Avatar of Khaine - Part I

 

Yellow Man.

This series might take a little while to get posted, as I'm intending to write out everything in steps, then post everything at once or in short succession.

This is the Forgeworld Avatar of Khaine, spear version. As is typical from Forgeworld, the detail is incredible, and will help in painting this monster. There are very few defects in the model as well, only minor places that were easily fixed with either a bit of putty, or closed up with a dot of superglue. I was concerned with the weight and how few contacts points on the base there are, so that has been pinned and glued. I intend to strengthen the pins with some putty underneath as well, but for not it's a solid connection to the base.

This Avatar will be Ulthwe, with a few tweaks to match that. Shin and forearm armour (decorative only when it comes to an Avatar) I'll go for a bone colour, and generally black elsewhere. This lends itself naturally to the typical magma appearance most commonly painted, and I'm not inclined to make something different right now.

To start with, the model was of course fully cleaned and then primed black. A necessary step with resin, as other layers will easily come off if this isn't done. I then had the clever idea of using an airbrush to spray white into all the magma cracks - only it wasn't that clever. The paint didn't really want to go into the cracks at all, so I ended up just giving the whole model a light "dusting" of White Scar through the airbrush. I'd thinned the paint well beforehand, making it more of a white ink than anything else.

Fortunately the initial white layer helped more than hindered in the end. It picks out details clearly, and serves as a good base for working with Contrast paints. It's also much finer than using a spray can, so I'm going to keep this in mind in future.

Back to a paintbrush, I thinned White Scar with a good amount of flow improver (basically Lahmian Medium) to turn it into a wash, and then directly fed it into all the cracks and left it to dry. This process was repeated about four times until a solid white built up. It's good to allow this to spill over the cracks as well, so don't worry about that.

Next step is to cover all these areas with Lamenters Yellow, the good old glaze paint. I liked the yellow this gives - a very bright, but pale, yellow that fits for the fiery core of the Avatar.

Next is Iyanden Yellow (Contrast). This is basically thinly applied over most of the "skin" but not in the deep of the cracks. Sides, and upper layers, and anywhere that should be ever so slightly cooler. Despite the name, the paint actually appears ever so slightly orange in comparison to the previous step.

Following on, Blood Angels Red (Contrast). This is quite a strong paint, so thin it with contrast medium about 1:1, or even 1:2. This mix is then glazed onto the skin, slightly back from the cracks, and blended where possible into the edges. Use as many coats as feels right.

Finally, Black Templar (Contrast), thinned with the medium in about 1:1 and applied further back from the cracks and given multiple coats to really darken the areas between the cracks.

I've not yet done anything further, but I'm contemplating a slight drybrush of something onto the blackened areas just to give them a little bit more depth. Picking the right colour will be key, so I'll wait until I've gone around the whole model with the contrast paints first, and then see how it looks.

The base has very few adornments. I'd considered buying a specialty base, but will probably just go for some freehand wraithbone styling and then build up scorch marks around it. Plenty of time to think about that step.

-- silly painter.

Thunderhawk Gunship - Part I

 

More speed required; quick, paint it red!

The Aeronautica Imperialis scale Adeptus Astartes Thunderhawk Gunship (to give the entire title) has been recently released, and naturally I had to pick one up. It will of course be painted in Blood Angels colours, and will very likely be considered the centrepiece of any Aeronautica squadrons I end up collecting. This is not foreseen to be a quick project.

The model itself is wonderfully detailed. Casting processes and CAD designs really have improved over the last few years, and Games Workshop was correct to wait for now to be releasing such things.

Assembly was fairly good, not much cleanup required, and everything fits together well. It's difficult to put pieces in the wrong spot or the wrong way around, and I was impressed with that aspect. The front foils, and the tail, have to be glued in place carefully or they'll be leaning off to one side too much, but that's really the only assembly issue I had.

Oddly enough, the kit doesn't come with wing attachable bombs, even though that's an option on the included rules sheet. I still have spares of those from the Thunderbolts, but it's odd to give an option that the kit can't provide. The missiles are all there, and I suspect will be what most people want anyway, but given that some tournament rules are "the model must represent what it has in the game" then this might annoy some people.

The landing gear can be either up or down. I have it in the down position because I like it for display that way, but I haven't glued it in place. It doesn't look suitable for magnetising to swap around either, not without a lot of hassle and far more experience in such matters than I currently have, and that's also a shame. I'll just be using blu-tac for now; I can always change my mind later.

So with this model, and Project 20 Marines, and a couple of other things in the works, I'm really getting bogged down in any feeling of progress. Fortunately a lot of it is Blood Angels, so I am familiar with the colours, I will be using the Forgeworld paint scheme for reference, and I should be able to swap around projects to keep interest going. Expect things to be a little chaotic for the rest of the year.

-- silly painter.

Imperial Navy Marauder Destroyers - Part III (Showcase)

 

Flying in very tight formation.

Skipping straight to the showcase of the Marauders, here they are. I was busy of late and had little time for posting any works in progress, but there's really not much different to how the Thunderbolts were handled. The canopy, trim, guns, all the same.

