Year in Reflection - 2025

2025

Looking back over the past year of painting, one thing sticks out the most to me: I got so very few models painted. It's not like I wasn't motivated, there was just a lot of more higher priority tasks or situations that prevented me from getting anything hobby related done. This was something I knew might happen and while frustrating, it wasn't surprising.

Throughout the year I tried some other approaches to painting red, learned more about airbrushing (and bent another needle, still not sure how), reorganised paint storage with custom racks, and...didn't do much sculpting. I still want to do more sculpting, but it takes a bit of time, space, and concentration. Perhaps once everything calms down then I can get back to it. Weirdly the best of all was the custom paint racks: cheap, tailored to my needs, and makes paints within easy reach. When I do have time for painting then it's becoming more efficient because I can quickly get the paints I need. This leads into something else I've been improving with the past year: put the paints I need on the palette and get something done. A pouch, a sword, whatever it happens to be - just paint one little part to completion. That more than anything else kept me going throughout the year.

I wanted to get more models painted. That didn't work. I also bought more things, mostly because they looked cool and I wanted to pad out for free shipping. It seems that I'm slowly being drawn towards Horus Heresy. Something about the designs reminds me of older editions of 40k, and the setting is certainly darker in tone than modern day 40k. There's nothing bad in there, on the contrary there's now a wider range than ever to appeal to a lot more people. Some of the older Horus Heresy models are spectacularly detailed (see the Crimson Paladins), but the newer plastics appear to be what I can best describe as higher detail, but plainer design. The manufacturing processes are definitely improving, while the sculpts can be painted effectively from a more limited colour range, and so they feel easier to assemble and paint compared to what I'm used to. Let's see if that translates to getting 30k models done more quickly than their 40k counterparts.

Earlier in the year I practised with painting reds by using a yellow undercoat and then covering with a Contrast paint. This absolutely works to see where highlights are going, and gives a vibrant result, but suffers from one major drawback: the need to be precise. It was only towards the end of the year that I made the realisation that I shouldn't be using the airbrush to do all of the armour. Use it as the foundation to later perform fine-tuning on; go back to the original airbrushing paints I was using now that I can thin the paints properly, use those for a rough sketch only, and refine the armour with glazing as necessary later. I'm eager to paint more squads with this idea in mind, as it might just be the final piece to my army painting puzzle.

2026

Going into 2026 I have the same goal as last year: get more models painted. I by far enjoy painting single miniatures more than squads, but I need to clear some of the backlog. There's just too much piling up and it's getting depressing. I'll need to get squads of troops done, but the simpler the better.

There is another tactic I might try as well. I paint a lot of Blood Angels. I always will. Yet looking at some of the models in my storage, I wonder if what makes them difficult is the repetitive nature of always painting red armour. I should just try painting different Chapters. The Guilliman model will need a retinue, so Ultramarines seems the logical choice to try out, and there's plenty of box art to use as a reference. I also probably won't care quite so much that way, and maybe, just maybe, I can try not to be such a perfectionist if the models aren't Blood Angels.

Other than that, I would also like to paint more larger scale models. I strongly suspect the airbrush will be the key to unlocking that for me - paint the basics, then go back in with a brush later to refine everything.

Captain Karlaen Kitbash - Part VI (Showcase)

 

Back, bigger than ever.

I'm calling it done on the conversion / kitbash of Captain Karlaen. I absolutely could go all-out on highlighting the armour more, making it really pop, but that would take at least another two days and then I'd have to start fixing other little mistakes too. This model is not a competition piece, but I've learned enough that it could be.

Before anything else, a nice sable hair brush with paint at the right glaze consistency (preferably using flow improver) over the matt varnish really, truly does wonders for highlighting red armour. Synthetics don't quite have the same softness or "spring" to them, and the matt varnish evens out the brush strokes in a way that's difficult to describe. I may have to use this to really step it up a notch on another model before too long.

