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Thought I'd start up a blog seeing as I'm back in the painting saddle


Hey what an ambitious and presumptuous title

For anyone who hasn't met my annoying presence yet on the other forums - hi! I rejoined DakkaDakka about a week ago, and have recently returned to painting stuff since I finished my last ever exams this year (not planning on uni y'see). After moving back to Britain after being in the Middle East for nearly a decade, it was refreshing to see so many more gaming clubs around, and obviously GW's on every corner. I'd left the gaming scene of 40k after 7th ed started, but now that I realised I had a bit more time on my hands, I really wanted to pick up some brushes and restore my old collections, as well as paint some new creations either for sale or to add to my massive pile of models. So here we are!

Unfortunately most of my stuff is still in Qatar waiting to be moved, so in the meantime, my brother enlisted me to paint up some GW board games and box sets to help him sell them alongside the other GW items that he trades, such as LE books, models and accessories.

Which brings me to Lost Patrol


We actually have 2 copies, but this will be the one that will be sold, since the other will be for our own enjoyment. And since I cocked up the last one, I wanted to take this one very carefully, and with the correct tools.


I started with the Scouts in the set first, and divided the parts up for each Scout ready for cleaning

I decided today I'd paint the Sergeant as a test. So I primed him with Army Painter Black, had a cup of tea and posted some nonsense about drivable suitcases, and when I returned he was ready for painting!

Apologies for the lighting - next time I'll set up a proper space with a proper camera




I started by painting the fatigues with Rakarth Flesh, followed by a shade of Agrax Earthshade. While the shade was drying I based the pouches with Rhinox Hide and the weapons Abaddon Black, since the primer and black paint have different finishes


With the shade dry, I applied a layer of Palid Wych Flesh to the fatigues, leaving the Rakarth Flesh and shade in the deepest recesses


Now for the red and metal parts: I did these with Mephiston Red and Agrax Earthshade, and Leadbelcher and Nuln Oil


With the red and metal done, I painted the base of the face with Rakarth Flesh and Agrax Earthshade, before painting the hair, skull motifs and rope on the back of the model in Zandri Dust. I also painted the Frag Grenade with Death World Forest


I then finished the model off by painting the face with Kislev Flesh, the skulls and rope with Ushabti Bone and lenses of the scopes with layers of Caliban Green, Warpstone Glow and Moot Green. I also cleaned up any mistakes I made prior, and highlighted some of the metal on the Bolt Pistol and Chainsword with Ironbreaker

Here's the final result, under some actual light






That's all for today - let me know what you think!

G.A

While I was on my crusade across the forums, I realised that I was a single post away from my 1000th here on Dakka; it'd be a wasted opportunity on some Dakka vitriol where it could be used here to bring my blog back to life!

I haven't posted here because none of the projects I'm working on are really complete, but I thought I'd go through the mountain of stuff that I'm painting at the moment.

I've been doing a lot of test models so I can get started on restoring all my armies and their sub par paint jobs. Firstly I have been working on my Freebootez:

Most significantly, I've been transferring them to 32mm bases, as I find them to make Orks look far better compared to the 25, which you can see here in my WIPs


I've also been working on a Blood Raven Vanguard Veteran, whose shoulder pads I'm lacking the correct colours for - funnily enough the iconic bone colour for their shoulder pads is not actually any known GW colour, so I'm going to be testing a few options to see what I think fits best




Keeping with the Blood Ravens, I have a Librarian swirling round in some Isopropyl that I will get round to painting soon



My precious Guard are also in need of restoration. Here you can see what my most recent models look like:


I'm keeping with the main scheme of Death World Forest and Tallarn Sand, but I'll probably be tweaking a few details, such as making the weapons black and possibly doing a regiment stripe of Screamer Pink, while also doing a better job of the paint job.

Next up are a squad of White Scar Tactical Marines, which are almost finished actually!


I even have their bases ready - Martian Ironearth is the best I will be touching them up with some Kindleflame when I get my hands on some



Going back to where I started this blog, I am doing the finishing touches to the Lost Patrol Scout Squad:


Quick question if anyone knows this - are the Tactical Marine Blood Angel transfers larger than the Scout ones? I have plenty of Tac ones, but they look quite big on the Scout's shoulder pads from what I can tell, so I'm wondering if I need a Scout transfer sheet

The Genestealers are very much a WIP, but here's what I've got most of them to at the moment:





And lastly, something that I'm working on at this very minute; 2 Imperial Knights from the Renegade box set. I'm doing this first one as Ever Stalwart before I move to doing the Litany of Destruction, starting with the exoskeleton and then the armour plating:


Once again, apologies for the poor image quality - when these models are complete, I will be photographing them with proper equipment, but it was too much of a hassle to get it ready just for some WIP photos.