What is different with the Marauders comes down to the flying lights, exhaust soot, and varnishing.

The red and green lights are incredibly simple. Corax White, and then either Spiritstone Red (for the red of course), or Waystone Green (for the green funnily enough). And that's it. The gemstone paints really give a bright and glossy finish when applied over white, and it's a very little detail that really adds to these models.

Exhaust soot is much more apparent on these when compared to the Thunderbolts. More engines and some kind of vents on the upper wings couple with a greater wingspan to fill with something interesting just make it more natural to add black exhaust staining. This is again very simple: Abaddon Black drybrushed on. That's it. Obviously the brush cannot be overloaded, but it gives an excellent weathering effect that gives an appearance of an aircraft that's seen a good deal of use.

Next up is the varnishing. I attempted to use Vallejo Premium Airbrush Matt Varnish. It didn't give a matt finish. I possibly didn't shake the bottle properly, so I will attempt it again at some point, but using a brush managed to tone down the worst areas. At least there's no frosting.

About the missiles: painted exactly the same as the Thunderbolts, and I think better to have them than not. Makes it look a little more capable than a simple bomber. The missile heads are possibly too bright, but it provides a little bit of framing for the rest of the model and works ok.

In wrapping up I thought I'd jot down some thoughts on painting Aeronautica scale models in general. It's not something that fits my usual style of painting very well - details are simply too small to pay much attention to, and careful blending and edge highlighting is pointless. What really works well is the panel highlighting with the airbrush, recess shading to outline it all, and effects such as the exhaust soot. Some details really do help (such as the strobe lights). Drybrushing is sufficient for most of the model, or a simple base, wash, single highlight. I started to go beyond that in places and it was simply a waste of time - and I was beginning to lose motivation despite liking the look of them. It's the difference in scale that impacts things the most - it differs how light is expected to behave to the eye. The airbrush steps, and weathering, are the most important for aircraft. Titanicus is the same scale, but not familiar shapes and so they can be painted more like a Space Marine. Aeronautica Imperialis needs a slightly difference approach.

Let's see how I get on with the Thunderhawk.

-- silly painter.

Imperial Navy Marauder Destroyers - Part II

 

If brute force doesn't work, you're not using enough.

A little more work on the Marauders, adding some trim base coats and recess shading. Lots and lots of recess shading. And it's still not yet done.

The camera has a different lens on it right now, so the photo isn't quite as I would like, and travel soon will mean I'm writing this up earlier than it deserves, but it's still nice to see a photo of progress.

Drakenhof Nightshade has been used to border pretty much every panel, shade every rivet, and outline various details. It's precise work, so I've been using a good brush to make it easier but then have to be sure to clean it regularly as I go around the models. And it's still not done: the trim needs shading yet with Coelia Greenshade, and then there's Nuln Oil to apply. I'm also considering a mix of Nuln Oil and Agrax Earthshade to create oil streaks.

In other words, there's an awful lot to do yet, but the most tedious parts are nearly out of the way. Edge highlights are far less demanding, and then detail work will really start to bring the model to life. Recess shading gives outline and definition, edge highlights give some extra contrast, and details create interest.

I'll admit that I'm liking this model a lot more than when I first started. It certainly has some character about it, and I'm looking forward to putting the two I'm painting on display next to the Thunderbolts.

-- silly painter.

Imperial Navy Marauder Destroyers - Part I

 

Marauder "Lancaster" Destroyer

Hot on the heels of the finished Allarus Custodians, it's time for a bit of a change of pace by going back to Aeronautica Imperialis and finishing off the models I have for that - a couple of Marauder Destroyers. I wanted the motivational win of having done all models for a particular specialised games, and something not Space Marines (Project 20 is still ongoing in the background).

I'm also wanting to clear space for whenever the plastic Thunderhawks are released.

Fortunately the Thunderbolts provide an excellent reference for the colours to use, so there shouldn't be any particular difficulty in that department. Actually the most difficult part is going to be what should be metallic and what shouldn't.

So far not too much has been done:

• The Fang base coat (a spray can was available for this purpose and saved a good deal of time).
• Russ Grey to highlight panels with an airbrush.
• Fenrisian Grey to highlight the underneath of the aircraft.
• Death Shroud to make a few oil stains. I may have to increase this a little more later on down the line as it's not quite as visible as I'd like.

I've started to block in some metallic areas and already placed some decals as well, although they won't be sealed fully until a much later step. The silver colouring will likely take the longest of everything with these models, but I have to remember that the varnishing will dull them down somewhat.

These models also come with a peculiar problem: lack of components. There's enough space for eight missiles (four under each wing), yet none are included in the box. This seems to have been an oversight during design and production, but luckily I kept the spares from the Thunderbolts and there are just about enough to make up for it. Some missiles will be "against the rules", but look close enough that it shouldn't be an issue once glued in place with the rest. It's kind of annoying that not everything was included, but then I'm not too disappointed because fewer spare parts are now going to waste, so it balances out in the end.

-- silly painter.

Allarus Custodians - Part IV (Showcase)

Shoulder pads that are nigh Exterminatus-proof.

