Littletower wrote:Definitively worth the new set of photos!
The parts' swaps are seamless, and the new colours are starting to make everything pop, it's coming along beautifully.
Thanks! Yeah, the stress and hassle of careful masking does pay off in the end.
Solar_lion wrote:Awesome contrast and design.
Cheers, SL!
Gitsplitta wrote:Great choice on the tank colors. I've seen Ag chemical tanks that are just like that.
Cheers, mate. I feel that those few 'realistic' colours go a long way to ground those otherwise showroom colours of Space Marines.
youtelling wrote:Dang, Im painting an army with similair colors, and this blows my stuff out of the water Amazing work and you certainly gives me a goal to strive for.
Have you done any tutorials on how you paint the models? I would love to see a step by step.
Thanks!
Humbling words, mate, cheers! Well, I don't have separate tutorials per sé, but this thread is filled with lengthy descriptive posts and min-tutorials to answer inquisitive posts.
I'd like to suggest to go into you account options, put the # of posts per page to the max and then it's a hell of a lot easier to browse through, scan the posts and pick out the useful ones. I do remember that at some point I list a full step-by-step workflow of my full painting process, but not the techniques themselves. But they are strewn across the pages.
But that being said, I do welcome any and all specific questions and I'll be happy to reply in-depth. That's what forums are for, right?
Let´s say you are going to paint white on the red you have painted, how would you go about that? Painting white is my biggest problem, or painting white on a flat surface is no problem, but whenever it need shading/highlighting I run into trouble.
Check out my spartan army and you can see my progress, and maybe give a few pointers?
youtelling wrote:Let´s say you are going to paint white on the red you have painted, how would you go about that? Painting white is my biggest problem, or painting white on a flat surface is no problem, but whenever it need shading/highlighting I run into trouble. Check out my spartan army and you can see my progress, and maybe give a few pointers? /Y
Cool, they look nice. Well, first you need to decide if you want to go for a 'creamy' look or a stony look. I'd think I'd give the to-be white parts first a new undercoat of sorts, in a colour that covers really well so not to put down too many layers. A good brown for creamy white, and grey for a stony look. And then put down a beige or cream paint (or light grey), and then highlight that up, either with a few drybrush layers or blended highlights. I'd never put on white and then shade down. It's much easier just to shade up, and touch-up some shading here and there if and when it's needed. Also, keep the pure white only for the last highlights. The large flat areas will look a lot better if the main colour is just off-white (beige tint or grey tint) so to leave you some leeway for white highlights to emphasize the depth of the model or part. Pure black or white tends to look very flat very quickly so you have to play with subtle tinting. I'd never mix in black to shade white for example, either stay with very dark briwns, and if you use grey it won't hurt to experiment with a grey that has a slight tint of a secondary colour in it; green, blue, brown. It will give you something much more interesting to look at. Even if the effect is really, really subtle, the unconscious mind will pick up on it if even if you conscious scrutiny can't define it.
40kFSU wrote:Gorgeous tank, the stripes worked out perfectly. Kudos on the skill it took to mark out all those interchangeable pieces.
Cheers man! I have to admit it though, it was quite a leap of fate to just say; frack it, I'm sticking down the first piece of tape!
Wehey, Slow progress, but progress nontheless.
After finishing the secondary colours, I applied the decals, and took my time applying about 10 coats of micro-sol to blend 'm in real good. Since I only managed to put in a half-hour or an hour on most days, it went kinda slow.
I then sealed the model with Klear and added some chipping with a black-grey, a grey-brown, and gunmetal. I think I'll seal it again and give it it's oil wash.
I'm really drawn to the golds, very impressed, I like the tonal difference of having the fuel cannisters that greenish colour, I don't think I would have thought to come up with it and would have gone with a typical bronze/silver look. Nice work!
Thanks, guys! I'm glad you're liking it a lot as well.
I love it how some relatively simple elements really make it pop.
The large X actually was not thàt hard. just some methodical and patient taping, and then it's just spraying on paint and drybrushing like normal.
And the green of the tanks and ammo boxes provides a nice contrast by introducing a 'realistic' colour to the otherwise showroom colours of Space Marines.
Currently I'm applying a coat of Klear and when that's dry, it's on with the oil paint wash.
Whoah Meph! I didn't realise how much I missed your work until I saw this latest batch! :-) really lovely work and the reverse scheme across the tanks is a great and very good visual touch! everything is coming along swimingly!
Thanks guys! Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been rather busy. The Baal Predator is nearing completion. I just need to seal the weathering powders and paint the lenzes. i'm hoping to get that done tomorrow.
And while the pigment fixer was drying today, I felt like drybrushing something. ^_^
For months it's been vexing me but I decided to jump in just camo up that Land Raider.
WW2-style camo didn't seem to suit Space Marine vehicles so I decided to take some inspiration from the French Lecrerc MBT.
I've added some rough banding from left to right in the same khaki I use for the robes, and I'm going to add black banding from right to left.
So if all goes well, black should be the dominant colour, with khaki as secondary and red as the least prominent. Ah well, we'll see how it goes.
As this thing progresses I'm getting more and more the sense that with camouflage, you have to let go the idea of pretty aesthetics.
Frankly, I'm worried about the colour combination myself but I've decided that, no matter what, this will be an exercise in making ugly look good.
So, here goes nothing...
Automatically Appended Next Post: I'm pretty ok with the result. Should look interesting with the secondary colours put on. Whaddayathink?
Looking good Meph. I know you're going for a French camo but with the masking tape on it, the colours are vaguely reminiscent of Belgian "jigsaw pattern" but then I guess you'd know that since you're from/in Belgium
Hehe, you're right, it does look rather reminiscent to the camo of our SpecOps and Para's, doesn't it?
What made me... hmmm...
I guess the desire to do something different with a space marine vehicle. And also to bring back some flavour of the Rogue Trader era when I first started painting. I was always intrigued by those outlandish camo schemes.
It makes sense for marines to use camouflage in exceptional situations. To ambush enemy heavy armour for example. Or have jump troops and light forces herd an enemy force into the jaws of the heavy guns.
Hehehe, I just remembered that waaaay back in the day I painted up a Blood Angel is desert camo, and adorned the base with one of my first GS sculpts ever; a cactus.
Perhaps I should dig up those boxes full of old minis stored at my parents place, and take some photos of them.
I finally finished the Baal Predator. To be honest, I'm not overly happy with the weathering powders but it'll have to do. The fact of needing to seal them with varnish so they can be used for gaming and transport really messes with the look of them. Although it's not necessarily bad-looking, the look of weathering powders that are just fixated with turpentine or pigment fixer is a whole lot better. But practicality trumps looks this time.
On the weathering powders:I don't even use anything to seal them.
Sometimes a little bit of water to keep them flowing in a recess or something, but that's it.
PS: still remember your old blood angels. Would love to see them again
Cheers fellas! Sorry for the late reply but I got sucked away in the holiday season a bit so not much painting done.
My main gripe with the weathering powders is that they became a lot darker than intended, and each attempt to seal them with varnish made that a lot of it became almost invisible. So I had to go a bit overboard with them. But it has grown on me with time.
The last few days I did manage to get the secondary colours painted in and apply the decals onto the LR. The decals just need some more blending in and then I can start the weathering.
I also rediscovered why I don't like doing freehand all that much as painting in that BA symbol on the right door nearly gave me a heart attach, and then i still cheated by first applying a black decal because I didn't have any white ones left in white...
And a merry Christmas and happy New Year to all! I hope the hangovers and indigestions were manageable.
whalemusic360 wrote:I gotta say, I can't get into the camo pattern on there. Just doesn't seem BA like to me.
Yeah, true, but then again, but that's kinda the nature of camoufglage, innit? I could've gone for maybe a BA-colours-only dazzle camouflage, and it was very tempting to do, but with this pattern I stay 100% in the colour palette of the rest of my army. Even if it does look a bit garish at first sight, it did grow on me.
Leviathus wrote:The paint job is stellar my friend! May I ask what colours you use for the black highlights?
Cheers! Well, I use only Vallejo for that. First highlights are done with Model Color Dark Grey and -Neutral Grey, as both are really neutral grey without any other tint, and the final highlight is with Game Color Wolf Grey. I then gave it a wash of thinned black in sprayed on with airbrush, and touched up the highlights again with Wolf grey.
Love the Baal/Rhino. Not so sure about the Landraider. On a technical level it's great and I know what you're trying to do, it's just not for me.
Gotta say, one of the things I really love, about your vehicles in particular, is your extensive yet judicious use of brass etch decorations. A man after my own heart.
Thanks, guys! Yeah, I approached that Land Raider as an exercise in making ugly look beautiful as i had no idea how it would have turned out. But the camo is growing on me and the silver and copper accents really help set it off.
