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Hi everyone! I got my first commission from a local gamer, to paint up one of his Serpent's. His army is just starting to get painted and he wanted me to paint this after he found out I was starting commissions. I plan to post WIP pictures here so others can watch my work and hopefully like the paintjobs. If you have any constructive criticism I welcome it, any shortcuts or things I did that could have shaved off some time if done differently please speak up! Without further ado! I started the Serpent last night so I have a handful of pictures from the start to where I am currently.

I apologize for the poor pictures, I have a very yellowy light in my room. I will get better pictures in natural light tomorrow.


Paint was stripped and weapons magnetized, Basecoated Black, Pre-shading, Basic Reds, Putty and tape to mask off for the black plates requested by customer, Washes, Basic highlight, Next step is to continue the highlight on the rest of the model, and continue with a brighter edge highlight to more a less finish the red.

Nice work so far, keep posting


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As for criticism, did you find that the paint pulled off with the masking tape? Looks like you've got some big damage there at the front. What primer did you use? How long did you wait between stages? What tape is that?

Enjoying the progress.

I used regular masking tape, stuck it to my pant leg a few times hoping it would de-stick enough and be fine, while most came off without issue it did peel paint in a few areas. Thank you for pointing it out, ive gotta get some red paint back in my airbrush and work that spot up again. I've heard the Tamiya stuff is fantastic but unfortunately my wife lost her job so moneys a wee bit tight, so glorified masking tape is out of the budget lol. Thanks for looking at the model!

Yeah, regular masking tape is ok too, particularly as you know the trick to detack it. Leaving it 48h after primer and 24h after last paint, as well as having it on the model for as little as possible can do the trick. You can also give it a bit of gloss varnish before the black.

I will definitely be working more with varnishes now that I am working on commission painting. I am so used to painting my own stuff that I just worked on the model from start to finish then clear coat. With this stuff it's very helpful to work on things in layers it seems.

FrogTape, or at least regular painter's masking tape, works a lot better than regular masking tape, and one roll lasts a *really* long time.

I often use FrogTape delicate (the yellow roll) if I'm impatient and the model hasn't dried for a super long time, as it very rarely peels paint off.

Red is complete. Moving on to that lovely black that I love to highlight

Blacks are highlighted! Gotta do these gems shortly! Any suggestions on color? I was thinking green.

A very light blue would be interesting!

Green is a solid choice, the other alternative being purple.

I like how it is coming along mate

Thanks for the posts guys! Glad you like it! I'll try out the blue on one of the gems, but I am not sure if it will look good with the red and black, we'll see lol. I'll have to try one of each, a blue, purple and green and see which one contrasts the best.

Green will always contrast best against red, naturally

Then Green it is lol!

Looks good so far

Added a few highlights and GEMS!

New pics! Shading and thruster OSL has been added. I really like how the OSL turned out as I haven't done it before. Any suggestions or comments please let me know!

I think you've overdone the osl, but most of it is hidden anyway. Regardless, I still really like it dude, has your client seen your progress?

E: i actually really like the osl too

I like the OSL on this - I'm struggling to find the right balance, myself, so this gives me some ideas. Overall I think this is coming along nicely - very clean and crisp!

nice osl on this, looking good

My client has seen pictures and likes it but hasn't seen it in person yet. My camera kinda overdoes the blue a tad. It's pretty bright but not quite as bright as it seems in the pics. I may go in with a wash in my airbrush and dull it down in a couple spots. But I'm not sure yet. Please people if you feel like I've overdone it tell me so I can correct it in the future.

Osl is like religion matey, you won't get people to agree. I think it looks great, but any more would ruin it. Its a very fine line, but you're all good.

Thanks for the feedback KB. I am just looking to improve and every bit of information helps! I understand the OSL thing. When I got done with it I thought it looked sooo cool, sent a pic to my client and he thought it was awesome
I turned around to my wife and was like "look how cool this looks!!!" And she hated it lol. Made me worried. But I'm glad the general consensus is that I did it how it was meant to be done lol.

I think it looks pretty sharp. I'm all for a bit of overkill on OSL every now and again, but I get it's something not everyone is crazy about.

I've got to try my hand at OSL soon, and would be thrilled if my first attempt came out like this!

Loving your work

Well everyone, the project is basically complete. I have a couple minor touch-ups to do but otherwise it is complete! I took some pictures in my primitive light box (sortakinda) but I do need some white lightbulbs as the energy efficient ones are far to yellow. Let me know what you all think! Thanks!

Oh, wow! Beautiful job! The OSL worked out nicely, and the smooth finish is just lovely.

Love it, great job dude

Looks awesome. Just a bit of fluff, but the canopy frame should be the same color as the faceplate of your war host, if that matters to your client. Great job though.

I did not know that! I've never been very well versed in space elf fluff. I'll have to look into it and broaden my fluffy horizons! Reading imperial stuff is like reading the same damn book over and over again anyway, I could go for something fresh.

Friggin impressive man! I've just got an airbrush for Christmas, so I'm gradually working towards getting my skills to this level. That OSL is exceptional IMHO, and generally I'm a pretty big critic. Well done!