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Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Annandale, VA

Hi all, I had the fortuitous timing to invest in a decent number of Chaos Renegade Militia from Forge World right before they went out of production. Whoops.

So, I'm building towards a 1k pt list to start with, using Astra Militarum with the Catachan doctrine as I find the current Renegades & Heretics list incredibly disappointing.

For colors, I was heavily inspired by the Renegade Militia of a player by the handle of 'Mika' about ten years ago. Their models used a mixture of green, greys, and browns to produce a motley appearance while still tying the models together with a unified palette. For my guys, I made some simple rules:
-If the model has a tunic (extending down to the thighs), it gets painted green, to look like a military uniform. If it does not have a tunic, then its shirt/coat is painted a non-green.
-Pants are a roughly 50/50 mix of green and non-green.
-Hoods are green if the rest of the model has no green, otherwise they're non-green.

With those rules in place, I took a Heavy Stubber team and three of the five models from the Command Squad, to test colors and paint technique:








I was quite happy with this test, so proceeded with the remaining two models from the command squad. I decided I wanted the commander to serve as a counts-as Straken, so I gave him an appropriate cap, replaced his chainsword arm with a bionic hand and scratchbuilt knife, and added a double-barreled shotgun made from plastic stock/tubing and a Krieg lasgun:



And painted up:



If you look closely on the banner, you may be able to see how the paint wrinkled when I applied a wash to it. I believe this was due to inadequate preparation of the resin, despite vigorous scrubbing with soap. For future models, I gave them a dusting of Testor's Dullcote before applying primer, and switched from brush-on gesso primer to airbrushed Badger Stynylrez, and it seems to have solved the problem.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Next up, the basic infantry. I'm using Forge World's Renegade Militia conversion set (torsos + heads) and Renegade Militia weapon arms (the arms), which left just the legs to sort out. Typically, I've seen them completed with Cadian legs, so I bought some Cadian legs from eBay and started assembling them. However, when I put the models with Cadian legs next to the FW complete models like the Command Squad and Heavy Stubber team, it became apparent that they didn't really match up. The Renegade Militia models are much closer to truescale compared to the chunky, 'heroic'-scaled Cadians, and it seemed a shame that the details on the Cadian legs were not up to the standards of the rest of the models.

So I started looking for alternatives, and ran across Victoria Miniatures. Their Arcadian legs looked very similar to the Cadians stylistically, but with better proportions. I decided to take a gamble and order a mix of Arcadian legs and Combat legs. Here's a set of Arcadian legs next to their Cadian equivalent:



There's a slight optical illusion in the picture- the Arcadian legs are leaning back due to flash on the bottom, so they appear to be taller than the Cadian legs. In actuality they're exactly the same height and exactly the same pose, but the Arcadian legs have more detail and slimmer proportions.

They're more expensive, too, at $16 for 10 sets of legs, but with the current price of Cadian legs on eBay being upwards of $12 per 10 sets, it seemed well worth it. The Combat legs are also interesting in that they're the exact same sculpts as the Arcadian legs, just without a tunic, so the two styles mix readily.

I also decided to add some armor plating, to better match the other sculpts. The Renegade Militia Command Squad has four normal troopers, with varying mixes of homemade groin armor plates and kneepads. I used plastic card and putty to add some plates to my infantry.

Also, after painting the command squad, I decided I was rapidly getting sick of trying to get an even coat of Vallejo Model Color Natural Steel, so I elected to try out the Vallejo Metal Color range. I used a 50/50 mix of Metal Color Steel and Metal Color Silver. It provided perfect, smooth coverage in one coat, and while the end result came out a little darker than the previous recipe, I think it looks a little better.

Here's the first squad of eight, completed by the addition of the previously-painted Heavy Stubber team:






(Oh, I should mention- I'm counting the awesome Heavy Stubber team as Heavy Bolters for gameplay purposes. It seems more fitting, considering how enormous the weapon is compared to the one-man ones used by GSC and Chaos cultists)


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And lastly for tonight, here's a tutorial on the method I devised for painting this guys, because I'm still surprised at how well they turned out for how little effort I put into them.

I started, as mentioned before, by scrubbing the models with soap and water, letting them dry, giving them a light dusting of Testor's Dullcote, letting them dry again, and then finally airbrushing on a thin coat of grey Badger Stynylrez. And then letting them dry.



