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.

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

 

Captain Karlaen Kitbash - Part IV

 

Fear me, for I have a big hammer.

In the background I've been working on the Karlaen kitbash, just as I feel like it. I was originally going to paint metallics, but decided to try NMM on this model as well just for the fun of it.

The recipes are no different from more recent explanations, so I won't bother going over them again here. The gold is a little different on the actual model; colour balancing of the photo isn't quite right, and the reflection points are brighter and more white. Even so, the gold trim is probably a little too yellow. I use a base of Balthasar Gold with metallics for a reason: I like the darker gold it gives. I'll probably keep going with this for now though, at least on the armour. I may switch it up for the Thunder Hammer, to try replicate the colours of the metallics there.

I really should have left Karlaen off the base until at least the underside of the cape was painted. That's going to be a bit of a nightmare to get to now.

Obviously a lot to go on this model still. I'm not trying to paint it as my "primary" model, but may have to pick up the pace and get it finished by the end of the year, before I lose interest entirely. Better to have the model finished and be slightly unhappy with it, then sitting unfinished and be very unhappy with it.

-- silly painter.

Captain Karlaen Kitbash - Part III

 

Hope the bionics don't weigh that much.

Before anything else, the picture above is not correctly colour balanced. The real skin tones aren't quite so unhealthy looking.

With that out of the way, painting has been abysmally slow of late. There's virtually no time throughout each day for anything. I'm going to try and counter this by painting small details on random models - anything that only needs three or four paints that I can put onto the palette and get done in 15 minutes. This idea was tested recently by painting Karlaen's head, which was taken from the Blood Angels upgrade sprue. I didn't want a shouting expression and needed the bionic eye to be on the right, and this particular head seemed to fit perfectly.

I used the Zorn Palette again here, or close enough to it. Bestigor Flesh, Incubi Darkness, Mephiston Red / Rhinox Hide mix, and Ulthuan Grey for the eye. There was blue on the palette that I used to dot in the iris as well. This particular time around it didn't turn out quite as well as I was hoping, but I still think the general idea is worth continuing to experiment with.

The NMM on the bionics was just some playing around that turned out a lot better than I was expecting. It's simply Incubi Darkness and Ulthuan Grey in varying mixes and glazes. I think a small amount of black might help to punch the contrast even more, but even so I quite like the result. I have no intention to use metallics there: the contrast of metallics elsewhere and NMM on the face will help keep the face as a focal point.

The hair I followed from a Warhammer youtube video:

• Zandri Dust.
• Ushabti Bone highlight, mixed lightly with Zandri Dust.
• Seraphim Sepia wash.
• Pallid Wych Flesh final highlight, although this was mixed with prior colours to keep it from being too overpowering.

And that's really it, the head is done and glued into place. The model is obviously far from being done, but it's actually fully assembled now. There are a plethora of details left to go and I'm not entirely sure how I'll get to all the cape's surfaces, or even what colours to use for it, but now the fun part starts as I get to see every brush stroke contribute to the final piece. Even as it stands I think I've managed to portray Karlaen well with this kitbash and it's definitely been worth the effort.

-- silly painter.

Captain Karlaen Kitbash - Part II

 

That Carnifex is....hammered.

Continuing to paint up various works in progress as I'm inspired as resulted in some paint applied to the Captain Karlaen kitbashing effort. The red I airbrushed at the same time, and in the same manner, as the recent Praetor - mostly to avoid wasting too much paint, but also to confirm the result with a second model. Not much to say about the result which hasn't already been covered. Then I was watching a random YouTube video, by The Feral Painter if I remember rightly, and was inspired to paint the head of the vanquished Carnifex.

Painting the base would allow me to attach the model completely and keep it on the painting handle, but I'll mention now that I could have waited longer to get the cape finished first. It will be more difficult to access that now, but I figured difficult doesn't mean impossible, and with the top icon having snapped off twice already then I was eager to get the model assembled and more easily handled.

Back to the base, the initial black primer was done before adding Armageddon Dust around the edge, and then a quick dusting with Wraithbone primer gave what I thought was a solid foundational colour for just about everything. I then used a simple base coat of Wraithbone out of the pot to give more even coverage over the Carnifex head. One thing I have noticed: the pot version is a very subtly different colour, a little more saturated compared to the spray primer.

In the most basic overview for the fleshy areas:

• Wraithbone over everything.
• Baneblade Brown painted into shaded areas, mixed with the previous colour to blend as necessary.
• Druchii Violet thinned with flow improver (or Lahmian Medium, or just water) and glazed over everything. Try to avoid it pooling too much, and use a second pass in the deeper recessed areas.
• Volupus Pink thinned with Contrast Medium and glazed over the lips, some of the prominent fleshy sections, and any apparent wounds.
• Wraithbone layered to highlight areas again as necessary. I used much more on the rib-cage in the hopes of giving a more rigid look compared to the varied browns, pinks, and violets on the head.

The carapace in turn is:

• Naggaroth Night / Black (1:1 ratio) over the carapace. I did leave some places with only one coat to give variation, but for the most part two coats.
• Naggaroth Night thinned and layered to build up basic highlights. None of the typical carapace lines are done yet, this instead informs where they might go later.
• Naggaroth Night / Dechala Lilac (1:1 ratio) to start edge highlights and building up some of those carapace lines.
• Dechala Lilac to build up extreme highlight points, and make some of the carapace lines more prominent. A little water goes a long way to build this up in layers and blend it together.

The usual disclaimer applies to all of this: there's a lot of going between the stages to fix, blend, rework, and adjust while painting. It's not a one step, then another, then another, then done approach: everything was on the wet palette and I pick and mixed as I wanted.

