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This week I've been stripping down, magnetising/rebuilding and finally basecoating everything I've got for the Deathwing.



This is my progress so far
Theres a Land Raider Crusader to build and basecoat too.... more on that later (I need to go get yet another can of the khaki spray can I used)

Its took me almost 2 full cans of Halfords Khaki Camouflage paint to get the coverage on these guys (Every thing has had 2 coats). Plan to wash and airbrush highlight them all pretty quick style, and then get the paint brush out for detailing.

Im short a few Crux pads, but theyre on the way, I ordered 10 the other night on ebay.

One thing I'm not 100% with atm is how to make the Cyclone Launchers swapable? Magnets seem a bit big, Thinking about a pin thats not glued in on one side. But it would leave a hole in the top of the guy when not using it? any one got a better suggestion?

I must admit, if I had to do it I would go with your original plan of magnetising. Make them nice and flush so when not wearing the launcher it looks normal.

Looking forward to seeing your progress

Yeah, I've manged that style of magnetising for a hunter killer mounted to a predators hull. But am feeling that the cyclone launcher itself is perhaps too small to mount my magnets into. (the bit where it joins the armour atleast - the launcher is plenty big as a whole)
I've got 3mm by 1.5 mm disc, used to have some 2mm by 1mm discs, but ran out a while back

I might just order some, 1mm ones maybe? Although Id like to be able to lift the mini by it for use in gaming - no one wants a cyclone that falls off everytime you touch the model.

Or just use pins... its only 2 launchers, so only 2 models than need to have the hole for them.

.... just realising that I can use a pin for now as a temporary measure and if need be rip it out and mount magnets later lol, Although I wouldn't be keen on the touch up by the time Ive washed, and airbrush highlighted this sprayed khaki colour.


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Quick test to select a wash colour. I grabbed 3 similar objects in the bits box to test opn, quickly sprayed them up, dryed them with a hair dryer, and made up three washes in the three colours shown.






What do we think? I might make a 4th test of transparent umber and transparent raw sienna mixed together.


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Quick colour comparison for the khaki spray I've used.

The terminator pad with the half sword, stripe and little skull on is the khaki spray.
The other three are, painted (from bare plastic in a couple of nasty thick coats; just for a quick test) in the paints in the picture.



This is the particular spray I've used. I'l be getting a third can for spraying the Land Raider soon as the dregs of my 2nd can on this project, Im not confident is enough.
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_800811_langId_-1_categoryId_165495
Its not strictly a primer, its a paint, But many are familiar with the Halford Matt Black and it does okay. I would do a coat of the grey primer on a metal model just to ensure good adhesion, but these are all plastic. It'le be all good, especially with a final clear coat.

I wish they'd do this one in the 500ml cans that a lot of the other ones come in, but its a niche thing, I believe they intend you to use to put cammo on things like paintball guns with the 4 colours in the range. I However just liked the khaki one for a change to white, grey and black.


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Yet more samples of wash been done;



From left to right mounted on the corks we've got;

Liquitex Carbon Black
Liquitex Transparent Raw Umber
Liquitex Transparent Raw Umber / Transparent Raw Sienna (mixed 1:2 respectively)
Liquitex Transparent Raw SIenna
Windsor & Newton Galeria Burnt Umber

Then the two below;

Liquitex Yellow Oxide
Windsor & Newton Burnt Sienna

I've got my fav already I think, but I thought I'd ask the community.
I'l mix up a batch large enough to do the entire 30ish termies and dreads, and save some for the tank... maybe even write down the recipe hehe.

I want think the raw umber is the way forward dude, its got depth in the colour without being either to bright or dark. Seeing the colour I want some now for my spacewolves and orks lol.

I would agree mate, raw umber seems the best to me too.

With regards to the 1mm magnets. I used some on my tau army. Man those are awkward to use!!!! Sooooo small, but.. They do the job nicely.

 Boss Drachenfels wrote:
I would agree mate, raw umber seems the best to me too.

With regards to the 1mm magnets. I used some on my tau army. Man those are awkward to use!!!! Sooooo small, but.. They do the job nicely.

Agreed.

For highlighting I was thinking you could try dusting it with a white spray.

Thanks for the input guys.

Yeah I was leaning towards Raw Umber too!
The others are all a bit too red or too yellow in hue methinks. And the Black just killed off any idea of beige that was going on. (remember though these are over a khaki coloured base, rather than the white that would be the norm for a wash test)

Those tester empire gunners, were just primed and washed.
The Terminators will be getting an airbrush highlighting, and then a wash, and then a final highlight. I'm thinking Screaming Skull, sprayed at a 45degree downwards angle all around them, and then white (perhaps 50-50 white and screaming skull) sprayed from the very top. And then the wash (dunno if its worth being careful with the wash, or just dousing the mini in it and wicking up any pooling as was done on the testers - to reduce the overall tinting of my off white and just get the recess shading - maybe wash now and then spray highlights? .)
Followed up by an edge highlight with a little paint brush.
And then detailing.
The wash is going to leave them a bit more dull and more neutral than the typical bright white style of the GW studio ones.