And yeah, I'm a big fan myself of that bronze/copper/gold mix I cooked up. And to me it makes more sense than painting stuff like that like stone, or bone, etc.
Metal detailing just makes more sense on armour and vehicles, doennit?
Still haven't touched a brush this week and the weekend seems to get a bit full as well, but I have been staring at this on my desk.
Sanguinary Priest! Of, course, no bare head for me, no sirree. After reading through the new codex, it dawned on me that these guys would be great with an assault squad, as they give +1WS to the unit.
So; jumpack tpo keep up, probably magnetized so I can swap 'm out with a regular backpack. I though about maybe incorporating the apothecary backpack details onto the jump pack but then decided against it. I want to keep the plausibility intact of it being a strapon jet engine, so putting a search light and vials on it doesn't feel right.
Then an upgrade in weaponry, namely a grav pistol and a power sword, or perhaps the axe?
And the chalice I though to give it a belt and hang it around the waist or shoulder. The way they're described in the fluff, they're not mere cup, but hold many mechanisms for storing and filtering blood. So it seems reasonable that they can be sealed as well.
The change of weapons will give a sufficiently different look to the standard model I think. Any thoughts on choice of sword or axe? Or which helmet? I would have preferred to give him a MkIV or a beaky, but the collar is pretty tight and only a short snouted one will fit. (One has a laurel wreath, the other has some short spikes and the cross on the forehead.)
Well, the priest has been put aside for a while. Felt like painting something.
Still not much time to devote to painting during the week but I manage to sneak in a few minutes at a time here and there.
The Land Raider has received some sponge weathering, some brush touch-ups on the hull chipping and battle damage. And the model's received a varnish coat, oil wash, and varnish coat again. Hence the shininess.
And I finally managed to cobble something together to stick on the Company banner. With those large, self-printed decals being hard to handle, I deliberately left some reserve space on the top. I didn't want to risk too much with those wrinkles but the decal actually settled itself quite nicely without too much effort.
With applying these large decals, you have to apply them smooth and fast, and very accurately. Having to reposition them risks breaking up the print as the tiniest stretching will crack and flake the non-flexible print. As you can see with the top-right corner... Luckily it was just plain red there. So now I just have to paint up the rest of the banner and blend in the decal.
Here in Europe, most countries have their national lotteries, and there's the big u'n, the pan-European 'Euromillions'. That's regularly around 100-150 million.
Alrighty. The banner is done, pretty much. Now that I'm seeing it on photo, it does need some little cleanups here and there. And then a varnish coat is it's too shiny atm. Maybe I'll even give the banner a matte coating, I think that will give it a more 'cloth' look.
Whaddayathink?
And the Land Raider is currently drying on the radiator. I applied some rust with some oil paints and weathering powder, more than I did with the previous tanks and I'm eager too see it dried.
And there's the progress of the weekend on the Land Raider. I added some rust and grease and did some cleanup. It needs some touch-ups here and there and then it's on to some soot and dirt.
That banner is fantastic Meph. You did an excellent job patching up the top of it.
The land raider is definitely interesting looking. I'm not sure whether I like the look of camo on marine vehicles, but you've certainty executed it outstandingly. Nicely weather and with just enough battle damage.
I had a blast from the past this afternoon, I was talking with my brother about modelling (a common occurrence) and the subject of thunderhawks and converted stormravens and he sent me a link to an imgur post and I instantly recognised your stormraven conversion. very fond memories of seeing this come to completion
Looking at that Storm Raven makes me want to make a second one and make it even better. Wings more forward, a better solution to those large side plates, some other little things.
Right, sorry for the lack of responses. Around December i kinda fell off the edge of the Earth there for a while but I clawed myself back.
Some much-needed vacation time offered the opportunity to pick up a brush again after 8 months of not painting anything.
First off, I chiseled off the caked on dust on that Land Raider. It was stored on top of a shelf, in a box without a lid... That thing was almost grey.
But after cleaning it up and scrutinizing it, it seemed like it just needed the lenzes done. So that what I did, all umpteen of them. Dang, after so long of not painting, it did took some time to get my zoom-o-vison going again to paint those tiny things. The photos are a bit over-lit, but hey, they're just WIP shots
And then some time ago, a new Blood Angels Codex came out and i was a bit shocked to see the assault squad being bumped back into the fast attack section again, suddenly leaving me without a compulsory troop choice (I had the tac. squad and the assault squad for that).
So last week, to pass some time I thought to quickly paint up some scouts I've had lying around since forever. I actually never liked the minis that much, mainly because of their over-sized and square heads. Luckily I remembered I bought some guard Scion heads off of Ebay last year. i scraped off the skulls, trimmed their necks, and voilà!
With them being infiltrators and snipers, I didn't want to paint them red so I experimented with some camo green that received three brown washes, and just kept the shoulder pad red that will have the chapter symbol.
And after that I gave the leather sections two dark red glazes and painted in the details using muted colours. They've now been assembled so I can give them and oil paint wash (after the decals have been put into place). The camo cloaks gave me some pause as I didn't really know what to do with them but in the end I just decided to stipple on some camo using a medium drybrush. I then gave them a light drybrush highlight and a brown wash.
These models are definitely not the best I've ever done, some tiny errors here and there and some mold lines, but then again these were very low on my priority list and act as just a filler for the army. I've bought a box of the new BA tactical squad and I'm planning assemble it with some grav weaponry.
Nicely done. The head swap works well. The painting is good. Perhaps you have not used the most time consuming techniques, but then if the models are not your favourite, but you need them for your army, that's what happens.
I painted some old eldar jetbikes with cone head guardians on recently. Shudder.
Good to see you back to the BA! The Sniper Scout squad really sells me on the conversion, which I wasn't sure about from the first pic, and all this looks fantastic!
I have just finished reading through your blog and I must say your level of detail and results is truly stupendous. Definitely glad I came across your work and have thoroughly enjoyed catching up on it.
You are achieving a wonderful depth of colour and I think you are putting together a really amazing force. Definitely interested to see more of your work.
Greldinard wrote:Now you're out of Torpor, we should be playing a game one of these days...
For sure! Still available this week, otherwise next weekend.
Archer wrote:I have just finished reading through your blog and I must say your level of detail and results is truly stupendous. Definitely glad I came across your work and have thoroughly enjoyed catching up on it.
You are achieving a wonderful depth of colour and I think you are putting together a really amazing force. Definitely interested to see more of your work.
Words of encouragement indeed! Well, I'm definitely going to try to keep the rhythm going. This week's my last week of holidays but the goal is to at least do something every day after work.
When battles are fought, pics will be taken for sure! And painting will be kept up in between
W00h00! They're done & based. The photos are not 100% but pretty close to what they look IRL. I mainly use natural light, augmented with a daylight LED lamp, but the weather outside is a bit dodgy, cloudy, not cloudy, cloudy so it was a bit of a hassle to set the camera just right. The little coat of gloss varnish on the lenses also makes them look a bit darker than they really are.
And I was also a bit sidetracked by this. A two-day quickie painting session to paint up the RPG crew of my mates & me. Warhammer Fantasy RPG, 2nd edition (the last of the WHFRP %-game systems).
Our GM also keeps a blog with out sessions & characters. Feel free too have a looksee on http://whfrp.weebly.com/
From left to right:
-Abelhelm Reichert; Gambler turned Highwayman
-Mandred Vogel; Celestial Wizard
-Lothar El-Kaloffi; Protagonist turned Racketeer-merchant
-Otfried Osten; Priest of SIgmar
-Gotrak Mittnachson; Pitfighter turned on the path of Giant Slayer after losing a Book of Grudges.
-Felix Vogel; bonepicker turned Cat Burglar
P.S.: I do hate painting flesh & faces. Long live helmeted Mahweens!
Second/thirded about the scouts, the bases really do complete them!
The RPG stuff looks awesome too, nice mix of minis! The Sigmarite priest is fantastic! What make/range is the guy on the right (the Aragorn-esque Ranger fellow)?
Archer wrote:The Scouts look great, sort of Ghost Recon style to them.
The RPG figures look fantastic, really dynamic and I am so jealous you get to do regular RPG sort of gaming, I wish I could find a consistent group.
Cheers, mate! Yeah, I'm kinda lucky to have friends like that. We've been playing board- and roleplaying games with the same bunch for about 26 years now. Throughout the years more people have come and game, played in multiple groups but it slowly trickled down do a gaming group of 7. Can be a bit hectic around the table from time to time, 4 players & 1 GM being the optimum, but we manage quite nicely. Life and work make it hard to get together sometimes, too hard, so 6-7 ago years we just made the decision to roleplay the first Saturday of every month, no exception. This way the wives and girlfriends know what's coming as they are marked on the calendar throughout the year. And we also reserved a certain long holiday weekend as gaming weekend. Everybody leaves the women & kids at home and we lock ourselves up for three days somewhere in the Ardennes with games, beer, and booze, and no exceptions. Even so, there are always some anomalies throughout the year where one or two can't make to the gaming Saturday because of unforeseen circumstances or particular family holidays but we try keep to the schedule as much as we can. The gaming weekend is sacred though, woe the person that dares throw a stick in those spokes. Hasn't happened yet...
