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The more I look at it, the more I like it. I think Id end up either with the UCM or Shaltari. Interesting minis for both of em... Who knows, maybe painting these things will push me over the edge and Ill buy the starter set for one of em (Im sure Alf would be happy with that )


Anywho, I got more greens as well as a new brush, so I got the lines about halfway done on the Barge.



Also wrapped up assembly of a few more Relic Knights minis. Still REALLY not a fan of the material... but eh. What can ya do?
From the left we have a Pacer, Princess Malya’s Relic Knight (I’ll be painting the princess separate), Mr. Tomn, and two Pit Crew minis.



In unrelated news, Update on the meeting with Big Boss: Scheduled for Monday, so Im free to worry about it the whole weekend!

 Ramos Asura wrote:
Then yesterday, I recieve a package from RiTides with a couple test models from Dropzone Commander. From what Ive read of it, it seems pretty neat, and if these examples are any indication, they know what tehy're doing with their minis!



Yes, thats a penny next to them (banana for scale would simply dwarf these!)

These things are a complete opposite to the RK minis- even though they are incredibly tiny, they are absolutely COVERED in details! Its almost so much that I worry about scraping off some as I clean moldlines (of which there are actually quite few!) Hopefully the P3 Primer I have won't fill in too many of the smaller details. Suppose Ill find out- thats what test minis are for, eh?

Woot! Looking forward to seeing how the test minis turn out although I know they're after the necron model in the queue. If needed in the future, I can definitely get you some Tamiya fine primer, which is what the DzC creator uses. Just prime lightly for now

I have a good feeling about the P3 primer- its always been good to me, so Im hoping I can make it work

And yup! They'll be after the crons, but before any new stuff. Though I dunno. I might want to take a break from all the green tomorrow and get them primed up

Well I am greatly looking forward to seeing what you do with them, to say the least! I've seen some impressive airbrush fades on tanks you've done (specifically the eldar ones) and am interested to see if it works on a smaller model!

Will be watching everything you do here, of course, so looking forward to the necron model, too

Glad to hear, RiTides! Fades are quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do with my airbrush. Crazy to think that years and years ago when I first got it, all I thought I could do with it was basecoat minis (and very sloppily so, I might add!!)


So Happy End of Daylight Savings Time Day, everyone! Very productive Sunday, and the greens on the Barge are done and done! All thats left are areas of metal and neatening up the black areas.



For a change of pace, I sprayed the initial gradient on the test minis for RiTides' Shaltari.


Still VERY basic, mind, but I think it might work. One thing I may change is to make the creamy white a little more beige, though that might change once I put a wash on it. Speaking of, I'm gonna need to figure out what color of wash I'm gonna use to deepen the cracks and details overall- don't want to stain the white too bad with black!

Anywho, work tomorrow, then more painting

Thanks for reading!

Oh man, I am a big fan of that look so far!

Painting the cockpit black will make a nice contrast to it, too (and perhaps putting a coat of gloss on the black - I think this is what Dave did to all the Shaltari studio models, and it looks pretty convincing!).

It will be interesting to see how the wash works - I think it should fill in all those little crevices quite nicely

Wow sodapop looks very clean.

Yeesh those DZC minis are so tiny, and yet there you go with a beautiful gradient. Got to concur on a black canopy being a spot on idea for these, a few careful reflections maybe a gloss coat etc.

What is it about the material on the Relic Knights you dislike? Cause the sculpts look pretty good from the picture but I know that pictures very often don't tell you everything especially with minis.

So, ok. I'd like to open this post with a little explaination on my heavier-than-normal radio silence.
As you guys know, a few months back I got a for really real job at an office downtown. Temp work, but you know... Awesome experience! So anyways, my primary job was to help cleanup the Client Database for the firm- very important but veeeeeery time consuming and tedious! Last week, I had mentioned they were going to meet with me Monday. Unfortunately, they dont have any other projects, so soon as this ones done, thats all she wrote!!
So it looks like I'm back to the Job hunt, albeit with much better financial footing and a stronger resume!

It's not all bad news, though. Big Boss brought donuts this morning for the team to give me a good send off. Also, now Ill have more time to paint again!


First item of interest is the progress on RiTides' Shaltari:
I did two tests to bring out the details, as elaborated below:


Test number 1: Army painter Strong Tone ink, thinned and carefully applied:


Test number 2: Gloss coat and black Oil Wash. Matte varnish after cleanup of lines:



Of the two, The oil wash clearly wins out. Not only does it darken the recesses more, it also doesnt stain the cream color!! I really wish I had switched these two minis around for the test- now I'll need to re-spray the whole body of the tank!

