Banner & Jump Pack

So it's been a while since the last post. The Sanguinary Guard are not actually entirely finished yet - I went to put them together and discovered that one of the wings for the marine holding the banner was not compatible with the shoulder pad I had intended for him. I'm in the middle of sorting out a replacement shoulder pad, but I've also finalised how I'll be painting the actual banner too.

Sanguinary Guard Banner

At this point, I should also mention that my good camera appears to no longer recognise any SD cards, so I'm forced to use a smartphone camera. They're just not as good, especially at showing colour transitions. I'll hopefully setup a miniature photo area this year, but there are more important matters to attend to first.
Anyway, the central banner background is:

• Mournfang Brown (base)
• Tuskgor Fur (layer) - thin layers, built up to highlight the raised areas of "cloth". Takes a while to do, but as always it's worth the effort.
• Bloodletter (glaze) - tones down the Tuskgor Fur, and gives everything a more red earth appearance.
• Carroburg Crimson (shade) - just to fix some areas, darken others slightly. Only used sparingly, and only to fix mistakes.

The white border was the basic "can't remember what colours, but built up through browns to white". The key to it really just pick a decent brown to start with, then layer up through progressively lighter tones - this one in particular went through Ushabti Bone, Pallid Wych Flesh, and finally a very (very) thin layer of White Scar at least. There was a shade of Agrax Earthshade in there somewhere too - I find it useful if areas are starting to get too light to just add some diluted Agrax into the mix. Patience and thin layers of paint are the key!
The rest of the banner I'll get to shortly, but it will be a challenge to highlight folds of cloth around the wings. I suspect some Agrax will be used there too.

Firey reds, or hot blues.

 On another topic, jump pack exhaust. Up to now, I've been going with a kind of "hot blue" effect. I've improved upon previous attempts with a more blended approach, which looks quite good in my opinion. There's just one problem: I can't seem to think of anything different to use for power weapons, and I don't want the power weapon "glow" to be the same as the jump pack exhaust. So I've experimented with a red/yellow/white approach instead (with Guillman Blue glazed across the outlying areas - simple, but gives an extra impression of heat). I now can't decide if I should go with the red or blue exhaust appearance. Much thought required.

-- silly painter.

Peep

Just a gap filler post while I work on finishing the Sanguinary Guard. Everything has just settled down again, so painting is once again underway - not much, half an hour each day on average, but that's still something.

The wings will be the last part painted. I've been sticking to blue shadows thus far for all the wing symbols, but I think that might be too much for the SG wings. Something more subtle to keep the focus on the main parts of the model - which basically means grey.

With some luck, they'll all be finished towards the end of next week, and then I can provide some photos.

-- silly painter.

Sanguinary Guard WIP #1

Not the best photo perhaps, as usual, but the Sanguinary Guard are starting to be filled in with a bit of colour now. The base armour colour and highlighting are starting to be second nature now, and I can do that quite quickly, so I'm trying to focus on improving my speed at painting little details now. What helps is that I think I've finally settled on a pattern of purity seals:

• Screamer Pink (base)
• Drakenhof Nightshade (wash)
• Evil Sunz Scarlet (layer, thin highlight)

Seems to give good results while being a little distinct from red armour. I might play with the final layer highlight a little, though I don't want it too pink.
I've also been mixing it up with the purity seal paper a little, and I'll likely move to:

• Steel Legion Drab (base)
• Ushabti Bone (layer)
• Agrax Earthshade (wash)
• Pallid Wych Flesh (layer)

It takes a bit of patience, and the layers must be applied very thinly, and carefully, but it's been working well so far. It also should look that little bit more different to how I paint scrolls decorating armour, giving them a more easily recognisable difference in "texture".

Another little trick I've realised is that used sparingly, 'Ardcoat (basically varnish) can really make gems stand out. I do typically prefer to try give them a gleam simply by painting, but it wasn't working with the Sanguinary Guard: the metallic sheen of their armour was making gems look rather dull by comparison. A layer of 'Ardcoat, and problem solved.