But without those strict agreements it would be next to impossible to get that many people together on a regular basis
Gitsplitta wrote:The scouts are amazing... some of the best I've ever seen.
Paradigm wrote:Second/thirded about the scouts, the bases really do complete them!
Thanks guys, yeah I must say I have grown very fond of them during the painting process. I like how the camouflage colour turned out to complement the Chapter colours and markings so nicely.
Especially considering I have been procrastinating to paint those guys for quite a few years. I'm very tempted to get a Land Speeder Storm, or two, to ferry them around.
Paradigm wrote:The RPG stuff looks awesome too, nice mix of minis! The Sigmarite priest is fantastic! What make/range is the guy on the right (the Aragorn-esque Ranger fellow)?
I got all models except the slayer from the Coolminiornot shop. They have a great selection of models suitable for 40k as well as awesome fantasy models.
Don't let the shop pics fool you, the detail on that mini is ridiculously tiny. https://www.coolminiornot.com/shop/young-duel-wield-hedge-knight.html
This is top job mate! Congrats on everything, i've spent the last few days browsing through all the pages.
Really love your reds, and the bird conversion is amazeballs.
The only nitpick i'd have is that you need to be more careful with masking tape, as the painted areas are not always symmetrical. I've painted 1/32 scale planes before, so i know it's a pain and requires a lot of patience
But short of that, top job, well done and welcome back after the long break!
Keep it up
I wasn't sold on the head swap, then I went back and had a closer look. Actually a good call, they look very spec op's now and I am seriously considering trying to find some of those heads for the 15 scouts I will need to build in the future.
ciuncky wrote:This is top job mate! Congrats on everything, i've spent the last few days browsing through all the pages.
Really love your reds, and the bird conversion is amazeballs.
The only nitpick i'd have is that you need to be more careful with masking tape, as the painted areas are not always symmetrical. I've painted 1/32 scale planes before, so i know it's a pain and requires a lot of patience
But short of that, top job, well done and welcome back after the long break!
Keep it up
Thanks mate! I admire the effort, in the meantime the thread has become quite the bible to read through, innit? And you're absolutely right about the masking, especially the Baal predator is not 100% symmetrical, damn, that was a bitch to mask...
Knightley wrote:I wasn't sold on the head swap, then I went back and had a closer look. Actually a good call, they look very spec op's now and I am seriously considering trying to find some of those heads for the 15 scouts I will need to build in the future.
cgage00 wrote:Love the blood angels.
Solar_lion wrote:The more I look at them the better the head swaps appeal to me. They actually look like a scout force rather than new grunts in lite armor.
I admit, at first I chose the head swap for two reasons. 1, Aesthetics: I have seriously disliked those oversized heads, and because of them I never like the scout models in general. 2: Laziness: I have never liked painting faces and I have avoided them wherever possible.
But I must admit, the models have grown on me. The helmets suit the models quite nicely, although regret not having scraped off the little winged skulls as well. Those still have a teeny tiny bit too much of an IG feel too them, but it's still acceptable.
There is a seed growing in my mind to buy and paint up two Land Speeder Storms to shuttle them around on the table. Actually I have no idea if it's actually efficient in-game, but if I had actually cared about efficiency, i would have equipped my marines as they are. The rule of cool trumps deathstar-munchkin-ism, always.
But 2 Land Speeder Storms would mean more scouts to paint, arch!!
Cool, I think somewhere in the following week, I'll pick up a pair.
Alrighty, it's been a few weeks since the last update but there's a good reason for that.
The last few weeks I've had wood, lots of it, and it needed a lot of attention, sometimes with power tools.
Badum-tsh!
A small renovation project to replace my old computer desk (my rickety old drawing desk re-purposed many a year ago), and the current TV cupboard by bespoke, self-made PC desk/TV cupboard combo. The main tablets are 60mm MDF (that's 2.36 inches for you colonials) with wood veneer, and some thinner 24mm (0.944") shelves for the digital apparati and external HDD's. Sturdy enough for a twerking elephant, and theft-proof unless you have a couple of Scottish strongmen on hand to move it.
Anywho, that is just my excuse for not painting in a while and I should have it in place this weekend. As the DIY work started winding down, I picked up a brush again and slowly blacked out the details of the Vanguard Squad I've been working on.
With that tedious bit behind me, the fun stuff lies ahead again, the detailing, weathering, and finishing. Time to crack open the pot of home-mixed gold again! Yay!
Oh, and I also started to arrange/assemble the Sanguinary priest again, and today I've bought a librarian in terminator armour, just because I felt the need to drill out his face and replace it by a helmet. Damn straight, no helmet-less war hippies in my army!
I have felt that I will do a space wolf army where everyone is showing his most amazing flowing hair and beard and then a sensible Raven Guard army with everyone sporting a Mark VI Corvus helmet.
Good to see you back on the brush. That squad is looking great!
Totally agree with you on everyone needing helmets... I mean sure in the far future you have force fields and other protection, but nothing beats a good solid layer of real armor between your head and your enemies...
Solar_lion wrote:Ah.. good the "red' returns.. very nice start.
Gitsplitta wrote:Very exciting projects!
Knightley wrote:Ah, seeing your reds is a pleasure
Zambro wrote:I'm looking forward to more progress on this And I cant imagine how boring it must be blacking out all those details! It looks very tedious!
Aye! I'm hoping to get some projects done before the end of the year. After this Vanguard squad, I'm doubting to start either another tac. squad, the Sanguinary Priest, or even an old, metal Lemartes to paint up.
Unbought but tempting is a duo of Land Speeder Storms for the Scouts, and I also have a Storm Talon to convert into something resembling an actual flying craft. I've ordered some more bits over the past few weeks so an idea is slowly coalescing in my mind.
And as an afterthought there's also a terminator librarian to convert and the Shield of Baal minis.
Oh, and also an elaborate Deathwatch diorama, but for that I'll need some more stuff.
What to do, what to do,so little time...
ciuncky wrote:And for that, you have my utmost respect I totally dig the same feelings towards unhelmeted
Archer wrote:I have felt that I will do a space wolf army where everyone is showing his most amazing flowing hair and beard and then a sensible Raven Guard army with everyone sporting a Mark VI Corvus helmet.
Ramos Asura wrote:Good to see you back on the brush. That squad is looking great! Totally agree with you on everyone needing helmets... I mean sure in the far future you have force fields and other protection, but nothing beats a good solid layer of real armor between your head and your enemies...
Yeah, with all kinds of bullets and death rays flying about, a thick layer between you and the word seems like a comforting thought.
Not much progress as of yet though, last weekend I sent assembling the that piece of furniture and putting it into place. And I'm quite happy with the result.
Sadly, no. The great tragedy in my (hobby-)life is that I do not have the space for a decicated painting spot. Mainly because I don't have an extra room where I can just get up from painting and leave everything as-is, but out of sight.
So I am making do with a folded open newspaper on the living room coffee table. The only plus side is that it's in front of the telly.
As for painting material, If I would pack everything hyper-efficiently, all of it would fit in one of those standard foldable plastic grocery crates, and a half. So quite a bloody lot. (and this doesn't include the airbrush compressor)
That's also one of the reasons I paint as much as I'd like to. For a full setup it takes 15 minutes unpacking and 15 minues cleanup.
So usually what I do is to prepare a 'mini-set' of paints which I will need in the few days that follow, depending on what step of the painting process I'm in. usually about half a dozen or a dozen pots, some brushes, two water containers (shallow little jars, one to rinse off the paint, one to clean the brush of the 'dirty' water), some pieces of cloth, and whatever other tool is needed.
This allows for a quick setup. Keep everything in a little cardboard box, just fold open a newspaper, prep the water pots, unpack the half-dozen paints and away you go. Redcues setup/cleanup time to under 5 minutes. and doesn't take up a lot of space when left on the side of the coffee table for a day or two.
And frankly, it's also quite nice to watch some series with the gf snuggled up behind in the couch. Everybody's happy and no-one is confined to a room alone.
Of course, if you aàe in dire need of some alone-time, a man-cave is the best way to go.
I managed to slap on some paint. The bronze/gold base colour has been applied, and so has the Vallejo Smokey ink.
Next up, I'll drybrush the golds and then move on to the rest of the secondary colours.