As you can see, I really am creating a painting bonanza here! I haven't even considered looking at a still sealed promo edition of Silver Tower yet Still, wish me luck, and feel free to ask any questions or add any C&C!

G.A

That's a lot of stuff to get on with. Good luck with them!

Never knew you did White Scars. Or you could paint white really well.

There's a theme going on at the Dakka P&M section atm, everyone can paint white seemingly easily. I need to step up my game

 WarbossDakka wrote:
That's a lot of stuff to get on with. Good luck with them!

Never knew you did White Scars. Or you could paint white really well.

There's a theme going on at the Dakka P&M section atm, everyone can paint white seemingly easily. I need to step up my game

Thanks W.D!

I'll let you in on a secret that you may not know already - best way to paint white is to not paint white at all. In fact, you use Ulthuan Grey; this gives you a much more cleaner and more realistic white which you can also highlight seeing as you haven't painted pure white. I haven't done it yet to those White Scars, but I plan on using White Scar for the highlights - isn't that fitting? Plus Ulthuan Grey has much less solid pigment and is easier to thin down than White Scar or Ceramite White.

They are actually just a demo unit that I plan to sell on to anyone who's interested when they're finished, but painting them has really made me have second thoughts about Blood Ravens White is actually a blast to paint when you know how, and it really is easy as 123 when you get it!

Nice tip there. They do that in codexes I've just noticed too! I had a look in the Angels of Death book at the WS section after reading your tip and you can notice the edge highlights are white and the actual armour is grey.

I'll have to try that soon

I got the tip from Duncan Rhode's tutorial on White Scars Power Armour, and since he paints a lot of the models you see in the Codecies, it makes sense that you've spotted that there (if you also have the White Dwarf mag that introduced the Ork Bommer, SM Storm Talon and Necron Night and Doom Scythe, you'll find the exact same advice there). I recommend you check out all the other tutorials on Warhammer TV if you haven't already, as they are the reason I'm now painting at the next level, with things like highlights, transfers and smooth coats of paint going on across all my models

Today I have been working on my sole Blood Raven Vanguard Veteran - I have settled on Karak Stone as being the colour closest to the "bone" that the Blood Ravens have on their shoulder pads, and have now bought some of that colour to work on them. Hopefully with the pads out of the way, I can show off the rest of the model, based and highlighted (but sans transfers at the moment), by the end of this weekend. See you then!

G.A

Looking good. I recently got Lost Patrol, great game but super hard for the scouts.

EDC

 evildrcheese wrote:
Looking good. I recently got Lost Patrol, great game but super hard for the scouts.

Thanks EDC It is a fun and fast paced game - I like to allow Scouts to pass their shooting and CC on 5's and 6's, to give them a better chance while still favouring the Genestealers; the game becomes much better when you do this I've found

I've been in an absolute pickle these past two weeks sorting out what, hopefully, will be a job that will actually stick and help me pay my bills, since I can't claim benefits because I've not lived in the UK for nearly a decade. As a result, my painting has been pretty scatterbrained, despite me trying to keep on track as best as possible.

It doesn't help that I've been introduced to Dropzone Commander now, and have been wasting time painting UMC tanks with a GDI themed colour scheme rather than getting on with what's already on my table





I've even dug out a fraction of my old Guard army, which is an army I'm desperate to restore soon:



They are really begging to be restored, and I hope I speed up enough to be able to do so.


But in the meantime, two new developments have allowed me to narrow down what I'm going to be working on over the next month. Firstly, one of the two local game stores I currently am dipping into is organising a Start Collecting tournament, so I jumped in and bought a SC set, mostly because I wanted one anyway, but partly because it'd be a good test of my painting skills in a short space of time.

The set hasn't arrived yet, so I will just show the colour scheme I have planned for it, and let you guess what army I picked



I actually had to pick up a Vallejo paint because Citadel no longer does the colour I was looking for, so this will be my first proper experience of paints outside of Citadel other than an awful pot of P3 Black I bought once. I hope it's good!

