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Excellent progress. I love the snow cat and chenknov
I could never do what you do...I just keep buying more and more stuff :(
All of your models are awesome

Scrazza wrote:cool guardsmen

Hopefully they will be long-lived! Ah who am I kidding, they'll all die in their first battle! But thanks.

Hans_posthumus wrote:Wow great looking mini's! Not one of them I don't like!

How did you do the snow on the gaurdsman?

Thanks Hans!

I have used several methods to create the snow effect as I've gone, and learned a bit. The basic components are baking soda (or bicarbonate of soda if you're in the UK) and white glue (I use Elmers.)

Most of the bases are built up using aid-drying clay, which is very cheap, easy to work with, and dries quickly. The downside is that it is fragile. More recently I have built the form of the snow mounds, etc, using ready-mix concrete patch. This stuff is great. It dries quickly, adds a nice weight to the model, has some texture and dries hard as rock. In the picture of the command squad below, the grenade launcher trooper has a base with air-drying clay, wheras the missile team has the concrete patch.

To begin with, I used to paint the base blue, highlight with white, and then apply a thin layer of glue and dust them with the baking soda. This made for a nice, newly-fallen deep snow effect. However, this method invariably has the problem that the soda rubs off with use, which is why it was important to have the base painted beneath it, so that it would look like frozen ice and earth under showing through.

More recently, I have discovered a more durable mix which also eliminates most of the need to paint the base. (I just leave it the base-coat grey.)

The current mix is white glue, rubbing alcohol, and baking soda, mixed into a semi-liquid paste. The alcohol is important to use instead of water, because it evaporates quickly. This is applied with a brush or stick. When dried it is hard and doesn't scrape or rub off. It lacks the granular, newly-fallen look of the dusting method, though. On the plus side, it is very durable and I have found that it can be worked with as it dries for varying effects. On the missile launcher team, you'll see that I've worked with the current alcohol paste and experiment with dusting over the top of that, to try and go for the look of new fallen snow on top of existing slush and grime. I've started using and old brush with some pigment in the bristles to mash the past to make it look muddy and grimy.

Anyhow, that's how I'm approaching it.

Command Squad:



Missile launcher with alcohol paste, pigments, and dusted with soda:

Savnock wrote:

nathonicus wrote:I have thought about magnetizing the dozer blades on the Demolishers and building little piles of enemy-specific corpses and rubble that I could swap out on a game by game basis, but that will have to wait.

WIN. That right there would win you top modeling/paint scores at pretty much any tourney you brought 'em to. Swappable kill models... awesome.

Heh. I think it would make the games really fun. It won't take quite that long, but it'll have to wait for a while. I'd need Eldar, space marines, and chaos to cover my regular oppponents.

karimabuseer wrote:Excellent progress. I love the snow cat and chenknov
I could never do what you do...I just keep buying more and more stuff :(
All of your models are awesome

Thanks! I used to be just the same... I'd buy new stuff and start new armies all the time. I finally stopped when I realized I was shopping for things I already had and had just forgotten about.

Anyhow, today I did some work on the skeletons while I was waiting for the bases to dry on the command squad:



I do love these guys. I'm amazed by the continuing improvement in plastic kits that GW has been putting out lately.

Love the banner, unique, and awesome.

Today's progress - Ordinance Officer mostly done. Need to add weathering and finish detailing on lenses and medals, and do the base. This weekend looks to be pretty busy, so I may get nothing done before Monday. :(

Looking good! That Ordinance Officer is the best Ive seen by far!

Hope you can keep up the pace! Good luck!

Edited because I can't spell

The Re-breather light bits gives it a nice contrast.

Very nice work. First time i've seen the forgeworld guys cut appart for use.

How do you do your snow method?

pretty awesome stuff there, would like to see more of the steel legion tho.

CadianXV wrote:Looking good! That Ordinance Officer is the best Ive seen by far!
Hope you can keep up the pace! Good luck!

Thanks Cadian! I am trying to paint for at least an hour before I go to work each day. The next 2 coming weekends my wife has to work Saturdays, so I'll have some little painting marathons on those days and try to tackle some of the larger projects, like putting the finishing touches on the infantry platoon (4 out of 5 squads are painted, but they all need markings).

person person wrote:The Re-breather light bits gives it a nice contrast.

Yeah, I've found with a really monochrome color scheme, the small contrasting details really help it pop.

Bascilica wrote:Very nice work. First time i've seen the forgeworld guys cut appart for use.

Thanks. I think there is a project thread over at Warseer which is a bit more detailed. That's where I got the idea.

Gutteridge wrote:How do you do your snow method?

Check out the post near the top of this page with the missile launcher team pics. I go over my current methods.

Sicarious85 wrote:pretty awesome stuff there, would like to see more of the steel legion tho.

Thanks Sicarious. The steel legion are my first love, and they are almost done. After I finish the skellies and advisors, I have about 10 lasgun guys and a Sergeant to finish in my 50 man platoon, and putting squad markings on their bases as my next project. The steel legion will get there time in the limelight!