Gitsplitta wrote:Love your metals on the red. Beautiful.
Zambro wrote:Excellent work! The golds look great!
Solar_lion wrote:Like we expected no less!
Paradigm wrote:True. But those are spectacular! They'll be stunning when done!
Cheers, guys! Since the weekend is near, I hoping to squeeze in a good painting session or two when all the practical crap is done.
Knightley wrote:Hahah I see we both use the term 'Slapped' the same way Gold are coming in brilliantly mate!
War Kitten wrote:The vets are coming along brilliantly. And if that's your definition of slapping paint on then I must be a terrible painter because they look great.
Aye! It's the kind of slapping that involves either the tongue sticking out of the corner of the mouth, sniper-like controlled breathing, or sporadic but acute panic attacks, all followed regular bouts of cursing so fierce it would turn the cheeks red of a French sailor. Luckily the black is the most time consuming and tedious, the gold went quite a bit faster and the rest of the secondary colours will need even less time, just due to the surface/volume of the to-be-painted parts. It's always a nice breeze downhill after that black. Black... Black...
As promised, ding! Secondary colours on. They are ready for assembly & oil paints.
If all goes well, I might be able to finish them by this week's end.
Can't wait to see these guys done, they ought to be beautiful! And kudos for keeping such a consistently high quality while working on a whole squad at once, you must have great discipline!
Paradigm wrote:Can't wait to see these guys done, they ought to be beautiful! And kudos for keeping such a consistently high quality while working on a whole squad at once, you must have great discipline!
Aye, I must admit my patience is tested at times. I think the reason for being able to persists is that I don't get lost in all the tiny details. The little vials here and there are brass, not every drop is painted like a gem, not every skull like bone, not every wreath is green etc etc. It helps to keep the painting speed slightly above glacial, and it also makes sense from an armour-construction point of view. As in the details are made from armoured plasteel or sumfing or other.
Knightley wrote:Man I do love that gold you've got going on!
Zambro wrote:Great looking stuff!
Sorry if it's been answered already, but how do you achieve that gold? I need to know.
No worries, it has been mentioned a few times in this thread but even on max # posts per page, it's already 25 pages. So here's a copy/paste/edit for ya:
The base coat is a home-brewn 50/50 mix of the Vallejo tin colour and the Vallejo Brass colour (and some thinner). I then applied a thick layer of Smokey Ink (Vallejo) and rubbed it off with my thumb, or whatever finger fits the crevice. This creates a nice feather effect and colour tone, and it really makes up for 80% of the effect. The rubbing effect from the finger simply can not be replicated with any kind of brush. It is important to do part per part though.
After the ink was dry I just gradually drybrushedwith all two shades of the GW golds, ending with a very gentle drybrush with mythril silver to pick out some edges. The key here is a very, very dry brush.
Those little wings are the Dark Angel Helmet Wings, bought off of bits stores on the web and ebay. I buy 'm up whenever I stumble across them.
Yeah, exactly, balance between speed & quality was the key motivator for my painting techniques. Blended highlights done right take dozens of layers, so I drybrush. I do like the tonal depths of many-layered highlights so I blend drybrushed highlights using inks and washes.
I like crisp details & lines but I don't like the time needed for it; so I take care when blacking out details, but use weathering to cover up any blemishes and imperfections.
So basically I invest extra time on things you can't bypass (blacking out details, decals, lenzes), and for the rest I use techniques that give some leeway in accuracy (drybrushing, oil paint washes, sponge-chipping).
Loving the painting, really top notch and coming out with supreme effect.
I too often keep the details to a more "logical" approach, but my painting is far messier than your amazing Blood Angels, then again I smash an army out a tiny bit faster than you......
Yeah, speed is not my forté. i think if i was able to paint fulltime, say 6-8 hours per day, it woudl still take me 4-5 days finnish a squad. Now it's spread out over a couple of weeks.
An army shot would be excellent. I am currently doing BA so these miniatures are a great source of inspiration. I especially like your armour and metallic work.
Cool, cheers mate! Inspirational prais always humbles me to no end. This weekend I'll make some army shots.
I'm thinking I should try and find another black background instead of the black fleece blanket I'm using for these large army shots. it just doesn't look right. Or I'll just take them on the wood of the cupboard with the wall behind them. I'll figure something out.
Thraxas Of Turai wrote:Sky blue or light grey would work a treat, but do not go out of your way for now, the wall/wood set up sounds fine. We just want to see it altogether.
Well, I'll see what I can scrounge together. With luck i might even have some A0 drawing paper stored away somewhere. And I'll need to dig up the large tripod for the camera from the depths of god knows what box. I'm not taking any photos by hand for the army.
And next month I'm going to buy myself a Lytro camera, the 16Gb models dropped in price from 500$ to 140EUR over the past few years. I'm way to curious to see miniatures with a Lytro image. (A Lytro image allows for dynamic depth of field and focus changes àfter the photo is taken, just with a click of the mouse.)
Lost Soul wrote:The amount of different greens it looks like you used in the eyes is staggering.
How did you manage that in such a small space?
I thought your golds were good before but the dry brushing makes it stand out so much more.
Ah-Hah! Mission accomplished then. The eyes are easier then they look:
-Black undercoat.
-+-80-90% is covered with Ork Flesh using a 00 brush (Ork Flesh is an ancient GW dark green, the pot still being magically half full after more than two decades)
-a thin line of Goblin Green is added at the bottom of the lens using a 000 brush. (Goblin Green, again ancient, but light yellowish green)
-A dot of Ice Yellow is added in the bottom corner. (A brilliant Vallejo colour I use to highlight all manner of colours with.)
-A tiny dot of white is added in an upper corner using a 000 brush.
Whenever the model allows, I try to blend the colour a little bit, but in all honesty this is hardly ever the case. Those eyes are so frickin' tiny. It's mainly because of the right shades of green that it seems to have real depth. The bright green line and the white dot are the most crucial at giving the illusion of a lens. Quite often my first reaction when doing eyes is to think that it should be blended more but once that final white dot is on, it suddenly pops together into a deep lens. When you look at a thick glass object with light on it, the light does tend to pool together in curves with rather harsh edges to it, rather than a soft blend all over.
In my experience, the first, dark, colour is the most important colour to try and blend as that really has to convey the majority of the colour. The lighter colour(s) applied tend to convey more the feeling of the 'pooled' light and they can be a bit less blended, or even not at all. And the white dot, now that hàs to be as crisp and fine as you can possibly get as that conveys the shininess.
My hand is not thàt steady either tbh. The key here is a good brush and controlled breathing. I really try to slow my breathing, just like a sniper, and apply the line or dot when my hand feels most stable and just hope I hit the right spot.
Here are the army shots. It's become clear that my little camera is not suited for this, but myeah, at least it's fun to see all the models together.
I've been thinking about buying a Lytro camera soonish. That'll warrant a revisit.
I put them in an imgur gallery here. They're uncompressed photos so don't hesitate to right-click-open-in-new-tab 'm for full zoom-o-vision on the fuzziness.
They've been a joy to paint, and I'm not done yet, that's for sure.
Next weekend I'm going to Crisis in Antwerp and I'll pick up a Forgeworld order that they'll bring for pickup at the show.
Some FW Blood Angels parts and a Deimos Vindicator. man, I've always adored that chunky look of that tank, and I prefer the look of the gun way more than the standard model.
And I'll use of the FW heads for a Sanguinary Priest I'll start painting next week. After the Priest I have a shortlist with next projects and I'm indecisive as to which to paint so I'll trow it on the chopping block here.
-BATac. Squad assembled using the newest kit and bits I still have. Still doubting the heavy weapon. i like the look of the flamer, but my army has poor AA capabilities I think so a missile launcher with Flak Missiles seems like the logical choice. What would you guys take?
-A FW Dreadnought drop pod, assembled and ready for paint.
-The 5 Terminators that came with the DeathStorm box (I have the entire box of minis), kittet out with FW shoulder pads to up my current termy squad to 10.
-The Deimos Vindicator
-Convert a Storm Talon with the same zeal as with my Storm Raven, but since BA's can't actually take them it'll have to be from another chapter. Raptors perhaps? And go for a 'true(-ish)' modern warplane scheme. Russian splinter camo or maybe their latest airforce scheme?
Paradigm wrote:My vote goes to the new Tactical Squad. Sooo many nice bits there! Any plans for the new Horus Heresy plastics?
True, true, lots of cool little details everywhere. They would be the most useful in the army probably. As for HH, not in the immediate short-term but I'm properly chuffed about plastic 30K. That will be a treasure trove for cool models and bits, and hopefully cheaper than Forgeworld. SO I'm pretty sure that by the end of the year I won't be able to contain myself.
Gitsplitta wrote:Go Meph go!!