For learning NMM, this model has been both a success, and a failure. I learned a lot about light placement, shadow placement, and using contrast to bring out the shape of something. The hammer haft and the storm bolter worked particularly well. The tilting shield trim did not. The rest of the gold was hit and miss - I could probably make it work, but I don't think the formula for gold was quite right for this model. I also need to use more mid-tones with less yellow because it goes too bright too fast.

What really helped with NMM for me was not starting from the darkest colour. Start from the mid-tone. That's the "unlit" colour of the metall, everything else is just adding light and dark for reflections to sell the effect.

If I'm going to continue learning NMM then I may need to add some texturing to the mix to help differentiate NMM from something simply lighter in colour. The Crux Terminatus is too close to the NMM areas and might come across as an earlier experiment - but actually I want it to look more like stone. Weirdly I could probably make it work with NMM quite well, but I think that a stone look gives them more weight, makes the armour look heavier, more powerful, and more menacing. In the meantime though, I want to switch back to metallics - I like the end look of them more in most cases, but I can still apply some of the lessons learned here.

The inner cape is darker than I originally intended. There's no colour reason for this - it was just difficult to reach that area and it was getting annoying. It was a risk I took, but next time I'll paint the cape before gluing the model into position.

The hammer grip was a good choice to be something other than red. It makes the hammer more distinct, whereas something more red or brown might have looked like an extension of the arm.

I could spend ages pointing out defects, mistakes, and generally describing everything in minute detail, but there's not really a whole lot of point to that. Also I'm tired and just want to finish up. The model was, overall, a successful kitbash. I know what I could improve in future for kitbashing, I know more than before about the placement of light and shadow, and I have a nice looking miniature all painted up before the end of the year.

-- silly painter.

Sanguinary Guard (Heresy Era) - Part I

 

Stab. Stab stab stab!

I normally wouldn't be posting on these models at this stage, but the assembly was noteworthy enough to warrant it. I'll start with the picture above: I messed up the pose and from that camera angle he looks a little hunched over while putting a pizza in an oven. From a lower angle it looks like he's stabbing upwards into something. I don't like it, but it's well glued together now and there's no getting around it. This bring me to point one: posing.

Arms with multiple connection points are really, really hard to pose properly. Using blu-tac (or whichever equivalent) always puts a slight spacer between the connection points and it does matter at this scale. I much prefer when there are guides to get the arms in the proper position, which can always be trimmed if not wanted. Without this then in future I'll need to look at creating my own out of paperclips. This takes time and effort, and really degrades motivation. The extra problem on this model is the fact that the arms and hands were also separate and used ball joints. Anchoring just one arm once everything is dry-fit would be great - and if all the pieces were plastic that might be an option (just drop some extra-thin cement in there), but between plastic and resin? That needs superglue. In future I'll just take the time and pin it.

The base gave me pause for a little. I wasn't sure how I wanted to base the Heresy models - something industrial or hab block related seems more appropriate: it could be on any world, it could be on Terra, it could be within a ship. That's when I remembered what I'd done on previous models: I used Sector Imperialis bases. No need for much else, just glue on the models and done. Of course there's a lot of repetition if I just use those, so later I may need to add rubble, piping, concrete debris, that sort of thing, just to differentiate them. Adding a layer of randomness makes the visuals less uniform.

As I was assembling a squad I noticed that the backpacks have enough room behind that I could just glue them onto the torso, and so I did. Then when I tested the shoulder pads I saw there was just enough room to paint those whilst attached. The arms aren't really hiding much either, so they and the weapons are all glued in position. Then looked at the helmets, looked again, and looked for a third time. There would be some difficulty, but the majority of the helmets are accessible for painting. Everything is glue together - even accessories for each. The latter will probably be the worst for accessibility to various areas, but it's worth it for motivation; I'll paint a fully assembled model much quicker compared to sub-assemblies.

The helmet and head options are from older Forgeworld kits, and while Games Workshop has done a brilliant job at compatibility, they simply aren't designed for these newer models. They just didn't sit right - too much height on the neck, or not enough. In the end there was really only the one option: trim it down a lot and use a (very) small ball of putty to make up the difference. A bit of glue and squishing the putty into place makes sure it flattens out to take up the space while giving a large contact area for adhesion and even time to make minor adjustments to sit everything in the proper place. This is all hidden by the helmet itself and won't be visible in the end.