No big deal, though. Now I have the formula, it should be an easy matter of replication.

Canopy will definitely be picked out in black and hit with a gloss varnish. I like the effect the studio minis have with it, and to me, at least, it seems logical to do. You want them to be "glass", not simply black armor! Other areas of alternate color will be the solar-panel-looking "fins" (black), as well as the undercarriage and legs of the big walkers (dark metallic). Various other lights and lenses will be picked out on the minis, similar to the studio minis.



Second order of interest: Regarding the RK material!

Really, IG, its like I had mentioned earlier- The details just arent all there sometimes, especially on the faces. Edges arent super crisp, and it actually looks like a lot was softened in the transition of 2d to 3d. Its curiously hard to remove mold lines (not for the least reason that they tend to go right across details). The stuff soft enough to pick up the scrape marks from a knife blade if you arent careful, but so hard that removing mold lines is difficult. It also has a good bit of elasticity to it (poor term, but thats what comes to mind), so its just as likely that the mold lines will roll over themselves and form to the mini, making you scrape a bit more than you might want to.

The material has benefits and drawbacks, as all things do. For example, this stuff is like PVC in that it's great at rendering big, chunky models, like Lug here:



On the other hand, it seriously fails at fine details like faces and the filigree/energy on this sword:


Very soft details... Compared to similar sized resin minis especially!




Finally, A random box of stuff arrived from IceAngel! He asked if I wanted some stuff after he cleaned, and I said yes immediately!



Fun assortment of show minis from Adepticons 2012 and 2013- An SDE Kobold, a Wreck-age mini, and a Jacque mini from Brushfire! Nice little box of goodies that made my day when I got em. Thanks Ice!



So yeah! more certainly to come, especially in my newly "freed" state. Necron barge just needs metals, so that should be done in very short order. Then, provided that the oil wash is a solid enough technique on the DzC stuff, those will be next!

Oh wow yeah that face is diabolical, I can relate on the job front lately, doing contract work which means I can work from home but it has big ups and downs in terms of available hours, finding something stable is a nightmare. Good luck on the hunt, I'm sure I'll enjoy more painting being done if nothing else!

Sorry to hear about the bad news on the job front Ramos although we get to see lots more painting again

Aye, its a bummer that this is my last day, but Im leaving on a good note. Everyone's sad to see me go, but thats the nature of a Temp employee, I guess!

Im at a better place than I was 2 months ago when I started, so thats a benefit. Plus now I have tons of experience and references that I can draw on. Hopefully this will net me something nice in the future!
My boss said there might be a position like this available come the new year. Who knows what the future will bring?





(Oh wait, I do.... MOAR PAINT! xD )

Stay positive Ramos. It'll help in the long run.

What IceAngel had a wash ?

Think positive, think positive...
Been keeping that mantra going as I worked some more on the Barge, making some great progress!
Silver areas are painted up, leaving only the golds and heat damage to go. With luck, this guy'll be done tomorrow!!

Gooood progress! Going to look great when completed.

First, very sorry to hear about the job coming to a close, but it does sound like you are on very good footing for the next one! Keep your head up, I've been there myself not long ago at all doing temp work, and ended up doing temp-to-hire at my current position. The connections will be worth it!

Secondly, the necron barge is looking really good!

Finally, regarding the DzC, I like the oil wash on the turret much more - so good experiment there! However, the only thing I am not liking as much as the original gradient-sprayed-picture, is the "cream" color. I had originally requested a cream-to-dark blue fade, but now that I am seeing the test model, I think a lighter color (basically white, or almost white?) would look better for the start of the gradient. The reason I say this, is that whatever wash you do is going to darken it slightly, which will keep it from being "pure white" anyway.

What do you think of that? Obviously, you would not need to repaint the test model, but that yari tank is totally disposable as I already have a spare of it, so you can experiment away (and of course I'll include it as a painted model in the commission, and just add another if the experiment doesn't work out). So, if you hadn't yet done the warstrider, I think trying a lighter color for the start of the gradient would be best, since after the wash the cream is looking a little more darkish / brownish than I'd been thinking, and so starting out as light as possible there will likely help avoid that.

Other than that, I am loving it, I think the scheme sounds excellent and manageable, with just adding the black canopies / fins, and the dark metallic undercarriage (and hopefully a bit of dirt on the bottom edges if you think it will look good).

Annihilation barge complete!!


Happened to have a new bottle of MicroSol handy, so tested it out on the decals on the dorsal spine. On the last barge, this was an area that caught tons of bubbles and got that whitish look to the decal. Not so on this one- Super glad I re-discovered this stuff!!



Finally got around to taking better pictures of the Lord too.




