painting a lot less these days.

broadcast - Thanks. I just use a W&N Series 7 size 0 brush and make sure the tip is always sharp and paint watered down. After that just make sure you don't overload the brush with paint and it's easier to control the paint placement.

right on! Looking forward to it. I am also getting the hang of the AB. I have posted some of my stuff already. I am about to start trying more complex stuff with it like the eyes and stuff =)

Your fans have spoken Eggsie.

Honor Guard for Mephiston? You know he isn't an IC right? Regardless I want to see it though

whalemusic360 wrote:Honor Guard for Mephiston? You know he isn't an IC right? Regardless I want to see it though

You can take an Honor Guard unit for every HQ unit on the table. They don't necessarily have to be in coherency with the HQ. Also, named characters fall under the Special Character rule, which specifies they fall under the upgrade or independent character special rules. So he can be attached to an Honor Guard squad.

EDIT: I can't post in this blog without worshiping the ground that Eggroll walks on. Eggroll, you are a god amongst mere mortals. You inspired me to pull the trigger on an airbrush and compressor.

Also while I'm editing I might as well ask, how do you go about stripping a paint job with simple green?

I love your work dude, can't wait for more!

depends on what you want to strip,

whalemusic360 wrote:Honor Guard for Mephiston? You know he isn't an IC right? Regardless I want to see it though

Yeah I think I've read that somewhere before but since I don't play, it's ok by me. The look and standard for the guys I'm working on suites them to be designated as mephiston's HG so that's how I'm painting them. I had photos of the bare plastic models a few pages back I think.

peebzguy wrote:
EDIT: I can't post in this blog without worshiping the ground that Eggroll walks on. Eggroll, you are a god amongst mere mortals. You inspired me to pull the trigger on an airbrush and compressor.

Also while I'm editing I might as well ask, how do you go about stripping a paint job with simple green?

I love your work dude, can't wait for more!

Heh thanks peebzguy. Good to hear you're getting into airbrushing as well. Be sure to post your progress and results.

For paint stripping, I just drop a few models in container of simple green and leave it there for a few days...or weeks depending on how lazy I am. Then I just take an electric toothbrush to them. Sometimes I find it takes a few rounds to get them completely clean but it does a good job without harming plastic.

Finished off the Honour Guard for Mephiston. The HG is for Mephiston is for theme/looks only as it's been pointed out the game rules don't allow him to take any. The standard bearer is one of the few models I've done so far that uses some modding of parts - the banner comes from the empire general box from the WH fantasy range.

One thing I haven't done is painted anything on the shield of the banner, haven't figured out a good design for it yet so that guy is still a work in progress for now.

Also gave all these guys power weapons coloured green instead of the usual blue of my other BAs just to add some variety and make them stand out as HG units. Trim and helms are also painted gold which I believe is accurate to the fluff. Anyway onto the pics:

Looks great. I like the colors and the blending you did on the power weapons. Nice job.

By the Emperor! Hang on let me pick my jaw off the floor. You never cease to amaze me Eggroll. Your work always inspires me to go that extra mile with my own projects.

whait, wha? WHAT HAS AWAKEN ME!! THOU SHALL NOT BE FORGIVEN!

oh, Eggroll's awesomeness woke me.
That, I forgive

Outstanding work, as always, Eggroll.

Jaw-dropping.... wow.

*bow*, *grovel*, *worship*

Very awesome Eggroll, only one thing though - the person who pointed out that Mephison can't take an Honor Guard is dead wrong, if you read my reply to his assertion at the top of the page. For every HQ unit on the table, you may take an accompanying Honor Guard so long as you adhere to the force organization chart and stay within allotted point value. Also, Mephiston follow's the Special Character rules, and all they say is that he is treated as an Independent Character and is Unique (you can't take two Mephiston's, in other words). Therefore, he can take an Honor Guard and he may be attached to the squad, so they are treated as a single unit if he is attached.