During assembly I've gone the extra mile with scraping off mould lines and sanding things back as smooth as I could with 1200 grit sand paper. Some plastic cement in a few areas helped to seal seams shut before sanding it all back, though doubtless some areas will still be visible later. The left pauldrons in particular seem to be troublesome for that, but that's the price for the better looking armour studs. I decided to go with them because they look cool, and signifies that though they are well equipped, they're still one with the others of their legion who may not be so fortunate in their offerings from the quartermaster.

Finally, I've been preparing these models specifically to test out some new paints, but also to see how well I go with models that don't have quite so much ornate detailing. I'm hoping this will help limit the palette and make me get through the models more quickly than usual. More on the reasoning for that later.

-- silly painter.

Crimson Paladin - Part II

 

Cleaning that sash must take some effort.

Originally I thought I could paint the Crimson Paladins relatively quickly, but this first model has proven me most incorrect in that matter. It's the sub-assemblies that annoy me, but even more it's that the shoulder armour doesn't have a proper mounting location and I can't glue them in place until the arms are done, and they need to be done separately from the torso to reach certain areas without hassle. One of those spots is the sash and rings on which it hangs.

The sash itself is fairly simplistic with building up from a dirty beige to an off-white:

• Steel Legion Drab
• Zandri Dust
• Skeleton Horde (TTC)
• Screaming Skull
• Pallid Wych Flesh

The issue I still have with cloth though is making it look like material. Trying to find references is difficult because photos are always with cheap costumes using nylon: thin, slightly shiny, overly smooth. I want something heavier looking, more durable. Ancient Roman togas is the closest I can find. Even then, the scale means it shouldn't be painted realistic, but instead painted more impressionistic: take the properties and exaggerate them. Durable, thick material will have large woven fibres that can be portrayed by painting always in the same direction to build up a kind of lined grain in appearance. It doesn't always work.

Another problem here is that I'm used to glazing and smoothing between layers, which is _very_ difficult with whiter and lighter coloured paints. It leaves everything looking blotchy and messy far too frequently. Using flow improver instead of water to thin the paint does help, but actually it's simply better to use slightly thicker layers and wet blend instead. Even then it was the Pallid Wych Flesh that brought everything together in the end - it was a total mess before that.

So I still need to find my rhythm for painting cloth.

The hanging straps could be leather, or just more heavy cloth. I painted them with Steel Legion Drab,  Barak-Nar Burgundy, mixed in Warpfiend Grey in some places and The Fang in others, then gave the whole thing a coat of Black Templar (Contrast) mixed with Contrast Medium (about 1:1). I played it fast and loose with the whole thing and may still go back and add scratches and edge highlights, but I'm starting to like using purple-greys with black leather.

As for the armour trim, that's still just Castellax Bronze with a thinned Canoptek Armourshade (1:1 with flow improver) right now. I may highlight after the matt varnish stage of the model, not sure yet.

-- silly painter.

Captain Karlaen Kitbash - Part V

Back to it.

I somehow managed to get a fair amount done on Captain Karlaen recently, although most of that will be revealed later on the front. I'm still focusing on NMM techniques, and learning quite a lot in the process; I haven't cracked cubes yet, but I'm improving on other shapes.

The gold didn't really sit with the vision of what I wanted (it's too yellow) and so I experimented with something else on the hammer. I tried more of a white-gold, but in all honesty it didn't turn out at all. I dislike it so much that I'm not even going to write down the paints used - it's simply too beige, too sandy, and so I'll go back to the prior gold colouring for the rest: the right shoulder obviously need completing, along with the Iron Halo, along with a few odds and ends. Still, when painting the wing shape on the hammer I tried to give more contrast with a darker red in the shadows. This might work if I nudged into more ochre colours, something between yellow and brown and only moving to beige on the brightest reflection points. One mistake I did correct on the fly was when I realised I was painting the red as normal volume highlights without taking into account the angle; the deeper shadows would come from ground bounce light, and given the angle of the hammer this means they spread into the outer areas of each "feather". It's an interesting effect in the end and worth that realisation even if I don't like the overall colouring.

