Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

@Eyeram: you're way too kind, and braver than most. I actually just read a bit of the first few pages (a trip down nostalgia lane) and couldnt believe how much changed...

@SL: Sure thing, boss... paintin' away, boss...



So I think I've worked out a concept for my heldrakes. Forgive the bad photochop- At best its a rough sketch.



Of particular note in these plans is that I hope to extend the model by about an inch, cutting off the bottom fin. This looks like it may involve a near complete rebuild of the tail section. A majority of the fuselage will be kept, however.

The engines will be blended into the main wing assembly, which will continue at an angle from the turbine housing similar to the Valkyrie and Nephilim's wings. The dorsal section will be blended into the main wing, giving the plane what is essentially a flying wing.

I kinda like the aggressive silhouette I got with the front profile, and the angled fins on the back should work out.
I wanted to style the model as an attack jet, with a larger and more aggressive wing structure. The Heldrake's Vector Strike ability will be signified by the inclusion of multiple rocket pods on the wings. I figure the pilot would fire the scatter of unguided rockets at a passing enemy before engaging his primary targets.
Also included under the fighter's wings (maybe) will be a pair of fuel tanks for the baleflamer turret, with lines running out of them and into the craft/turret.

Is the flamer going to replace the Assault Cannons?

Yup yup! Im gonna use a more rounded shell for the turret... or something... Its a smaller part, so shouldnt be too hard to figure out.

 whalemusic360 wrote:
Bah, look harder. I think Gits needs a Titan, right? You can even get those dumb boxey ones

As long as you're buying...

Grays have started on the Imperial Strongpoint and Vengeance batteries. At this point its about half done with gray. I really just gotta throw shadows and a brighter highlight on it then its off to a new color.



Im starting to really understand how people like dsteingras really enjoy terrain... I'm just finding myself getting into this really smooth rhythm and unusually positive mood. Really really enjoying all the brushwork

Hopefully it goes smooth and easy. You're gunna be sick of grey by the time Adepticon rolls around. Hopefully something else floats your ways after for a change of pace....if you know what I mean.

Heldrake concept looks interesting, one of my apoc group has done something similar with his flying boxes and they come out looking much nicer. Looking forward to seeing how it looks off the paper.

Love the contemptors, I'd love to have even one never mind three, really look good as a group. Great stuff as always!

Thanks Ignatius! Many moons ago when they first launched, I hated the look, cause it was just a fat space marine. Now I love the things... It was a treat to work on three of em!

Really nothing super special to report today.
Kept trucking away with the terrain, and cleaned and assembled a box of Tanuki Samurai for OTL:




Had to actually go back and gap fill a lot of the gaps on the skyshields- I thought I could leave them, but some were just too big. Some couldnt be filled just cause they were on a rivet, but ah well... You shouldnt be able to notice once its painted.

I did give you warning of the SS to be fair.

Yarp. To be honest, I sorta forgot xD Well its all gap filled now, so should look pretty. Got the biggest ones, and the rest are really just a case of the pieces not being physically welded together. So a seam, i guess, is the term that Im thinking of.

Lucky for me, I avoided an unfortunate smelting accident...



Anywho! The gold has begun, and MAN is there a lot of it! The Macro Cannon turret, for instance, is nearly 100% painted gold. Now the trim on the vengeance batteries and the main fortress were somewhat easier to cover, as the paint looks great on narrow surfaces. As of the time of this writing, I've got the first panel or so of the fortress painted a shiny new gold.

Never before have I tried using the Vallejo Gold over such a large area. Initial results were not good...



The paint just wasnt sticking enough. I would go over a previously dried layer only to have it pop back into solution with the amount of alcohol I had on my brush. This resulted in what you see above. Streaky and uneven.
This is possibly just as much a mistake in my choice of brush- The alcohol metallics dont play well with water and water based paints (though theyre fine when they dry) and you never can quite get all of the tiny metal flakes out of the bristles no matter how hard you try. As I dont want to subject my nicest brushes to this rather harsh paint, I usually use cheaper ones. In this case I used a harder-bristled brush with a wide flat head. I think it was a nylon bristle one (white hairs). The hard bristles acted as an abrasive on the delicate gold layers, resulting in the streaking.

