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 shasolenzabi wrote:
Liking the rolled and strapped cloth

Good good.

Highlighting!
Some bits may need some tweaking etc... but progress.

I have also basecoated the brassesss and the coppers and the golds. They all look the same colour at the moment...

Congrats on 100 pages Dr. H

I can just here someone in a stuff British accent complaining how bloody unsportsmanlike these guys are for not having the stripes where they can be seen before being run over.

Oohh..happy 100

Highlights and extra bits are starting to bring it to life now

Yeah Happy 100th! the tank is looking overall excellent

I don't think they're mandrel bends on those exhausts dude?

Grats on 100.

Beast is looking fantastic, you might get it done by the end of the page if we dont fill it up with lots of writing and silly stuff, but we have to say that is looking fantastic and brilliant, and the brassy bits look great, and the highlighting is really good.

Happy 100 indeed, and how nice that you get to be the person 100'd-ing yourself! Loving the highlights, especially the metals.

It's is looking good. Happy 100 as well.

Happy Hundred!!

Got to say again... of all the amazing details on this piece..... those exhaust pipes and the spaced armour are sweet..... good paint job too... camo looking cool

Thank you all. I didn't imagine when I started this blog, that it would reach 100 pages so soon and I didn't expect that the majority of those 100 pages would be for 2 models (This tank and the WS). Thank you for your support and ideas. I have many more ideas to work on and I hope you will continue to follow along in my (Mad) wake.

Theophony wrote:Congrats on 100 pages Dr. H

I can just here someone in a stuff British accent complaining how bloody unsportsmanlike these guys are for not having the stripes where they can be seen before being run over.

Thanks. Considering the prevalence for dozer blades in the 41st millennium to be painted in large hazard stripes, you're probably right.

monkeytroll wrote:Oohh..happy 100

Highlights and extra bits are starting to bring it to life now

Thanks. Little by little, the little details turn a dull piece of plastic into a real (albeit in scale) object.

shasolenzabi wrote:Yeah Happy 100th! the tank is looking overall excellent

Thanks Shas.

nerdfest09 wrote:I don't think they're mandrel bends on those exhausts dude?

Well maybe they've been welded together from sections of pipe as the ork engineer hadn't heard of a mandrel*. I'll do some proper ones just for you, next time I'm doing exhausts.

*Again, something I was aware of (and had even used) but did not know the name of.

Camkierhi wrote:Grats on 100.

Beast is looking fantastic, you might get it done by the end of the page if we dont fill it up with lots of writing and silly stuff, but we have to say that is looking fantastic and brilliant, and the brassy bits look great, and the highlighting is really good.

Thanks, Cam. It is getting nearer to completion; when the things you are painting get below a certain percentage of the overall size, you know you are getting close to the end.

The brassy bits are only my usual brass basecoat that I use for anything brass, copper or gold. In the same way that grey metals get a gunmetal basecoat.
Strangely, that brass paint is labelled as "matt" rather than "metallic", unlike all the other metallic paints I have. It's not as if it has much of a matt finish to it either...

inmygravenimage wrote:Happy 100 indeed, and how nice that you get to be the person 100'd-ing yourself! Loving the highlights, especially the metals.

Thanks. And it's good that I at least had a picture to show at the time too.
Glad you like them. They have both had a little tidying since.

Solar_lion wrote:It's is looking good. Happy 100 as well.

Thanks Solar.

MagosBiff90 wrote:Happy Hundred!!

Got to say again... of all the amazing details on this piece..... those exhaust pipes and the spaced armour are sweet..... good paint job too... camo looking cool

Thanks Magos. Details are where the fun is.

So, as I mentioned, the things that I am on to painting are now the smaller pieces of the model.
And I reached the point of writing the final (well, the only. But I only write this towards the end of a job) check list of what is left to do and am ticking things off as I go. Not many things left, but some of them are big jobs such as the lenses (13 in all), the Giger tank-art (which will be hard) and weathering (which has to be done last and will make or break the look).

Also, the updates have reached the point of "spot the difference".
So, today's update is, look see, I painted the tank-phone door red, and a little light on top red, and the golds and brassessss (although I may give them a dilute wash of brown once they are dry), and I gave the tracks a quick going over (but they will be dirtied up quite a bit so didn't put much into it), and...and...tidied the highlights and things...


Haven't fully decided on a colour for the lenses yet. A cool blue is currently winning. Also considering a yellow/orange to match the gunner's eyes...
Any and all thoughts welcome.

Spotted the red door

Looking good still

With the overall colour I'd say an orange/yellow would be good for the lenses.

The exterior looks a little too clean, IMO. I realize that this is a work in progress, though. Maybe for the lenses a glossy dark red, like those caps they put over flashlights/torches to protect the user's night vision?

Orange/yellow. You need some warm color accents. The red was a good start (but you knew I would say that.)

monkeytroll wrote:Spotted the red door

Looking good still

Good good. Observation points to you then.
The red door now has a purpose. See below.

With the overall colour I'd say an orange/yellow would be good for the lenses.

Ta. If only I could do them as well as Nerdy...