I have also begun to organise a Kill Team tournament for the end of next month at the other LGS I go to, and (fingers crossed) will be entering with a freshly painted batch of Freebooterz; yes, I have finally managed to achieve the pinstripe trousers I always wanted thanks to JamesY's recommendation of precision masking tape:





This is a WIP from a few days ago, and I have been working on him since (adding highlights and such), but you get the gist of what it looks like. I'm pretty chuffed with the look actually!


So for now, I only have two projects on the go. I have put down Ever Stalwart, even though his Shoulder Plates did come out very nicely I think:



Still need highlighting, like 90% of my work right now


I really wasn't lying when I said this would be a bonanza, but with only 2 projects to worry about for the moment, I hope to churn out more regular and project consistent posts. Do stay tuned!

G.A

Like them Ork trousers, they look cool.

Nice bit of detail on the shoulderpads too.

You've got some good results there with the tape buddy look forward to seeing more.

Thanks for the replies you two

So I'm in dire need of picking up my pace so that I can finish this Start Collecting set before October 16th; I am therefore leaving the test model I've spent two very late nights on as it is and proceeding to batch paint straight away to try and get it all done on time.

Here he is - an Au'taal Honour Guard Fire Warrior. Apart from the cloth and leg area, I have highlighted all the important bits in at least one area so I know where I'm going with it; I'm confident now that I can pull off the project in time if I set aside enough time, and drink enough tea and fizz to concentrate late at night


A view of the badge and the highlights I've done to the Terracotta armour, using Tuskor Fur.


A look at the highlights to the green, using Yriel Yellow; I've been recommended to glaze these green areas once I've highlighted them, so I'll need to go buy some Lamenter's Yellow soon.


A shot of the face with highlights, using Fenrisian Grey and the appropriately named Psycho Detail brush from Army Painter.

From here on in, fully painted units! I'm feeling pretty guilty about this blog being a solely WIP experience

G.A

Definately a unique colour scheme. However, IMO the green needs to be a bit darker. It's quite a stark contrast. Of course, if you're trying to get through this as fast as possible, you could always get back to it later.

Good luck for meeting your deadline!

Thanks W.D

I'm copying the official Au'taal scheme colour for colour, hence why the green is so bright.

Here's an official model from the old codex, where I also found the colours I needed:



they were in old format but I just converted them into the new Citadel range, apart from the Terracotta, which I had to buy a Vallejo paint for since GW no longer does the colour.

Ah, fair enough then. I need to brush up on my Tau knowledge, definitely my weak point

Now that I look back at it, the skin tones on the head are really well done - Psycho brushes are super useful!

 WarbossDakka wrote:
Tau knowledge, definitely my weak point

Same, I can't pin point why, but they are the only 40k army that don't interest me at all. Except maybe the ghostkeel model.

Nice work GA, keep getting to the table and they'll get done.

WarbossDakka wrote:Ah, fair enough then. I need to brush up on my Tau knowledge, definitely my weak point

I'll fill you in a little; the Au'taal homeworld uniform is actually a ceremonial design, so they made perfect sense to go for considering the formation in the SC set is an Ethereal Honour Guard - a group of experienced Warriors who have a sole duty of protecting their Ethereal and leading their Cadre to victory. Au'taal also reminded me of the Chinese army from C&C Generals (suiting of the stereotype of Tau), and I was gonna get this at Christmas for a Christmas themed project

Now that I look back at it, the skin tones on the head are really well done - Psycho brushes are super useful!

It really is a good brush. It only consists of a few minute hairs that allow you to do the most insane and anal levels of detail on your models:



It's tiny! (teehee)

JamesY wrote:

 WarbossDakka wrote:
Tau knowledge, definitely my weak point

Same, I can't pin point why, but they are the only 40k army that don't interest me at all. Except maybe the ghostkeel model.

Nice work GA, keep getting to the table and they'll get done.

Thanks JamesY Perhaps it's because they're so distant from the aesthetic of the universe compared to the other factions. That'll either refresh you or annoy you depending on your view of the universe I think, both aesthetically and in their motives. I'm one who appreciates 40k being grimdark and gothic, but dislikes it when people try to blanket that theme across everything in the universe. I assume that's why I enjoy the Tau, but I also like everyone else

The glory of Tau painting wise is that you can paint them however you like, since entire Coalitions or Battles will change their uniform to suit the environment that they're fighting in. The only thing that remains consistent is the Sept colours identifying which Empire World they hail from.