"So now what," I think, and my gaze falls upon my airbrush. Why not? Assuming I thin the paint with enough alcohol, the flakes should be more than small enough to spray without issue. This would also prevent it from drying in the brush.

And so i experimented:



Before attempting this, make sure you've got good ventilation!!!
The metal particles are super fine, and I DEFINITELY dont think its healthy to breathe them in, to say nothing of the alcohol you are spraying with it. Overspray is unavoidable when spraying this stuff, so wear a mask and cover up your desk! (that is, unless you want everything to have a fine gold dust on top of it)

Other than that, it seems to spray fine by mixing the paint 1:1 with 91% rubbing alcohol (anything less has too much water!) The coverage is solid, and it was far quicker to spray, even taking into account a longer than usual cleaning process.
I flushed the system with copious amounts of alcohol before continuing to clean with windex, paper towels, and pipe cleaners. Assuming you work pretty fast, the paint shouldnt be in any danger of solidifying in your brush.


Still a lot of gold work to do, and then a bunch of washes and highlights. Guess its back to the brush!
Thanks for reading!

So much gold! Looks like a solid (24k solid) start.

That is a perfect amount of gold to truly represent 40k.

Shiny!

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only...GOLD!

I'm going to get a little crazy here, but did you think about maybe using a water based gold?

I'm just going to throw a thought out there - maybe you could just play Space Marines and the Storm Talons could be, you know, Storm Talons. I've spoken my piece and that's all you'll hear of it from me. The rest I save for Ice.

Only weirdos play Space Marines as actual Space Marines. For someone who plays two almost heretics, you seem to have an awful lot of Ultramarine in you.

Almost.... Not he same as 'IS'. Besides everyone shoud go on a Hundred year crusade. All the popular chapters are doing it theses day!

Praise Huron!

What's that even mean almost 2 heretics? I will chop off your head. Can't yap your yap with no air to your yapperflaps.

Did the Executioners even have that crusade? I always thought they got a pass? Or at least a nominal slap on the wrist.

Tch... Damn kids... Looks like the Emprah's finest are gonna have to teach these heretics some manners.


@moonpie: I have given a number of different paints a try, especially with a prominent color such as gold. The reason why I use Vallejo Alcohol paints is because their finish is one of a kind. No other paint gets quite the luster, smoothness, and color that this stuff does. It just has an effect i've not been able to find elsewhere.

And pfft.... space marines. I decided to go with a far better codex (with far more interesting conversions!)





So.... goddamn, am I sick of painting gold trim....



At this stage, one vengeance base is basecoated, and all but the large door and one panel are painted on the strongpoint.
To get to this stage has to have taken no less than 8-9 hours... Hell, I havent even gotten to the Vengeance guns yet!! Its all just so fiddly, The details are many and the paint dries faster than others, so i need to work swiftly... but If I go to fast, itll flick paint off the brush and spatter the rest with drops of gold! The hardest parts are the blasted buttresses and recessed skulls on the strongpoint, especially if I want to preserve the black recesses on the armor panels.

If I make a mess of the details, though, that'll mean even more time spent cleaning up... Its a no win scenario.
However, this is the worst of it all. The only other major basecoats are a darker metal (water-based, so easier already) and touch ups of black. The gold gets a bunch of washes, so thats all just a big brush and a bit of time.


