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Well how did I miss all this? You darn sneaky genestealers.. *grumble grumble*

Very good conversions all around and those trucks look great. Aah genestealer cults are so much fun.. you my good man are in dire need of converting yourself a Limousine transport for your Magus! =)

Love them- great work; anything old school is fine by me!

Here's a WIP shot. A lot has changed since you last saw them. The trucks received a light drybrush (mix of the basecoat and VGC Bonewhite), followed by a filter, a pin wash and some splattering. What are filters, you ask?



Well, filters are kinda sorta like washes, but with the goal of changing the underlying color instead of just supplying shading, etc. You might notice that the khaki seems exceptionally flat and monotone in the basecoat pics in the earlier post. Well, that's because it is...it's a straight-out-of-the-bottle basecoat.

In this case, I felt that the VGC khaki was a bit too warm. I'll have a rant on that that later. So I applied a light grey-blue acrylic filter to "cool" it down a bit. Note that when making a filter, you want the paint to affect the flat areas and NOT just run into the cracks. Military modelers seem to prefer filters made of oil paint. But in this case I thought an acrylic would work fine and in fact it did. I majorly thinned down some Vallejo Model Color to a watery consistency and applied it all over, taking care to keep it from pooling.

If you do it right, the end result should be extremely subtle, and in fact I think it's too subtle to see in these pics. I think it made a difference though, and that's what's important. I'm still very much a novice with filters, and look forward to doing a lot more with them in the future.

The next step was a pin wash, which just means a wash applied along some of the lines and details instead of being applied all over. Ogryn Flesh and Devlan Mud worked fine for this. I still wanted to give oils a try though, so I thinned down some burnt sienna oil paint with odorless mineral spirits and applied it around the rivets to add additional weathering. Been a long, long time since I used oil paint for any application, but I really liked how it behaved. I might use them more extensively on my battlewagons.

Even with all this weathering, the flat areas still looked too pristine. So I thinned down some paint, loaded it m(sparingly) onto a brush and kinda flicked the bristles to throw splatter. If you zoom in on the pic above, you'll see it more easily. Be careful if you attempt this, though...it's very easy to overdo it. I read something once about weathering that I think is very wise -- basically you weather to the point at which you find yourself saying "just a little more" and then STOP. That "little more" tends to be the exact point at which you overdo it.

Oh, obviously I also added the blue stripes to add some color and tie it in with the rest of my army. I used VMC Prussian Blue. Next up...more weathering of the base coat. Yay! After that I'll get to some of the obviously unpainted details.

You inspired my paintjob on my space hulk stealers - thanks very much!

Hey, you're welcome...glad I could help.


As you can see in my previous pic, the paint still looked a little pristine even after all that weathering. So I added some chipping.



There's no big technique secret at work here. I just mixed up a dark grey color and lightly touched my brush along the sharp edges. My main tip is to vary the size of your chips. Make them too uniform-looking and they'll look overly fake. I also added a few scratches on the panels using a small brush and the same dark grey color.

If you want to try this yourself, remember that a little can go a long way. As I said in my previous post, when you think you're almost there, it's probably time to stop. I didn't hold back *too* much on these, since I want them to look well-used and scratched up. But I think the chipping is reasonable and not too OTT. I'll still use some weathering powders in places, but otherwise I'm done with weathering on the body.

I stuck a gunner in his spot so you can see how that's going to look. My next task is to paint some of the unfinished details, such as the engine blower, skulls and some of the gear that's strapped on. Oh, I may also add some decals if I find some that I like for these.

Very nice work. Fortunately I had time to go through your article as I was more or less lost on the entire project. Now I am glad that I have. Congratulations on all the hard work and perseverance thus far.

Ta-da! All done.










So obviously I finished all the details and added a few small decals. A while back I purchased a decal kit from MicroMark...came with setting solution, softening solution, different varnishes, etc. And I have to say that my decal work has gotten much, much better ever since. They really look like part of the model now. If you have issues with getting decals to look right, I highly recommend investing a little moolah into those decal solutions. They definitely worked for me.