What? You mean everthing at once? I'll fry me brain for sure! Oh, the Humanity!
I think Tac squad. I like boots on the ground. As far as AA goes a single flakk missile launcher is probably not going to cut it and for the price to upgrade the missiles I wouldn't bother.
I would stick with your own aircraft for AA duties unless blood angels can get the stalker or hunter tanks.
As they say in Flemish; 'That thing has been popping my eyes out ever since it first appeared.' A WH40k MadCat Mech, with cannons ànd missiles, what's not to adore?
Maybe around the end of the year I'll order one.
And then I'll have to fight the urge not to mount a little outboard engine on it's back and an old car tire tied to its front end...
Ah-hah! I should check those Contemptor rules again. Been a while since I read what it can acually do. But a Deredeo will be a nice addition indeed.
So far, I'm still in the lull before the storm. I'm going to the Crisis convention in Antwerp this weekend. (Anyone else going?) Going to pick up a FW order, wander around a bit, and then next week I'll start on the Sang. Priest.
Ah, the Storm Talon, trepedation is building again when trying to fix a design in my head. But I think I'll attack it the same way as I did with the Storm Raven. Namely; winging it after the first saw-cut.
Well, I've actually had that in mind as well. I like the model, but to me it screams BATTLESTAR GALACTICA too loudly.
I'd like to convert one though... Give it a proper aircraft nose instead of a car grill, and give the wings a true round leading edge.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Behold, my new camera. I just got it and this weekend (Sunday probably) I'm going to experiment with to see if I can tale decent miniature photos with it. Living pictures with a dynamic focus change. My inner geek jumps for joy!
Buut I couldn't contain myself so I took some test photos with the models on my cupboard. Direct lighting, not diffused or anything and I let the Lytro software process the image automatically for colour and contrast & such. And I must say, not too shabby... <iframe width='600' height='635' src='https://pictures.lytro.com/postwarvandal/pictures/1066641/embed?token=78bfd14a-84a4-11e5-956d-22000b99817a' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen scrolling='no'></iframe> [EDIT]^Hmmm so it seems the webcode for embedded pictures doesn't work on DAKKA , too bad :-/
Alrighty, next project is lined up. The Sanguinary priest, with all the parts laid out. I've sorely wanted to use another helmet but the collar just doesn't allow for any other helmet. MKIV are just that itsy bitsy to long, same with those new, cool FW helmets for Blood Angels. :-/
Also, I've been breaking my head over the colour scheme for this guys and I can use some extra opinions on the possible schemes.
The two main things to keep in mind is I'd like to give him another scheme than the standard one, and I'd like to keep my palette as limited as possible in lines of the rest of the army.
The options:
-Standard; white armour, red robes. Frankly, it looks good but I want something different. It also seems to striking and it would draw the attention over the other HQ units, namely the Captain and the Librarian I already have.
-Inverted standard; red armour, white robes. Would look good, but again it would seem to attract too much attention compared to the other HQ's.
-Red armour, drab-khaki robes. This would keep the scheme in lines with the army but it would also need a touch of white to denote him as an apothecary. Not 100% required seeing as I already made the Command Squad Apothecary already full red with just a silver disk on his shoulder pad. But what in white then? The right arm & shoulder pad? The Right arm + helmet? The Torso and Helmet?
-White armour, drab robes. Same gripes as above, but then maybe the left arm red? The left arm and helmet?
The thing is that my gut says to have a decent amount of red on the mini, and that the robes should be the same grey-green as all the other 'command' units in the army; the sergeants, the captain, the librarian. I've put that theme in the army and my designer bones scream I should keep it. But the worry is that visually it might be a bit of a cacophony with too many colours going on when your eye glides over the mini. White arm, drab robe, white helmet, red torso, drab robe, red arm...
Most likely though, I will go in that direction because in general, an army's insignia and iconography tend to be consequent across all units, no matter the visual finesse. So in the end it might(should) convey a sense of authenticity. What are your thoughts on this?
It is such a drop dead gorgeous army!! To me seeing an army so lovingly built and painted is the absolute best part of the hobby. Fantastic work and keep going please!
Cheers for the kind words, mate! yeah, for me army building & painting has always been the main aspect of the hobby.
Although I used to play quite a bit 'back in the day', the last few years i've played maybe just a handful of games. I'm hoping to game a bit more as I've reconnected with some oldskool mate who are still wargaming like madmen, but day-to-day life makes planning a session like chasing a white unicorn.
Anyway, stopping with painting is not an option. Got too many projects lined up that I want to do. Not only the Blood Angels ones I listed here, but also some diorama idea's, some large scale miniatures, and the seed has taken hold to paint up a secondary marine detachment consisting of Raptors.
Why Raptors? To house the otherwise orphaned Strom Talon I'm going to convert. Also to be able to field a section of AA Hunters/Stalkers. The goal is to to paint up 3-4 of them so I can field that fancy AA formation if the points allow.
That also means I'll need to paint up two tac. squads or scouts, as well as an HQ unit, which will probably a techmarine and retinue.
'But still, why Raptors?' I hear you think. To paint marines in camouflage, that's why! I like their non-conventional background and -tactics. And they're non-mutated Raven Guard 2nd founding offspring, which is cool as well.
So much plans, so little time. I'll have to win the lottery soon.
Hmmm I am thinking a great game would be massed AA on the ground and a swarm of flyers streaking overhead. Wonder how that would play out. Need to find a few players so we can make that happen.
Thraxas Of Turai wrote:Shame that the collar does not allow another helmet, that puts me off the miniature a bit as the bare head is a bit...meh.
Sounds like you have the idea for the colour scheme sorted though, and the making and painting has always been the main aspect for me too.
Look forward to your Raptors.
Yeah, bare heads don't boil my potatoes either. Most MKVII helmets fit rather tightly, and for a while I contemplated whittling down the collar but I felt it would be a shame to waste those nice little art-nouveau curls on it.
Paradigm wrote:Yeah, Raptors are going to suit your paint style perfectly... consider me waiting with proverbially bated breath to see how they turn out...
I'm actually getting eager to try out a paint Raptor paint scheme as well. Probably around the end of the year I'll cobble together a tac squad (possibly just two 5-man squads to fill out the compulsory troop slots), or a Stalker AA tank.
I'm thinking I might go for a two-tone green camouflage on both infantry and vehicles. one colour being the standard drab of the Raptors, offset by maybe a darker green in bands (masked with blue-tac or something similar.).
Archer wrote:Hmmm I am thinking a great game would be massed AA on the ground and a swarm of flyers streaking overhead. Wonder how that would play out. Need to find a few players so we can make that happen.
Yeah, that would be fun to play; a hefty arty/AA section and half a dozen aircraft streaking across the battlefield.
And so it has begun, white details it will be. Especially now with some paint on it became clear that that's the right way to go.
Sadly, progress hasn't been as swift as intended due to an injury of my right arm preventing me from doing long painting sessions. But hey, bit by bit, that's my motto.
The red's on and the robe's been done. Time for blacking out the details! Luckily it's not a whole squad, so the tedious bit won't be long, yay.
Also, the keen eye may spot that it's not the default backpack for the mini. The reason for that is quite simple; haste. In my unbridled enthusiasm to get this mini going I glued the magnet in the wrong way, doh! Luckily, a normal backpack, a Dark Angel termy command squad bit, a file, and some greenstuff later I've got a worthy alternative.
Cheers, mate! Yeah, it took some effort to get right right. Three levels of shade using brown and a little bit of black, and three highlights using some white. I thinned the paints using Vallejo's transparent thinner, good stuff.
Man, I need to invest in thinner looking at the result of that. Blending robes and such is one of the funnest/most stressful activites when painting, and water only takes me so far. Apothecary is looking absolutely sublime so far. Think you made a wise decision with the paint scheme, as he's really coming along. Looking forward to more Would you say vallejo thinner is where I should look for thinners? Or elsewhere? Cheers mate
Well, for thinner, you can also try out demineralized water. The cheap, unscented kind you can get in any supermarket, used for ironing. That tends to blend a bit better as well.
I used to use the thinner from Vallejo, when they used to be milky white. Good stuff but it tended to discolour your pains just that tiny bit.
But since recently they seem to have switched to a new formula, fully transparent and I must admit, it mixes very very well.
It really thins nicely and keeps the viscosity intact of the paint. brilliant stuff. On a shopping spree at the Crisis convention in Antwerp, I did also pick up a 250ml bottle of Scale75 thinner. Haven't used it yet but it does look about the same consistency and viscosity like Vallejo's.
Undoubtedly there are other brands out there as well but I haven't tried them yet.
lipsdapips wrote:Awesome. Looks like I can conveniently jump on the vallejo thinner train without having to live through the milky white phase Thanks a bunch Meph
Anytime, mate!
evildrcheese wrote:I'm pleased to see you've gone for red armour, rather than the white that GW seems to show for the priest.