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:The exterior looks a little too clean, IMO. I realize that this is a work in progress, though. Maybe for the lenses a glossy dark red, like those caps they put over flashlights/torches to protect the user's night vision?

Yes, this will get many scratches, paint chips, etc... as well as dust and dirt.
Ta. I know what you mean. I can do them.
I'll give the yellow/orange a go first and if I can't get them to work (I tried orange/yellow gems on the WS and they didn't work as well as I'd hoped) I can still do them red.

Red Harvest wrote:Orange/yellow. You need some warm color accents.

Makes sense. I'll give them a try.

The red was a good start (but you knew I would say that.)

Just for you.

I've started on the smaller details. If I've done them right, you should be able to tell what they are.
The red door and the TFG gun...

Nice touch with the phone door! of course the tank looks clean until he gets to the point where weathering it will work.

So the little phone... if you pick it up can you talk to the ork and the nid? "Hello, hello is that the tank? Yes I'll hold..." (girl from amarillo plays in background) "Ah hello is this the ork speaking? I wonder if you might STOP SHOOTING US PLEASE we surrender!"

I like the tank, its more interesting than most tanks I see around here. A labour of love.

The phone is great, but the blue-ing on the barrels is excellent

shasolenzabi wrote:Nice touch with the phone door! of course the tank looks clean until he gets to the point where weathering it will work.

Thanks Shas. Indeed.

weetyskemian44 wrote:So the little phone... if you pick it up can you talk to the ork and the nid? "Hello, hello is that the tank? Yes I'll hold..." (girl from amarillo plays in background) "Ah hello is this the ork speaking? I wonder if you might STOP SHOOTING US PLEASE we surrender!"

I like the tank, its more interesting than most tanks I see around here. A labour of love.

lol
I was seeing it more as an emergency phone/radio for contacting HQ while utilising the extra power available in the tank for added signal strength. But maybe there could also be an option to contact the interior of the tank (although what kind of response you would get from the linked minds of an Ork and a Tyranid, is anybody's guess ).

Thanks. Yeah, it has turned into an exercise in detailed modelling. And once I'd started with the small details I couldn't not add them all over...

inmygravenimage wrote:The phone is great, but the blue-ing on the barrels is excellent

Thanks Graven. Glad you like it. Took a couple of attempts to get it to this point and had to stop as I was beginning to make it worse.
I was following a tutorial for acrylic paints, but I need to find a better method for what I'm using to make life easier.

So, lenses...
These have taken 3 attempts (at about an hour each) to get to this stage. Not my best work, but some of them are quite tricky to get a good angle on.
As they look better in the photos than I think they do IRL, I think I'll leave them like this.


This leaves; Transfers, Tank-Art and Weathering... Unless I've forgotten something... which is always possible...

Oh yeah, In other news, I popped out to watch Guardians of the Galaxy.
An OK film. Not spectacular, but fun and watchable.
Good '80s references (and music), Good humour, but some cringey moments and some things could have had more work put into them / developed further.

Really nice job on the lens work. Looking forward to that bad boy getting filthy!

Bipedal raccoons are a scary thought. You Europeans, and neat Europeans, have no idea what those critters can get up to.

Lenses look good. a final white/near white dot in the upper left corners? I know you said you'd leave them...

The weathering will be very interesting to see. One heavily modified, but 'gently used' tank.

I'm with Red....a white spot up in the corner of the lens really helps sell the look when glossed.

inmygravenimage wrote:Really nice job on the lens work. Looking forward to that bad boy getting filthy!

Thanks. One more major thing to do before getting dirty...

Red Harvest wrote:Bipedal raccoons are a scary thought. You Europeans, and neat Europeans, have no idea what those critters can get up to.

Get drunk and then wave a bazooka about angrily...?

Lenses look good. a final white/near white dot in the upper left corners? I know you said you'd leave them...

The weathering will be very interesting to see. One heavily modified, but 'gently used' tank.

monkeytroll wrote:I'm with Red....a white spot up in the corner of the lens really helps sell the look when glossed.

Thanks chaps. I'm always in two minds about adding the white dot with a gloss finish. These are done in gloss (although it doesn't really show in that photo) and I always wonder if you should leave it for light to add the dot, but then it's not always in the right place. OR paint on the dot and then you end up with two dots when the light is in the wrong place. I probably will add them. Next time I have the white out.

So, I've added the transfers and other markings to the tank. I was tempted to add many warning signs etc.. but in the end I resisted and only added a few. You'll see these later when I have them all looking right (hiding edges, matching background colour and varnish).

I have therefore started thinking about the tank-art. You will remember that I'm aiming to pay a homage to H. R. Giger.
The following are a few initial ideas, roughly sketched out, in scale, to see how things might fit and how they would look.
Being Giger, some are a little NSFW:

A few observations after these attempts:
1. Trying to replicate the work of an artist of this calibre is really ing hard.
2. The designs that completely fill the area are a bit too much. I like the way the camo' wraps around the edges and I think I want to keep that.
3. The more NSFW stuff is going to prove too difficult to pull off and not look excessive, he hides them so well, I don't think I would be able to. They would also require the larger space as mentioned above.
4. Filling the small space is possible, but a bit restrictive in it's shape and size.
5. I quite like the babies design.
6. I may consider taking a "usual" pin-up girl and Giger-ify her. (I will look into this next)
7. I don't think the "birth machine" baby works, and it's tricky to change the perspective like I tried here.
8. The skull drilling design would be quite suitable for 40k and all it's skulls. So that's a possibility, Does require me to paint a realistic looking skull though.

