Legion III - Emperor's Children (finished)

Careful of the edge there.

Despite a few mistakes and back to bad quality pictures (which the Purity Seal seems to make even worse), but here is what I consider to my first "tabletop quality" model, by which I mean the standard isn't quite up to the other models I've done. And that's ok, because I do want to learn how to get an army painted much quicker.

Firstly, the airbrush highlighting doesn't show in the picture, but it is acceptable on the model. I've tried to use it more for a natural light/shadow effect, and there's been no purple edge highlighting of armour plates, other than a very small amount on the helmet. I think the Blood Angels will have to continue to receive that step, if for no other reason than to tie it in with the models already done, but keeping it minimal.

Also, it seems that Hashut Copper and Fulgurite Copper are incredibly similar. I thought the latter might be a bit brigher, but there doesn't actually appear to be much difference between the two, at least with my paint bottles. Could just be the mix. So if I was to highlight again, I might go for one of the brass metallics for edging instead.

Pinning the arms didn't really work. They're not at quite the right angle; the gun tilts away from the body a bit. So back to blu-tac it is in future, but I'll stick to base coat one colour with the airbrush, then assemble as much as I can for the highlighting steps, before back into pieces for easier brush access.

The model isn't centred on the base properly. Drilled a hold for pinning in the wrong location, and the glue was pulling off too much of the base, so the model is stuck there now. This is something I'm going to work on: glue can pull off the texture paints, so the model doesn't stick to the base as well as it should. I'm looking at pinning to help in this by achoring the model a bit more with a metal hook of sorts. Otherwise in this case I went for a light coloured base to contrast the darker nature of the model. Apparently it's a bit of "mountainous mud covered in snow" battlefield.

Still, the idea behind this model was airbrush practice, and that worked well.

-- silly painter.

Legion III - Emperor's Children WIP#1

Darkwing Duck

Another entry in my Legion series. Just felt like working with purple really - it's one colour I get to use very rarely (seeing as there aren't any Tyranids on the completed shelf yet). So basically why not.

The colour scheme for Emperor's Children (pre-Heresy) is purple and gold, though some silver is often mixed in there. Going by some of the artwork, a gold face mask is often present, but I felt that the purple helmet should stay. They helmet should reflect Legion colours, and though the artwork often depicts a silver helmet, I've opted for purple here.

The main body is based coated, but otherwise not much done yet, so that's a post for another day.

Colouring for the base:

• Chemos (Forgworld Airbrush range)
• Genestealer Purple (Air range, highlight)
• Genestealer Purple, White Scar (Air range, 50/50 mix, highlight)
• Nuln Oil (wash, but used with the airbrush, shading)

A few comments here. The Nuln Oil is very thin, even for an airbrush, but has a similar effect to the Forgeworld Deathshroud "clear" paint. It just makes things darker really. Considering Forgeworld discontinued their airbrush range, that's going to be a big help in the future. Thanks to the local GW staff for that tip!
The mix with White Scar was just experimental. I wanted an extra highlight on top, and it did work rather well. The catch is that using white tends to desaturate the colour somewhat, so if I do that in future it will only be for very small, final highlights.
Lastly (or first, I suppose), the Chemos is a good base colour. Pity to see that go, but maybe Naggaroth Night can be thinned and fed into an airbrush as a replacement. Or maybe the Air range will be expanded.

Moving on, a final edge on very select edges of a thin application of Dechala Lilac (Edge paint), and some Druchii Violet (wash) in recesses rounded off the base stage.

The faceplate is:

• Balthasar Gold
• Hashut Copper
• Reikland Fleshshade (Gloss)
• Fulgurite Copper

The eyes took a bit of doing, as I wanted something closer to an aqua colour for them. Using a very small brush:

• Incubi Darkness
• Sotek Green (first highlight)
• Temple Guard Blue (second highlight)
• Drakenhof Nightshade (around the edges)
• Waywatcher Green (glaze)

A bit fiddly, but it got the job done.

Last note: the airbrushing is easier when the model is perched on something that can hold it assembled. Paperclips help for this, and some have been inserted into holes drilled around the model (a photo for next time). 0.85mm drill bit seems the most suitable to use, although it can be a bit loose. 0.8mm might work better if the paperclip should be there more permanently. This might be refined a little more over future models, but an assembled model is easier to highlight rather than trying to do it in parts, but being able to take the model apart again afterwards helps get the brush around various areas.

-- silly painter.