First, I apply the base green uniform color, since this dictates the color choices for the rest of the clothing, and the base brown color of the mud, because it's easy:



Followed by the rest of the base colors (exact list at the end of the post):



So, with all the base colors in place, I do a single round of highlights on everything but the leather and the base. No blending, no glazing, no mixing, just quick and dirty rough highlights using a lighter paint:



Next, I wash the leather using Vallejo Smoke, which is more akin to a technical effect than a traditional paint, and the metal with a mix of Smoke and Black Glaze. This provides a bit of shading, but mostly gives a gritty look to the leather and a worn, oxidized look to the metal:



Now the magic- Vallejo Black Glaze, which despite the misleading name is my absolute favorite wash. It's dark enough to shade effectively, thin enough to settle in the recesses, and viscous enough to have a slight darkening effect all over but leave edges more or less untouched. I apply this stuff all over the models, but one section at a time so that I can prevent pooling. It provides shading and ties the sloppy highlights into the base colors:



At this point, only details remain. I paint the eyes through a simple process (fill eye socket with light orange, dot center white, fill eye socket with transparent orange, wick away until the center dot is just visible), paint the plasma coils with a couple of orange washes over white, and drybrush the base with a lighter brown:



And just the varnishing and final touches. Soak with Testor's Glosscote, spray with Testor's Dullcote, glue on grass tufts, dust the models with AK Interactive Ultra Matte through an airbrush until they're consistently matte, and lastly use some Pledge Floor Finish mixed with dark brown ink to make puddles on the bases:



That's it.

Full paints list:
(All non-metallics are Vallejo Model Color, all metallics are Vallejo Metal Color)

Green cloth- Grey Green (886), highlight Pastel Green, wash 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Brown cloth- German Cam. Med Brown, highlight Cork Brown, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Light grey cloth- Light Grey, highlight White, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Grey cloth- Neutral Grey, highlight Light Grey, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Dark grey cloth- Dark Grey, highlight Neutral Grey, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Hoses- Dark Grey, drybrush Neutral Grey, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Metal- 1:1 Steel/Silver, drybrush/highlight Silver, wash 4:1:1 water/Black Glaze/Smoke, 2:1 water/Black Glaze
Leather- 1:1 Flat Brown/Cork Brown, wash 1:1 water/Smoke, 2:1 water/Black Glaze

Mud- Flat Brown, wash 2:1 water/Black Glaze, Drybrush German Cam. Medium Brown

Plasma- White, wash 1:1 Transparent Orange/water (repeat until 3-4 layers reached)
Lenses- Light Orange, dot White, wash 1:1 water/Transparent Orange (wick off excess until the dot of white is just visible)

Puddles- Wash 2:1 Pledge Floor Shine/Secret Weapon Armor Wash (any dark wash will do)

Hope this is useful, and I'll have more models up over the next couple of weeks. All C&C appreciated, and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

This message was edited 10 times. Last update was at 2020/08/20 22:47:17


   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Annandale, VA

Well, thanks to moving into a new house it's been a delayed update. Since the initial post I've gotten the Renegades fully assembled.



As stated before this is a 1000pt list using the Catachan rules. It broadly consists of:
-Straken
-Company Commander
-Priest
-4 Infantry Squads (2 with flamer, 2 with plasma/heavy bolter)
-3 Bullgryns (with Brute Shield, as the 4+ invuln seems a good analogue for combat drugs)
-Hellhound
-Leman Russ
-Leman Russ Annihilator

However, I also have decided to continue with assembling and painting a Death Korps army I initially bought over a decade ago, and thus have renamed the thread.

Here's what I have assembled so far. With the addition of another Earthshaker (and 3 more crewmen), it should constitute a decent 1000pt list under the Death Korps rules.



The list is:
-2 Field Officers
-1 Marshal
-3 Infantry Squads (plasma)
-10 Engineers with a Hades mining drill
-5 Death Riders
-5 Grenadiers (2 flamers, heavy flamer) in a Centaur
-2 Earthshakers
-Cyclops demolition vehicle
-2 Heavy weapon squads (one all twin heavy stubbers, the other all heavy bolters)

While I've painted some of the Death Korps already (as seen in the image), the layering recipe I used for them was a little slower than what I'd optimally like, so I elected to paint a test model using the same quick-and-dirty method as the Renegade Militia. I think it came out pretty well and will make a good counterpart to the Renegades.



That's all for now, more to come.

   
Made in nl
Regular Dakkanaut




Look great for such a simple recipe!
Looking forward to seeing more of your work :-)
   
Made in gb
Angry Chaos Agitator





That's a great looking colour scheme! I love how grimy it is.