Are you doing the helmet white or is that going to be red too?
EDC
Yeah, it made sense to keep the mini in theme with the rest of the army.
Here's the wip so far, the secondary colours are not finished yet. Not all of them are on either but at least it gives a good impression of the final look. The whole helmet in white would clash a bit, the cross is a nice compromise I feel.
Thanks, guys! That means a lot coming from you guys.
And here it he is, assembled, oiled, and based. Not too shabby, eh?
I did have a slight mishap. The coat of matte varnish I put on the coat did leave some sort of a texture, but not frosting. So I had to give that another coat of gloss to try to get rid of said texture and used a brush-on matte varnish from Vallejo to make the cloth matter than the armour, which received a satin coat, just like the rest of the marines.
Cheers, mate! Yeah, that new chaplain does look very good and I'll probably pick it up sooner or later. Although i do still have a metal Lemartes lying around since ages. perhaps I should give him some love as well.
As for next... well, I have been assembling the tac squad over the past few days. Mainly as a distraction because of some sick leave with the need to stay away from the computer.
I just need to glue on the shoulder pads, pin the backpacks and they're ready to go.
Ough! That's what a sanguinary priest should look like. I wasn't initially sold on the model when I saw it on the website, but through your subtle kitbashing and gritty paintjob you've done true justice to the lad! Stunning as always, Meph
Absolutely beautiful work. Such a nice variation that works really well. Definitely will stand out amongst the other Blood Angels even though he isn't the traditional all white "shoot me first" apothecary.
War Kitten wrote:That Sanguinary Priest is gorgeous. Really nice work.
lipsdapips wrote:Ough! That's what a sanguinary priest should look like. I wasn't initially sold on the model when I saw it on the website, but through your subtle kitbashing and gritty paintjob you've done true justice to the lad! Stunning as always, Meph
Gitsplitta wrote:Just beautiful work Meph. Outstanding figure!
Cheers, guys!
Archer wrote:Absolutely beautiful work. Such a nice variation that works really well. Definitely will stand out amongst the other Blood Angels even though he isn't the traditional all white "shoot me first" apothecary.
My thoughts exactly! Any sniper will have to take a second look.
Solar_lion wrote:Stunning and Original.. Very nice.,. Good job on the weathering on the robes and boots.
Spacewolverine wrote:Very nice, I love how his robes came out! He looks very natural, the base everything. Yes I do love the Red helmet with the white X!
Cheers, guys!
Solar_lion wrote:Ok... on to the next. Another HQ?
Not much progress lately. I'm home with sick leave but need to stay away form the computer, as well as painting to let my arm heal. So to ease this torture I'l currently halfway The Two Towers after having watched the Fellowship of the Ring again, and all three Hobbit films, and their appendices. Starting to loose track of time...
Although I did cobble together a Tac squad and undercoated the moment. maybe some pics to follow later. Altough I stil have a termy captain, termy libby, and Lemartes lying around...
A LotR/Hobbit binge is certainly an excellent way to kill time! If you haven't already, you should check out the extended edition of the 3rd Hobbit, it adds so much more to an already-great film!
Hehehe the 3rd extended Hobbit is the culprit that started it all.
First that one, then stumbled upon the appendices for nr 1 & 2, easily worth of 12 hours of 'the-making-off'. And that wet the appetite to see nr 1 &2 again. And then I thought, well, these were the prequels to LOTR. Ah, to hell with it, *pressed play*.
Been living on Lembas bread & pipe weed ever since.
Oh, but I just started unpacking my paint gear. ^_^
the last 8 years I've had everything in a plastic carrying crate and a few boxes. 15 minutes unpack- and pack time for the slightest thing I wanted to do.
Oh, that's a very, very old cabinet which I claimed for miniatures 27 years ago at my parent's place. Now that I've finally got room for it in my own place, I reclaimed it.
My guess is that it's an old apothecary's cabinet. Stuff likes that pops up from time to time in second hand stores, thrift stores, or auctions. Perhaps even on ye olde interwebs, like ebay or local second hand sites. keep your eyes peeled!
From the top of my head;
-Another Tac Squad
-Deimos Vindi
-Demos Damocles/Rhino
-Chaplain
And so much more stuff to inventory once I open the rest of the boxes.
It'll be a week or so until I'm up and running though, the other side of that room is a mountain of storage boxes.
Long story short; moved into a new apartment a few weeks ago and 98% of the household stuff is unpacked, the work has been done, but apparently I amassed a ginormous amount of books over the past decade, and they'll be sitting in a wall of boxes until I can buy and set up a wall's worth of book cabinets behind the painting desk.
And in a parallel line of evolution that most modelers will recognize, I've also collected quite the amount of boxed miniatures that need assembly and painting...
So that room is currently like one of of the square grid sliding puzzles with only one empty space. It's going to take quite a bit of pondering and cursing to get that room sorted out, as I still need to squeeze in some low drawer cabinets as well, lol.
In the mean time, some stuff has been done. The setup of the paint area has been completed; assembly/work area on the extreme left, airbrush equipment in the left corner, main work area in the middle and all the equipment in the cupboard on the right. The right desk light is just an old, but good and bright desk lamp, and the lamp on the left is a Taotronics LED desk lamp I bought off of Ebay and is a really nifty piece. Can be switched between daylight and warm white, and the brightness can be controlled, all by slick touch screen-like controls.
And the first bit of work done with it. Touched up the base coat for the tac. squad and gave them a dark red wash. And I think I'll also slowly start assembling the Deimos vindicator and -command rhino, just to change the pace a bit.
And I've also done some work on what's now become a very, very belated birthday gift for a friend. So that'll get priority to get that finished so I can dive into the red again.
New desk setup looks good Meph. I'm jealous as I haven't had a dedicated paint space setup for a few years now and it'll be awhile before I get to move into my own place again. Anyhow, look forward to seeing how the new tac squad turns out
Eggroll wrote:New desk setup looks good Meph. I'm jealous as I haven't had a dedicated paint space setup for a few years now and it'll be awhile before I get to move into my own place again. Anyhow, look forward to seeing how the new tac squad turns out Keep the updates coming!
I hear ya man, the last 8 years I've been painting on the coffee table in the living room. Unpacking and packing up before and after each session, carrying crates growing to overflow with paints and gear, quick-session little boxes with selected paints soon following suit only out outgrow themselves as well. Airbrushing and spraying out of the terrace door into the freezing nights...
evildrcheese wrote:The daemon head bust is looking good so far.
Nice progress on the Tac marines too
EDC
Cheers!
On another note, to shamelessly toot my own horn, I've got 5 photo's up on #PaintingForgeworld! Yay!
The coolest part is that found out that those same photos are also used on the shop pages of Forgeworld. Under the description of a unit, you have a horizontal photo strip with those same photo's.
That means everybody browsing through the store can see them. That's awesome!
Automatically Appended Next Post: And 'e's almost done! Some odds 'n ends here and there: -little white dot on the eyes. i think I'll leave'm black and give 'm a drop of gloss -Little copper/gold detailing; ear ring, brass studs in the belts -fur around the horns' edges -Tip of the horns, currently they're actually completely black, intended to receive the just the tiniest highlights and a few coats of gloss. But I actually like the brown sheen they have in the photo. I think I'll add then IRL. -some touching up on his shoulder fur.
But first two out of the blue questions I could use some help on.
I'll slowly been needing a new needle for my Badger Renegade Rage R3R airbrush but I'l like to find a high-end replacement. It uses a 0.33mm needle (as far as I know from the info I found) but so far my search has been fruitless. The badger site offer no clear info on replacements and on amazon.co.uk there seem to be no 0.33mm needles at all, same with ebay.
Are there any 3rd party suppliers who make replacements, perhaps even in a fancy ultra strong material?
And now for the really tough one...
I have a 6mm round hole on the bottom of a large shelf in the toilet which is begging to become an airlock with a tiny astronaut going on EVA on a tiny umbilical. Do any of you, in your infinite miniature wisdom know of a kit or a place where I would be able to find such an tiny spacefarer?
Anywhooo, some more photos just to show I haven't been sitting still. These photo's also remind me that I'll need to invest in another daylight lamp. Mixing two light tones and trying to edit a neutral tone out of them is just asking for trouble. So the photos are a bit crappy but since I know no shame I'll show you stupendous fellows the shots I shot as-is. (Now say that ten times with a Sean Connery voice).
Oh, and the bottom photo shows a pack of wild clamps just having ravaged a poor Rhino's carcass down to the bone and starting on a fresh victim.
The demon head bust looks awesome, your texture work is flawless! And mega-congratulations for getting your pics on the FW pages, that truly is an honour, and a well-deserved one!