 Well I managed to get them finished a little bit quicker than I originally anticipated, if later then I wanted. They were both easier and more difficult to paint than I was thinking when I started, with the difficulty ultimately coming down to subtle decisions about precisely which colours to use where, and what scheme to go with. Ultimately I'm satisfied with the gold - it's different from how I paint Blood Angels, yet still golden armour and something that would hopefully transfer onto the rest of my Custodes (one day).

I'll begin with the base. Unusually for a photo, I decided to show how I was holding the models in place one I had glued them to the base - and yes, Blu-Tac, or whatever derivative/alternate name. During previous steps I had notice that the bases bent ever so slightly when clipped into the holder and was concerned that this might crack the superglue keeping everything in place. So I had to improvise. Not the best, but didn't have much further to go and so it was...alright.

I tried the now infamous "wet-wipe" approach to a marbling effect on the bases, first trying it out on some thick cardboard. Black undercoat, cover with a pulled wet-wipe, followed by Russ Grey and Wraithbone. At this point I'd decided it wouldn't work for me with the bases directly, but enough places on the cardboard seemed good enough that I could use it directly. I also didn't want single pieces, so cut it up into squares, superglued these onto the bases to form marble tiles, and then trimmed the edges to fit. I also thinned down some blacks on the wet palette to add some more distinct lines in places. Ultimately it's good enough, but in future I may well go back to just doing everything by hand. The wet-wipe approach does serve as a good reference to work from however, which is worth considering too.

Ropes are a muted white, and I decided this was good enough. I didn't want them too bright lest they start to look reflective:

• Base of Celestra Grey over all the ropes.
• Basilicanum Grey Contrast over that.
• Using a thin brush, highlight the ropes again with Celestra Grey.
• Ulthuan Grey applied with a fine tipped brush to complete the highlights.

Pteruges had an edge highlight of Doombull Brown mixed with Evil Sunz Scarlet and stippled / striped in key places. I never wrote down what was done before that unfortunately - some browns, highlighted with rust tones, before the final look. Not terribly impressed with how they all turned out so no great loss - I'll try again next time and come up with something else.

Leather straps are borrowed from a previous model:

Thondia Brown over the leather areas.

Gorthor Brown used for some highlighting.

Gorthor Brown / Celestra Grey (1:1) mixed and used for scratches and general wear and tear lines.

Thondia Brown / Abaddon Black (1:1) thinned heavily and added to recessed areas, just because I was too lazy to dig out the Agrax Earthshade for what would be the same effect.

The top knots were quite simple in the end:

• Mephiston Red over the entire top knot.
• Wild Rider Red to highlight some areas.
• Carroburg Crimson to shade the entire area.
• Wild Rider Red to highlight important areas more, if required.
• Flesh Tearers Red Contrast applied to generally darker areas, and then feathered out from there.

These are impressive models, no two ways about it. They each have a lot of character about them, and the armour is festooned with detail. Quite glad I'm finally able to add them to the "finished" collection, but there remain many more of their brethren to paint up yet.

-- silly painter.

Project 20 Marines - Part III

Watch your back...pack.

 This is going to be another very short post, and as fair warning it might be a little random. There will also very likely be no post next week, but after that I hope to have a few things picking up again.

Anyway, that out of the way: backpacks are fully airbrushed. These included a pre-edge highlight step to see how the final highlight of Evil Sunz Scarlett would turn out over the top. In the photo the edges are visible, barely, but do not clearly stand out. I'm pretty much ok with this, and will definitely try to reapply a thin edge highlight again in select places. Is this worth it in the long run? Well....maybe. It's going to take a lot longer, but I think it's actually worth it for me. I like some edges being subtly defined, and this will help. So I'll stick with it and see how it goes.

Next step will be to add some recess shading, then the metallics (at least as far as the pre-varnish stage).

On the subject of varnish, the local weather has not been particularly conducive to correct drying of Purity Seal lately and I looked around for an alternative. I wanted something where frosting would be less of a problem, and the only real option is the airbrush. I also use the varnish to help seal decals and make them look part of the model, so ideally a matt varnish as well. To that end: Vallejo Premium Colour Matt Varnish. I've given it a quick test on a couple of models and it's held up fairly well so far, but the real test will be the twenty marines in progress right now. I'll also need to be really sure to clean out the airbrush as soon as I'm done with the varnish.

Don't forget decal softener when working with decals. A bit of softener and a cotton bud helps to keep the decal moulded to the surface, which makes the varnish step work much nicer.

As a final random note for this post: I've finally found a use for old paint bottles. Remove the lids, cap with plastic bottle lids (ones with a flat top), and then use a cross pattern of tape to keep the lids secured, and there are little holders for models while airbrushing them. I normally use blu-tac (or equivalent) to hold a model in place for this, but having that holder just means my fingers aren't in the way while using the airbrush. These are no match for a Citadel painting handle (the original variant) but also don't need the model glued to a base, no pinning is required, and are really only intended for the airbrushing step. All built from materials that would otherwise go into the bin.

I have other models in the background being painted as well, but they're not far enough along to do another post on just yet, which is partially why I'll take a week break before showing something a bit more interesting.

-- silly painter.