Legion III - Emperor's Children WIP#1

Darkwing Duck

Another entry in my Legion series. Just felt like working with purple really - it's one colour I get to use very rarely (seeing as there aren't any Tyranids on the completed shelf yet). So basically why not.

The colour scheme for Emperor's Children (pre-Heresy) is purple and gold, though some silver is often mixed in there. Going by some of the artwork, a gold face mask is often present, but I felt that the purple helmet should stay. They helmet should reflect Legion colours, and though the artwork often depicts a silver helmet, I've opted for purple here.

The main body is based coated, but otherwise not much done yet, so that's a post for another day.

Colouring for the base:

• Chemos (Forgworld Airbrush range)
• Genestealer Purple (Air range, highlight)
• Genestealer Purple, White Scar (Air range, 50/50 mix, highlight)
• Nuln Oil (wash, but used with the airbrush, shading)

A few comments here. The Nuln Oil is very thin, even for an airbrush, but has a similar effect to the Forgeworld Deathshroud "clear" paint. It just makes things darker really. Considering Forgeworld discontinued their airbrush range, that's going to be a big help in the future. Thanks to the local GW staff for that tip!
The mix with White Scar was just experimental. I wanted an extra highlight on top, and it did work rather well. The catch is that using white tends to desaturate the colour somewhat, so if I do that in future it will only be for very small, final highlights.
Lastly (or first, I suppose), the Chemos is a good base colour. Pity to see that go, but maybe Naggaroth Night can be thinned and fed into an airbrush as a replacement. Or maybe the Air range will be expanded.

Moving on, a final edge on very select edges of a thin application of Dechala Lilac (Edge paint), and some Druchii Violet (wash) in recesses rounded off the base stage.

The faceplate is:

• Balthasar Gold
• Hashut Copper
• Reikland Fleshshade (Gloss)
• Fulgurite Copper

The eyes took a bit of doing, as I wanted something closer to an aqua colour for them. Using a very small brush:

• Incubi Darkness
• Sotek Green (first highlight)
• Temple Guard Blue (second highlight)
• Drakenhof Nightshade (around the edges)
• Waywatcher Green (glaze)

A bit fiddly, but it got the job done.

Last note: the airbrushing is easier when the model is perched on something that can hold it assembled. Paperclips help for this, and some have been inserted into holes drilled around the model (a photo for next time). 0.85mm drill bit seems the most suitable to use, although it can be a bit loose. 0.8mm might work better if the paperclip should be there more permanently. This might be refined a little more over future models, but an assembled model is easier to highlight rather than trying to do it in parts, but being able to take the model apart again afterwards helps get the brush around various areas.

-- silly painter.

Dark Imperium Primaris Intercessors

Squad leader interrupted during his toilet break.

So the first five Primaris Intercessors from the Dark Imperium boxed set are done, including company and squad markings. These are decals - more on that in a moment.

There's really not too much to note painting-wise. Nothing that hasn't been written down before, but a short summary wouldn't go astray.

Utility pouches:

• Eshin Grey around the belt and drybrushed onto pouches.
• Dawnstone drybrushed onto pouches.
• Nuln Oil applied to pouches.
• Leadbelcher on the clasps.

Sidearm holster:

• Rhinox Hide
• Sylvaneth Bark drybrushed over the top.
• Lamenter's Yellow glazed over it all.
• Bloodletter glazed over that.
• Agrax Earthshade to darken it down again.
• Leadbelcher for the clasps.

Chestpiece:

• Black (duh).
• Dark Reaper along the edges of the "feathers", and the center skull.
• Russ Grey as further edge highlights.
• Nuln Oil to add some contrast back in, or darken as necessary.

Black armour & gun casing:

• Black (again, duh).
• Eshin Grey to highlight as appropriate.
• Dawnstone for very sharp edges.
• Thinned black to blend it all together as necessary (because highlighting black is hard).

Red armour:

• 50/50 mix of Mephiston Red and Dryad Bark
• Mephiston Red
• Evil Sunz Scarlet.
• Wild Rider Red for extreme edge highlights, if needed, but it was very, very rarely used here.

Eye lenses:

• Caliban Green
• Warpstone Glow
• Moot Green
• Coelia Greenshade around the edges
• Nuln Oil if it should be darker yet
• Dot of White Scar (although I may leave this out in future - it's too easy to mess up basically).

Last note is another bit of improvement to working with decals. Normally there are a couple of problems with them: creases over curved surfaces, and gloss finish that doesn't match the rest of the model. The latter is fixed somewhat with a satin varnish (i.e Purity Seal), and creases can be alleviated with a few careful cuts before soaking the transfer. It still never ends up quite proper.
So based on a bit of Internet reading, there are various products to help with transfers, in making them adhere to the model, and to make them more malleable to work with. Mostly these products are a solvent of some kind, which as it turns out is what air brush cleaner is. So I decided to apply a little bit of air brush cleaner with a paint brush and see if it would help. And it does. Creases basically disappear, the edging around the transfer (most have a kind of transparent border around them) fades away, and most of the gloss is removed as well. A spray of Purity Seal and it's basically indistinguishable from the paintwork.
I did try a bit of Lahmian Medium before adding the solvent, but that actually hinders things a little. Just have to be careful with how much solvent to use - don't want to go stripping paint off. The photo pretty much speaks for itself though - I can actually be confident in using transfers now.
I've used the word "solvent" because I'm not entirely sure of the exact chemical inside the cleaner (other than that it's really obviously toxic and flammable), but it's probably available cheaply at art & craft stores, or home hardware stores. Regardless, works really well.

-- silly painter.

Another Primaris

Hold steady, I'll just get that fly...

After a bit of a break, painting is back again. Above is a lower quality phone camera shot of Primaris #4. Still needs a sealant applied, along with the base to be done, and some small details filled in (the purity seal in particular), which will be done for all five at once, when it comes to that point.

I may paint some fewer models next, just to get more of a handle with the airbrush. This was a good experiment, but I'd like more experience with getting the right paints, mix, etc, before going back to batch painting. Just takes too long to fix up where I've made mistakes. That being said, the Ultramarine standard bearer worked nicely, so it could just be the colour really. Red is a difficult colour to work with.

Not much else to really say. Painting continues. Hopefully this squad will be done in the next week or so, and I can figure out what to do next. Probably another 30k of the Legions, just for the airbrush, and to give me time to think of what to do after that.

-- silly painter.