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Day one of actual painting for my old school metal venerable dreadnought. Yes, that's right I'm not actually dead...



This has been sitting around for awhile, a long with a few other things... I've been combating some pretty major loss of inspiration lately. So much is going on with Earthquakes, and people and work and painting has seemed less important with each and every day I've been putting it off... I'll talk a little bit more about losing motivation to paint in a few days, but first let's see what I've done today:

1. Red. Basecoat red was done with my airbrush (Which then broke. I gak you not, broke. But that's another story). The red went over black so has come out a little bit dull for a miniature with such large areas, I'll be trying to brighten up the red in places with brighter coats and some blending.
2. Gold. The gold is my standard recipe (BGM > BG x 2 > brown washes). Those with sharp eyes will notice a difference between the golds though. That comes from using different washes at different stages. They'll all be tided up later on, and some highlighting applied.
3. Skulls. The skulls are done with 2x layers of bleached bone and a wash of Orgyn Flesh and a light brush of badab black (spelling?). Again; touch ups & highlights need to be applied.
4. Parchments. Used Menoth base (p3) for the parchment base coat and have only applied one layer of Sepia wash. I'll need a few more layers of the wash to achieve the right brown; one that is different enough from the gold...

That's pretty much it so far... My lack of motivation and inspiration is quite telling when I look at the dreadnought; I haven't taken care in some places and there's significant paint transfer... And in others it just looks wrong. I hope with a little more care it'll start to improve...

That's a good solid start vent. Don't worry about it... with all the "real" things going on look at the painting as a bit of recreation and just let it happen. Consider it therapy, not a bid for a golden demon.

Gitsplitta wrote:That's a good solid start vent. Don't worry about it... with all the "real" things going on look at the painting as a bit of recreation and just let it happen. Consider it therapy, not a bid for a golden demon.

Thanks Gitsplitta, I do try and relax when I paint but lately things don't seem to be working as they use to and it annoys me...

Perfectly understandable given the circumstances.

In an attempt to help motivate you and cheer you up (by showing how much better your paint is then mine ), I'm going to finish up your marine before I finish my Land Raider.

Thanks guys. Part of me thinks that starting is the hardest part, once you're under way there's a desire to finish...

Day Two of the Venerable Dreadnought. Not really that much work done today. Considering 'The Wise Man's Fear' came out today I'm surprised I've done any work what-so-ever... Or even remembered to shower and eat for that matter...



Done today:

1. Seals: Worked the seals in Dark Angel Green then lightened them with varying shades of scorpion green. Glazed with 1:1 green : water. I also darkened up the parchment with another targeted wash of sepia...
2. Cloth: Foundation purple with a purple wash, more highlights happening... Heh, there better be anyway...
3. Red Armor: While it may not be overtly visible I cleaned up a lot of the armor with some touch ups and started a little bit of blending...

Wow... Considering all that took me like 90 minutes it doesn't seem like much work does it...


Starting some more prep work for the Shadow Sanctus Captain I'm sending to whalemusic. I've had a few people say they didn't like the head I decided on so I figured I'd throw out some alternatives. If you like one let me know!


Oh well... Back to my book...

With the general look of the weapon making him look very brutal, I'd say 6 or 8. 2,3, and 5 are the most "Look at me" though, so if you were planning on a gold helmet, those may work better. I had no problem with the other one btw, 4 is my least favorite helmet out of the SG box.

Where did the wall come from on the dread, its very good looking. He's coming along nicely.

whalemusic360 wrote:With the general look of the weapon making him look very brutal, I'd say 6 or 8. 2,3, and 5 are the most "Look at me" though, so if you were planning on a gold helmet, those may work better. I had no problem with the other one btw, 4 is my least favorite helmet out of the SG box.

Where did the wall come from on the dread, its very good looking. He's coming along nicely.

I do like number 6. The spikes are subtle, but menacing.

The base of the dreadnought is from Secret Weapon Miniatures. When I first started painting things, and before SWM existed Mister Justin helped me out quite a lot on Flickr. Now he helps me more by making these damn fine bases and accessories... ^_^

I absolutely love telion with the pig iron head! I might have to buy some myself!!!!

I LOLed... I actually like #4. #6 is a good choice though, spiked but not spikey...

Got your marine finished today vent, but the photos I took all came out blurry (cuz I am tired and to lazy to set up anything). I want to get some pics before I send, because I anticipate the arm falling off in transit. Probably the base too. Was nice to do a completely unplayable model for a change.

I do need your address, if you could pm it to me.

6 - it's one of my favorite helms lately along with the knightly templar one and BH's mantis helms

A smidge more work on the venerable Dreadnought. I'm usually a 'Base Last' kind of painter, but I was getting bored with the body so figured I've move onto the base early.




I love secret weapon miniature bases. They do 80% of the work of looking cool. All it takes is a few build up layers of drybrusing and a few minor effects (The road lines) and you're done. I normally paint bricks red, but as there's so much red already I went with brown and I think it works quite well, both the grey and the brown. The yellow gives it a touch of color which is good too. I'm going to add some fake grass in there somewhere as well at the end...

On the body I started all the little stuff like the wires and the helmet. These are more guide colors than anything else and they were done with straight foundation paints. I'm going to brighten them up a little with regular paints next...

