Luna Wolf - Part II (Showcase)

 

Looks very determined to use that bayonet.

After putting in a lot of effort, I managed to complete the Luna Wolf in a single week. For me, this is extraordinarily fast, particularly because I had no prior exploration of colours to work with for the Luna Wolves. Thinking of what colours to use often takes me longer than the actual painting.

Looking back on this model however, once the initial airbrushing was done and the first metallics applied, the majority of it was finished. Even the crest is nice and simple:

• White or light grey undercoat.
• Blood Angels Red (Contrast) over the "fluffy bits".
• Shyish Purple thinned and pooled at the bottom of that area.
• Druchii Violet shaded at the very bottom.

That's it! I could add some orange highlights along the top, but felt that carried too much risk of messing it up and I kind of liked the darker look in contrast to the white / light grey armour.

The base of the crest, i.e the metal component, is likewise very simple:

• Warplock Bronze base coat.
• Runelord Brass highlight.
• Canoptek Alloy edge highlight.

I played with another model trying to find the right metallics, but none were desaturated enough for my liking. Silver is too much desaturated and I wanted to keep the brass hue, so in the end Canoptek Alloy just seemed to fit perfectly. I think I'll be using the above 3-colour combination again the future as I really like how it turned out.

On the theme of metallics still, the backpack I really enjoyed. The side ball-shaped components in particular I played with and it just kind of worked. There's so much grey on the model that a slight colour shift away from silver really helps make the overall model work.

• Iron Warriors on the metal area.
• Warplock Bronze, thinned to just about glaze consistency, and of course glazed over the top.
• Runelord Brass, again thinned to glaze consistency, applied to highlight certain areas.

I also did sort of the reverse for highlighting across some detail to the top of the backpack. Same colours, but using the bronze and brass to go darker further from the top. Glazing the metallics is key, and the effect is quite subtle but eye-catching. Actually these colours and their transitions might work well with melta-gun muzzles, or any other heat blasted metal (I never do go much for the typical purple to yellow heat effect that seems all the rage these days).

The helmet eye lenses took me a moment to consider, until I realised there was only one way to paint them: the same as the Eye of Horus details on Horus.

• Jokaero Orange
• Yriel Yellow to highlight.
• Bloodletter (the old glaze paint), drawn to the back of the lens mostly.
• Carroburg Crimson dotted to the back of the lens.
• Nuln Oil very corner dot.
• White Scar reflection dot with a very fine detail brush.

I could have done more of the red and black of the lens, but the colour I'm overall happy with. It's certainly visually striking. I had always intended to paint some kind of gang markings on the helmet (Luna Wolves tradition from Cthonia), and a small mistake in painting the left lens was conveniently covered up in this fashion using whatever red was on the palette. While doing this, fine detail brushes don't hold much water and can dry out easily, but it helps to only put a very small amount of paint on the tip. Don't put paint any further, or it will draw too much water out and make it more difficult to use.

I have a new leather approach:

• Zandri Dust across the leather strap.
• Snakebite Leather (Contrast) over the top.
• Gore-Grunta Fur thinly over the top of that.
• Zandri Dust to add some scratches.

Contrast paints are good at this kind of approach, and while there are approaches that can give better results, the speed of this was well worth it. If this were a character model, or for a more serious competition, I might makes the scratches a bit brighter, but if I were to paint a whole army then the above is an excellent alternative.

Bugger this Sons of Horus thing, going back to being a Luna Wolf!

Gloss varnish and fineliner pens can be a useful combination in sketching out a freehand design. It's easily cleaned with water, or a very (very) small amount of solvent if necessary. That allowed me to draw out the Luna Wolf insignia on the right shoulder pad. I didn't do the best job of it, but at this point I'm also rushing to get the model finished in time. I can afford to cut a few corners. I also wrote the Legion number XVI across some battle damage that wasn't turning out proper, just to cover it up.

On the note of battle damage, I'm still getting used to applying that and weathering. Very small scratches along some edges worked well - but very small, nothing too large. Mostly just stippling black and Adminstratum Grey around areas that might see a bit more wear & tear. Verminlord Hide was drybrushed around the feet, but I never go very far with such things. A few stones and a skull on the base, and that's about it.

Just for the sake of it standing out, the little targeting lens (or whatever it is) on the helmet is a combination of a black, silver highlight, and Soulstone Blue. I sometimes avoid the normal gemstone look when I want a more opaque glass look to it, and the technical paints work very well for this pupose. Contrast paints work well too, but don't give the gloss finish.

I could happily paint an army with this scheme. It's not a whole lot in the end, and perhaps less work overall than for the Blood Angels, but the model itself is also less detailed that you might think. No shoulder pad trim to slow things down, no Imperial Aquila, and and oil wash is very simple and effective on a predominantly light grey / white model.

Strictly speaking I do have another week to get this model done, so I could have really gone to town on it, but there are other models that need painting and I think I found it more entertaining to develop an approach that could be used across an entire army. Maybe it will inspire someone else to make a Luna Wolves army one day.

-- silly painter.