Operative Umbral-Six - Part I

 

Headless assassin inside a head.

As an initial disclaimer, I obtained some heavy inspiration from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QXvE2-dfRc

Of course, the final rendition looks quite different, and the approach has been modified greatly - I used it for inspiration, a base to build from, rather than simply copying and really wanted my own take model. I also spent a while looking at verdigris, seeing how it flows and builds up over time. Most modern statues where it's apparent are absolutely covered in it, to the point where none of the underlying copper colour is visible at all. I imagined that the statue here was more carefully looked after, perhaps regularly polished until war broke out and it was cared for a little less, before finally suffering some damage from the fighting. The assassin perched there poignant for the vengeance the Imperium visits upon those who desecrate such sacrilege against imagery of the Sisters, while fires burn in the streets below. The damage though, is perhaps relatively recent - exposing metal that hasn't yet had a chance to oxidise into verdigris.

All this backstory does play a role in painting. It informs which colours to use, how heavy to apply them, perhaps lighting angles, and so forth. Here, the assassin should be dark, and without many (if any) reflective points. The weathering on the statue will be less severe than other renditions of this model. Lighting is more intended to come from below rather than overhead, informing where to place highlights.

Before even priming the model, I decided to remove the Vindicare from the stand. Painting him/her separately would be much easier in theory, though in hindsight I probably could've just left the front of the statue off. No matter. If I ever want to use the model in a game (almost zero chance of that in all honesty) then removal will be useful - and there's always the excuse of just wanting to see if I could. So I cut the model clear, drilled some very careful holes for the smallest of my magnets, and then green-stuffed back over some the damage I caused when cutting. I could have done a better job at repairs, but motivation wasn't exactly at a high point - and a little damage seems to fit anyway. I did also have to slightly trim a few points to make the Vindicare fit better with the statue in place, but that's well hidden. The magnets aren't the strongest, but do keep everything place well enough for display purposes. Naturally the rifle has a hole drilled in the barrel.

Priming everything was done using one from Vallejo instead of the usual Citadel spray can. There's no sense in letting a bottle of primer go to waste, and using it through the airbrush means not having to leave models outside in dubious weather. It's acceptable on plastic, but doesn't bond very well on resin or metal. The Citadel spray primer is still superior in my opinion, assuming good weather.

The statue:

• Leadbelcher base coat. This was intended to build up a slightly glossy undercoat, and give a lighter tone to the finish.
• Balthasar Gold. Another base, but only needing a single coat. Completely even coverage is not required.
• Runelord Brass (the old layer paint version) applied as what can only be described as a "wet drybrush". It was built up a little more heavily in highlighted areas.
• Canoptek Alloy, applied similarly to the previous step and kept mostly as a highlight. The focus was on the lower left (with reference to the photo).
• Coelia Greenshade applied over almost all of the statue. This was more of a glaze than a shade - while some areas were indeed given a shade, it was thinly glazed over flat surfaces too, acting as a subtle green filter.
• Aethermatic Blue. I don't have Nihilakh Oxide and didn't want to but a whole bottle for this one model, so used a contrast paint instead. Aethermatic Blue is far more translucent and might take multiple layers to build up, but for my usage this was more preferable: I didn't want the intensity of Nihilakh Oxide to begin with, going for a more subtle expression of verdigris only beginning to appear.

There's some structural bracing to be painted up still, and I'll likely give that an oxidised and slightly rusted iron appearance. I had some practice of that with the base on Horus, and I'd like to repeat it here. I also intend to try give some warm highlights indicating flames from a street below, but now I'm not so certain about that. It would look much better if exaggerated, but doing so would need really give a light/dark contrast, which would make much of the statue verdigris hidden - basically, I'd need to start from scratch. I might simply darken some places with a filter of some kind later on instead - I like how the statue looks far too much and don't want to ruin it.

-- silly painter.