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That makes perfect sense! Thanks. I can't wait to see it once its completely finished.

Finished the rather large Deathwatch commission today! Pics below.

I'm wanting to paint more weathered metal. Luckily I have some more vehicle commissions that I can practice on. Thinking of working on the new Dark Angels flyers since I can easily translate what I've learned on the Vendettas to the Ravenwing. Or maybe a really sinister Black Templar Land Raider.






Bonus high-quality shot:

Those commission IG turned out pretty awesome for having a basic color scheme and that vendetta High Quality shot is very nice.

Some new work:

Here's a comparison between a year of work:


and some detail:

Aye, your work has really improved over the year, but then it was already good to start with!

Thanks Squidbot! I'm going to paint up some Ravagers/Raiders next, so it should get a little more interesting!

Still working on the Dark Eldar (big reveal soon). Here are two Rhinos I just completed in the meantime:



I tried a few different things this time on them (very similar to previous ones, though).

Okay, I lied about the Dark Eldar. I'm moving in a month so I gotta do some more commissions before I tackle my personal projects. Plus I'll have a really bitchin new studio.

Here are some super-fancy Sang. Priests. I've been painting an entire Blood Angels army for a very friendly client:




Annnnddd.... all together now, sorry for the multiples -- it's just how I put them together in PS:

DUDE, i dig ur models. The painting on those things are proper good, keep it up.

Thanks Novelist! I dig your Ork conversions, especially that Dread with the shootas

Finished the honor guard to go with one of the Sanguinary Novitiates/Priests above.

Would you like to share how you painted up the red on those amazing blood angels?

Gorgeous models once again! You keep outdoing yourself! I'd love to see a tutorial too. Such nice models!

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I'll try to do a tutorial sometime soon. Everything is kind of out of order at the moment around here.

Here come some more! I'be been doing some greenstuffing this time.






As always, there are higher quality pics at: http://imgur.com/a/MYkl8#0

I forgot to post my Attack Bikes here also. Will do soon.

Simply awesome work man, you make me wanna put a commisson for an army for you too paint

Do you use alot of airbrushing and then go after with a brush for details, highlights etc?

What can we expect to see more of btw?

@ Charky: Hey, painting armies is what I do
I usually use the airbrush for the first several steps of painting (Priming and basecoating which is 2-4 layers of different colors/angles), then I'll apply some basic blocks of color with a brush, then perhaps do a selective wash over many areas with a brush, then continue on with smaller details and highlights towards the end. I end up using the airbrush only for select area effects (like glows, although sometimes I just use a brush instead), weathering sometimes with pigments or washes (harder to control washes with airbrush I think), and then also for sealing the mini at the end.

Next up are some more Attack Bikes and a Sanguinary Priest on bike. I also am doing a few of the more subtle space marine chapters that I haven't seen get much love. Right now I'm working on a Star Phantoms marine, and a Consecrators chapter marine.


Oops, forgot to add the Attack Bikes. I really like these guys! They also contain some of my most detailed and crisp (finished looking) painting so I'm particularly proud.

Lotsa pics for you peeps:



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Awesome stuff! I can't wait to see the Sanguinary Priest on a bike!

Another rather large load of Blood Angels stuff. I just finished 3 more Attack Bikes and a Sanguinary on Bike (as previously mentioned). Here ya go Red Comet

Also, if you guys ever have questions on how I do stuff, don't hesitate to ask!



And a group shot of the Attack Bikes. There are more detailed pictures of each Attack Bike in my gallery under Blood Angels -- check 'em out!



Also, I've joined a local Warhammer (Fantasy!) group. I've bought the Beastmen battalion and I'll soon show off some nasty stuff. But first I have to clean up and organize my work studio!

Man I am envious of your Blood Angels, just the tone of red is incredible, how do you go about getting your red?

[Edit} The last few Attack Bikes and Sang. Priest on bike are a little darker of a red than usual. That's just the way I work sometimes and I should probably fix that problem in the future. -- The photos do not lie! I promise!
For the red (and all of the below steps are with an airbrush, although spray paint also works if you have the colors):

Prime black.

Spray from top-down mostly: A darkish grey color (I mix a very dark grey with white mix at 1:1), then a lighter grey over a more specific top area (grey/white 1:4).

Then I get a blood-redish color (it's Vallejo Model Air Scarlet Red), and then mix in some glazing medium and then coat the models with several layers. This part can vary a lot since it's hard to get a consistent reference (I never have a model around!).

And that's the red. I also do an all-over black wash I made custom based on "Les' Wash Recipe" (you can google it).

I am very impressed by your work. The quality and quantity is astounding. The Deathwatch commission is definitely my favorite so far. I have two questions to ask if you don't mind. The first is concerning the Sanguinary Priests. The white parts of their armor is incredibly well done but the transition between the white torso and the red legs isn't a "clean" switch between the two colors. It almost looks like white overspray on the thighs. I assume that is intentional and if so did you paint it that way for a specific reason? It looks different and unique and I quite like it.