Dark Imperium Primaris Intercessors

Squad leader interrupted during his toilet break.

So the first five Primaris Intercessors from the Dark Imperium boxed set are done, including company and squad markings. These are decals - more on that in a moment.

There's really not too much to note painting-wise. Nothing that hasn't been written down before, but a short summary wouldn't go astray.

Utility pouches:

• Eshin Grey around the belt and drybrushed onto pouches.
• Dawnstone drybrushed onto pouches.
• Nuln Oil applied to pouches.
• Leadbelcher on the clasps.

Sidearm holster:

• Rhinox Hide
• Sylvaneth Bark drybrushed over the top.
• Lamenter's Yellow glazed over it all.
• Bloodletter glazed over that.
• Agrax Earthshade to darken it down again.
• Leadbelcher for the clasps.

Chestpiece:

• Black (duh).
• Dark Reaper along the edges of the "feathers", and the center skull.
• Russ Grey as further edge highlights.
• Nuln Oil to add some contrast back in, or darken as necessary.

Black armour & gun casing:

• Black (again, duh).
• Eshin Grey to highlight as appropriate.
• Dawnstone for very sharp edges.
• Thinned black to blend it all together as necessary (because highlighting black is hard).

Red armour:

• 50/50 mix of Mephiston Red and Dryad Bark
• Mephiston Red
• Evil Sunz Scarlet.
• Wild Rider Red for extreme edge highlights, if needed, but it was very, very rarely used here.

Eye lenses:

• Caliban Green
• Warpstone Glow
• Moot Green
• Coelia Greenshade around the edges
• Nuln Oil if it should be darker yet
• Dot of White Scar (although I may leave this out in future - it's too easy to mess up basically).

Last note is another bit of improvement to working with decals. Normally there are a couple of problems with them: creases over curved surfaces, and gloss finish that doesn't match the rest of the model. The latter is fixed somewhat with a satin varnish (i.e Purity Seal), and creases can be alleviated with a few careful cuts before soaking the transfer. It still never ends up quite proper.
So based on a bit of Internet reading, there are various products to help with transfers, in making them adhere to the model, and to make them more malleable to work with. Mostly these products are a solvent of some kind, which as it turns out is what air brush cleaner is. So I decided to apply a little bit of air brush cleaner with a paint brush and see if it would help. And it does. Creases basically disappear, the edging around the transfer (most have a kind of transparent border around them) fades away, and most of the gloss is removed as well. A spray of Purity Seal and it's basically indistinguishable from the paintwork.
I did try a bit of Lahmian Medium before adding the solvent, but that actually hinders things a little. Just have to be careful with how much solvent to use - don't want to go stripping paint off. The photo pretty much speaks for itself though - I can actually be confident in using transfers now.
I've used the word "solvent" because I'm not entirely sure of the exact chemical inside the cleaner (other than that it's really obviously toxic and flammable), but it's probably available cheaply at art & craft stores, or home hardware stores. Regardless, works really well.

-- silly painter.

Another Primaris

Hold steady, I'll just get that fly...

After a bit of a break, painting is back again. Above is a lower quality phone camera shot of Primaris #4. Still needs a sealant applied, along with the base to be done, and some small details filled in (the purity seal in particular), which will be done for all five at once, when it comes to that point.

I may paint some fewer models next, just to get more of a handle with the airbrush. This was a good experiment, but I'd like more experience with getting the right paints, mix, etc, before going back to batch painting. Just takes too long to fix up where I've made mistakes. That being said, the Ultramarine standard bearer worked nicely, so it could just be the colour really. Red is a difficult colour to work with.

Not much else to really say. Painting continues. Hopefully this squad will be done in the next week or so, and I can figure out what to do next. Probably another 30k of the Legions, just for the airbrush, and to give me time to think of what to do after that.

-- silly painter.

Some Unfinished Business

Just a couple of photos to show different things I'm working on.

Run closer, I want to hit them with my hammer.

First is the return of Karlaen. A better photo this time, and the Iron Halo (I presume that's basically what it is) was found and glued on. So that needs painting, and is close to being done.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something...blue.

Next is what happens when there's an undercoat of black, followed by Kantor Blue, Macragge Blue, and Calgar Blue, with the Air range of course. Basically I wanted more fun with the airbrush. I could have use with a darker base (mixing black and Kantor Blue is probably something to do long term), and then maybe a very selecting and small Lothern Blue at the end would make for some great contrast in photos, but for now this is ok. Still some shading to add (Drakenhof Nightshade will be the choice), and either Lothern Blue for edge highlights, or go straight to one of the edge paints (Baharroth or Blue Horror, not sure which yet).