Over the rest of the hammer I stuck mostly to an dark iron / steel, borrowing mostly from the recipe used on Azrakh, but swapping a few colours around as I felt like it. I even tried Barak-Nar Burgundy mixed with the black, but subtle as I tried, the warm colour stood out too much.

Cylindrical shapes are easy when it comes to reflection points. It's mostly a brighter line down the length of the cylinder, some brighter does on the edges at either end. Cubes though, they're harder to make interesting. If they're highly reflective they simply act as mirrors, but with the environment missing then it's hard to show that. I settled for some kind of banding, which actually works better on swords. In future I might simply paint it a single gradient for the most part, or perhaps be a lot more subtle in the gradients, with only contrasting value jumps for the edges and corners.

One of the other techniques I was trying was really to build up highlights from a mid-tone, and then shade down from that same mid-tone. This worked. NMM isn't just about where to highlight, but where to add shadow and darker areas too, and both of these are easier from the mid-tone rather than trying to build up from darkest to brightest. White dots help sell the effect too.

I still don't really like NMM in general for miniatures, but it does work if done properly. It's just very difficult to do properly such that it works from multiple viewing angles. The shoulders don't do this, which is why I stopped. The left one looks amazing from the top, but not as nice from the front or side. The haft actually takes this into account and I have multiple reflection lines with a darker area between, allowing for the effect to be seen from multiple angles. the storm bolter has this slightly, but that's only really of interest when viewed from a certain angle anyway. The shoulders I don't think will work as I originally intended, but at least I'm learning why. I understand the advice from Darren Latham when he remarked in a blog post somewhere to pretend there are four light sources, one in each corner of a square above the model. It's what makes his style work on 3d pieces.

Ultimately I understand that NMM offers contrast and definition, which are critically important for miniature painting, but I also think it's not quite as easy as that. It will look nice in photos - but this isn't a two dimensional medium and that needs to be taken into account. I also like to play with the finish, from matt, to satin, to gloss. I'm convinced that mastering metallics hasn't fully been realised yet, that contrast is still possible with them, and definition. On that note I have two sets of Vallejo's TMM range, so I'll see how that goes on another model.

-- silly painter

 

Blood Angels Champion - Part III

 

He slices, he dices...

Been a few weeks since any update because very good reasons, but I'm back at semi-regular painting again and decided to block in a few colours. There's not a whole lot of painting information really, this is just trying to get a sense of the final look of the model, which itself is often just as important.

The base is very bare right now and definitely will need some attention. Rocks, scrub, a skull or two, and it should be passable, but this kind of model normally deserves something a little better. This basing is chosen to fit with the rest of the army, but Astartes are unlikely to be found in that environment without something else to indicate fortifications, enemy troops, etc; Astartes would not fight across open terrain in such a fashion. They're a surgical strike force that targets the enemy directly and would be susceptible to enemy artillery when trying to combat in the open like that. They would instead be delivered close to the enemy and strike hard and fast, and thus the bases would show signs of something: bricks, pavement, discarded items, tracks, wires, sludge, etc. I'll need to consider it for the other models in the eventual squad as well.

The armour will almost certainly have a final glazing pass after the matt varnish to help it compete against all the metallics. That will be simple enough and I think so far the idea of the airbrush only being used as a foundation to build upon is working well.

The swords will see a splash of colour later, but I do want to keep them quite dark. The brighter colours surrounding the chest and head currently draw attention that way and I'd like to keep that intact if I can.

Steel Legion Drab and Zandri Dust are very similar, especially with the latter covered in Agrax Earthshade, which is good to note for future reference. The former could probably be highlighted with the latter. Too bad both paints are in bad shape for me and will need replacing before too long. They've each lasted some 13 years though, so all things considered I'm happy with them.

The model is shaping up nicely, but I need to keep an eye on the volumes. They will make all the difference between simply good from the details, and great.

-- silly painter.