Paradigm wrote:Aaargh, carnivorous clamps! That poor Rhino!
The demon head bust looks awesome, your texture work is flawless! And mega-congratulations for getting your pics on the FW pages, that truly is an honour, and a well-deserved one!
Cheers! The main process of building up the layers was drybrushing with washes in between, and then I did some glazing with very thinned paints to get the shading around the eyes and skin where the horns come out.
evildrcheese wrote:Can believe you tied up that second rhino chassis to make it an easy target for the clamps... lol, the plan was to sacrifice one so the other could get away. But fatty Vindicator got run chased down rather quickly.
EDC
Gitsplitta wrote:He looks almost noble in those side shots... nicely done!
Cheers, mate!
The clamps have been chased off! There's nothing that some potent superglue vapour can't hold at bay.
The Deimos variants very pretty smooth to assemble actually with little or no warping at all. I just needed to bend the back of the Vindicator hull section a tiny bit, but there's nothing that some hot water couldn't handle.
I decided to show the progress as is, with my shoddy greenstuff work on full display. Mind you, this is right after applying it so this needs to be cleaned up when cured. And any parts that don't come out exactly right, I can always disfigure with the Dremel. Battle damage to the rescue!
And soon I'll have some photos of the finished Taurus buste. The varnishes ave been applied. The main part of the model is matte, the leather I gave a thin satin coat, and his horns and eyes have gloss applied to them. Right now the base is drying from its first gloss coat after a black undercoat, the glass dome is wiped clean, and I gave that Taurus' rod a dam good polishing.
I'm hoping to be able to paint again in a day or two. I just finished installing 3.6 meters worth of book cabinet against the wall behind my painting desk and I can almost see the desk again. Boxes, so many boxes...
Assembly of the Deimos' almost complete. Most of the fiddly bits I'll leave off during painting I think, just to make my life easier. The bolters, front rakes, the little exhaust mushrooms on the Vindi, the shield of the vindicator gun, etc, are currently not glued on yet.
So are the tracks. But when took the sprues in my hand to cut 'm loose and glue them on, I stayed my hand. I suddenly remembered that back when I was assembling the Spartan's metal replacement tracks, I found out that T-55 metal tracks in 1/35 should fit Rhino's perfectly. So I guess I'll put the assembly on hold and order some Friulmodel tracks from their webshop.
So the wise thing would be to continue on the tactical squad. Or do I listen to the siren's song of Miss Sidetrack and start assembling a FW techmarine? All those vehicles and dreads sure need a cogboy, don't ya think?
And lol, the side track just got bigger. So I've got the MKIV Forgeworld techmarine lying on my desk. And I just remembered I had ordered the GW techmarine (servo harness & servitors) a while back from my local game shop, so that should probably have arrived by now. Should give them a call tomorrow.
And my bitzbox is tempting me to kitbash a techmarine with jump pack as well.
Oh! Oh! Oh! Brain fart! And I should probably dig through my stored boxes of ancient miniatures. I'm pretty sure I should still have a metal techmarine with jump pack from the 3rd or 4th edition command squad with jump packs.
The GW techmarine is soaking and about to be scrubbed. And I must say, their Failcast/Finecrap stuff definitely got better. Not a single bubble, not a single deformed piece, not even a single bent straight piece. They got their act together it seems.
And kitbash techie is still waiting for some ordered parts.
Also, the Friulmodel metal tracks are on their way from Hungary to Belgium, yay!
At first I thought about maybe making the lower jaw black on the helmet, but it might make the rest of the helmet appear a bit too slim and detached. Making it solid red will give it a nice beefy look.
-Base coat (50/50 dark red and medium red) (Man, those new GW colours names just do not stick in my mind. If someone is interested in them, I'll gladly write 'm down correctly though)
-Dark red wash
-Medium red drybrush
-light red drybrush
-light red + flat orange drybrush
-flat orange drybrush
-flat orange +Ice Yellow (Vallejo colour) drybrush
-Ice Yellow drybrush
Now the model is drying so I can apply another dark red wash and a red glaze, after which the highlights will need some touching up again.
And I found THE perfect re-use for a leftover piece of LED strip it's just perfect lighting wrapped around the light tent like that.
The reddening and blackening complete! In the end I gave the model a red glaze, a very slight touch-up with ice yellow on certain edges. And then did ànother red glaze and ice yellow touch-up to get the tone of the red just right and still have some light highlights.
[EDIT] Oh, and the red got a coat of Klear before doing the black. Best to protect those subtle drybrushed gradients.
Today I've started work on the secondary colours. The bronze/gold base colour has been applied and their wash&rub of Smokey Ink (Vallejo), and the piping has had their base coat and light drybrush. The rest of the metalics and detail come after the gold has been done, as the golden drybrush highlights can affect some adjacent areas.
I've also had a nice little feth up with the axe. The head just snapped clean off, and damn, that haft is thinner than the tiniest drill bit I have so I had no choice but to brace it externally. And since my greenstuff-fu is abysmal i just added three little balls less than a mm in diameter. I'll just paint those up in copper, and the copper wire in steel. once that's fully cured I can continue.
Oh, and look what I scrounged up from a box, The Crow! I promptly cut off it's base tab and intend to mount it on a nice little lathe'd round wooden base I also dug up.
And finally the clip-on Macro x20 lens I bought for my phone. It was a nice deal from Black Eye (the brand) and came in a double box together with a wide angle lens. I must say I was quite amazed when I first tried it out. For a little clip on thingie, those lenzes work perfect. Behold! All my painting errors in all glorious, shameless detail that should never be seen! They weren't kidding when they printed 'Macro' on the side of that lens...
Nice... but no depth-of-field. You need a little camera tri-pod and to fiddle with your camera settings so it'll take long-exposure shots & give you enough depth-of-field so that the photos you post will actually be useful.
Actually the brace i put on the back of the axe doesn't look half bad, you barely even notice it if you don't know it's there.
And yeah, that macro lens was just to try it out, that in no way useful to photograph minis, seeing as you need to hold your phone 1cm away from the model... Anyway, it was more for the wide angle lens that I bought that lens pack. The macro can be fun now and then, but the wide angle lens is a looot more useful. My regular mini photos I take with my digital camera on a little tripod (as seen in previous photos)
Aaan, updates! Yet again.
Secondary colours almost complete. Some stuff needs a little bit of tweaking to clean up or smooth out.
I'm not too sure about the axe's smile. I wanted to do the pale yellowish metal I used for most my power weapons throughout the army, but I wanted to add some little lightning streaks and heat discolouration. The idea was that the powerfield slowly left its marks on the blade over the years. Maybe I need to give it a light metalic glaze to soften the effect, dunno... Perhaps the photos make the effect a little bit harsher than it is IRL.
Anyway, decals are on, so once the little cleanups are done, it's time to seal the model and apply the weathering!
First bit of sponge/foam weathering done and the model's been assembled so I can move on to oil paints. I'll probably clean up some small area's here and there beforehand. Funny how they only pop up once you've taken photos... I've noticed a small spot on his left shoulder, the barrel of his pistol needs a little more definition, and the little wing on his chest has become a bit too unclear thanks to a runaway foam stab.
Oh, and of course he's a way too shiny at the moment for really decent photos as he already received the Klear coat in preparation of the oil wash.
I think he looks great. Your weathering makes me wonder about a long-term internal debate that I've been having. What color is ceramite? Is it metallic? Kind of neutral buff color? Have never been sure what "chipping" should look like at it's deepest level (i.e. once you get beyond the outer coating of the armor).
Yeah, that's a thought that pops in my head as well now and then. Ceramite does convey it is not metal per se but more a ceramic-alloy composite. And all cut-out artwork out there shows a mutli-layered construction. I think the best visual reference we could hope for is a cut-through photo of modern day composite tank armour. Too bad that stuff is highly classified... :(
"...nano-crystalline steel used in Leopard 2 Revolution..." - from the first article.
Pretty damn sci-fi sounding, innit? But then again, we're living in the era where we have nerve- and mind controlled prostethics, can make the blind see (albeit low res), the deaf hear again, and our computer chips pathways are measured in nanometers.
So here 'e is, after an oil wash and a night's wait. Normally I tend to go in for cleanups when the wash is touch-dry but not cured yet, say half an hour, an hour after applying the wash. Sometimes the wash pools a bit too much here and there, or a flat surface has a bit too much on it. But yesterday was a rather busy day so I kinda forgot to do that. After a night's drying, you can still go in and correct stuff, using a cotton stick or brush damp with odourless turpentine, but you'll have to rub a bit harder and making very smooth feathered transitions is a little bit harder. Luckily this model needed no cleanup as far as I can see. I'll scrutinize it a bit more before sealing it in with another coat of clear, but it seems good to go.