Ridiculously close to getting the ice-world army done!

I finished off the HQ choices today. Here is the Ordnance Officer:



As usual, he has one good eye, and one that's all fethed up.

Here is the Commisar Lord I'll use alongside the Kriegsman (probably won't run him as Yarrick, but you never know):



Back view:



And finally, I forgot about this girl. She's from Dark Age minis. I just removed her weapons and did a hand swap on one side to turn her into a "Primaris Psyker" (*cough*Jedi*cough*) for use with my carapace vets. Eventually the goal is to have an army of the Kasrkin models painted white, led by 2 primaris psykers and deploying via Valkries for a "Clone Strike" army. THAT project is a ways away!



These paint jobs are pretty quick, but I'd rather have nice clean, but simple models than all the unpainted ones I do now.

After finishing these guys up, I pulled the last 10 of the Steel Legion Infantry platoon and got their exposed flesh painted, but that was it before it was time to go. Hopefully I'll finish those 10 guys by the end of the week, and then Saturday I can get the whole platoon marked and sealed. (And do any touch ups neccessary.)

I don't know if its the camera or your painting style, but the paint looks a little bit grainy in places like its being applied too thickly (on the face of that bottom pic in particular). I like the models though .

get to the chopper! wrote:I don't know if its the camera or your painting style, but the paint looks a little bit grainy in places like its being applied too thickly (on the face of that bottom pic in particular). I like the models though .

Get to da choppa!!!! Ha. I was just listening to Austrian Death Machine as I saw your post.

You're right. Sometimes I don't dilute my paint enough if I'm in a hurry, and that makes the finish "furry".

This was also the 2nd time her face had been painted. In other places it might be the camera. I also drybrush a lot.

I'd never even heard of Austrian Death Machine until I read that post - youtubed them and they're awesome .

This is where I got my name from.

get to the chopper! wrote:I'd never even heard of Austrian Death Machine until I read that post - youtubed them and they're awesome .

This is where I got my name from.

Another convert! Excellent. It's amazing how much entertainment value Arnie continues to provide the world.

Yesterday I had breakfast with my Mom in the morning, so no painting before work. And my Space Hulk night got cancelled. So it was a sadly game-free day. (Though I did rent "Drag Me to Hell" which somewhat made up for not being able to play SH.)

Anyhow, this morning I overslept, so once again, minimal nerd output, but I did at least get a flesh wash and base leather color on the remaining 10 Steel Legion troopers. Here's the WIP:



I'm still going to try and finish this squad before the weekend is over, and get the whole platoon organized and touched up.

Lookin good

Person Person, thanks for the encouragement!

Alright, slacked a bit this morning, but still got at least a coat of white on all 10 guys. When this army is done, I seriously never want to paint a white uniform again. And much as I love the steel legion models, they are really difficult to paint quickly because of all the straps for the suspenders, ammo, goggles, etc.



I did also manage to finish the green stuff on my bits-box Sly Marbo figure. I had to give Guardsman Marbo a sleeved jacket for his work in the cold wastes.



What are people's thoughts are putting Marbo on a termi-sized base? I'd kind of like to give him a little bit of scenery to stand on, and a fallen victim. Since he operates on his own all the time, I don't see it causing a problem in games. If anything, it would make him easier to hit/ attack in cc. Thoughts?

Cheers,

Cheers,

I think your a good man if you do, and I dont think any opponent would complain of a bigger base honestly. If they do tell them to think about it that they would have an easier time killing him.

You model the demo charge?

Yeah, I think I will go ahead and use a large base for him. I doubt it will ever be an issue.

p2, I didn't model the demo charge - I figure he's already planted it somewhere sneaky.

Ok, I finished up the last 10 Steel Legion troopers and now the 55 man platoon is nearly complete!




While I was waiting for the Dull Cote to dry on these guys, I got out the rest of the platoon and redid some of the snow on a few models.



And some close ups:











Now all I need to do is a few touch ups, some details like power-packs for the las cannons, and a fresh cote of Dull Cote, and the platoon is DONE. Hopefully I can finish these guys up tomorrow morning.

I think some blodd in the snow would look good.

other wise you rock,

DC

I just love how you painted the visors of your guard. Could you get a close-up on those?

For the rest, really nice awesome mini's!

Looking good! Hows the overall plan going?

Great visors

First of all good luck with your mission. I must say my favourite is the converted Chimera, followed very closely by the Valhallan platoon. They look bloody excellent, especially the weathering and snow effects which really enhance the look. Well done and keep going.

Nice work, really love this blog. Been following it for quite a while now.
I just love your paint scheme, but have you ever tried to apply some blue wash over the white clothes, and then drybrushed white again? I think it will make them stand out much more. Otherwise, keep up the awesome work!

/Leaf

deadly chicken wrote:I think some blodd in the snow would look good.

other wise you rock,

DC

Thanks! I'm saving the blood on the snow for my Khorne Mortals, though. A lot of the infantry have rusted ruins or mud on the base to provide contrast, which you can see in the following pics.