Thoughts, Ideas, etc...

Anything without skulls. The babies are interesting. Maybe a little effort with image manipulation to get an idea how it may look. A Giger pin-up? Now that has potential. Creepy, weird and lots of potential. Explore that, just to see where it goes. After all, some day you'll scratch-build the Scientist's Lab, and need some wall art for it...

 Red Harvest wrote:
Anything without skulls.

lol Are you sure it doesn't need more skulls.

The babies are interesting. Maybe a little effort with image manipulation to get an idea how it may look.

I may do that with the final concepts. For these I wanted to get an idea of the effort it would take to do these in scale.

A Giger pin-up? Now that has potential. Creepy, weird and lots of potential. Explore that, just to see where it goes. After all, some day you'll scratch-build the Scientist's Lab, and need some wall art for it...

I couldn't really find any pin-ups that were in a pose that would work in the space. However, I will definitely save this idea for the future... I may even do one as practice before attempting the tank art (knowing me, that may even turn into several).

Also, I'm starting to lean towards doing a small entity as the tank-art rather than a whole picture/scene. A single baby or one of these;

Although, avoiding a large picture kind of rules out the necronomicon, and avoiding skulls leaves the lips and tongue... which I do quite like.

Got to have one each side, so a baby or two on one side and the lips on the other...?

Also: While I was going through my transfers I came across these and thought that they would be good on the dozer.

I had to touch up the metal around them and polish/scratch again. May still get a little more attention.

And as another question, do I add more "painted on" teeth on the dozer. Possibly from the top of the blade. Or do I leave it like this?
I am planning a splat/smear of blood on one side, so that will add some colour anyway... and it will get some dirt and scratches also.

For the dozer I'd say those teeth are enough 'decoration' for it, as you say, there'll be some dirt and splatter on there to add a bit of colour/texture to it, that should be enough.

For the art, I think the lips are the best fit so far...if I recall correctly the art is done by the crew under the tacit consent of the Scientist and not directed by him...? It was a while back we had this discussion so I may be remembering wrong I'd say that the combined artistic output of an ork and a 'nid who have undergone mind re-programming would tend towards something as 'simple' in concept as that.....and seems to be a good fit for their respective 'cultures' in a twisted kind of way.

Could just be me though

 monkeytroll wrote:
For the dozer I'd say those teeth are enough 'decoration' for it, as you say, there'll be some dirt and splatter on there to add a bit of colour/texture to it, that should be enough.

Cool. I think those tusks give enough of an impression that the 'blade is the "mouth" of the beast, without going comical.

For the art, I think the lips are the best fit so far...if I recall correctly the art is done by the crew under the tacit consent of the Scientist and not directed by him...? It was a while back we had this discussion so I may be remembering wrong I'd say that the combined artistic output of an ork and a 'nid who have undergone mind re-programming would tend towards something as 'simple' in concept as that.....and seems to be a good fit for their respective 'cultures' in a twisted kind of way.

Could just be me though

Yeah, pretty much. It doesn't necessarily have to be the crew of the vehicle doing the painting. The Scientist has "recruited" artists as well as engineers and warriors. Everyone is welcome in the Army of the Second Law. I had an idea (that I'll do at some point) of a vehicle that had had one half painted by an Eldar, where it is all crisp, clean and pretty, and the other half had been painted by a Grot that has access to all the same paint and equipment, but none of the talent...

Also, thinking further into this, the Ork is wired into the tank in such a way as to consider it his "skin". The tank-art is therefore like he's getting a tattoo, with his thoughts influenced by the tyranid (that is wired into "his" tank body), the lips are indeed something I can see him/them choosing.

Also also, I may only do one piece of art. As the Electron cannon does block most of that side, the art there won't really be seen much. Ooo, I'll do a quick mock up... 2 secs...

Not that I'll be able to recreate it that well. but a few tweaks here and there. I can see that working, and being recognisable as Giger.

Gonna make some arty decorations eh?

 shasolenzabi wrote:
Gonna make some arty decorations eh?

Yes... Although this may take quite a bit of practice...
Here's the first attempt and how I built it up (I'm going to try a few different ways of building the colour).
Started with a black outline of the shape and then filled that in with white.
Then, added the basic outline of the details in black.
Then shaded and filled in the fine detail, using a brown/black then a white/brown then white.
Followed by touching up with the white, white/brown and black.


It looks hideous close up, but from a distance is looks slightly better. Still not quite right yet.
The square that I've drawn out as a boundary is 35mm², just so you can judge the scale.

That's not bad....colours are a pretty good approximation too considering the size and number of layers you're using as compared to the orignal

That's really impressive mate. I'm sure the scientist would approve!