Second, would you mind telling me how you painted the black armor on the marine you are using as your avatar photo? I've looked through this thread and I didn't see it anywhere. I would like to try painting some of my miniatures with a similar looking black.

Sure, Ephrael, and thanks for the thoughtful comment!

I like the Deathwatch guys as well, but I was running out of time allotted to finish them (and I'd already spent a ton of time on some of the models!).

Regarding the fade to red/white. Yes, the overspray is intentional--well, yes and no. What I was trying to do is get a consistent fade from red to white (feet and torso respectively), so that you have a thorough fade over about half the model. But I didn't want to spend so much time using a brush to fade red into white in such a large area (basically all of the leg and lower torso). So I did the red like I do on all Blood Angels, and then I sprayed white (always white on red, not other way around or else it's pink!), and used a brush for small areas of touch-up (the feet and the groin). The result is a little messy and could be done better, but you mentioning this just gave me a truly excellent idea to cover up the mistake it brings forth, if I ever paint something similar again.

Throughout all my models I strive to come up with time-efficient manners of painting since it's a pretty large component of my work. My work is not expensive if you compare the quality of the rank and file troops (well, just troops for 40k) to others. Sometimes I drive myself crazy with shortcuts and find out I'd have been better off doing something the traditional or "hard" way, and that's a pretty good learning experience every time (sigh). But moreso it forces me to innovate, and through that, sometimes new, or at least better, techniques and ideas emerge through the process. For instance, to save money I started making my own washes. I used them alongside the GW and Army Painter washes, and I found that the wash I made had a much different property than the GW washes, so I use it in a pretty different fashion; it has higher contrast--looks sharper, more gloss, and, well, it's a lot cheaper so I can coat an entire model in it and fix any pooling mistakes. It also seals the paint better to prevent chipping early on (since I usually just handle the miniatures directly while painting), and changes the properties of paint on the surface afterwards since it's smoother/glossier.

Regarding the black armor in my avatar. Well, somewhat ashamed to admit this, but a lot of it just looks cool because of light reflecting off the semi-gloss surface in the photo. HOWEVER, the semi-gloss surface was intentional, as it's a way to differentiate materials on the model -- for instance, his matt face, or the even higher gloss of the blood-drop gem on his chest. I work a lot on getting about 3 different specularity amounts through every single model (and it's built into the process, painstakingly ordered, sometimes; you can see this in my GK Purifier tutorial though that's a bit dated). But the method of painting his armor is incredible simple: Prime black, basecoat black paint mixed with glazing/gloss medium (I don't know the exact ratio, but it's about 10-15% medium), and then I paint on the grey highlights where light would reflect towards the sky (very roughly, and I mixed the grey with Kantor Blue, as is popular). I also manage to fit a Satin varnish right before any high gloss applications (on gems, or glass/energy-like surfaces). It's a delicate balance, but one I'm personally comfortable toying with.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed my rambling.

Thank you Johnnyhorse for the very quick reply and the painting tips. I'll be sending you an email this week with some questions about your painting technique and wash recipe if you don't mind. I also have a question about some commission work if you have the time for one soonish.

Please do! I need some commission-based projects, and I'm happy to help with techniques.

 Johnnyhorse wrote:
Please do! I need some commission-based projects, and I'm happy to help with techniques.

Have you ever thought about doing some video tutorials? I always find those much more useful than descriptive ones, as seeing the actual techniques applied is a huge help to some people who don't really know what the painting terms look like when they are applied etc.

Awesome to see some of your old work. I am a huge fan and its great to see all of your old stuff and some wip as well. Thanks man

Yes, I've been wanting to do a video tutorial for a long time now. I have an excellent camera, but I do not have a video camera (I'll try giving my webcam a shot). I will definitely post them here when I do one. Thanks for the recommendation! Definitely a good idea.

 Johnnyhorse wrote:
Yes, I've been wanting to do a video tutorial for a long time now. I have an excellent camera, but I do not have a video camera (I'll try giving my webcam a shot). I will definitely post them here when I do one. Thanks for the recommendation! Definitely a good idea.

Awesome, like surprisingly one of the best done video tutorials I have seen is the GW How to Paint minis one from the latest paint release. Because a lot of people who do videos assume to much of the painter, so they will say put on a edge highlight here, with this colour etc. Rather than saying I then did a edge highlight here, this is how to do that, this is why I do that etc

I just watched the "How to Paint Citadel Miniatures" and I have a lot of ideas now. Good suggestion! I can take off from where they left off and talk about advanced techniques, aesthetics, and planning for specific effects. Maybe I'll just mix photos and low-resolution video into a Youtube tutorial. Thanks Eldercaveman -- I needed gentle nudging.

Just great paint job all the way man

I don't really follow "random" blogs with all different army and stuff, but You are an inspiring painter

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