Next up, I think I'll redefine some small details with a fine black outline and then apply some oil and grease stains here and there.
Really like him. I have the same figure for my AL army. I particularly like to touch of green. Weathering looks spot on; he does look like he has gotten stuck in for sure.
He looks fantastic, well worn and beaten, but still solid, good job.
I am completely with you guys on the armour chipping thing, always think of off white when I think of ceramic, and to think we all rust it up!! if anything I can imagine it would get that white crystalline build up, not rust. But it is tantamount to heresy to suggest anything but iron rust on anything. makes me laugh the most is we strive towards NMM on a non metallic materiel!
Meph wrote: "...nano-crystalline steel used in Leopard 2 Revolution..." - from the first article.
Pretty damn sci-fi sounding, innit? But then again, we're living in the era where we have nerve- and mind controlled prostethics, can make the blind see (albeit low res), the deaf hear again, and our computer chips pathways are measured in nanometers.
Thanks guys! That was exactly the look I was going for on his armour and apron (snigger). I imagined him to focus on his battle brother during the battle/campaign, only taking care of his own armour when he's back on the battle barge, all the rest is [see forum posting rules] & span.
Meanwhile, in Marine Land.
The techie's done. Currently his first phase of basing is drying, but here he is just after the details have been finished. Not too happy with the varnish coat though. I'm using a spray can from Army Painter, satin varnish, and it seems just a tad too glossy compared to the other cans I've used for them. I gave him a satin coat, was unhappy with the shininess (would I get a punch in the mouth for saying albedo?), gave him a matte coat to tray and soften it up. Was not please with the 100% dull look that matte varnish gives, so gave him another satin coat. He should be able to withstand a small tactical nuclear blast now.
I didn't do the normal three-colour highlight I normally do on the eyes as they're so frickin' tiny, and recessed so deeply that applying these green dots almost gave me a heart attack. They're literally two minuscule droplets suspended between three brush hairs, applied with the steady hand of a surgeon playing 'Operation' on a subatomic scale. Took years of my life and I won't even try to add a highlight or a white dot.
And yesterday went a bit on a rampage through the bits box and cobbled together this guy. I must say I'm quite happy with the way he came out. Equipped with a jump pack, he'll be coming to your rescue when your vehicle breaks down in the middle of a firefight. And with the remote bolt pistol, he's got both hands free to use his Astartes Mutlitool. Whatever can't be fixed with a hammer (seriously, precious little), can be fixed with a spanner, and vice versa.
The metal and dark plastic piping is from Zinge Industries and I must say I'm amazed by their quality for the price. I'd be damned if I'd coil that much tiny copper wire by hand myself, and their flexible resin (the dark tubes) come in all shapes and sizes and is easily bendable, immediately holding its shape and feels like it has the right smoothness and feel to hold paint without any trouble. Good stuff for someone of my mediocre manufacturing skills. And they also have resin cable endings/plugs which will go on the end of those cables once the little greenstuff blob holding them together has cured. For those of you with some conversions in the future, check out their website, they've got tons of goodies for good prices.
Oh, don't mind the right arm that seems a bit droopy, the white poster putty I'm using for the temp posing isn't all that solid.
Solar_lion wrote:Nice conversion.. Isn't there some vehicles in the works.. say a vindi?
Yeah, the Vindi and Rhino are still sitting, waiting for tracks. I actually ordered and received 1/35 T-55 metal tracks from Friulmodel but they were way too wide. So I sent 'm a mail asking if they could tell me which of their 1/35 tracks are 10mm wide (I'm presuming some WW2 Panzer tracks), but got an email back saying he didn't understand my question. So I gave some more explanation and even clear photographs of their T-55 track together with a plastic Rhino track right next to a ruler slowing their width, but I'm still waiting for a reply from them and it's been over a week, even with a reminder. I'm fearing they just gave up on trying to understand...
Gitsplitta wrote:Love the new conversion. He's going to be fantastic!
For today there will be a little side project, seeing as Shapeways delivered something.
In the toilet there is a shelf that should have two screws on the bottom to secure the hidden mount inside the plank. But one of the screw holes didn't take the screw, it just keeps turning without fastening.
So that gaping 6mm hole needs to be put to good use...
Tiny astronauts are tiny
See where I'm going with this?
Hehehe, it's to test the mental strength of visitors. Those two birds are staring you right in the eyes and judging you. °_°
Alrighty, picture time
The basing on the techie is practically done. Maybe a wee bit more power here and there, but I don't know. Also tried both the black and the white background I have for my little lighting tent. Personally I'm a much bigger fan of the black one as it seems to handle the colour contrast better. Also, on the black background I shoot the photos at 1/250 shutter speed. On the white background, I'm forced to go to 1/15 or 1/20, because the white background makes the model almost appear black on faster shutter settings.
Then again, the white does seem more cleaner for WIP shots, but for finished models I think I'll stick to black.
Track time! Since Friulmodel is no longer responding to what I thought to be a very simple question, (To me it seems self-evident to have specs for manufactured model parts, but apparently asking the width of a track in millimeters seems like a strange concept to them.) I went and bought some 'Easy Metal Links' 1/35 PanzerII tracks from Dersockelshop.de. Some research on the web gave me enough information to guesstimate their 1/35 width in mm. They are about a mm thinner than the plastic Rhino tracks but that also gives them 1mm space in the track housing. the plastic GW tracks are actually touching the sides.
The metal tracks look less beefy than the plastic ones, at first I even thought they looked too flimsy, but they're growing on me. What do you guys think?
Techy is looking amazing, really nice work, great finish. Only thing that is a tiny bit distracting for me is the Plasma pistol green, not sure if it is the pics, but just seems flat, especially compared to the amazing rest of the model right now.
Tracks look fantastic, prefer them to the GW ones, look much more practical.
Nice techmarine! Nobody wears red quite like the blood angels do. Also, I think the metal tracks look fine, but also like assembling them would drive one over the edge of madness...
Yeah, I'm not too über-excited about the tracks but I think they'll look good enough when complete and in place.
It's indeed a hassle to assemble although it will be easier and faster to assemble these Easy-Metal-Links tracks than the ones from Friulmodel. EML has these little tiny metal tabs that you fold around the previosu track. Friulmodel's ones have to be induvidually attached with wire cut to length.
Hiatus finished! Man, it felt good to get out the brushes again, and to spray paint to the tunes of a compressor, airbrush booth, and Shylmagoghnar.
Just some rough work done to flex the muscles again and get the projects going again.
I took some quick pics of the work done.
The Rhinos:
Ditched the track swap. The guide teeth are just too off-center to use on a Rhino chassis without reconstructing the running wheels. In a fit of McGuyverness I even bought some Panzer MKII 1/35 running wheels but they are just too large, and I didn't want to order any more. And frankly, the Rhino tracks are not as bad as the standard Spartan ones I replaced on, well, the Spartan.
So, Glued on the standard ones and basecoated the lot. Next up is to come up with a good masking scheme to tie them in the rest of the vehicles. Probably some racing stripes for the Rhino, maybe even perpendicular ones. And for the Vindicator, I'm probably going for a black chevron on the top.
The tactical squad: Got two brushed highlights, a wash, and a glaze
The techmarine, first drybrushed highlights and a wash and a glaze as well.
Onwards!
Some better pics of the Techmarine. I have him another highlight and a few red glazes.
Yayyy! bloody good to see you back on board Meph! your pics are broken for me but if I close my eyes and imagine............ Ooooh yes that's looking good!
Well the queue is:
-Deimos Vindicator
-Deimos Command Rhino, but with all the parts for a regular rhino and razorback as well.
-Tac Squad with missile launcher & grav gun
-Techmarine.
And after that, there's a whole other school of fish to fry... more termies, A Storm Talon that needs to be transformed into something that looks like it can actually fly. A dreadnought drop pod, A dreadnought that I don't know yet how to assemble (death company or psyker). And then there's yet another treasure trove of non BA or GW models.
Although I am itching to assemble and paint that Eisenkern APC into a Blood Angels vehicle.
Another wash, another glaze, another light highlight, and sealed it in with some Klear. Damn, that bottle is almost empty, I'l guessing 15cl left. Say, does anyone know the exàct replacement one can find in Western Europe? I bought some Klir recently, a French brand that was supposed to be the replacement that can be used as varnish/thinner, but it's milky as hell so I'm not even going to try using that... I've been googling like crazy for it and can only find contradicting information. So any first-hand advice would be great...
Oh, and the details have been blacked out, and I did some experimenting with the white and background again.
Amazing work and you certainly gives me a goal to strive for.
Well, I'm definitely going to try to keep the rhythm going. This week's my last week of holidays but the goal is to at least do something every day after work.