I looooooooooove the green power weapon look, especially because they are Honor Guard and for that reason should stand out from the rest of the army. You could almost make the same argument for the Sanguinary Guard because all of their armor and weaponry are from the early days of the Chapter. My airbrush comes today!

I thought that Mephiston was not an IC, but essentially a monstrous creature in human form. As such, attaching him to a unit is a no-no.

Gitsplitta wrote:I thought that Mephiston was not an IC, but essentially a monstrous creature in human form. As such, attaching him to a unit is a no-no.

Wrong. He is a named character, and is therefore an IC. Read the rule book, and stop confusing Eggroll for when he start's playing with his beast-like Blood Angels army

Peebz, ya got a little bit of that rule wrong.

1) Eggroll paints, unless I've missed something in the past few pages, there isn't any intention to pick up dice and play, so let us all enjoy the great skill he demonstrates on these models.

2) Page 47 of the rulebook states "If a model is an independent character, it will have its own entry in the appropriate codex, and its rules will also clearly state that the model is an independent character. Bear in mind that there are other models that only ever fight as units of one model, but are not independent characters." (See Crowe in the Grey Knights Codex, another named character without the IC rule).

3) Honor Guard in the Blood Angels Codex are not a retinue, they don't join the HQ that allows them to be purchased. You may have 1 Honor Guard unit in your army per HQ slot you've filled, but you do not have to attach them to the HQ slot

Alfndrate wrote:Peebz, ya got a little bit of that rule wrong.

1) Eggroll paints, unless I've missed something in the past few pages, there isn't any intention to pick up dice and play, so let us all enjoy the great skill he demonstrates on these models.

2) Page 47 of the rulebook states "If a model is an independent character, it will have its own entry in the appropriate codex, and its rules will also clearly state that the model is an independent character. Bear in mind that there are other models that only ever fight as units of one model, but are not independent characters." (See Crowe in the Grey Knights Codex, another named character without the IC rule).

3) Honor Guard in the Blood Angels Codex are not a retinue, they don't join the HQ that allows them to be purchased. You may have 1 Honor Guard unit in your army per HQ slot you've filled, but you do not have to attach them to the HQ slot

I guess I just hope that he someday plays and that he posts pictures of this glorious army fielded on a table with beautiful terrain Eggroll, have you thought about getting into terrain construction?

Alf, you should check out page 49 where it says Unique Clearly states that special characters can be either independent or upgrade characters.

Hey guys... not to step on Egg's toes or anything... but this is a discussion best suited for "You make da call". I appreciate peebz' desire to make sure Egg has all his gaming ducks in a row, but we don't want to derail his marvelous thread with rulz discussions (unless he asks for them of course).

So as one of the participants of said derailment... sorry Egg.

Yeah I'm with Git, I'm sorry too :( I am ashamed.

*puts worshiping uniform on*

Egg, seriously, when I start airbrushing this is going to be my #1 for reference material. I've checked out Les at awesomepaintjob (I'm biased for him because my name is also Les), and also the guy who does Buypainted on YouTube. He does a Sanguinary Guard tutorial that is pure gold (no pun intended). Again, I love your work and can't wait to see what you have planned for next <<<<<<<<33333333333333333

EDIT: For those interested in the debate I created a thread over in You Make Da Call http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/387263.page. Cheers!

Thanks for all the comments guys and no worries about the rules discussion.

peebzguy - No worries, I'm confused about the rules as much as most are. I do have a copy of the BA codex though it's mostly to just look at the pictures and see what some of the weapon options are for units. No intention of actually playing the game or learning the full rules for now. As for painting terrain, I did buy one of the imperial buildings awhile back, assembled and primed it. It's been sitting on my shelf now for the last 6 months gathering dust. I'll probably paint it eventually but terrain just doesn't have the same appeal to me as actual units. Good luck with your new airbrush!