I do have a can of white primer here though... For quick, easy no mess work I might do yet another tester of the khaki basecoat, with a 45 degree spray with Halfords white, and then awash ... if only to save me cleaning up the airbrush it maybe worth it...... Will delve into the bits box and grab something else to test with; I'm sure i seen a couple of retro early 90's plastic beastmen in there.

Edit (again ) ;
Just popped down to the shop again to grab yet another can, was going to get 2 but it seems I've depleted the stock and there was only 1 remaining on the shelf ! tradgedy! hehe restock in a week or so, I checked with the staff.
My new plan of action is the following;
Ink wash all of them with the Raw Umber ink like I did in my test empire gunners. Then once I've gone through the whole lot, which will take a while as I like to hang them upside down while the ink drys,
And then return to the shed with the khaki spray (exact same colour as the base coat) and spray that one in a downwards 45 degree trend to create some shading with the darkened ink wash layer.
Then get the airbrush out with some thinned Citadel Screaming skull to apply the lightest highlights from above.
Then get a paint brush and some white, or perhaps 50-50 Screaming Skull and white. to do the hard edges. (maybe a drybrushing to be faster.... dunno if the dusty drybrushing will ruin the effect or not yet)


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It has begun!
Thus far the project has taken me since Thursday evening (so 3.5 days working for a couple hours each day) To strip, magnetise & rebuild, prime & base coat, and begin to wash these models.

Here's where I'm at now, Applying the wash I mixed up; I used an empty Liquitex Ink Bottle, Half filled it (ish ; to the line i drew on it) with matte medium, then to the first line of the bottles neck with flow aid + water. Then added ink 30 drops at a time untill I was happy with the intensity, turned out it was 90 drops. (the bottle is a 30ml)



Because of needing to hold the mini's upside down while the wash dry's this is going to take a while. I've got 6 corks, and this helping hand clip thingy.
The corks really conveniently sit upside down atop the Liquitex Ink bottles Liking that hehehe!

Waiting on the first batch to dry before mounting another batch onto the corks.. All the arms and weaponry will probably get stuck onto something metal and held up with the claw arm thing.

*Have requested that this thread be moved to P&M Blogs, as it is now loooking like I'l follow this one through step by step.* (If you were following it and then it vanishes, that is likely why)

:( Tragedy has struck on this project!

Foolishly I mixed that wash a bit thick, and hastily applied it to everyone, and all the pieces then went to bed and let it dry.
And Now I'm rather unhappy with the results, there are thick bits where there is clearly far too much medium in the mix.
So I'm stripping them ... again!
Ahh well, lesson learned, always do a test piece with a new mix! (I don't usualy mix such a quantity and got it a bit off hehe)

To save me some coins on buying yet more cans of the khaki spray. I've decided I'm going to prime grey, Airbrush brown all over (mostly from underneath), then airbrush or use the khaki spray can at the downwards ish 45degree angle all around, airbrush some highlights in a pale bone colour. and then a careful wash, I might try oil washing never tried that before hehe.

Almost back to square one!



Have got 95% of it off with a first round of fairy power spray soaked for about an hour, and then lightly scrubbed with a toothbrush and rinsed.
Then a second round of being dipped into some 99% Isopropyl alcohol and lightly brushed with a stiff bristled paintbrush. And finally blowing them dry with my airbrush (no paint )

The wash that I felt I had to remove is rather stubborn! :( hehe, serves me right. They just need another going over to get the little clumps that remain off them and I'l be good to go.

New plan of action is to prime grey, Airbrush with some thinned out Citadel Zandri Dust, And highlight/blend with some airbrushed Citadel Screaming Skull, and if necessary a light spray of a raw umber ink glaze, and a second pass with screaming skull. Perhaps using the can of khaki spray as the middle colour between the two... i dunno yet test piece to come hehe.

Hopefully get a test piece up tomorrow... or at least make a start on one... for now though, its off to work for me :( hehe

btw the finecast belial figure, has stripped okay, using just 99% IPA, he needs a bit more going over than the rest mind you, and has suffered a tiny amount of warping on his cloak... I did leave a piece of finecast sprue in the alcohol for 5+hours and it didnt deform or go any softer than finecast is usually. Have been wary not to scrub too hard on this one... bit of a head ache, but it is working.

Lil update for today.
Progress slowed a bit this week as I've been busy with life a bit



Got them all stripped again, clean up, attached the crux pads that were on order.Drilled holes for the cyclone launchers to mount onto with pins for two guys. And then sprayed them all with Halfords Grey Primer.

Its now too late in the day for me to run the airbrush on account of the compressors noise, So maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday, I hope to airbrush the base colour, and maybe even the innitial highlights. Zandri Dust base colour, then Im' undecided if I should use the can of Halfords Khaki spray (the colour I used first up and then removed after I wrecked them with a bad wash), or just use Screaming Skull, or Ushabti Bone followed by Screaming Skull. After that... maybe a light dusting of white, or 50-50 white and screaming skull. and a wash, probably the same Raw Umber I failed at previously; just need to be a lot more careful when mixing it up.