So back to the models. I used weathering powders (dry) in spots on the truck body. The effect is subtle since the base color is khaki. But since the planet in question is mostly arid, I wanted to stick with a dustier look rather than one of great gobs of dark, wet mud. I particularly liked how the blue stripes weathered with the addition of the powders. Note that added powders *after* sealing with a matte varnish (Testors' Dullcote). If you try to seal on top of powders, the powders can fade in a major way. So you just kinda haveta accept that you may need to touch up the powders later on down the road. On the tires, I used a different approach. I applied the powders after having mixed them with rubbing alcohol to serve as a binding agent. That allowed more powder to stick, creating a more caked-on look.

I'm actually fairly happy with these. That doesn't always happen that way, as I can be my own worst critic. Anyway, it was fun trying some different techniques, and I think the end result was better than my previous vehicles for this army. Thanks for all the comments.

But I'm definitely not feeling like my work is "done". My next assignment is painting up all three battlewagons. Yikes. I've alloted seven weeks for this. Will be a bit of a grind, but I have a definite plan now thanks to my work on the trucks.

Edit: Had some depth of field issues with the previous final pics, so I swapped them out.

These are fantastic! Big fan of your weathering effects, and thanks for the tips as you go - impressed with the oil effects! I've had a few tries myself and never managed the subtlety you have here. The rubbing alcohol looks great - you've really nailed the 'caked on' look.

Thanks also for posting your WiPs earlier - I've used a fair few of your details / techniques trying to do a truck of my own. Hope you don't mind - I credited you for the design!

Not sure why this blog isn't getting more of the attention it deserves - I'm sure people are watching, even if it seems quiet. Keep it up!

We are watching!

Sorry I didn't respond earlier! These trucks are amazing! I am scratch building a Battlewagon (been in the works for almost 2 years now.), and want it to resemble a large tanker truck (either fuel or sewage! ), and I too will be using some of your techniques! I know mine won't be painted anywhere near as good as yours, but hopefully it comes out ok.

Thanks guys!

@Scarper: I'm probably a little light on watchers just because I'm so darn slow! The pace is probably boring people into comas. And feel free to borrow...sharing tips and tricks is what we're all here for. Regarding oils, filters, etc., I just usually try to err on the thin side. You can always adjust or reapply if things go on too thin.

@RSJake: I feel your pain. I started "phase 2" like 3 years ago, LOL. I got distracted there for a year or two with my Tyranids after the new Tyranid codex hit. But I've given myself a deadline (the Colonial GT tourney in late March) to "finish" this stage of the army. I say "finish" because I'm sure 6th edition will have me wanting to start "phase 3" soon.

Regarding techniques, most of them aren't hard to pull off. In fact, I feel confident in saying that even if someone isn't the best single mini painter, they can still paint up some really nice-looking vehicles with the right approach. My advice would be to practice them a little on some old models or whatever. You'll learn a few things and then be ready to roll when you're working on the real things.

My personal opinion is that patience is also a huge factor in achieving the results you want. When I mess up a model, it's usually because I lost my patience and tried to cut one too many corners. I mean, I'm still cutting corners with this army in the sense that I'm not painting every single model like it's a Golden Daemon entry. But I have a certain minimum standard for these in mind and I try to stop myself and refocus if I start falling short of that.

I actually started to lose my patience late in the process for these trucks. But fortunately I was able to rescue the thing I goofed up. I have a feeling my battlewagons are going to test my patience quite a bit, since there's three of them and the models are more complicated (interior details, turrets, side armor, etc.).

Look into AK interactive DAK weathering kit
They sell em on the main site or ebay.
3 bottles filter,wash,and streaking grime,top stuff
They also sell the bottles separtely and also for other paint scemes( panzer grey,OD green,Nato Camo)

For a proper DIY filter use enamel paint,not acrylic.
Thin it down with odorless spirts over a matt varnish 8 parts thinner to 2 parts paint.
Enamel and its thinner will not harm acrlyic in any way.
Filter work best over matt,washes and streaking grime over statin finish.
Once finished protect with matt or satin varnish.

Amazing work! Really big fan of the idea that you just pull other things apart and go from there to create something completely new and unique looking.

Hey gorgon,
Ive come to check out your nid blog! I really am liking the scrach buliding man! The battlewagons and chaimers are exallent! I love the plastercard work! You sir have a good moddler in you, I'm looking forwad for the new addtions of hibryeds to be painted up! I love the ise of the grechen which is show on your article! Hey how about you check out my blog too? (Link is in signutre). Can't wait for these guys to be painted!

Subbcribed,

HAZZER

Awesome.