So it's been quite a while, and my Tau force is still not complete. Pretty safe to say that I might have missed my October 16th deadline

I have however finished a pair of paint racks that I ordered from Goblin Gaming, so yay? Progress?



They do seem to be bowing quite a lot due to the weight of the paint pots. Odd, but not my fault - I put them together right, after a lot of huffing and swearing at them

I also did some Aquila stencils on the sides of each rack so they look a little more nice and unique:





Those more attentive Imperial fans will notice the two headed Eagle is actually identical on both sides. That's because I couldn't be asked to cut out both halves of the stencil I printed - I haven't got all day!

I also finally got my Blood Ravens Transfer Sheet, which the postman bent through the letter box - that's an OOP item, dammit!



Luckily the bend is not visible; at least Blood Ravens are finally on the horizon now. I've got a lot to do, as always.

That's all for now

G.A

Well, the new years in, and I think I can safely say that 2016 was bumpy to say the least for my hobby - I don't think I completed a single thing I said I would complete

No matter, for I shall make up for it with what I have planned and already on the move this year, starting with Battlefront's Team Yankee, for which there is a mega game planned for next week that I and my oldest brother shall be attending.

He's picked British, and I've picked the Yanks. And I have to build and paint both forces in a week



My new desk is already crammed with bits and pieces that I've been toiling over; 5 Chieftains, 2 Lynxes, 6 bases of Milan Teams, 6 Abrams, 2 Cobras, 3 M109s and a M113 Observer all need to be painted up and ready by next Saturday. Thank god I'm only on 12 hours a week at the moment!

I've already started on the Milan Teams; luckily my brother doesn't want anything too complicated for his force. Meanwhile I am planning on putting my new airbrush to the test by doing the MERDC scheme you see on the American display models. It will be an interesting week, that's for sure...

It doesn't help that my brother got me the Nomad half of Infinity's Operation: Icestorm for my Birthday yesterday, and the burning temptation to start on it that I have right now perhaps I shall work on them after this is done. Either way, this shall be the year of fulfilled promises!

As such, expect photos soon!

G.A

One week two armies? Go on GA, get to the desk and get it done!

Well I do finally have a desk to go to!

Being a night owl is paying off for me at the minute since currently I only go to work 3 days a week, from 7PM to 11. That means no consequences for staying up late to get it all finished!

You can do it. I believe in you! (But I also believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny sooooo.... )

Motivation or total lack of faith in me... I just don't know which one that is

Pull a JamesY, do it in a few days

I'm not too familiar with these kits, but I'm assuming they can be quite detailed. Still, 12 hours a week of work isn't that bad (call me jealous )

I'm sure you can put your peddle to the mettle on these!

 General Annoyance wrote:
Motivation or total lack of faith in me... I just don't know which one that is

Genuine admiration from an unreliable narrator of course! No seriously, it was supposed to be motivation, but I felt self-conscious being a cheerleader on your blog without ever having commented here before...
I have seen some truly amazing feats of painting/modelling under strict time constraints here on Dakka and with enough Tea(or coffee, or your beverage of choice -- mine is tea) and Determination anything is possible! Now go forth! Build the tanks! Paint the Tanks! Crush your enemies (or brother or whatever) under the weight of your mighty plastic army!

 brushcommando wrote:
Now go forth! Build the tanks! Paint the Tanks! Crush your enemies (or brother or whatever) under the weight of your mighty plastic army!

What about the metal bits?

Sigh...
Edit: Now go forth! Build the tanks! Paint the Tanks! Crush your enemies (or brother or whatever) under the weight of your mighty plastic/metal army!

So it's been a week and a bit. Did G.A fulfil his promise to the blog god?

 brushcommando wrote:

Genuine admiration from an unreliable narrator of course! No seriously, it was supposed to be motivation, but I felt self-conscious being a cheerleader on your blog without ever having commented here before...

It's nice to know people are reading, and nice to get the motivation too!

Sorry for letting you down again Seems like no amount of hard effort will fix some of the problems I had with these models this week; even staying up till 4 in the morning before the game didn't yield results!

G.A

Well don't keep us in suspense... did your plastic, partially painted army slaughter on the field? If the blog gods were displeased did you at least make some Khorne flakes?

 WarbossDakka wrote:
Pull a JamesY, do it in a few days

Let's see the progress GA! Keep it up!