The Straken conversion is very nice too.
   
Made in gb
Executing Exarch





London, UK

These look fantastic, I'm always a fan of DKoK but its really interesting to see these renegades. Following to see what you do next!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/09/24 00:06:51


   
Made in au
Fixture of Dakka





Melbourne

Absolutely fantastic armies, mate. Your method of painting the renegades, combined with your 3 rules is super effective in execution.

Digging your natty Straken conversion too. The sawn of shotgun is quite subtle.
Not much more to say other then it's a great looking traitor force you have assembled. Same goes for the DKoK too. But they hold less appeal to me then the renegades do.


I too picked up a squad of militia and the ogryn boss, when they were LCTB and i've regretted not getting another set or two of the militia torso and the command squad/enforcer pack ever since, as they are fantastic sculpts. Guess i'll have to just scour ebay for some.
Good choice on using Victoria Minis legs. They match up really nice with the militia torsos.
For future reference (if you're not already aware of them) Mad Robot Miniatures do some good leg sets too!

Here's a few i've been considering using for my renegades.
Spoiler:

Anvil Industries might also be worth a look too. They mostly do more high tech looking stuff, but they have a few civilian legs too if you wanted to add some non-military style guys to your force.


A question regarding your paints though. What brand of gesso do you use for undecoating? And how do you apply it? I've played around with using gesso but the results i've had are.... lacklustre at best.

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Made in gb
Lone Wolf Sentinel Pilot





Coventry

Wow, excellent colour schemes and execution in their application.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Annandale, VA

Thanks all the for the kind words- I tend to experiment a lot with technique and procedure in painting, so I'm glad to hear that in this case it's been worthwhile.

 Snrub wrote:
Good choice on using Victoria Minis legs. They match up really nice with the militia torsos.
For future reference (if you're not already aware of them) Mad Robot Miniatures do some good leg sets too!

Here's a few i've been considering using for my renegades.
Spoiler:

Anvil Industries might also be worth a look too. They mostly do more high tech looking stuff, but they have a few civilian legs too if you wanted to add some non-military style guys to your force.


Huh, if I'd known about those totally-not-Blood Pact legs I might have gotten a bunch of those. The nice thing about the Arcadian legs, at least, is that they're close enough to Cadian to pass for GW at first glance. Around here my best place to play is a GW store, so using bits that can fly under the radar is helpful.

 Snrub wrote:
A question regarding your paints though. What brand of gesso do you use for undecoating? And how do you apply it? I've played around with using gesso but the results i've had are.... lacklustre at best.


I used Liquitex grey gesso, thinned slightly with water. I've found that clear gessos are too gritty, and the white ones don't cover very well without the addition of some black paint as a binder. At the same time, undiluted gesso is too thick and tends to form bubbles, but thinning the gesso too much compromises its coverage. So, grey gesso diluted with just a bit of water (about 2:1) is about optimal, applied by slathering it all over the model with a large brush, and then using the same brush to wipe away the excess and flatten any bubbles that formed.

Now, though, I've switched to airbrushing on Badger Stynylrez (who came up with that name?), as it's much quicker to get a smooth coat of primer. I haven't tried applying the stuff with a brush, but I suspect it would work fine (and the instructions say you can). It's water-based and pre-thinned so easy to work with, and a pretty good value in terms of volume for the price.

   
Made in us
Giggling Nurgling




cold darkness of the far north

This is great!,

"Do you hear something in the hold?" Frigate Einstein circa M31 
   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User




A great pair of armies, cheers for the tutorial also
   
Made in au
Fixture of Dakka





Melbourne

catbarf wrote:
I used Liquitex grey gesso, thinned slightly with water. I've found that clear gessos are too gritty, and the white ones don't cover very well without the addition of some black paint as a binder. At the same time, undiluted gesso is too thick and tends to form bubbles, but thinning the gesso too much compromises its coverage. So, grey gesso diluted with just a bit of water (about 2:1) is about optimal, applied by slathering it all over the model with a large brush, and then using the same brush to wipe away the excess and flatten any bubbles that formed.