Okay, so that was unnecessary. But if I don't keep it a little weird, there's no way I'm gonna finish these things. So on to the wagons and the final major mini painting project of phase 2.

I'm curtailing some of the early-stage pics, since you've already seen me apply the same techniques on the trucks. The pic below shows one of the wagons with a completed basecoat, a filter, and a pin wash. For these, I used strictly oil paint for pin washing, and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Oils (thinned down with mineral spirits) just flow and behave so nicely for this purpose. In case you're wondering, I removed the side armor for now and will get to it later.



As a reminder, the wagons will each be themed. One will have a bells theme to match its Hybrid unit, another will have a parchment/scroll/holy tome theme, and the last one will have a fire/brazier theme and will carry Tankbustas and someday maybe Burnas.

Below is a pic of the same wagon a little farther along. I did splattering all over like I did with the trucks. I also used some oil paint to create some drips and rain marks. I didn't go overboard with this though, since the planet in question is supposed to be on the arid side. Finally, I added some dark grey chipping along edges, like with the trucks.



The weathering is now mostly done except for powders, which will come later. So it's time to move on to painting some of the details like bells, skulls, weapons, etc. After that will come tracks and track guard assembly.

I really love your buggies & wagons. But they remind me of how terrible I am at playing with plasticard...
You had said in the article that you wanted to use these guys as Lost & The Damned originally. Were you talking about the one from the old Codex: Eye Of Terror? If so, you are 3 different colours of insane blended into awesomeness.

Ha! Yeah, they were gonna be beautiful as LatD! Hybrids make great Mutants, Brood Brothers work as Traitors, Purestrains as Daemonettes, etc. Woulda been a been a more compact army also. Since the switch to Orks, I can't believe how many models I've had to paint (and acquire $$$). I'm looking at getting a Battlefoam PACK AIR bag, but my GCult almost fills it already!

Phase 3 isn't even out of the question...I'd still like to do some Burnas and a unique take on Killa Kans. Then I have another army idea percolating that's only around 80 models, but would require kitbashing every single model. I wanna punch myself in the face for even thinking about that one. But it is a good idea.

I think I probably am insane. Dunno about the awesome part, but insane...yeah.

Then tank is looking nice man! Keep it up!

Love your work with the oils! I'm trying my hand at oil weathering myself at the mo and you're pretty much solving my problemsbefore I get a chance to ask about them The tank looks fantastic - I'm a big fan of your unit markings.

And there is nothing insane about customised armies - this is clearly a labour of love, and ought to get you nothing but respect. And hopefully some donations for upkeep

No, I didn't forget about this blog. Really! Okay, so maybe I did for a little while there. But here's my final update on the wagons. Voila. How do you like the background? Look out...FLYING TANKS!!!







As you can see, the tracks are on, powder's been applied, the side armor is on, and details have been added and painted. Regarding powders, on the tracks I used a binding agent (alcohol) so that they stuck better. It'll still rub off to some degree, but the binding agent helps out a lot and allows them to be applied more heavily. On the lower part of the tanks and side armor I applied the powder dry for more of a dusty look. Again, the imaginary planet in question is a fairly dry place and so a lot of caked-on mud wouldn't make sense. At some point I'll probably tweak a few things. I'd like to add some more parchments to the wagon with the Acolyte, and would like to add another brazier to the fire-themed wagon. Maybe scrawl a few more slogans on them. But these are definitely in a good enough spot to call them done for now.

Which is to say that I made my deadline (the Colonial GT). And while there I won a Best Painted trophy and some good loot for my efforts! Yay me! Thanks for all the support, folks.

I know some of you are thinking "what's next?" Sheesh, give a guy a break, wouldja? Well, other than the detail tweaks I mentioned earlier, I have a third buggy that's primed and needs painting. I also have the stuff to build a third truck. I plan to make a few design tweaks on that one whenever I finally get around to it. And I need to fill out a few units, etc. Long-range plans include Kans and Koptas...definitely have some ideas in mind for those. But first, I'm gonna take a little break from the GCult and work on stuff that I've let sit for too long. Right now I'm assembling some IG stuff for a Vostroyan army. I'm probably not going to paint it anytime soon...mostly I'm just trying to get the army playable at 1500 pts.

I also need to work on my game table. I have some old, old forest/jungle terrain, but I want to do a ruined city set. I already have two large ruined buildings done. Next steps include painting a Zuzzy mat, some barracades and a FW terrain piece. Then I'll build a few more buildings.