In other gaming-related news, I got a Kickstarter reward from something I backed last year (took em long enough). Its called the Tabletop Doppleganger- essentially a digital miniature that can be configured to display different images, and even animations. Plus you can put counters on it like HP or other status effects. Its primarily a DnD-type miniature stand in, but could be used for wargames (if you were insane enough to buy a ton of them xD). I think i might try my hand at writing a bot of a review on it after Ive played with it some. You know, get some of my thoughts written down on it.
That is.... if I ever finish ALL THIS GOLD!!!!

At least you have a new color to hate for the moment. Does look like you are nearing the end of the tricky parts at least. At least the sky shields will have little (no?) gold on them.

Tricky parts should be pretty much done after today. Its really just the Wall of Martyrs stuff that has all that intricate trim and stuff. Skyshield has thankfully few areas that will be gold- really just an aquilla here and there.

moonpie wrote:
What's that even mean almost 2 heretics? I will chop off your head. Can't yap your yap with no air to your yapperflaps.

Did the Executioners even have that crusade? I always thought they got a pass? Or at least a nominal slap on the wrist.

Yep you got to walk away! Thou we Lamenters and MW got the big slap at least we wern't the Fire Hawks! There were a few other chapters that had to go home early as well!

Ramos...On second thought I think you should paint the V. Battery green!

HUSH YOU!

I just battled through 15 hours of painting all this crap gold, so YOU'RE GONNA GET GOLD AND LIKE IT!!






So yeah. FINALLY all the gold is based, and I even went and washed everything with Agrax Earthshade (and now I need more wash!)

The one on the left is before the wash. The right side is after.


Its at this point I am reminded just how poor of a product the new washes are. If I had done this stuff with Devlan Mud, the results would be night and day!! Instead, Im left needing a second wash to get the desired color... Heck there are even a few tide marks here and there (fixed most of em tho). Utter crap.
I'm gonna have to order some army painter ink... Ive read its preetty much the same stuff as Devlan mud and Badab Black. Fingers crossed, right?

you can see that it made a difference, but I agree it need to be darker

This is really impressive stuff, I'm looking forward to seeing how this progesses.

Personally, I think a lot more wash would transform it. Gritty fortifications make for a better look IMHO.

I love all the gold! I am sorry you are hating it but it looks amazing!

@SL & Tigurius: Thanks- Definitely agree with you on it needing to be way darker. Pity I ran out of Devlan Mud- It was my go-to technique for painting really awesome golds, and it had just the perfect consistency for what I needed it to do. Agrax is still crap :/ Ran out though, and Im on a schedule, so I'll have to buy some of the overpriced GW stuff tomorrow. A pain, but Army painter is DEFINITELY on my next order (hopefully soon!)

@Eyeam: Thank you- I think what really started getting to me is not only the amount of gold and fiddly bits, but also the sheer size of the thing! Its almost like painting another Titan, though imho far less interesting/fun/impressive. now that washes have started, though, I should get to colors I actually like painting.... Or at least can tolerate better



Today was another assembly day, as I didnt have the supplies for washing anything else. And so I got my "Cultists" ready to go!



I do love the DKoK models. Really really gorgeous, and I dig the WWI trenches theme they have.
These guys were a bit of a rescue job, as they had been stripped earlier in their lives, and many parts were damaged or stuck with glue. They cleaned up rather well, though, and just need a bit of GS to fill in all the gaps in their arms.

Dunno how much Im gonna get done tomorrow, though. Earlier this week my dad got news that his aunt passed away (whom I had met only in passing, and not very long), and the funeral is set for tomorrow morning. I'm going along with my dad as something of a favor for him, and I guess as some emotional support for the family. Then today he learned that his uncle Bernard passed away (whom I actually did know... they babysat me all the time when i was a little kid...). All in all, a rather heavy week for the family :/

Till next time.

You want me to send you a pot or two of Devlan mud dude? I got some I'm not using, I prefer Agrax now :-)

Duuuude! I'll totally take you up on that!! PM inbound!

Sorry for you losses.. Still supporting your dad is the right thing to do. They are still you family and one never knows how much you miss them till they are gone.