Still to do:

The Feet - I've been looking over the best way of doing dreadnought feet and it seems heavy scuffing is the way to go... Not totally sure on the technique but it's always fun to play... ^_^

Lenses: He's got quite a few of them at eye level... I dunno whether to do them all green or a variety of colors?

The red: Touch ups and stuff still to come...

---

Head choice from last time.

Wow... Talk about varied opinions... Thanks for all the opinions though! Some people say one type looks great while others hate it... Personal flavor rules the day I guess... I'm leaning towards 6, 3 or 4... I like the simplicity of 6, the lethality of 3 and the regal bearing of 4... Maybe I should paint all three and see how they look then?

I just read through your blog, great work! Anyway, didn't he say that 4 was his least favorite.

Nice dread...

As for the heads, most are nice, but I think #8 would suit the mini well, as we don't see it much around...

Thanks guys, and yes he did say #4 was his least favorite... So no to four leaving 3 & 6...

I wasnt going to bring that up again, but yeah it is. Reminds me of what the one on there originally would look like if it got wet. Like a fluffy cat that gets depressingly small after a bath.

Haha that made me lol

Some more work on my Venerable Dreadnought.



I've had a lot of trouble applying weathering to large surfaces and edges. I either go to far and it looks messy as hell, or I don't emphasis the right points and it looks wierd. I think I've hit an ok balance with this one. There are bits which need more and some areas are conspicuously missing weathering, but overall I like how it looks. Big thanks to Brother Michael over at 40k forums for his assistance in how to do the weathering. As with everything, practice makes perfect

Overall there seems to be quite a lot still to do. Both arm units need to be completed, more weathering needs to be applied, maybe some pigment work, but from then on it's mostly detail work.

I must say he looks quite imposing with his arms on. I like it ^_^

Hi Vent, this is really nice work, I like the fact that all your colours appear very pastel, each colour works in harmony with the rest and I can see your progression from your first scout master (which is still really good by the way) to the work on your daemons which I am quite impressed with, looking forward to seeing what else you put up soon!

nerdfest09 wrote:Hi Vent, this is really nice work, I like the fact that all your colours appear very pastel, each colour works in harmony with the rest and I can see your progression from your first scout master (which is still really good by the way) to the work on your daemons which I am quite impressed with, looking forward to seeing what else you put up soon!

Thanks nerfest ^_^

I'm with nerdfest vent, the muted colors really work on him... and the head is great!

Gitsplitta wrote:I'm with nerdfest vent, the muted colors really work on him... and the head is great!

Thanks Gitsplitta. I've always painted in muted tones. Some people hate my style, but it just seems natural to me

Phew...




Finally completed my metal Venerable Dreadnought. I've been putting this off for too long and I think the final result has suffered a little bit because of it. But overall I'm quite pleased with the look. It's the first time I've really tried the weathering like this and the result, for me, is good. It's the one thing that was missing on the tank I did and the last dreadnought I painted and the fact that there is so much wasted space looks wrong, so learning the weathering technique is something I'm quite happy with, and as with all things practice will make perfect...

I was going to take the advice I was given and go with all the lenses the same color, but when I'd done all the targeting circle lenses I made the decision that the helmet lens had to be a different color. I was umming and erring about using blue or the red, but as it was going to be highlighted by the gold helmet I figured the red was the way to go. Maybe a little less bold, but more in keeping with the theme I had going...

The other thing I did a little different was really push the purity seal brightness so the vivid green really stood out. Not sure if it works and chances are I might tone them down a little later, but they really catch the eye...

Not really much else for me to say... As always I appreciate any and all comments and constructive criticism about my stuff... I'm still learning... ^_^

It is so hard to come up with anything to say that isn't WOW! The dread looks amazing. I really wish I could paint half as well.

tony_nids_10 wrote:It is so hard to come up with anything to say that isn't WOW! The dread looks amazing. I really wish I could paint half as well.

Thanks Tony. I've had various comments from people regarding him and they're mixed. Some people just don't like the miniature itself, but there has been some constructive criticism about the head which I may take on board; it'll entail a little bit more highlighting... which ill admit I have been a little slack with on this miniature... ^_^

I love it vent. I've been wanting to work on my own weathering techniques... now that I have time perhaps I'll take the plunge as well.

Looks great, weathering came out very nice. If I had to pick on thing I am not a fan of, it would be the color of the wires going into the head. Always seems like an odd spot to introduce new colors into the model to me.

Fantastic finished result! don't change your style for anyone!it's distinctive and looks great, now lets see more work! :-)

Thanks guys

Gitsplitta wrote:I love it vent. I've been wanting to work on my own weathering techniques... now that I have time perhaps I'll take the plunge as well.

You should Gitsplitta. It's surprisingly easy!

whalemusic360 wrote:Looks great, weathering came out very nice. If I had to pick on thing I am not a fan of, it would be the color of the wires going into the head. Always seems like an odd spot to introduce new colors into the model to me.

Yeah, but I have made some an effort to draw attention to the head. Someone else has said they think the gold makes the head pop out too much and it should be red, but I always like the head to be a focus point of any miniature. If there are any wires I would change though it's the ice-blue ones. They look every so slightly vivid against the rest ^_^

nerdfest09 wrote:Fantastic finished result! don't change your style for anyone!it's distinctive and looks great, now lets see more work! :-)

Thanks nerfest. Next is the shadow sanctus captain I've been putting off