To the left is another model that I'm painting alongside the Sanguinary Guard. I've not yet decided whether he'll be a captain, or honour guard picked from the first company (owing to the crux terminatus on his left shoulder pad). As a finecast miniature, there are little mould process defects present, so I decided to slightly modify some areas: grails on the jump pack, and a blood drop on the right shoulder pad, just to give him that bit more of a Blood Angel feel. It can't really be seen in the photo, but the highlighting done to the armour really stands out on this model. He should be quite impressive when finished.

-- silly painter

Work Continues

No pictures today, on account of nothing being assembled in suitable fashion for photography (at least not with the equipment currently available), but work continues with more models.

Sanguinary Guard are up next, although this time they're being painted before almost any assembly has taken place. The reason for this is simple enough: the torso section overlaps areas of the legs with these models, making painting the legs properly difficult in places. I'm almost done with the initial stage armour base coat and highlights.

It's back to metallic paints for these guys, in an attempt to have them similar in appearance to Dante. Luckily I've already got a good idea how it will turn out, so the method of painting is very similar, albeit more refined. Blending metallics together is a very tricky exercise sometimes, however, because they reflect light rather well; what looks good under diffuse light may look very different under directed lighting, and vice-versa. So the highlighting is done very carefully, although it's basically the same as with non-metallic paints.

The real key seems to lie in the finaly edge highlight. That may have to be built up a bit more (Auric Armour Gold) to make it stand out a little, but the result is most definitely worth it. Hopefully I'll have one done soon enough to showcase that properly.

I've yet to decide which helmets I'll be using for the models.

-- silly painter.

Lemartes, Guardian of the Lost

After a very long time, I've decided that I've finished painting Lemartes. There's possibly tiny details more I could do in places, weathering effects, or more work on the base, but there comes a point where you simply have to say that the model is done.

 The base is mostly the same as with other models, i.e some texture paints and basic drybrushing. The rubble was a little more detailed however, but I decided early on that that I wasn't going to be too careful in painting that. It's rubble, and being a little messy shouldn't matter - it would more than likely help make it look like actual rubble. It was painted and drybrushed with various shades of grey, with a few earth tones applied either as washes or glazes to help tie it in to the rest of the base. It's not a strong effect, but does help break it up from the greys a little.
The drybrushing worked quite well on the flat surfaces of the rubble as well. It creates a stipple effect that make the stones seem more uneven and scarred. On a side note, a similar thing can be done for the appearance of well worn cloth.

The jump pack was done quite quickly compared to the rest of the model, mostly because there was no learning curve in painting it; it was just repeating techniques used earlier. The blue glow of the engine exhaust ports does help bring the model to life a bit as well. The parts that perhaps best balances out the jump pack are the metal rods running vertical next to the exhaust ports. They were an attempt at a more silver non-metallic metal, similar to the grenades, and ended up working rather well. They're not as "shiny" as proper NMM approaches, but I don't think that would have fit in quite as well in any case.

There is some writing on scrolls and purity seals, but that's nothing really special here. I perhaps would have liked to do a better job with the writing on the right greave, but I'll need much more practice with that sort of thing before I can get it just right.

So there he is: Lemartes, Guardian of the Lost.

-- silly painter.

Sergeant of the Squad

Posted here today is the almost complete tactical squad sergeant. I've chosen to distinguish him from the squad leader (not shown) by the weapons he bears, and some more subtle colouring. The skull on the chestplate is painted golden, for example. The armour is also a little more ornate, making him stand out more from the rest of the troops.

There's not an awful lot different to the normal painting techniques I've already built up, but there are some small tidbits that are new (for me, at any rate). First off, I wanted the "golden" colour of the left shoulder pad insignia to differ slightly from the colour of the rope seen on the right arm - one is rope, the other is armour decoration after all. With that in mind, it was really quite simple:

• Averland Sunset (base)
• Casandra Yellow (wash)
• Yriel Yellow (layer highlight)

And that's it. Nice and simple, but effective. Additional highlights could be done with Flash Gitz Yellow, or perhaps White Scar, but I didn't deem it necessary.