Another Primaris Blood Angel is assembled, so moving onto the 3rd of that squad soon as well.

-- silly painter.

Primaris Blood Angel (Continued)

Not much further done on Horus yet, and very little painting in general, but one out of the five Primaris Marines is painted enough to be fully assembled. Still a lot to go, but moving onto the second now. Just painting each enough to fully assemble, then finish all five at once.

Looking at something interesting.

The snap together models (well, non-posable at any rate) have given the designers a chance to make some very good poses and action stances for these models. Some chapter icons would have been nice, but maybe they're very new.

A proper camera definitely helps in taking photos. The colours show much better, though I'm still trying to get the focus right.

Chest eagle is the usual now for "black" wings: Black, Dark Reaper, Russ Grey. Shoulder pad trim only has a thin Eshin Grey edge highlight, though I'll add Dawnstone at a later date more selectively. The same goes for the gun casing. Not shown, but pouches attached to the belt also have Eshin Grey highlights, but that's given in a drybrush style to make it look more like worn leather rather than hard armour plating.

There's not enough contrast on the armour highlights, so I'll look to increase that with the next one. This guy is obviously more in shadow than the others will be.

Overall though, Primaris Marines are definitely much easier to work with, mostly due to their increased size. Hopefully this will allow me to move back to "old" marines much easier later on once I'm more experienced with the airbrush.

-- silly painter.

Warmaster Horus Test, Primaris Blood Angel

Raise your hand if you're Horus.

Started some initial testing for Horus. I was fairly certain on going a for a blue hue to the armour, and that's turned out "ok". I'm not entirely happy yet, but I think it's enough to do more and see how it goes. I think so far there's not enough shine maybe, or not enough contrast. So it looks actually more blue than black. This may change later - I think more of the model is required to really know.

The plan if it does look too blue is to grab a dark grey and desaturate the colours with some glazing.

So far the armour is a base of Black (several thin coats to get it nice and even), followed by Dark Reaper for initial highlights, and then Russ Grey for edges. A little more Russ Grey is still needed in some parts.

The trim is Balthasar Gold washed with Reikland Fleshshade, highlighted with Sycorax Bronze and edge highlighted with Runelord Brass. This is similar to the Grey Knight weapons on purpose: Grey Knights use pyschic powers and force weapons, and Horus' armour was supposed to offer psychic shielding. So this basic brass theme has now become the go-to for (Imperial technology base) metals related to pyschic uses.

I did try a Warplock Bronze base on one small part of armour trim, but it was a little too dark for my liking.

Overall though, the armour does offer colours reminiscent of Solar Auxillia. This kind of fits in with Horus seeing himself as the proper leader of Imperial forces. Horus should look evil, no doubt there, but if I can put in hints that he didn't see himself as evil and corrupted, then it might give that much more character.

Bedknobs & Broomsticks, 40k style.

Above is part of a side project to Horus. One of five primaris marines. I've adjusted the colour slightly, but it's made the top look orange - it doesn't look that way in reality, just in the photo.

This model is the first play test with some different approach to airbrushing. Basically a mix of Mephiston Red and Rhinox Hide, overlaid with Averland Sunset for highlights. Over that goes Mephiston Red, and over that goes Evil Sunz Scarlet.

The Averland Sunset didn't really show through, and I messed up the last layer - the paint was far too thin and I couldn't apply it proper. Also the compressor on the airbrush is basically gone, as it keeps kicking in and getting extremely hot. So I'm having to fix up again with a paintbrush. The photo doesn't do things justice sadly (the camera just doesn't capture the gradient), but I am getting better at the red.

At any rate, once the current lot of marines are done, the next batch will be:

• Rhinox Hide (all of the model)
• 50/50 Rhinox Hide / Mephiston Red (most of the model, try leave the deepest recesses)
• Mephiston Red (less of the model, mostly mid range highlights)
• 50/50 Mephiston Red / Evil Sunz Scarlet (less still, highlighted areas only)
• Evil Sunz Scarlet (less of the highlighted areas, if it's needed)

Wanting to do more airbrushing will hopefully motivate to get this lot done relatively quickly, and I do have Tolmeron to use as a reference for colours too.

-- silly painter.