Cold One Rider, Legion Praetor

Not sure how the rider really sees.

 The rider was done in two weeks. Must be a record for me. Drybrushing was the key to that, but also knowing how I wanted to do everything helped. I could just paint each component and not think overly much about how to paint it.
A couple of interesting notes though: some of the new gloss washes were used, which really to help with metallics. Just saves a lot of messing about trying to keep the metal sheen while still trying to shade and highlight it. I would have liked a Seraphim Sepia version, but perhaps Games Workshop will release that later on.
The spear shaft I also ran some drybrushing along to simulate the grain of wood. Dryad Bark was used for the base colour, with Sylvaneth Bark and Golgfag Brown drybrushed over the top of that, and a coat of Agrax Earthshade wash used to tie it all together a bit more. Fairly subtle, but it works.

...and my axe!

The second model for today is the recently released Legion Praetor Tribune; a special weekend model. The original holds a glaive, but what made me decide to work on this model now was inspiration to replace the blade with an axe head. I had one left over from the Sanguinary Guard sprue, and I personally think it makes the model look much more powerful. This also marks the first time I've tried pinning (small metal rod to hold pieces together). Fortunately I drilled holes correctly aligned the first go, so it fit together quite nicely. The benefit of pinning here is that the axe head won't break off quite so easily - something I was concerned with if I had just glued it on. Much more solid now and I don't have to be quite so delicate in handling the model during painting.
So I guess it's back to red armour while I finish off the Lizardmen (6 more to go!).

-- silly painter.

Grey Knight (Done)

The first Grey Knight is now considered "done". I may go back later and add scrolls, books, or other such attachments, but for now the model is complete.

So awesome, he glows.

There's not much of note to say really. The besagew (at least, I think that's the intended function of the little shield) and wrist-mounted storm-bolter are the main additions, with a little base work to round things off.

The base could have been done better. I tried using some pre-made elements, but they don't sit flush with the rest of the base. So there's this muddied rock or concrete slab with a Guardsman's flask and some shell casings that doesn't really fit. The flask was Stegadon Scale Green (base), Agrax Earthshade (wash), and a bit of Straken Green to highlight some edges. Might make a nice Guardsman uniform basic later.

The besagew has a half white, half red colour scheme. The "white" was just Celestra Grey with Ulthuan Grey over the top. Going to White Scar would have been too much. Larger areas given the same treatment might benefit from edge highlights with White Scar, which is again something to keep in mind for later.

Only one more problem remains: four more of them to assemble and paint still.

-- silly painter.

Grey Knight WIP #2

The Grey Knight has had quite a bit of work done and is starting to come together now. A few pieces are still missing, with the storm bolter and heraldry shield being the most notable, but feel of the pose is coming through.

Obviously Leonardo was his favourite turtle.

I'm not entirely happy with how the pose turned out actually. The left sword should have been a little lower perhaps, and the torso twisted slightly more. I wanted a pose of the Knight charging forward, ready to swing a falchion at some evil from the Warp, but it doesn't quite "click" for that. Maybe it will later.

I've decided to go with a Wazdakka Red as target for Grey Knights. It subtly distinguishes them from the Blood Angels I have painted, though I'm not sure if I'll use a Khorne Red or Mephiston Red base to work up from yet (likely to be the latter though).

Books are a big part of Grey Knight iconography. Pages are very similar to scroll parchment in how I intend to paint that, but the book covers will be very much like here: Mournfang Brown as a base, possibly a wash after (not used here because there wasn't enough shown), and then Wazdakka Red for the corner protectors. Using Wadakka Red ties back in to using it elsewhere, and I can see that being a running theme.

Let's dance.

I wanted something different to the force weapons seen out there, and also separate from the average power weapon. Power weapons are often seen with an electrical effect dancing over the edges, and force weapons are given a kind of blue glow over the entire blade. I always thought a force weapon should look like it was ingrained with more than just metal however, that it should have some kind of circuitry running through it, and that was the idea behind this attempt. As a first go, it turned out ok, but I think with a bit of practice it will look much better, so I'll likely stick with it. The basic idea is:

• Leadbelcher and Ironbreaker as usual.
• Altdorf Guard Blue for the base pattern. Quite thin helps, but not too thin. Consistency is key; here it was a little too strong, and I'd rather it be a bit more transparent.
• Xereus Purple - not everywhere, but gives some definition to some parts of the pattern. I found myself applying it mostly at corners, or where the lines were darkest. Again, very thin.
• Guilliman Blue - a glaze over parts to help bring out the blues, but also darken the metal and tie it all together. Don't use it everywhere, leaving some of the silver untouched. This gives an impression of power moving through the blade, and really adds a dynamic touch to the weapons.