Eggroll, i have been following this blog for a while now and am utterly astounded at how well you use an airbrush. For the shield of the standard bearer how about trying the brother Calistarius' heraldry from space hulk, i'm sure you would be able to pull it off with your skill.

That standard bearer is jawdropping beautiful. Absolutely
love all of your work. Look foward to seeing more.

Eggroll, would it be giving away any trade secrets if you were to list what paints you use for your Blood Angels painting? I'm not sure what to use with my airbrush. I was planning on just thinning down my GW paints with Windex but I have a feeling that there are better options out there.

oaktree wrote:Eggroll, i have been following this blog for a while now and am utterly astounded at how well you use an airbrush. For the shield of the standard bearer how about trying the brother Calistarius' heraldry from space hulk, i'm sure you would be able to pull it off with your skill.

Thanks. Couldn't find a good image of it. Calistarius is the lib. from SH right? Do you have any reference pics?

dad1946 wrote:That standard bearer is jawdropping beautiful. Absolutely
love all of your work. Look foward to seeing more.

Thanks!

peebzguy wrote:Eggroll, would it be giving away any trade secrets if you were to list what paints you use for your Blood Angels painting? I'm not sure what to use with my airbrush. I was planning on just thinning down my GW paints with Windex but I have a feeling that there are better options out there.

Nope, no trade secrets here...I use a duplicolor red primer as my basecoat and airbrush 50/50 of red/black and then blood red for the highlights. I've been doing a bit of edge highlighting with 50/50 of dwarf flesh and blazing orange. For paint thinning I use a 90/10 mix of water to golden acrylics flow improver. I use that thinner for both brush painting and airbrushing.

... Damn, that's pretty. I totally fail at words and stuff. You evil, inspiring man you.

Eggroll wrote:For paint thinning I use a 90/10 mix of water to golden acrylics flow improver. I use that thinner for both brush painting and airbrushing.

I immediately feel like a pro because I use the same stuff

I wasn't able to find a good image of it, but on page 68 of Blood Angels codex there is a picture of a banner with a golden face crying which is exactly the same as brother calistarius' in space hulk except for the fact it dosn't have a halo above it's head.

Alfndrate wrote:I immediately feel like a pro because I use the same stuff

Nice! Now you just need to spring for an airbrush and compressor and you'll be all set! Nice work on your BA's. Saw your hobby progress challenge in the IC's forum. I'm a fan of the podcast and lurk on their forums every now and then.

oaktree wrote:I wasn't able to find a good image of it, but on page 68 of Blood Angels codex there is a picture of a banner with a golden face crying which is exactly the same as brother calistarius' in space hulk except for the fact it dosn't have a halo above it's head.

Ah yeah, I know the one you mean now. The one with the book underneath? Good idea thanks!

Hello Eggroll!

I made an account just to ask you how you painted up your Honor Guard and Sanguinary Guard. >.<

They look exactly how I want mine. I have been trying to get it to look right on the models, but I never achieved the look. Then I saw yours and I was like "THAT'S IT!"

All I essentially need is a list of the paints, paint ratios, primer, etc. I can figure it out from there. Also if that step was airbrushed or not.

Hope I am not sucking up too much of your time. Thanks!

Jaw dropping good.

Sanguine Mors Mortis wrote:Hello Eggroll!

I made an account just to ask you how you painted up your Honor Guard and Sanguinary Guard. >.<

They look exactly how I want mine. I have been trying to get it to look right on the models, but I never achieved the look. Then I saw yours and I was like "THAT'S IT!"

All I essentially need is a list of the paints, paint ratios, primer, etc. I can figure it out from there. Also if that step was airbrushed or not.

Hope I am not sucking up too much of your time. Thanks!

