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Super nice infiltrators, Gits!

That effect on the taser goads... brilliant! May need to steal requisition that once I start work on some AdMech stuff (assuming I have taser goads in my army)

Really liking the glow effects!

@Vik: Sorry mate, stupid of me. Fixed it!

@dracpanzer: Thanks drac, I think two 5-man squads of rangers on on tap next... so at least I can start fielding them as an allied detachment.

@SJM: Bases were critical to get right with these figures. I think I did OK. Red rock to compliment the figure and be reminiscent of Mars... green plants to contrast & keep the red from overpowering everything else.

done!^^

Outstanding looking unit.

Matt.Kingsley wrote:Super nice infiltrators, Gits!

That effect on the taser goads... brilliant! May need to steal requisition that once I start work on some AdMech stuff (assuming I have taser goads in my army)

Verviedi wrote:Really liking the glow effects!

Thanks gents. I could be encouraged to do a quick tutorial if asked. It's a very simple method and gives great results.

i am all for tuts... provided it is for the super dense...as i am exactly that whenever glow is concerned...

Ooh yes a tutorial would be much appreciated
Good to hear it's very simple to get such a great effect.

I'll try and put something together over the next couple of nights.

I really like those, Gits. I think I may steal the adding green tufts to red bases thing.

Re: the bright red cloak. You know that on a red planet that it would be camouflage right?

Perhaps, but I don't think they're fighting on Mars anymore are they? Not since when... the Heresy??

You know.... I was going to do a step-by-step with photographs.... but this method is so simple that I don't think it even needs pictures. Please note that I believe this method works best on round or cylindrical objects. I have not sufficiently tested it on other shapes yet to know how it will look.


Gits Glorious Glow Effect for the Perpetually Lazy

Taser Goads

Step 1: Paint surface with a thinned, white paint. You want it to go on smoothly but not so thin that it takes more than 2 coats to cover the surface to a clean white. Let dry *completely*!

Step 2: Take the GW glaze of your choice (I've used both the blue and green so far) and "flood" the area with ample amounts of the glaze. You don't want to be painting a thin layer on here, you want to inundate the surface with ample amounts of glaze so there are no artificial streaks or differences in pigment density.

Step 3: Take a clean brush and draw down the pools of glaze that will form in crevices or the lower parts of the area. You don't want to draw them down completely.... but what you're aiming for is to have the glaze "stain" the whites in the high areas and only accumulate in the cracks, crevices and edges. You can then take a wet brush and carefully thin any accumulating blue on the tops of the flat surfaces (like the tuning fork), or where you want the glow of the rods to be the most intense. This needs to be done immediately after applying the glaze though, as if there is any delay the glaze will start drying in place and the removal of the excess glaze will leave rings and streaks, ruining the effect. This will give you the most natural highlight if you can pull it off (thus you can ignore "Step 6"). If not, simply go to "Step 4".

Step 4: Let dry naturally. Do not use any type of artificial drying aid (hairdryer, etc.).

Step 5: If desired, take a very fine brush and run a *thin* line of blue wash (which is darker than the glaze) in the very deepest recesses to accentuate the darker shade. You want this last line to be very thin & not really ride up on the main surface at all.

Step 6: When completely dry, take some thinned white (same as the thinning you used for the original coat) and paint a single, long, thin line along the top of the uppermost tube as a top highlight. I also edge highlighted the upper edges of the tuning fork bit with a very thin line of white. You can also "white out" any unfortunate accumulations of blue glaze on the tops of flat surfaces that you missed in the glazing phase.


If all goes well, it should end up something like this.



Lenses/Eyes etc.

Step 1: As above. Be sure to paint the inside of the eye socket or fixture that's holding the lens (so the glow extends beyond the lens/eye itself).

Step 2: Lay flat! Flood with glaze & draw down with a clean brush until the center of the lens is exposed (if the lens is convex). If the lens is concaved, draw down until the outside edges are exposed.

Step 3: Let dry naturally.

Step 5: If desired, add a little bit of a darker wash around the outer ring of the lens... be sure to only get it in the deepest recesses (as with the taser-goad).

Step 6: If desired, you can add a tiny spot of white to act as glare from the lens surface in an upper (for convex) or lower (for concave) corner of the lens ... HOWEVER... if your dry-down of the glaze worked correctly... you're lens should be providing it's own, natural highlight.

Very very nice effect.

Huh, it is quite simple.
Thanks again for the tut, Gits!

i actually got every word! and that´s saying something... text tuts always are a wee bit complicated...(for me...) sounds as if i should try that... it is a nice use of glazes... and it is a method that cant so easily be ruined like when you paint coat on coat for glow/lenses effects ...hmmm...thanks matey!

Check out my Mantis Warrior blog Vik. I did the same effect on the grav amp for my centurions. That effect isn't completed yet (still needs a bit of white on the raised areas) but you can see that it has more than one application.

well, since you mentioned the lens painting opportunities... it has a wide use...and will check...

Those guys look good with the paint job you did on them!

Thanks shas, look for the Skitarii painting to ramp-up significantly in the week after next.

Bit of an off topic question for you Git's, would you think Skitarii would make for a good Kill Team?

Skitarii are kind of a glass hammer. With their special turn by turn augmentation though they might work out quite well.

Just checking in. Haven't had any hobby time in over a week, and probably won't until tomorrow night at the earliest. Still, I hope to finish up my marine project by the weekend so I can start the next skitarii project on Monday. I did pick up a couple of the tracked servitor boxes, have the AdMech HQ and dex on order. I really look forward to getting back to adding substance to this blog again. Once I start fielding my skitarii, I'll probably do some little battle reports too.

crossing fingers for more hobby time!

Hmmm, skitarii look good to be the troops of the "Trade Worlds Cartel" security forces

thinking about adding some robots to your khardovians?^^

Welcome back. The Kataphron seem very detailed. I'm guessing these will take some time as well.

I'm not sure. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. First I have to make a playable skitarii list. That means rangers, vanguard and another squad of infiltrators at the minimum.

Wait, what? You have ANOTHER blog? Oh man, how will I keep up?! Looking super good, naturally - lots of lenses for you

Thanks graven. I haven't moved this army forward as fast as I'd hoped... but it will get 80% of my attention as soon as I can finish off the cents & bastion. We're going to have an escalation league starting soon at my FLGS so I've really got to get crackin' if I'm going to get to 500 points by the time it starts.

 Viktor von Domm wrote:
thinking about adding some robots to your khardovians?^^

Not robots, just the look of the skitarii, fits (minus some cables) the look I was after for the Cartel that neutrally ships things as well as escorts or provides cargo fleets for others. For a price!


But yes, Mantic made a nice goofy movie into a game, and for that,