I'l probably spray some test models first, plenty more stuff in the bits box that doesnt matter much

The Chaplain, will get black armour with a bone white right shoulder pad (the one with DA imagery on)
Once these guys have been painted, I'l be looking to make a Librarian in Terminator armour to go with these guys, and maybe a plastic kitbash for Belial; the finecast model I have is bloody awful! Rather regret purchasing it (although I did discover that finecast strips okay with 99.9% IPA and Fairy Power Spray both did nothing to it). (The Ravenwing Command Squad contains a nice looking sword that looks so much more posh than what they sculpted on Belial, with engravings about Caliban something something along it.)
I've been wondering how to get a psychic hood for the Libby, Grey knights terminator torso rear piece? Anyone know if those guys psychic hoods look the part for a full on Librarian? Or do they look a bit piddly?
Thinking about that torso rear, with a Deathwing knights robed torso front and ornamental legs, Force weapon could be made from the same piece that I made the Chaplains Crozius out of; the Deathwing Knight Sgt's flail things handle, Just need a suitable staff topper.
Adding books, scrolls and keys(DA characters all have keys to the depths of the Rock; presumably containing the secrets of the fallen and the heresy - the latest codex actually let us know that Luthor and the Lion are both in stasis deep within the Rock) might be tricky for me though.

If you haven't figured out a way to magnetize the cyclone, have you considered just using poster tack? Drill a tiny hole in the bottom of the launcher and put just enough in the bottom to stick it o the top of the termi. It won't damage the paint, and you can swap on the fly.

Made a little progress this evening
I spent maybe 2 hours airbrushing a base coat of Zandri Dust, some of the arms and weapon bits need another coat I think, But I'm happy with the results, no mishaps so far! hehe





I've dug out 3 of the old SM biker torso pieces from the bits box, these will be my test pieces. Il get all three upto the same stage of base coated in Zandri Dust and then try three different ways of highlighting them.
A; airbrush with Screaming Skull, then 50-50 mix of white and Screaming Skull bright spots.
B; use a can of Halfords Khaki Ultramatt Spray to do a roughly applied mid tone generally downwards on every piece, and then airbrush Screaming Skull bright spots.
C; airbrush Usbhabti bone, and then the Screaming Skull bright spots.

All with a wash of the Raw Umber Liquitex ink afterwards... or I'l be patient and try an oil wash in the week when I can pop to town for a tube of paint, spirits and a can of gloss lacquer.

Theophony; I have already drilled holes and mounted pins in just two of the guys, seems to work alright. It will do

Edit; Lol Kinda feels like ive been going in circles lately finally back upto the same stage as the first pic of the thread!! Only Zandri Dust is a bit more saturated and dark than the spray first used. Heres hoping this time around goes a bit better.

Got my colour testers done
I didn't spend too long doing these... the actual job would be a bit neater and more carefully done.

First up, all three basecaoted in Zandri Dust, next to one of the Terminators to be done.


Then I sprayed a lighter tone at each one; from left to right they were;
Screaming Skull, folowed by Screaming Skull mixed with Skull White.
Halfords Khaki Spraypaint, Followed By Screaming Skull
Ushabti Bone, Followed by Screaming Skull


Then Applied an ink wash. Just one layer, although I think it could do with two. Liquitex Raw Umber Ink, Mixed With Liquitex Matt Medium and flow aid.


When this wash has dried off a bit, I'l try another layer and post a pic of that too Which gives me some time to decide which I like best.

So I spent a few hours each day for the passed 3 (today included) spraying these up. Still need to apply the wash, but want to give the airbrushing time to cure a bit.

On Sunday evening, I sprayed all pieces with Zandri Dust.
On Monday I sprayed Screaming Skull in a downwards trend, not being too fussy aslong as it was generally lighter to the top.
And this afternoon I sprayed Screaming Skull with some Liquitex Titanium White mixed in, and then Titanium White on its own.







I was being hasty, so all the highlights arent perfect,They really pop out a bit more after the wash though. I'l wait and see.
Final highlights will be an edge highlight, maybe a drybrush if im feeling lazy; not trying to win any golden demon awards here, just get them painted up quickly and reasonably (especially as the old style of layering white with a brush was taking far far far too long )

Been a busy week, not got a huge amount done regarding hobby :(
I did manage to make a start on the bases, and to begin putting down base colours on some terminators.



The bases are textured with spare bits of models, smashed up slate, sand, and Windsor and Newton Galeria mineral Texture Gel, Primed with black Gesso with a little bit of white mixed in to make a dark grey.



On the figures themselves, I've been through the entire batch, washed with Liquitex Transparent Raw Umber ink, Drybrushed with Screaming Skull, and then dryrbushed again with Praxeti White (I'm not a fan of the dry paints... but I have a few that I'm trying to use up and get rid of hehe)
Then on these 5 (the command squad) I have started to base the golds out with Balthasar Gold mixed with some Ultramatt medium.
The apothercary head was simple left out fo the brown wash, and washed black instead, then drybrushed Praxeti White so far. I might brighten it up with Ceramite White later.

WOW these look great, I love the way you experimented with different paints and washes, great job so far, I cant wait to see more.

Its also good to see somone with a painting/modeling station as clutterd as mine