For my Honour Guard, the reds I use my standard method of red primer base coat followed by airbrushed 50/50 red/black for shadows and blood red for highlights. All other parts are done by brush. The robes were done with a p3 menoth white base for basecoat, rucksack tan for shadows and method white for highlights. For my honour guard I can't remember the exact paints or order but I'm positive I went over the details right after I posted the pics.

deejaybainbridge wrote:Jaw dropping good.

Thanks!

Well done buddy! I love the banner...what set did he come with?

WFB Empire General, I think.

And I agree, it is a fantastic use for it, especially in a 40K setting!

Kal-El wrote:Well done buddy! I love the banner...what set did he come with?

Yup, Alpharius is correct, the banner came from the Empire General set from the fantasy range. The rest of the marines are from the Dark Angels Veterans upgrade sprue and bits from the Death Co kit.

cool thank you guys!

Eggroll, what color blues did you use on the standard bearer? The feathers really stand out. Did you airbrush
the details on the feathers? Looks really good.

dad1946 wrote:Eggroll, what color blues did you use on the standard bearer? The feathers really stand out. Did you airbrush
the details on the feathers? Looks really good.

The blue is actuallly turquoise ink from P3. I airbrushed it on after going over each feather with codex grey by brush. The ink gives a nice colour nuance to all the feathers. I also think I used some watered down lich purple as well.

how do you do the glowing bits on the Plasma weapons?

Miss Dee wrote:how do you do the glowing bits on the Plasma weapons?

You mean the plasma heavy weapons from the dev squad? Those are done by airbrush. I start by brushing a white basecoat on the areas that's generating the light followed by a asurmen blue wash to bring out the coil details. I then airbrush enchanted blue around the area for the blue glow before going back with a brush and 50/50 of ice blue and white to highlight the coil edges.

Thanks

Just exalted the above post... Perhaps I'll have have it tattooed on my forehead in reverse so I remember.

Gitsplitta wrote:Just exalted the above post... Perhaps I'll have have it tattooed on my forehead in reverse so I remember.

Heh, hope you got a big forehead!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Quick update...been awhile since I posted any WIP pics so here's something I've been working on and off for awhile now. Just did the shading/highlights with the airbrush and will go over all the parts/trim with black by brush soon.

Eggroll wrote:Finished off the Honour Guard for Mephiston. The HG is for Mephiston is for theme/looks only as it's been pointed out the game rules don't allow him to take any. The standard bearer is one of the few models I've done so far that uses some modding of parts - the banner comes from the empire general box from the WH fantasy range.

One thing I haven't done is painted anything on the shield of the banner, haven't figured out a good design for it yet so that guy is still a work in progress for now.

Also gave all these guys power weapons coloured green instead of the usual blue of my other BAs just to add some variety and make them stand out as HG units. Trim and helms are also painted gold which I believe is accurate to the fluff. Anyway onto the pics:





Eggroll these models turned out great. Love the conversion and power weapons. Hope to see more soon.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Egg sorry for my last post my dumb phone

Stunning work egg... Wow!

The glow effects you manage to pull off are absolutely out of this world awesome. Is there a specific technique you employ to accomplish this? Particularly on the eyes.

peebzguy wrote:The glow effects you manage to pull off are absolutely out of this world awesome. Is there a specific technique you employ to accomplish this? Particularly on the eyes.

From a post six or seven above yours, peebzguy:

Eggroll wrote:You mean the plasma heavy weapons from the dev squad? Those are done by airbrush. I start by brushing a white basecoat on the areas that's generating the light followed by a asurmen blue wash to bring out the coil details. I then airbrush enchanted blue around the area for the blue glow before going back with a brush and 50/50 of ice blue and white to highlight the coil edges.

For the green glows, you'll need to change the colours, mind you

GreyDeathOne wrote:
Egg sorry for my last post my dumb phone

Heh, no worries. Get rid of the iphone and get an android!

Gitsplitta wrote:Stunning work egg... Wow!

Thanks Gits.

peebzguy wrote:The glow effects you manage to pull off are absolutely out of this world awesome. Is there a specific technique you employ to accomplish this? Particularly on the eyes.