Now, though, I've switched to airbrushing on Badger Stynylrez (who came up with that name?), as it's much quicker to get a smooth coat of primer. I haven't tried applying the stuff with a brush, but I suspect it would work fine (and the instructions say you can). It's water-based and pre-thinned so easy to work with, and a pretty good value in terms of volume for the price.
The stuff i've used previously is a tub of Mont Martes black gesso primer. It does fine for terrain, and works well enough when watered down for undercoating bases. But it's probably not as good as the high end liquitex stuff is.
But yes, as you say, suffers from coverage issues if thinned too much, which I think you need too do to paint actual miniatures with it.

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Made in us
Been Around the Block




Wanted to pop in and say how much I love those Renegades. I always felt like they were near perfect designs and it was a shame that they never seemed to get the same love and attention from the community that the DKoK received. I had long wanted to put together an army myself, using the FW torsos and legs/arms from a 3rd party manufacturer, but FW discontinuing the line put an end to those dreams. Looking forward to seeing more, keep up the good work!
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Annandale, VA

I had a go at painting up a squad of Death Korps. In the process I also experimented with a new-to-me technique of applying gloss varnish before the all-over wash.

Here's the full squad:



Now, one of the models in the back, second from the right, was done without this gloss layer, just like how I did the Renegades. Here's a side-by-side of with the gloss layer (left) and without (right):



The varnish appeared to do exactly as expected: The wash flowed more readily into the recesses, staining the raised/flat areas less.

However, as an unsurprising consequence, this means the highlights are less blended into the basecoat, and the shading is noticeably sharper in the recesses. In other words, it behaves a little more like a traditional blacklining wash, and less like the one-step magic that I love Vallejo's Black Glaze for.

So, I'm a little bit of two minds about it. On the one hand the sharper shading makes them pop a bit more at tabletop distance. On the other, to my eye it looks a little messier, and in some areas (particularly creases on coats) it seems like it might be too dark.

(If this sounds like nitpicking and/or overanalyzing, welcome to my painting process!)

Thoughts? I may try quickly painting up my last three artillery crewmen without the gloss wash just to test, then move on to a squad of the Renegades as planned.

   
Made in gb
Executing Exarch





London, UK

I know it's common practise in scale modelling of tanks and the like where this technique is used heavily with oil washes in particular. I really like what you've done with the models though, they look excellent.

I think if you wanted to do the technique again, you could wick away the pooled wash in the recesses you don't want to be as dark. I quite like the effect it gives, especially from a squad perspective.

   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Annandale, VA

I gave the varnish-before-wash technique a go on a squad of Renegade Militia. I also washed each model in its entirety at once, which in retrospect was a mistake, as I had better results previously by being a little more methodical in application of the Black Glaze. Guess I got a little impatient here.

I'm also still trying to figure out the best way to take photos. I've been using a lightbox with my phone (Pixel 2) camera, and trying to get everything in focus has been a pain. I'll probably spring for a cheap DSLR, and spend some time to remove the now-quite-obvious cat hair from my backdrop.

Anyways, photos. Note that the squad has two plasma gunners, because one of them is actually to be exchanged with the autogunner from the Command Squad, so that I can have a dual-plasma Command Squad for some light fire support.




This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/10/15 22:22:58


   
Made in ca
Painlord Titan Princeps of Slaanesh





Hamilton, ON

They're pretty ridiculously good.

The Fall of Kronstaat IV
Война Народная | Voyna Narodnaya | The People's War - 2,765pts painted (updated 06/05/20)
Волшебная Сказка | Volshebnaya Skazka | A Fairy Tale (updated 29/12/19, ep10 - And All That Could Have Been)
Kabal of The Violet Heart (updated 02/02/2020)

All 'crimes' should be treasured if they bring you pleasure somehow. 
   
Made in ca
Damsel of the Lady





drinking tea in the snow

I'm really loving these guys, and the use of yellow throughout,

realism is a lie
 
   
Made in au
Fixture of Dakka





Melbourne

Yeah the use of the yellowy orange really makes these guys stand out. The simple earthy colours used throughout both the models and bases help really bring the whole force together.

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Made in us
Giggling Nurgling




cold darkness of the far north

Agreed with the yellow comments, especially with the helmet lenses, makes them pop from the drab colors on their clothing-- fantastic stuff

"Do you hear something in the hold?" Frigate Einstein circa M31 
   
Made in ie
Executing Exarch





London, UK

Echoing everyone else on the yellow, great job and it makes them really stand out!

   
Made in gb
[SWAP SHOP MOD]
Killer Klaivex







I'm seriously digging this. Thanks for the tutorial!