The gold on the chainsword and elsewhere was done normally, however this time I used some Necron Compound to drybrush on a few highlights. If carefully done, this gives edges a bit more of a shine over sticking only to golden metallic paints. This is normal for Games Workshop to do (I tried it after seeing it done in a White Dwarf paint splatter). It's definitely a case of less is more, however, so I'll practise a little more with that.

The other item of note on this model is the base. It's not finished yet, and the photos really don't show what I want properly, but I've determined that painting the base before gluing the model is somewhat easier. I can also apply some Purity Seal spray (finally found a use for that) to help keep the technical paints from flaking off. There's normally enough flat areas to glue the model onto afterwards, especially if you keep it mind while painting.

While easier to paint, looking afterwards I noticed that something wasn't quite right: shading around the feet. The line between the model and the ground was a little too distinct; there should be some shading to help make the model and base really fit together. This is a very subtle effect, though I think it needs to be done more still in the model shown, but it really enhances the overall end result.
For the ground shading, I just used Agrax Earthshade around the feet, keeping it as close to where the feet meet the base as possible.

So a few things need things need fixing up, some skull icons need doing, and a bit more work on the base, but one can see how it will turn out.

-- silly painter.

Lemartes Continued

Ok, so it's been a while since I've done a proper post, but I've not been entirely idle. I'm far too much of a perfectionist with the painting, however, so it takes a very long time.
At first glance, perhaps nothing much has changed since the last time, but it's the details that matter. A few edges have been sharpened up with some Dawnstone highlights, purity seals have been finished, knee and shin decorations have been painted, and some pseudo-metallic areas have been done.

Lemartes asks if you are loyal to the Imperium.

The decision to not use any metallic paint has meant that metallic areas should look like metal, but I also didn't want to go overboard on "shine". Lemartes is really a character that's grim and dark, and I wanted that overall impression to stand, even with golden chalices, gem decorations, and so forth. Taking a queue from the helmet, the grenades and bolt pistol were given a similar approach to that used on the terminator thunder hammers:

• Celestra Grey (Base).
• Nuln Oil (Wash). This step was applied rather heavily.
• Fenrisian Grey (Layer). Highlights along edges as appropriate.

That's really it. I could have used a very thin edging of white to give it a shine, but did not feel it to be necessary (and again, it might have made things too shiny).

Another unusual step I took was with the shoulder pad edges. Normally I would highlight with very thin lines of Dawnstone, however this time I wanted the studs to stand out a bit more. So instead, between the studs was built up with Eshin Grey and Dawnstone, and pulled back with Nuln Oil where appropriate. The studs themselves are highlighted with Dawnstone. This really makes the studs stand out, and gives the armour more appearance of being old (using more ancient manufacturing techniques), but still fits in with the highlighting elsewhere on the model.

Despite the camera, Lemartes is still photogenic.

The insignia on the left shoulder was given a purple appearance to make it stand out from the red background. It's a little small in my opinion, but relative to the bolt pistol icon it's actually proportionate.

With the purity seals, I finally settled on a scheme that makes them stand out just a little against red armour.

• Khorne Red (Base).
• Drakenhof Nightshade (Wash).
• Mephiston Red (Base). Thin layers are used to highlight the very edges.

It's the shade that gives them an ever so slight colour offset. Druchii Violet might also be used as a wash, however I prefer the blue of Drakenhof. The effect is very subtle though, so care should be taken to not be too heavy with the last highlight - a very, very thin layer is all that's needed, and it should be almost drybrushed on.

Aside from adding some script to the scrolls, the main model is pretty much well done now. The base is still to go of course, and the jump pack needs finishing, but it won't be much longer before this model is done.
Before that, however, there will probably be an update on tactical squad marines, who are also nearing being done.

-- silly painter.