Thanks. As Dysartes mentioned, the technique is the same: start with white base, do the glow colour (scorpion green for eyes) then go over and do some small highlights with white

Eggroll wrote:Thanks wolfshadow and shingouki!

dad1946 wrote:These are beautiful minis. Could you get a closer
shot of the vents on the jetpacks?

Sure, here's a better pic of the sergeant and his backpack...

Does his chest say Nerds? Absoutely amazing work btw.

WolfTalon wrote:
Does his chest say Nerds? Absoutely amazing work btw.

Haha nice catch...certainly looks like it. Actually I wanted to write out "Nero" on it first but it was off center so I added a little line at the end. Figured no one would actually be eagle eyed enough to spot it but looks like you proved me wrong

Quick update. Finished this guy yesterday and got around to taking some pics tonight. My 2nd commander - I tried to model this in a similar pose to one found in the BA codex. Uses parts from BA Death Co, BA Sanguinary Guard when assembling this guy.

Looking good once more, Eggroll - I especially like the freehand aquilla on his cloak.

Oh very nice indeed, as Dysartes says the aquilla is very nicely done.

Beautiful blue on the cloak. If not to much trouble, what
colors did you use? Airbrushed or brushed? I'm always
looking for ways to improve my airbrushing skills at this
scale. I have learned a great deal just from follwing your
thread and watching videos on youtube. Thanks for posting such great work. By the way, love the freehand.

Thanks Dysartes and GiraffeX.

dad1946 wrote:Beautiful blue on the cloak. If not to much trouble, what
colors did you use? Airbrushed or brushed? I'm always
looking for ways to improve my airbrushing skills at this
scale. I have learned a great deal just from follwing your
thread and watching videos on youtube. Thanks for posting such great work. By the way, love the freehand.

Thanks. The blue on the cloak was done by hand. Started with a Mordian Blue basecoat and then did the shadows using a 50/50 of mordian blue and black. Smoothed transitions out using various ratios of the same colours. I didn't really measure it exactly, just mixed based on "feel". Then I did the highlights using a mix of enchanted blue and mordian blue and gradually working my way up to just enchanted blue.

That DC guy's face is pretty damn awesome. Something about the eyes, looks really convincing.

The most recent figure- I don't think I've seen Sang body armor in red, but it looks pretty good- as does the guy's grey hair.

Awesome work, as always.

-Remi

Thanks Remi. The SG nipple armor looks great in red, got the idea from flipping through the BA codex and posed mine the same way too. Here's a shot of the guy in the codex:

LOL... they ought to have yours in the codex... I see what you mean though. I like the "shiny" factor the codex pic has... but yea... I'd take yours given the choice.

-Remi

Hi egg,

It's my birthday this thursday (not that that really matters to anyone!) but i have asked for airbrush, compressor, tank and paints - basically the whole shebang, so inspired by your efforts, but I am trying to get as much information straight in my mind before I start!

I appreciate your clearly quite a busy man, but I would be extremely grateful if you could clarify a couple of things which after reading and re-reading this blog (3 times now!) I still don't know the answer to. I understand you airbrush on highlights/shading, but I would imagine a certain of detailing is lost in doing so - do you then go back with the brush and paint/wash in the recesses with a much darker red, brown or even black? Also, do you use any kind of red glaze/wash after you have done the main airbrushed highlights and shadows as I have read that you do something similar to reduce the 'orange' tinge to GW blood red - is this true, and if so, how??? I only ask as every time I try and use Baal red (either watered down or full strength) I seem to end up with what I can only describe as 'patchiness' on the main armour plates - are you able to offer any thoughts where I may be going wrong?

Your help would be massively appreciated!

Mike.

I love the way the blue of the sword and the blue of the cloak balance with each other and counter the red. As mentioned above, the freehand on the cloak and quality of the face are excellent. Great figure all around.