 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Annandale, VA

This isn't a proper army update, per se- this year I'm surprising my three closest friends with painted Forge World models for Christmas, specifically a Great Unclean One, a Kill Blasta, and a Fire Raptor. I've just finished the GUO and while it won't be part of my army, I figured I'd post it up anyways.







I had a lot of fun both practicing zenithal highlighting on large areas (and, in retrospect, learning that I need sharper gradients than I thought) and using selective applications of gloss varnish to get a properly slimy effect.

Also, this is by far the grossest model I've ever painted.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/11/10 06:29:01


   
Made in us
Maddening Mutant Boss of Chaos





Boston

Great looking Unclean looking Great Unclean One! Very viscous.

And then (I'm arriving late at the party here), I love the color scheme for the renegades. Fantastic contrast, and a very vivid feel. Nice work!

   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Annandale, VA

Continuing the theme of 'stuff not related to the title', here's #2 of the Christmas gift list, an Ork Kill Blasta:






I currently have zero motivation to assemble/paint the Fire Raptor, so next up will be DKoK Earthshaker and the remainder of the artillery crewmen.

Also, as much as I like the color scheme and aesthetic of the Renegades, I'm finding that the Death Korps look better on the tabletop with their bright colors and sharp contrast, while the Renegades blur into a bit of a dark green-brown blob. It's a bit annoying that a scheme that looks great under the painting lamp and in photos becomes much less compelling under normal gameplay conditions. Has anyone else dealt with this?

   
Made in ie
Executing Exarch





London, UK

That is a fantastic GUO and the Kill Blasta is brilliant!

As for your problem with your renegades, in my experience stark highlights and bright colours generally grab the attention on the board. I honestly wouldn't worry about it too much though, they look brilliant and if anyone looks up close at them. Do your yellows not provide enough contrast?

   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Annandale, VA

 Tyranid Horde wrote:
As for your problem with your renegades, in my experience stark highlights and bright colours generally grab the attention on the board. I honestly wouldn't worry about it too much though, they look brilliant and if anyone looks up close at them. Do your yellows not provide enough contrast?


Thanks for the feedback. The oranges do provide some contrast, but because most of the eye sculpts are recessed, they're sometimes hard to see from tabletop distance. I'm also running into the issue that as much as I love the sculpts, the army has been a little boring to play on the tabletop. Not a showstopper, it's just dampened my enthusiasm a little, so since finishing the Kill Blasta I've been working on the Death Korps artillery I mentioned instead.



Next up will definitely be the Fire Raptor. I'm not looking forward to assembling it, but at least the painting should be easier than the Kill Blasta and GUO.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also, just for the fun of it, took a couple of photos showing the simplicity of my painting process on the artillery crew.

1. Just basecoats and a single layer of highlights for everything but the leather, which received a Smoke wash.
2. Gloss varnish, then Black Glaze applied.
3. Matte varnished, bases drybrushed and finished.

Piece of cake. The varnishing step is really what pulls it all together IMO, as it evens out the finish and lightens the otherwise significantly darkened models. It may not win any Golden Demons, but I've yet to find a technique with as much return on time invested.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/11/25 18:32:38


   
Made in ca
Been Around the Block





Stunning work, especially love the eyes on your Renegade guard.

Feels like they are straight out of a Black Library novel!
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka





6 foot underwater

Great looking armies, and a beautifully simple way to paint them too

cyborks & flyboyz : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/300067.page
heretical ramblings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/302773.page
imperial preachings : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/303365.page
Da Waaagh-ky Races : http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/325045.page
Briancj: You have the Mek Taint, MT, and the only thing we can do is watch in horror/amazement.

 
   
Made in ca
Phanobi






Canada,Prince Edward Island

Loving everything so far! The renegades in particular are very menacing. I picture them stalking through the darkness with only with creepy yellow lights showing, very cool.


   
Made in fi
Foolproof Falcon Pilot





Finland, Espoo

Really good looking stuff! The yellow contrast works really well and loving the colors on the kriegsmen. I'm amazed with the results of such an quick paint job. Very efficient!

The earthshaker might need a bit more weathering, but maybe that's just me. I like my Krieg muddy and rusty.

I can also relate to your problem with the renegades. I try to paint every detail, but sometimes it takes too much time and no one even notices when I place the models on the tabletop.
A friend of mine has a different tactic: his models look mediocre up close, but absolutely amazing from the opposite side of the table. I've yet to find a middle ground in all this. What I have learned though, is that over the top highlights give good definition to the shapes, so the models won't blend into each other that much.

   
 
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