After that...I have a new army project tentatively planned. Let's call it Project X. Project X is pretty ambitious. I have it fairly well concepted out, but I'm still working through a few things. It'll be a quite a while until you see it...might take me two years to finish even after I start on it. In the meantime, I'll post some pics of my terrain, etc as I get it done. Oh, and I also have a new Tervigon kit that I'll probably paint up later this summer. I'll share that too.

Well hello, everyone!

I haven't updated this blog in a looooong time, mainly because my GCult was in semi-retirement. However, the winds of change are blowin' across the dusty wastes of Acheron VI. Namely -- rumormonger extraordinaire Hastings has indicated that a Genestealer Cult codex may be on the way in the next year or so. WOW!

The funny thing is that I had already decided to ditch the Ork codex for my counts-as and roll with Astra Militarum going forward. I had army lists figured out and everything. Now lots of things are in flux. If this is true, how will GCults be structured?
-Will they get a detachment we can run alongside AM and/or Tyranids?
-Will the codex include Cult units only, or will kits from other armies be included (Chimeras, for instance)?
-Will Brood Brothers be a choice in the codex, or will we have to rep them as AM infantry?
-Will Hybrids be in the codex, or will I have the option of using those models as AM infantry?

There's too much confusion...I can't get no relief!

Ultimately, it's a damn good dilemma...there's just some short-term uncertainty about which models I should be painting. Realistically, I'm going to have to put infantry changes on hold for now. It should be safer to work on vehicles, though. GCults almost have to be able to get some commandeered PDF tanks somehow, someway in a battleforged army, right? Well, that's what I'm going to tell myself, since I've already started on the vehicles.

So it's full steam ahead on the AM vehicles! Here's a list of things to do until the codex becomes clearer.

1) Paint new Vanquisher Russ
2) Update old Russ turrets and paintjobs
2) Transform the "Battlewagons" back into Chimeras and update the painting
3) Paint new Sentinels

And here are the new Russ, the Sentinels, and the new turrets and hatches for the Chimeras, all ready for priming and painting.





Let's do this.

I love genestealer cults, and yours is turning out to be epic. Great painting and scratchbuild/conversions!! Look forward to more!

BB

Can I start by saying that I love the new Vallejo Game Air paint? It comes in khaki! So instead of spending who-knows-how-long slathering VGC on these vehicles with a traditional brush and trying to get an even coat, I can get a nice thin coat in minutes (with dry time in between coats) with my airbrush, AND be guaranteed a close match to the regular VGC Khaki that I use on my stuff. Vallejo...you guys are awesome.



FYI, I primed these with white Vallejo surface primer, which also works great. Laying down multiple thin coats is the key.

First up is the Vanquisher, but I'm also going to work on the older Russes concurrently while I'm in "Russ mode." The biggest change on the old Russes is swapping out the battlecannons for an executioner cannon and exterminator cannons. Here are the old Russes:




They look pretty good, but there are definitely things that I can improve, including the weathering. I've also grown dissatisfied with my oil pin washes on my vehicles. I used a burnt umber, but I don't think it provides quite enough contrast in the seams and around rivets. I'll improve that on the Vanquisher and these older Russes.

So, I popped the battlecannons off the turrets and added magnets and posts. From now on the main guns will be swappable, depending on what type of Russ I want to field. I can't explain why I didn't do this in the first place.

I'll purchase a new FW Ryza Executioner turret kit to get the Executioner bit for one Russ. I can always use the turret piece on another Russ down the road. I want to make the other Russ into an Exterminator, but I don't like the weedy look of the Ryza pattern Exterminator guns. So I took the beefier plastic Exterminator bits and combined them with some plastic strip to make my own.



Oh, also note that I've pulled out the Tallarn commander guy and closed the top hatch. The commander will go into the Vanquisher turret to represent "Pask".

Very nice stuff!
I'd love to see what kind of Astra Mil lists you're trying out.
I'm using that codex for the cult I'm building, too. Right now, I'm trying out an AM/Inquisition build that I think looks fun (though, perhaps not that competitive LOL).


Eric

Awesome to see that you're back. Wow... a GS Cult codex? As if I didn't have enough stuff to paint... I love the look of your tanks, but I think that they could use a bit of work to better suit the GS look. Maybe give Pask a tentacle arm or something? You don't need to get too OTT with it, just enough to make it recognizably alien.