Hans_posthumus wrote:I just love how you painted the visors of your guard. Could you get a close-up on those?

For the rest, really nice awesome mini's!

Thanks Hans. I have trouble getting close ups with my camera, but maybe some will be visible in this next batch.

CadianXV wrote:Looking good! Hows the overall plan going?

Dude, I am so close to finishing this army I can TASTE IT! Finishing a whole platoon is exhillirating.

person person wrote:Great visors

Hey, thanks! The paint I use for them is a vallejo, and I think because of it's consistency it blends really well which makes it great for visors/glass. I used the same blue on the Seargh Light on the Snow Cat.

Ebsolom Dhaark wrote:First of all good luck with your mission. I must say my favourite is the converted Chimera, followed very closely by the Valhallan platoon. They look bloody excellent, especially the weathering and snow effects which really enhance the look. Well done and keep going.

Thank you very much. I got to painting the Valhallans after I had warmed up a while on the Steel Legion, but before I was sick of painting white, so I think they got the better paint jobs. I'm glad you like the tank, it is one of my favorite pieces, too.

TheHolyLeaf wrote:Nice work, really love this blog. Been following it for quite a while now.
I just love your paint scheme, but have you ever tried to apply some blue wash over the white clothes, and then drybrushed white again? I think it will make them stand out much more. Otherwise, keep up the awesome work!
/Leaf

Thanks very much! When I started painting these guys, I spent a lot more time layering up from battleship grey to fortress, codex, then white, so the uniforms on the early guys have more of a grey tinge. Then I got really, really tired of doing that and went from grey under coat pretty much straight to white with a little badab black in the recesses, and mud and grime splatters for contrast.
I think the blue wash is a good idea, but I want the blue on the visors to stand out more, and I really don't care for blue as a shader for white for the most part. It can look really good, but it's just not for me. It looks to crystalline and clean. I want this guys lookin' dirty and grimy!

Ok, on to the pics. I finally finished the platoon today, put new snow on a bunch of guys, put on details like the power packs for the lascannons, and now I am calling it DONE. I think I picked up my first Steel Legion guys about 2 years ago, and now they are all painted! I sprayed them with Dull Cote and I am turning the page.

Here are some selected guys:
Heavy Weapons Squad 1:



I used to put these guys in platoons and the lascannons in squads, until I saw how quickly HW teams die under the new codex.





Another Heavy Weapon team, mixed HB and AC. Also a Tau advisor snuck in there.



These HB teams are what got me to buy my first Steel Legion guys about 7 years ago, from which I built my 3rd edition army (then sold it. :( )I love those models.

And a close-up of some of my favorite models from my "suicide squad". Before the 4th ed. codex, I ran these guys as 10 men with a grenade launcher and nothing else, and they would charge out into no-man's land to grasp an objective, shield another unit, or serve as bait. Ah, the brave, brave men of my suicide squad. How many times they died.



Ok, with those guys down I have only 3 units left to paint in my ice-world army: Sly, and 2 squads of carapace vets. Of those 20 carapace vets, both sergeants and about 6 guys are already finished, as I used to run them as six-man vet squads. Anyhow, below are some wippies of them on my paint tray ready to be finished. They already have base colors on them, so I can take my time and detail them. This morning I clipped the ones off their bases who were on plain bases and added ready-concrete filler and bits of COD terrain for more texture.





When these 21 models are complete, I am calling this army done! (And then I can paint something other than white! Yeah!)

Nice to know your almost done.

White on Kasrkin look awesome.

nathonicus wrote:When I started painting these guys, I spent a lot more time layering up from battleship grey to fortress, codex, then white, so the uniforms on the early guys have more of a grey tinge. Then I got really, really tired of doing that and went from grey under coat pretty much straight to white with a little badab black in the recesses...

That's pretty much me. I want things to go fast. And when you have done the first few steps on the armour, it feels a lot easier to continue paitnting, and eventually, finishing it.
And now that you mention that the glasses wont pop out if blue wash is used, I see your point for why not to use it.
Also, congrats on your almost finished army.

person person wrote:White on Kasrkin look awesome.

Indeed. Totally agree!

/Leaf

Glad you like the Kasrkin. The white makes them look like storm/clone troopers, which was my original intent for them, back when I used to run a whole bunch of sanctioned psykers as Jedi. I was going to paint the armor with color stripes, like the clone troopers, but couldn't really find a way to do that and not have it look like big "shoot me" marks given the coloration of the rest of the army.

I got most of the first squad done today, just need some detailing. Unfortunately, I left my camera cable at home, so no pics.

You know, it's very strange. I love the way the Kasrkin look, but for some reason, I really don't like painting them. It may be that they have so many levels of cloth, plate, wires and doo dadds, that they are still confusing to me. I don't know.

I think I might have to tackle finishing the unit one model at a time, rather than production-lining to get the most out of them.

In other news, I assembled and primered my Sister of Battle Cannoness that I got from Savnock (thank you very much) and am looking forward to painting her because I need a break from White.

More tomorrow. Cheers.