Sons of Horus MkII Assault Squad - Part IV (Semi-Showcase)

 

Before he was shiny, now he's feeling dull.

This is a semi-showcase on account of one model being done (others aren't even primed yet) which acts as the recipe for the rest of the squad. It's also missing the jump-pack exhaust being coloured in, which I intend to do with an airbrush once all the models are ready for that.

The base was very much whatever was on the palette at the time and looking for sepia tones, browns, yellow tints to mix into greys for highlights, your basic urban rubble. I still prefer Basilicanum Grey to add depth to the base and then layer over the top with scratches and markings for visual interest. Not much to be said really.

The bulk of the rest of the model was varnishing and then metallics to highlight, Sons of Horus Green to highlight, and slight mix of Gauss Blaster Green for extreme edge highlights on the topmost areas.

The turquoise armour highlights are mostly to restore a slightly satin finish more than anything else. I probably went too heavy with the matt varnish and it dulled down the model considerably. I'm also still adjusting to not-red for this kind of thing. The finish makes quite the difference when viewing the model in person. In a photo it might be more useful not to have environmental lighting shining off the model, but in in hand it just looks off - people are used to the shine of different surfaces, and unifying it entirely seems (to me) kind of wrong. For armour at any rate, the satin surface for highlights is what I will continue to aim for.

The varnish also made a few metallic areas quite grainy. The lighting interaction with the Vallejo TMM after that varnish was particularly annoying - I should simply paint them after varnishing in future, but locking the colours in place first is far more motivational. It will come down to how I feel at the time probably, but I definitely liked the look of the metallics before varnishing, and not as much after, even with the additional highlight steps.

In general though I quite enjoyed painting a not-red model and I hope to start airbrushing the base layers of the rest soon. I'd really like to finish up some squads and keep the flow going, but I know very well how bad it is with work right now. Darn.

-- silly painter.

Crimson Paladin II - Part II

 

Doing it in style.

Continuing with the red theme from before, I had actually shaded the second Crimson Paladin along with the MkII Assault Marine. The details are once more lost in the photo, but the shading is there and it does make a real difference. I also know that the later steps will dull down the vibrancy after the matt (matte?) varnish, and I'll build up the highlights with glazes afterwards. This has definitely allowed me to progress much faster with this model: I'm not getting bogged down on the first stages and I can see progression.

Castellax Bronze as before, shaded with thinned Cryptek Armourshade. I've not yet highlighted the metallics - and there still remains a good deal of the shield to be done too. This is a good thing because I missed a spot on the right foot.

The pteruges are more or less the same as the leather pouches I've been using the MkII and MkVI: Thondia Brown, then orange tones to highlight, and darker colours (I used Corvus Black) to outline or shade. The colour isn't quite as rich as with the first Crimson Paladin, but I do like the framing better. I might try Rhinox Hide as the base colour next time again, if I can get a replacement bottle (or equivalent colour); I've had a few paints finally dry out on me after however many years it's been.

On the topic of dried out colours, Steel Legion Drab unexpectedly did that to me. It's basically dried pigment with medium on top right now and it took a long time to get acceptable base layer coverage. This made the sash a little annoying to start with, and the paint rubs off far too easily in places. It's ok now, but I might want to look at a similar colour progression with the Tone Pro line (more on why those paints in a moment). Painting the sash I used a degraded synthetic brush and tried to be a little less smooth with the applications, preferring multiple passes to build up the look with some texture. I'm not unhappy with the result but I am in search of how to jump to that next level of ability in painting coarse beige material.

The paints I own have lasted a long time, but I finally want to try out alternatives. This is great if I can access those alternatives, but every time I just want one particular colour then I need to factor in the cost of delivery - which makes the paint at least twice as expensive - or include it with another order and thus delaying the purchase for a very long time. I've been waiting a month as it is for a Two Thin Coats order. There is actually only one brand of paint that I can simply go into a local shop and buy: Warhammer Colour / Citadel. If the Tone Pro range is better for some of my use cases, then so much the better - and I don't even mind the pots. I may transfer to droppers just to take up less space on the shelf, but that's very much "may", not "will".

Back to the Crimson Paladin, next up I might need to sort out the helmet. I intend to paint all the remaining helmets in one go - but first they'll need minor adjustments with green-stuff to pad out space and let them sit slightly higher.

-- silly painter

Blood Angels MkII Assault I - Part I

 

Doesn't need a pistol. He is the long range weapon.

As with the previous box of MkVI, half of the MkII squad will be Blood Angels (and half Sons of Horus) because I enjoy a bit of painting variation and it's not like I play the games. As the squad lead of the SoH bore a volkite pistol, I figured the Blood Angels sergeant should carry a shield: Blood Angels prefer up close and personal and the shield will help him get there. Also this particular post looks really cool.

I'm likely to paint one model at a time with the MkII Marines. I just don't have the free time for much else. I might well paint parts of the others in batches, but certainly the first will be standalone to serve as a reference for the rest.

Along with a Crimson Paladin, I had actually airbrushed this model a while ago with the usual reds, followed by a gloss varnish, and then a 1:1 (or thereabouts) mix of Carroburg Crimson and acrylic flow improver. On this model it worked extremely well: flowed into all of the recesses, barely anything on the main surface. It's difficult to capture with the camera properly, but the difference before and after is quite noticeable. What I haven't done yet however, is the extra highlighting afterwards. No building up volumes more, and no edge highlights of any kind. This will be taken care of after the matt varnish stage anyway, so I'm going to try hold off until then to work on it - and being slightly satin, that should make the highlights stand out even more. I hope it won't take too long before I can try that out: I'd like to varnish at least two models at once, which is what the SoH squad leader is waiting for now.

The shield I debated for a while and ended going with quite a simple scheme. Nothing too fancy, no extravagant detailing or hand painted filigree. This is MkII armour, earlier in the Great Crusade, and I wanted to depict a reflection of the Blood Angels still finding the balance of their souls. Working their armour into personalised art would take time. A simple red shield with the legion insignia is sufficient here, with Castellax Bronze edging as a neutral frame that breaks up the outline without overpowering it.

As a combat leader, and after a little digging through options of what I might like, I settled on black should pads with golden trim. This hearkens to the 40k colour scheme, but still offers something more ornate than simple yellow. The gold is actually Imperial Gold from Vallejo's TMM range, now that I've figured out how to use it more properly. I really like the warmth of that gold and think it fits the overall aesthetic quite nicely.

Obviously the left pauldron isn't the one with the kit. I might have preferred to keep the trim the same on both, but the sizes were a good enough match and I wondered if perhaps the armour was slowly being re-kitted from old Revenant Legion stock. At any rate I wasn't going to use decals were I could avoid them.

I need to block in metallics further next and sort out any smaller details. There is a feeling of fast progression, but I know I'll pay for that with the armour highlights at the end. If it works then I'll know I can trust the end result and maybe paint that little bit faster in future. When I have free time of any kind.

-- silly painter