A tentacle arm would be mutant, really, more than Genestealer.
If he's going to convert an arm, making one reminiscent of the old Hybrid arms would be more appropriate.

Eric

 MagickalMemories wrote:
Very nice stuff!
I'd love to see what kind of Astra Mil lists you're trying out.
I'm using that codex for the cult I'm building, too. Right now, I'm trying out an AM/Inquisition build that I think looks fun (though, perhaps not that competitive LOL).

Thanks! I too had plans for an AM/=I= build. It was a good way of getting the Purestrains into the army (Purestrains were easily the weakest part of the counts-as when I was running them as Orks). Now I'm not quite sure what to think. I'm guessing that the tanks are a fairly safe bet, though.

I'm not too worried about being competitive. My tourney results with "Orks" were pretty embarrassing. Some of it was definitely the counts-as/model constraints...the rest of it was that I might be the world's worst Ork player. I dunno what it is. With my Tyranids I feel like I can make a respectable showing at an event. I guess the Ork playstyle doesn't mesh well with me. *shrug* It wasn't a hard decision to change the counts-as, ultimately.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

 youidiotkid wrote:
Awesome to see that you're back. Wow... a GS Cult codex? As if I didn't have enough stuff to paint... I love the look of your tanks, but I think that they could use a bit of work to better suit the GS look. Maybe give Pask a tentacle arm or something? You don't need to get too OTT with it, just enough to make it recognizably alien.

Thanks, it's good to be back on this stuff!

And that's a completely fair comment. Honestly, with this round I still won't be going too crazy with Culting-up the tanks. The focus is going to be on getting paint on the new stuff and getting the weapons changed and basic paintjob updated on the old stuff. The next project (the Chimeras) -- being built on those strange conversions earlier in the thread -- will have a *little* more ornamentation, including that tentacle-faced 'Acolyte' commander transplanted to a regular Chimera turret.

I'm also waiting to see what may come with a new GCult codex. Lots of new bits and ideas may come from that, especially if we get a ground transport (limo) kit. I think you're going to like the new paint jobs, though.

Regarding the tank commander, it's probably important to note that Brood Brethren aren't mutated, at least not visibly. When they're implanted, their DNA gets some re-writing and they become enslaved to the Cult, but visible mutations only show up with their Hybrid children. Which kinda makes sense. The parents would have a hard time blending into society and protecting their Hybrid children if they all grew third arms and such.

Anyway, I have some ideas for a new command squad, if that's possible post-codex. They'll still be Brood Bros, but I have some interesting visual cues in mind. And since the infantry in my army are mostly Hybrids, I don't think my army will look too much like straight-up AM/IG. (I have around 120 metal Hybrids -- almost all painted -- which is probably a sign of some kind of mental disease.)

Future ideas include a GCult Knight. I have the basics of that one mostly planned out. I just have to decide whether to base it on the plastic kit or on one of the FW kits. Oh...and find the time. That one's probably a longer-range project.

Here's my list, if you're interested in seeing what I was planning:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/640625.page

Eric

So next up on the Vanquisher is a filter. I could spend a lot of time talking about filters, but there are other places you can get better explanations. The short version -- a filter is an extremely thin layer of paint (usually oil paint thinned by white spirits) applied evenly over a model in order to very subtly change the underlying paint color.

This is actually a bit of an experiment for me with the GCult. You often see darker filters applied to lighter colors, but in this case I'm hoping to use the filter to "cool" down the khaki a teeny bit, to simulate some color changes from its factory paint job.

After protecting the basecoat with a layer of Testor's Dullcote (you want matte and not gloss so that you get even coverage and not a wash effect), I applied a light blue-grey filter. Here's the end effect. It's subtle, and given that I took the pic with my phone and didn't do any color correction, etc., you probably won't even notice much difference. You can see a tiny bit of the color collected around some edges.



Eh. It's okay, I guess. I think next time I'll play around with some color modulation instead.

Anyhoo...so I thought I took a number of pics of the next few steps, but I sure as heck can't find them on any of my drives.

But maybe it all works out anyway. You guys probably want me to skip ahead and show some sexier pics anyway, right? So how's this?



I'll discuss it in the next post.

The world always needs more Genestealer Cults.