Anywho, Dropzone Commander.
I completely get what you mean, RiTides- The Strong Tone ink stained the cream WAY more than I wanted it to. Turned it more of a caramel color, actually. The fact that the camera's white balance seems to be going wonky doesn't help matters. In reality, the oil wash doesn't stain it too terribly (though more on that in a little bit), and is actually easier to control.

Went ahead and brightened up the white area of the Yari, then put the colors and wash on everybody. Heres what we're left with:


Note that the damn white balance is still off (even though i put it through photoshop :/ ). The large walker is probably the closest to how it actually looks, though not nearly as yellow. Closer to a neutral white.
I will note that the white did stain a little bit with the oil wash. I guess the coat of gloss wasnt quite as solid as I thought, or perhaps I scrubbed it off while I was cleaning the extra wash off. In the future, Im going to need to seal these more carefully, probably with my airbrush. That way it will ONLY be the recesses that have black on them.

Colors will of course brighten when I put highlights on, but if the Jaguar is too dirty of a white for you, I can certainly respray it/ otherwise neaten it up. Future models will have a neater finish.

I like it, especially if it is "closer to neutral white" / "not nearly as yellow" in reality! A local friend just gave our group that tip about sealing, sounds like it will do the trick and that you have a good handle on it

Oh, and the necron barge looks quite nice, too!

Progress on the Shaltari test minis:

Not as much as I'd have liked to do, but I think I might be coming down with a little headcold. Been stuffy headed all day :/
These pictures are much better color-wise, and its really starting to come together with the addition of new colors. Biggest changes to come will be highlights to the blue and white, and the addition of spot colors of orange and possibly a bright green. Lots of lenses and other dots of color on these!





I did think up another potential method to paint these... Minitaire Ghost Tints, perhaps?

Speaking of Ghost tints, you still have mine?

Whoa, that first pic looks insanely awesome! Very pleased with that color, glad the camera decided to cooperate

Quite like the legs, too, just one question - the gradient on everything else progresses from white on the "tip" to dark blue further back. So the legs by themselves look like they're progressing backwards, from dark blue to white. Maybe it doesn't look this way when assembled, just thought I'd mention it now although it's growing on me the more I look at it. I wish I could Photoshop the opposite to see how it would look in theory rather than in practice!

Absolutely love what you're doing with these, and can't wait to get you the rest of them! Oh, and if you do need ghost tints for this or another project let me know - I have them as a part of the set I believe, but have not used them yet.

That's it RiTides.... make him re-do the whole thing! Yeah! Crack that whip!

@Alf: I do, indeed! Theyve been sitting atop my shelf here for a while now- Keep trying to think of ways to use them and test them out. They're not something my painting style can normally use, though in this case.... maaaaybe!

@RiTides: Excellent!
And yeah its sorta backwards- unsure how it would have looked the other way. I was working off of this scheme to decide where the gradients break up:



I think it'll work, though now I am kinda curious how the inverse might look.... (grrrrr xD) Perhaps thats another experiment... Just need to find a spare walker leg for that, hahaha!



@Gits: Well.... at least hes not making me magnetize everything

Well I do have a spare Jaguar actually . I PM'ed you about sending you a yari and some ghost tints (although I love your current results so no need to use them on my account!). So I can drop the Jaguar in there, too... or just a leg . Then, nothing has to be redone, but our curiosity can be satisfied

Hell yea they look nuts! really cool models you've made look even cooler! :-) ghost tint are interesting, I think that;s what I used to do the Candy red paint on my Knight.

Good to see you back, nerd! Yeah man, Im STILL jealous of that candy paintjob you got on Kiera... Looks damn fine!
I really do want to find new ways to use the ghost tints, myself, but they just dont fit with how I paint xD Maybe if I went back to car models....


Still a bit of a head cold (been napping in my chair most of the day), but I think im just about finished with the test minis for RiTides. Minor tweaks here and there to do, as well as a demo base for the Yari, but juuuuust about done! No finished pics for a few days, though, as I think Im gonna wait till I have the other experiments out of the way. Who knows, one of them might make me swap out everything!



Depending how im feeling, I think I might mess some more with WMs relic Knights. Still have no idea how Im gonna do the skintones, though... Looooots of research to do.

Till next time!~

Looking really nice are you going to give the three canopys a nice gloss coat, thats what I did with my one that I painted, looked really nice.

yuuuuup! That all will come after I give the finished minis a coat of gloss + matte varnish.

That is incredible! Totally exceeded what I had even hoped for . How in the world did you get those dots of orange and green in there? I'm going to have to hunt down the postman and get my package back, I don't want you to change a thing . With a gloss on the canopy, it will be perfect.

PM incoming!