Storm Shield

Today's post is about layering. Specifically, layering on a storm shield for the assault terminators. Right off the bat I'll say that some effects could be done with much fewer layers (something I intend to explore soon), but it does give a good idea of how you can use the paints to build up a final effect.
Decding which colours to use when building up the paint layers can be difficult, especially when you're not sure quite how it will turn out. This comes from experimentation and experience - and perhaps a little reasearch and ideas from what other people have done. Hence this post. So let's begin.

To start with, these are close up shots. Poor lighting still, but found a much better camera to work with, so hopefully better photos soon. Anyway, the usual black spray undercoat was applied first. The photo was actually taken a bit late, so the grey cross is a combination of Mechanicus Standard Grey (base) followed by a thin layer of Dawnstone (layer). This is the same as the Crux Terminatus from the previous post - I wanted the shield and shoulder pads to carry a similar colour theme. The eagle and skull are given a coat of Rhinox Hide (base), while the scroll is done with Rakarth Flesh (base).

Here the stonework (I'm going for a stone look) was given a wash of Nuln Oil (wash). Being a little patchy doesn't matter - it gives it some texture to look more like carved stone. The eagle is highlighted with Zamesi Desert (layer). I used a good brush and a bit of patience, but this step (and similar ones later) is probably a good candidate for drybrushing (might even be better - again, something to explore later). Karak Stone (layer) was applied to the skull, with Agrax Earthshade (wash) brushed over the scroll.

Things are starting to look better. Russ Grey (layer) was applied to the stonework, but not evenly. I tried to highlight the edges, and then blend it back towards the centre. If mistakes are made, Eshin Grey is actually a good colour to use to fix them because it's very similar to Dawnstone washed with Nuln Oil, to the point where one could simply just have used Eshin Grey to begin with. Still, the wash was good for a patchy look, and it gets into folds easier. Yriel Yellow (layer) was highlighted onto the eagle, with Ushabti Bone (layer) for the scroll, and Screaming Skull (layer) for the skull.

Fenrisian Grey (layer) gives final edge highlights to the stonework, which makes that part of the shield complete. Agrax Earthshade (wash) was applied over the skull, and Seraphim Sepia (wash) over the eagle. Final highlights with Screaming Skull (layer) for the scroll finish that part as well.

Flash Gitz Yellow (layer) for eagle highlights, and Scar White (layer) for the skull. At this point, the skull was actually too white, even if it looks ok in the photo. So the tip for future such adventures: don't use Scar White for anything but final edge highlights.
The eagle here could also be considered finished, however I find it too bright, too yellow to really give a golden impression. Looking back over the Death Company, I realised that while a brown hue is good, the missing colour was orange...

...so the final touches are Fuegan Orange (wash) on the eagle, and Agrax Earthshade (wash) to tone down the excessive white of the skull. Although the ambience is a bit dark for the photo, it hopefully shows that the eagle now looks closer to Dante's armour, but without the metallic paints.

The storm shield isn't completely finished. I'll likely give some very fine edge highlights of blue around the outermost edges to hint at a power field of some kind, and there's still the other side to do, along with something to write on the scroll. As an example of building up paint layers it's fairly good however. I might experiment with achieving similar colours on the eagle, but using less layers - I'm thinking Averland Sunset (base), some highlight of orange, Agrax Earthshade (wash) to give the brown colouring, then a final layer of Yriel Yellow. I'll see how that turns out in a future post.

-- silly painter.