Legion IX Rotor Cannon

The "minigun guys", as I've come to call them, are progressing along at the usual slow painting speed.

The enemies of Mankind definitely have time to bleed.

As is usual, the photo doesn't show the nuances of the painting scheme. Highlights and blending can't really be seen, but no matter. The models are completely assembled now, and there starts to be an impression of just how they'll appear when fully done.

One slight annoyance that I'm not going to fix: the left hand thumb. If I could think of a non-destructive way to bend it over, I would. Instead I guess it's some kind of "ready hold".

The ammo feed was a little tricky to get glued in right, though I mostly had the knack by the 5th model (not shown). In future, it might be a better idea to glue the ammo feed to the gun and backpack with neither fitted to the model and before trying to bend the ammo feed, but that assumes the gun will fit to the hand pose nicely. Regardless, I found a fairly simple method was to glue it to the gun first, then when dry point a hair dryer at the ammo fee. It becomes quite malleable, which is a sign to quickly bend it to the right place and wait a minute to cool down (obviously with the hair dryer turned off). This sets the resin in place and makes gluing to the backpack much, much easier.
Even so, a couple of places were snipped to give a better, if angled, connection.

For the ammo feed, bending it was done before painting. Normally I'd use some black spray as a primer, but that wasn't really an option here. Instead, a thin coat of Imperial Primer, followed by black with a brush. Leadbelcher on top, with some Brass Scorpion to pick out the rails. A wash of Nuln Oil later, and that's really it.

The backpack still needs some attention, the rotor cannon needs some highlights picking out on the barrel, and possibly some scorching, shoulder pad trim needs a highlight, and the Blood Angel insignia (which is black this time around as well) needs some highlighting too. I'm tempted to try a black marble effect there, just for something different.

-- silly painter.

Still About

Long time since the last update. Moving and work basically, but some small level of painting has started again. Sneak preview:

Sometimes, raw firepower has its uses.

These guys have been interesting, to say the least, to get even this far. Airbrushed to start with, and kind of just touched up from there. The arms do not align with the weapons properly, and a good deal of cutting and green stuff was used to get them looking semi-acceptable. Most of that is covered up when the shoulder pads go on.

The bases are Sector Imperalis, 32mm. They're not incredibly detailed, but perfect if you want to paint something interesting very quickly. Chose to replicate something I'd seen from a "Duncan Video" and used Death World Forest as a base for some of the struts. A bit of green to contrast with the red of the armour. Steel Legion Drab was added for other areas: I couldn't decide if this was on a world or a starship, so neutral brown. Could be earth, could be wooden flooring. Just to give the base a bit more going on. A bit of Reikland Fleshshade in places, particularly about the rivet to make them look like they're starting to rust, some Agrax Earthshade in places, and that's about it. Except the obvious metal of Leadbelcher and Nuln Oil.

Next will likely be the backpacks glued on, and then the shoulder pads. Only going to paint enough of each part to get the model assembled, and then finish painting them once that's done.

-- silly painter

Horus Base WIP #2

Some work has actually be done on Horus' base. It's painfully slow, but worth the effort really. Seen below, there's still a lot to be done. I think I've also taken the marbling a little too far, and it needs to be brought back in places. I'm considering dabbing at it in places with a drybrush just to soften some of the harder lines, and may well continue to tweak the stairs right up until the entire model is finished.

Step by step.

Marbling was done by:

• Seraphim Sepia, to add some basic shading to the steps.
• Agrax Earthshade to draw out lines.
• Fuegan Orange to deepen the colour in a few places.
• Seraphim Sepia again to blend a few colours together.
• Karak Stone to pull back some of the worst mistakes (a job that will be ongoing!).
• Ushabti Bone to add some edge highlighting.

The eagle has only had some Drakenhof Nightshade applied sparingly, but the idea is continue to add some more contrast using the same method. Some very light lines might be added, but the eagle should more more of a white marble, and looking at statues there aren't actually streaks threading through most of them. So the marbling will only be very soft in this case.

After doing a bit more on the eagle and stairs, I'll likely start on Horus himself next. The base won't be completely finished first - that will be done at the end, to make sure that Horus and the base tie in together harmoniously.

-- silly painter.

World Eater (Finished)

Fred went to extremes to open bottles of tomato sauce.

 Well, there he is. World Eater in his crazed appearance, complete with blood stains on the chainsword. I decided not to go overboard with copious amounts of blood everywhere on the model, as it would serve no other purpose than to distract from the model itself.

Something about that being a knife...

Not much was actually done since last time. Mostly just getting the metallics sorted. The base ended up being Astrogranite with Drakenhof Nightshade, a bit of Agrax Earthshade, and a little Nuln Oil in places, e.g around the feet. A bit of drybrushing with different blue hues (forget which now, but Stormfang was in there), and that's it really. A blue hue is my go-to for urban rubble, and just makes it a little more interesting than shades of grey.