Having read through all 20 pages in one sitting, all i can say is wow! I'm absolutely stunned by the quality of your painting. Keep up the great work man!

Thanks Gits and Rythgar!

MikeVG8 wrote:Hi egg,

It's my birthday this thursday (not that that really matters to anyone!) but i have asked for airbrush, compressor, tank and paints - basically the whole shebang, so inspired by your efforts, but I am trying to get as much information straight in my mind before I start!

I appreciate your clearly quite a busy man, but I would be extremely grateful if you could clarify a couple of things which after reading and re-reading this blog (3 times now!) I still don't know the answer to. I understand you airbrush on highlights/shading, but I would imagine a certain of detailing is lost in doing so - do you then go back with the brush and paint/wash in the recesses with a much darker red, brown or even black? Also, do you use any kind of red glaze/wash after you have done the main airbrushed highlights and shadows as I have read that you do something similar to reduce the 'orange' tinge to GW blood red - is this true, and if so, how??? I only ask as every time I try and use Baal red (either watered down or full strength) I seem to end up with what I can only describe as 'patchiness' on the main armour plates - are you able to offer any thoughts where I may be going wrong?

Your help would be massively appreciated!

Mike.

Well happy early birthday Mike. Hope you get what you asked for. I always airbrush the highlights and shadows before I do things with the brush. With the airbrush and general overspray associated with using one, many of the details are lost not because of paint buildup but because how smooth the paint is layered on (makes all surfaces appear to be one seamless gradient). After the airbrush is done, I go over edges, crevices and other details with brush to bring them back out.

For glazing, I used to airbrush a glaze of watered down opaque red to tint the model after the highlights and shadows are done. Don't do it that much anymore because I've grown used to the blood red hue for highlights and leave it as it is now. It also saves an extra step in the painting process. If you notice patches when using blood red, either you're letting the paint pool on the surface before drying or your basecoat colour underneath is too different from red (ie black). If you're using a brush and want a smooth gradient, you have to make sure you first water down your paints at least 50/50, sometimes preferably more. Then, you must "unload" your brush - do this by dipping your brush in the paint to absorb the paint/water, then putting the brush on a paper towel to remove 70% of the paint from the brush. This way, the leftover paint on the brush is easier to control and you won't get pooling as you're making the brush strokes. The paint should basically dry immediately after you make a brush stroke.

I also noticed a lot of folks asking about AB gear in this thread and I wanted to share a pro-tip! Check out Harbor Freight, they offer extremely low priced hardware but the quality of most of their stuff is great. I personally own a couple of jacks and an automotive air compressor i bought from there. I'm lucky enough to have one of their retail stores in my area and I'm going to check out some of their AB compressors later this week. Here is a link to the site if anyone is interested.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=airbrush

I think I'm with you now! Thank you very much for that, and thank you for the birthday message! Not long now till I get my grubby paws on an airbrush and I personally can't wait! You have truly been an inspiration and I have to say this is possibly the greatest army I have ever seen!!

I do though have another question which you may or may not know the answer to (so no pressure, this isn't twenty questions or anything! ) - I would like a slightly lighter tone to the BA I'm planning, and I had hoped to go for blood red as my main/mid tone, then possibly very light blazing orange/vermin brown edge or zenithal highlights (all GW colour ranges) but I have no idea on the basecoat/shadows. I realise after reading through you use a non-GW red for your base, but in theory would the basecoat actually make any difference to the type of blood red I end with? ATM I was just going to start with blood red on a GW White undercoat, however, I wanted to know if you (or anyone out there!) had any experience of whether or not the colour used underneath would make any difference to the end "red" (if that even makes any sense???) I would be happy to use something like red gore or mechrite red as a base, as I am often a litle worried blood red looks a little "washed out" otherwise - do you use the red primer for any reason in particular or just to be easy?

Mike.