Legions Imperialis - Sicaran Battle Tanks (Part I)

 

Tanks a lot.

Delayed post because of being laid low, but back to things now. I have a few things with slight progress, but these little tanks have been sitting assembled and primed for a long while now and I wanted to start them. I'm hoping to use the airbrush very regularly over the next couple of weeks just because I have an window to do that before certain distractions are restored.

Part of the reason in delaying starting these next models has been in wanting to try and get a better handle on using the airbrush. I've been getting used to thinning paints more, using multiple passes to reduce some of the speckle, and even swapping between airbrushes to see how the higher quality ones compare with my skill level. Hint: thinning paints makes cleaning out an airbrush much, much easier! I've been skipping full tear down and clean outs because it's simply not required, and there's been virtually no nozzle clogging. There is a downside that the with the amount of thinner and flow improver I use, the paint definitely does not adhere as well. It takes quite some time to cure and stick to the model, several hours or even a full day will give better results in this regard.

The multiple coats, multiple sessions airbrushing approach I'm developing works for me because I don't have all day to sit and paint - generally an hour session each day works best right now, so I can line up multiple models and batch as appropriate. The tanks here will have another couple of sessions before the paintbrush comes out: the Contrast paint filter stage, and then later gloss varnish to secure everything.

The initial stage on these tanks was Typhon Ash, roughly one part of that with one part thinner and one part flow improver. I probably need to adjust that mixture in future, make two parts paint to one part each of the thinner and flow improver. I did need to hold back the airbrush further initially, and the first coat was far too watery, but later it mixed better and more to my liking. I used about four passes in the end, rotating through the parts to give each time to dry before the next layer, to build up to full opacity and given even coverage. A little patience is needed, but I think it worked well.

Previous models always suffer from the problem that I don't go bright enough with the initial Zenithal highlights, so this time I then mixed in White Scar to the cup and did another pass. I'm hopeful this is now bright enough that the later Contrast filter won't be too dark. I still have trouble with this: I almost always need to go lighter and brighter than I might think, forgetting that mixing paint decreases both. I'll see how I fare this time.

-- silly painter.