I'll have to experiment further with colours, patterns, and paints for the blades in future. I've seen something similar with aqua colours that looked very impressive, so maybe for a halberd or hammer that can used.

-- silly painter.

Blood Angel Chaplain

"I kneed an enemy of Mankind in the balls so hard that I damaged my armour."

There's nothing particularly special that I haven't already covered in how this model was painted, so it's mostly a case of having fun with what I could already do.

This model was a lot of fun to paint. It has loads of character, and a very dynamic pose. Definitely one that every Blood Angel player should have.
He was entered into the local GW painting competition, to which I can proudly say he came in equal second, but the main purpose was to serve as inspiration for others: he has now joined some other models on display there.

I guess the only part to talk about is trying to highlight black. I always find that extremely difficult. Everything will stand out in stark contrast, so my typical style of blending colours up to an edge is quite difficult to achieve smoothly. In the end, I settled on using Dark Reaper as the first highlight stage, and then Skavenblight Dinge for the edges. It's a fairly subtle effect in the end, which I quite like; details are defined without the armour looking overly shiny.

The other part with this model that I tried different was the mix of metal-metallic and non-metal-metallic effects. It's a good way of drawing attention to the NMM parts, of giving them a bit of extra depth. I'll probably keep that going forward now.

The eye sockets actually have a red glow deep within them, but only if the lighting is right. It was purely by accident, but really gives the model a menacing air about it, fit for leading the Death Company into action.

Next model to get done: the Grey Knight Terminator.

-- silly painter.

Captain Karlaen (Done)

Unimpressed with damage to his halo.

Another very quick post, just to round off this model. The NMM on the "wing" of the hammer turned out rather well, and is very simple to do.

• Averland Sunset (base).
• Druchii Violet (shade).
• Yriel Yellow (layer, use Lahmian Medium to thin it down). Applied to the outer edges. If the shade is too dark, then a very thin layer of Averland Sunset can be applied before this stage.
• White Scar (layer, again thinned down). Just added to the tips, with an extra layer / dot on the very tip.

That's it really. It's not difficult, it's just a matter of thin layers (as just about everything I do is).

The hair was a mix of browns and yellows, and sort of "striped" on. I tried to make it a little darker near where the part in the hair would be, just to give it a bit of depth.

The model is on display at the local GW store (or Warhammer store as it's called now). I may put on a replacement halo one day, as I still haven't found the one that broke off the ornamental cup on the back of his armour.

-- silly painter.

XVIII Legion - Salamanders (Done)

This is a bit of a shorter post, just to show off the model.

Light it up.

The model followed Painting Buddha's (https://www.youtube.com/user/paintingbuddha) guidelines for an Ultramarine, but applied to a Salamander.
And no, not the greatest picture. I'm also aware that the shoulder pads should be black, but that wouldn't show off sourced lighting from the flamer as well. On that subject, this model is definitely worth getting setup with a proper camera for one day, simply to show it off a bit. The lighting really worked well, and the glow of the eye lenses (or reflection of a pretend flame) give this Marine a true presence on any table.

I will likely hand paint legion symbols one day, but that's for later - to do so before I'm much better at that would simply ruin things. Or it's from before their Primarch was found.

Note the battle damage around the feet. There's more on the shoulder pads, and a few other areas. That really worked nicely, and was just so incredibly easy to do. Watch the Painting Buddha videos for how that's done, and also help their crowd funding efforts if you can.

-- silly painter.

Captain Karlaen WIP #2

Ok, so it's been a little while. Ooops. New job, fair bit of other things going on, and I simply never got around to putting up a few things.

The Salamander is actually finished, so I should do another post on that model soon.

Today is a much shorter post than usual, just something for record keeping before I mess it up.

"Give me a cookie!"

There's not much new to how I did skin tones long ago for one of the Death Company, just better brushes now. The photo, as usual, is not the greatest, particularly because it's a camera phone zoomed in, but overall the quality survived ok. The usual hint of red for lips, some white for teeth, and playing with various shades for the skin tones.

As with the Lizardmen (which still need to be finished!), having different coloured skin tones for each model will make them look more natural when placed together. So the key really is just to play around with the paints a bit and not to plan it all ahead.

The eyebrow needs a bit of work, perhaps just a thin lighter line. Karlaen, as is typical for many Blood Angels, will have lighter hair. The next time I do a face however, I might go with black hair, just because it looks fairly ok here.

-- silly painter.