Thanks go out to Matt for the use of his camera. I must get myself something decent soon.

-- silly painter.

World Eater WIP #1

You! Over there!

 World Eater work in progress, just as a side distraction. As a white base, this was where the airbrush fell down. Just too grainy, but I do think that's the paint.

The blue is worth mentioning properly here:

• The Fang (base coat)
• Calgar Blue (layer highlight)
• Guilliman Blue (glaze to help tie things together)
• Drakenhof Nightshade (wash, to darken a few areas)

The model could possibly use with another highlight colour to create more contrast, but it's good enough as it is, and shouldn't go about stealing the focus away from the head.
Shoulder pad trim was:

• Balthasar Gold (base)
• Sycorax Bronze (layer)
• Skullcrusher Brass (layer, minimal highlight)

And you too! Over there!

Nuln Oil has been used in a few places to bring out the edges of armour, being careful not to overlay the white. A bit of Ulthuan Grey was used to tidy up mistakes, just because it seemed a better fit over White Scar.
Eye lenses were:

• Khorne Red (obviously)
• Wazdakka Red (layer)
• Wild Rider Red (layer, highlight)
• Carroburg Crimson (wash, to darken around the edges some more)
• White Scar (layer, dot on the lens to look like a reflection)

Still got some metallic highlights to go, need to play around with the black components, and a knife holster on the backpack, but then the model is basically done. Not sure if I'll add scratches on the armour, but there will have to be splashes of blood about because....World Eater.

-- silly painter.

Still About

A very quick note that I'm still about, and occasionally finding time to pick up the brush. The base for Horus is still being worked on, but is looking quite marble-y with the simple addition of very thing coats of Seraphim Sepia over the steps, and Drakenhof Nightshade on the eagle.

World Eater (pre-Heresy) have a white/blue colour scheme going on, but I want it to be different to other blues. It seems like it should be more of muted than Ultramarines, but not quite as grey as the Space Wolves. So I've gone for a base coat of the Fang on the shoulder pads, and will highlight that with a blue layer paint later (undecided which one yet, though Thunderhawk Blue is very tempting).

Some problems getting photos right now, but hopefully that will be sorted soon enough.

Airbrush work deserves another post, but suffice to say that they really cut down on time - but only if you get the mix right, and white can spatter horribly.

-- silly painter.,

Rhino Transport WIP#2, Horus Base WIP#1

Watching TV on the way to battle.

 Not terribly much to write about here, mostly it's just a work in progress and wanting to save some shots of the interior before it's assembled. The screens are mostly Caliban Green (base), with some Warpstone Glow (layer) highlighted around them, and Nuln Oil (wash) around the edges. Moot Green (layer) for writing, with a few red words for alerts, a bit of 'Ardcoat over the top, and there's a screen.
The side screens are:

• Thousand Suns Blue (base)
• Ahriman Blue (layer)
• Nuln Oil (wash, just around the edges for definition)
• Baharroth Blue (edge)

Some assembly still required.

 A few steps of washes here & there to give a good outline, and the interior is complete enough for assembly. I do not like decals, even here, as they give this kind of shine that detracts from everything. Purity Seal might help with that, but at this point I just want to assemble and get on with the exterior.

All your base are belong to...

As an extra for today, the base for Forgeworld's Horus model. I've had it for some time, and only just recently decided to start on it alongside the rhino. The steps didn't quite turn out according to plan, but the eagle statue turned out better than I had hoped for. Not that it matters greatly - this is just the first step, and there's plenty more work to be done.
To start with, a black spray undercoat. I was trying to decide between black or white, but in the end decided that a darker feel would suit more, and so black it was. Horus will likely have a white undercoat, if for no other reason than to more easily pick out details later. He'll also be painted a lot darker than the base, so it evens out.
Following the undercoat:

• Dryad Bark (air) over everything, giving it an even coat.
• Baneblade Brown (air), trying to leave some of the previous coat in recesses.
• Zandri Dust (air) over the staircase, again more in larger areas.
• Terminatus Stone (air) over the eagle statue, and also the stairs (but only very lightly in select areas).

There isn't enough of the Dryad Bark in the recesses for my liking on the stairs. I could go back over the Baneblade Brown stage with another of Dryad Bark, but it didn't seem necessary at the time. Still brush work to do, that can be compensated for. The eagle statue, on the other hand, has somehow allowed for every piece of detail to be well defined. If it was any other model, it might be enough to be considered finished already - but of course, being an extra special model, this deserves a lot more attention.
It's also worth mentioning that the statue is currently pinned to the main base. Not sure if I should more fully glue it all together, and pin the feet of Horus later, or allow the detachable base and glue Horus on. So pinned for now, decision to come later.

-- silly painter