Terminator Squad - Part III

 

Chainfist. For when you really want to cut something.

It's been a little while since the last post, what with travel, work, and a bunch of other hobby time intrusions, and sometimes it can be difficult to get moving again on projects. Which is actually something that "background projects" can sometimes help with (at least for me).

I've lost a little steam on the Dreadnoughts and Jain Zar, and the latter in particular is very difficult because I simply don't have the motivation and inspiration to figure out what or how to paint next. The one thing that does help me get over this is to finish a model - a catch 22 when it's the lack of motivation stopping me from progressing. Switching to a background project, such as these Terminators, is what helps get me back on track: there are no surprises in what or how to paint everything. I just need to get it done - and there's the second problem. Getting started again, even without blockers, is sometimes difficult by virtue of not knowing where to start; I want the models done, but don't feel like grinding through it all.

To get some level of progress there visually needs to be a relatively high level of change from minimal painting effort. Metallic details (here I'm trying Iron Hands Steel, though perhaps it's a little too bright - I'll know after the matt varnish stage) are a good way to start - just load some on the palette and work away at each model. I don't need to swap paints around, and each "session" can be just five or ten minutes. I don't need to sit for hours to paint models - quite frequently I only do a small bit over a handful of minutes, then come back later for a few minutes more. That one colour on the palette all setup and ready means I can just go at it the moment I feel motivated.

After the metallics are in place, black paint on any chest Imperial Aquila, chapter symbols, gun casings, just setting the base colour for next steps. I can later go back over again with only a small selection of paints to fill in the highlights and shading - and suddenly the models are starting to look a lot more completed (even if they're not really), and I'm starting to get motivated to do more.

I still need to apply black shading to some recesses on the Terminators, and the I'll likely get one of the most troublesome bits out of the way: black weapon casing highlights. They take a while for me to do properly, and I will really try next time to mask off some of the areas and hit it with the airbrush (or rather hit it with paint sprayed out of the airbrush) to see if that will be more efficient. Still, I'll work at it over the next day or two, and then get started on the Crux Terminatus of each, followed by the eye lenses. Somewhere in there I'll very likely start to pick out pieces on other models and get those projects moving forwards as well.

That's the plan anyway, so I'll see how it pans out in a week.

-- silly painter