The blood and entrails I used Flesh Tearer's Red for, but I'm not sure it's quite suitable. I might adjust the colour with a little more purple later. Carroburg Crimson in the eye to outline that, however it still looks partially alive. I might use a blue to darken it later.

I'm not done with the base yet. There are details such as the teeth to fill in yet, and the ferrocrete (or whatever it is) could use some more attention. So far I'm happy with how this model is turning out, and I do have a spare Tyranid model somewhere that I could practice this scheme on - just that I'm not in any particular hurry to start on that model. Yet. Cheers to The Feral Painter for the ideas here.

-- silly painter.

Captain Karlaen Kitbash - Part I

 

New armour, same hammer.

I wasn't intending to start any new little projects, but the Combat Patrol magazine has resulted in quite a few of the Leviathan Terminator Captain models around the place, and I grabbed one. I like the model, it was cheap, why not. I'm also going through a lot of furniture and "stuff" reorganisation (again...) and so at the same time as this new model I also happened to be looking at Captain Karlaen. I like the old sculpt, it works well, but the proportions of the newer Terminator sculpts are much better. Why not give some kitbashing a go?

The first thing was basic eyeballing to see if it might even work in theory. The belt buckle and tassels are a fairly unique part to Karlaen and I wanted them - they even flow in the same direction as the cape. I also looked around the Internet for inspiration: if someone else has done the hard work to prove it will fit, then it would certainly make things easier for me. I also basically copied someone else with the model's left tilting shield.

I decided early on that I wouldn't bother with the chain around his torso and across the cape. It would be relatively easy to use jewellery chain for this, but I was concerned it might clutter the model too much, and I also didn't want to be spending any more money.

The pauldrons aren't easily swapped out, and so I've kept the originals in place. The intent is to simply paint the right one in a similar fashion to the older model's sculpted version. This does leave a bit of a problem: no Blood Angel would march into battle without the Chapter's insignia. If this wasn't going to be on the pauldron, then I would need to convert the chestpiece to display it instead. I used a Dremel to carve out the skull, and a spare blood drop symbol (actually from an Aggressor pauldron) to fill it in. This didn't work quite as well as I'd hoped: the engraving bit was slightly too large, and the blood drop symbol wasn't flat - I had to very carefully try and carve off the back. I probably should have made a green-stuff version instead. I'm sure it will look nicer once painted.

The Dremel was again used on the belt buckle. I carved out the old hanging scrolls, and used a jewellers saw to cut off the belt buckle as cleanly as I could (I might actually be able to use the rest of the Karlaen torso somewhere else one day). I needed to snip off the bullet bling to fit at the proper angle, and very slightly trim one of the tassels to fit better against the leg. I had intended to fill a small gap there with green stuff, but forgot to. I then needed to Dremel out a lot of the back of the belt buckle to fit flush against the new model. It might not be perfect, but I'm pleased enough with the end result. It doesn't stick out too much, it's more or less centered, and the bullet bling helps cover up the other side.

The symbol on top was fairly straight forward: snip off the old one, glue on Karlaen's. It's not perfectly in the middle, but not so bad. I did use a very small amount of green stuff to pad out the join on the back because it wasn't a perfect fit and I wanted more stability to the join.

The hands I thought about for a long time: keep the new model's, or try and use the older model's? There's no particular reason not to keep the new model's unless some of the blood drops want to be included, and would have made it much more difficult. Ease won the day (it's a kitbash, not a total conversion). The storm bolter is all original except for moving the targeter from the older model.

Now for the thunder hammer. I spent a few days considering the best approach. I wondered if I should trim off the power cable just to make everything easier, but that would mean the grip wouldn't match up. I don't have an appropriate replacement haft and couldn't do a simple swap of the head of the hammer. So I would need to keep the cable, and all of the thunder hammer itself (hilt included). The older model's sculpt isn't the best to trim away only the hand, so I'd have to cut around that: only the hammer. The power cables don't have anywhere to connect on the new model however, and the cables from Karlaen aren't great fit to replace. Instead I figured something on the forearm would be added to split the power supply from the armour on the newer model, and I'd simply have to try and green stuff that in. It's hidden in the photo, but it ended up much simpler than I'm making it out. I used a jewellery saw again to carefully cut away the hammer and the forearm cable housing, and trimmed the latter back until it mostly fit the new model. It wasn't a perfect fit against the new hand, so I pinned the hammer and put some green stuff around that to extend the haft very slightly. More green stuff to fill out the forearm cable housing and harmonise it with the cabling, and that's pretty much it.

The tilting shields are simple: trim off the old, glue on the new, trimming and filing back as necessary to get a clean fit. The head cowling had a push fit nub which I cut off and then used the Dremel to smooth back. It's a little rough, but will be hidden by a head when that's ready.

The head I again thought about for a while. I don't have any spares that I thought were appropriate, and I didn't want the shouting expression of Karlaen's. It just doesn't seem to fit the post of the rest of the model. Fortunately there is a new Blood Angels upgrade sprue on the way at some point in the future, and one of the heads in there looks almost exactly like what I'm after. With that not yet available though, I'm likely to leave off doing any painting until it is. The motivation was the kitbashing, not the painting, and I really need to get back onto some other projects next, especially now that I've readied a painting area again.

I think the efforts have paid off in the kitbashing. It's all gone relatively smoothly, and nothing looks too out of place. The silhouette is still obviously of the Leviathan model, but as I'm unlikely to get another one anytime soon then it's still going to be fairly unique within my collection.

-- silly painter.