Deathwatch Chaplain WIP #2, Grey Knight WIP #1

When not in use, armour must still be stored in a mighty pose.

Alongside Chappy, there's also one of the Grey Knights I'm also simultaneously painting. Only the one Grey Knight was painted previously, so it's time to finish the rest.

Starting with a couple things in common, the Chaplain and Knight have what I deem to be "white cloth". I like to build this up multiple layers to really give it some depth, and make it look somewhat thick (and therefore more durable during battle). I also leave it mostly unadorned, for no other reason that I don't trust my freehand to not mess up all that hard work! The cloth for the Chaplain is attached at the left hip.
The usual process is likely to now be:

• Zandri Dust (base)
• Agrax Earthshade (wash)
• Karak Stone (layer, leaving deeper recesses alone)
• Screaming Skull (layer, leaving more recesses alone)
• White Scar (layer, very thin coat, here only applied for the Chaplain).

Layering is done with thin coats, and quite a bit of patience. It's very difficult to get the layers blending just right, and I often make mistakes by going over areas still wet. This is bad because it often just removes paint. Really do let each layer dry completely before adding another - it makes everything so much easier in the end.

Scrolls and paperwork are done slightly differently in the hope of giving a different texture at the end. I'm still working on this, but the approach used long ago on the Sanguinary Guard is:

• Steel Legion Drab (base)
• Ushabti Bone (layer)
• Agrax Earthshade (wash, thinly applied)
• Pallid Wych Flesh (layer, thinly applied)
• Black (for the writing; the somewhat ruined black that's now thinned down a lot works really well here)

I'm toying with the idea of going over it with very thin Seraphim Sepia if it's too white at the end. I'll see how the scrolls on the Grey Knight go - they've been base coated, but not layered.

They Grey Knight was airbrushed for the base coats. Basic Leadbelcher, followed by Ironbreaker, and then a (far too thinned, darn) directional of Grey Knights Steel from Forgeworld, and an opposite direction of Deathshroud. A good deal of layer paint, particularly Ironbreaker, was used to fix things afterwards and add some edge highlights, along with a bit of brushwork using Grey Knights Steel. Drakenhof Nightshade around select edges, sometimes with multiple coats to make it very dark, and that's the base armour complete. It sounds fairly easy, but it was a bit tedious at times. Still faster than entirely by hand, and though different to the original Grey Knight, still just as good in the end.
Inset gold writing was, however, quite easy:

• Retributor Armour (base)
• Liberator Gold (layer, applied to try and just catch the writing)
• Seraphim Sepia (wash, applied with a small brush and allowed to pool lower than the lettering)

Letting the wash flow into recesses really makes the wording stand out and easy to read. If done carefully, it doesn't take away too much shine from the raised areas, and it's not so bad if it does; there's enough metallics on the Grey Knights that a little lack of shine on the wording can sometimes add to the model anyway.

-- silly painter.