Lizardmen Cold One Cavalry WIP #1

And so onwards from the Sanguinary Guard, this time it's Lizardmen. I really wanted something other than armour to paint here: getting models to look more organic, fewer hard edges, and generally different model aspects to consider.

Starting with the Cold One mounts, and with thanks to Matt for the suggestion, I've gone with attempting to make each model look slightly different. It's not like they're all clones; making them different colours will actually give a more natural appearance. I've gone for a more crocodilian look, so I probably won't have a multitude of patterns colouring the scales, but I will try go for different basic colour schemes.

All looking off to the same direction. Obviously, there's a cat for lunch over there.

As can be seen, green above with a pale underbelly is the basic approach I've taken. I basically took every green base paint I had and tried it out, with the exception of a single brown model. The brown one will likely have green highlights, shades, and glazes to tie it in with the rest later on.

The underbelly was painted first to give something to blend into, and it turned out surprisingly easy to do. First, an undercoat  of Ceramite White, being careful to give it an even and full covering, and trying to make sure the black primer spray doesn't show through. It might need multiple coats for this step, and be sure to let each coat dry before applying the next. Next, apply a wash of Seraphim Sepia. That's it. Such a simple approach, but very effective. I actually found the idea from looking at a GW painting guide for Tyranids, so it just goes to show that sometimes the easiest approach is the best.

Moving on to the top of the models, I tried was to use a lot of water to really thin down the base paints and blend it in to the underbelly. I didn't want a hard line between the scales on top, and the softer parts underneath - nature is rarely so defined. This was no easy task, and it takes quite a while to build up the blend, but I find that applying water to the area before painting on the (thinned down) base colour helped in this task. Even so, I'm not happy with all models - Death World Forest seems to work best, where as Caliban Green barely worked at all.

Fortunately, making each model look different is really helping to explore different effects and approaches to see what works, and what doesn't. I plan to test drybrushing the scales, then using different shades, glazes, and layer paint highlights just to see what it all ends up looking like. I will likely try for a dark blue or possibly grey tone to the harder scales, and maybe some final drybrushing of yellow or flesh tones to show where those scales have been exposed to weather effects, chipping, and so on. I'm also going to highlight muscle with a lighter green, then pull it back with shades of green and brown (Agrax Earthshade), just to see how that looks, and possibly later give some areas a yellow glaze.

One thing to keep in mind through it all is that these models should look organic. While metal hangings can have sharp highlights, the mounts themselves should definitely have a softer appearance, and this is a theme I will try stick to.

As always, the lack of a proper camera and lighting will make in progress photos difficult, but I'll try keep in mind what I'm doing and describe it later.

-- silly painter

Sanguinary Guard + 1

It's taken some time, but the Sanguinary Guard are now more or less complete. There is no writing on scrolls or anything - I'm saving that for when I know I can do a proper job of it.

Overall, I'm happy without how they turned out. The gold armour worked well, the gems everywhere fit, and the banner turned out quite nice. The power weapon effect, however, I'm not liking. I still haven't sorted myself out yet with the glow of power weapons, but I think I'm closing in on something that works for me. What I've done so far is just experimentation, blending with blues and aqua, but the final white edging ruins things a bit, and I really needed to cover more of the blades. There will likely be investigation involving drybrushing at some point.

The +1 model is a finecast with minor adjustments to give him a few more Blood Angel specific icons. The base is currently unfinished, but it's not far off. While I do like the model, working with finecast is a pain (so many little things to fix up during the preparation phase) and I'm definitely going to stick to plastic as much as possible. I'm not sure if the special model will be a Captain, or Honour Guard yet. At the very least, he has Terminator Honours and a big axe.

Sanguinary Guard leaping into action, supported by a special model.

Excuse the bad photo again. Still stuck with poor lighting and a smartphone camera.

-- silly painter.

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.