Grey Knight WIP#3

A little more progress. Perhaps not initially visible much, but it's detail progress - it's on more apparent once you look into the model in more, well, detail.

Still got a pointy stick.

There's not much going on into terms of painting schemes. Retributor Armour, Reikland Fleshshader, Liberator gold, and a the usual mix of silvers is all that was done on the storm bolter's detail. Switching between golds helps to keep the colours interesting, but still uniform. There's actually a small dot of Spiritstone Red around the "belt buckle", and it works so well there that I didn't feel the need to do anything fancy with it.
I'm actually having trouble with what to write across the scrollwork on the chest, so for now it remains blank. The central icon would only obscure anything anyway, so not all of the word would be seen. So the writing and central icon are now one: a capital 'I' from the sigil for the Sigillite.
The face has only just been started. Being without helmet, I've left this to almost last. Still the blade to stylise as well. Still, the base coat used is Bugman's Glow. I would really like to do a more dark skinned face at some point to expand my skills a little, but for this model needs a lighter face to balance out the white cloth and book pages vertically. I'll keep it in mind for the Custodes though - different skin tones for them to represent their individual nature.

Likes to be in the spotlight.

Above is another model simply for reference purposes. He still needs fair amount of detail work, but the eye lenses have been done. I couldn't remember the exact method I used on the original Grey Knight (which looks better honestly), so I've settled on the following:

• Lothern Blue.
• Drakenhof Nightshade around the edges.
• Baharroth Blue highlight in the middle.
• White Scar for a further highlight.
• Guilliman Blue to pull back any mistakes.

The last step can also help keep one of the lenses less white, to keep in line with directional lighting. It might be worth using Drakenhof again as the last step though, to darken around the edges some more. I'll see.

-- silly painter.

Grey Knight WIP#2

Still plugging away at the Grey Knights. This is mostly a post to remember what details were done how.

Showing off a pointy stick.

First off, it took a while to figure out the shaft of the force halberd. The usual black highlighting seemed insufficient, and yet black as a base colour works well with the rest of the model. Ultimately, I decided that as a force weapon, it should have something more to indicate this. Hand drawn runes would be a bit much, and possibly distract from the rest of the model, but a kind of glow along edges might seem as though the Grey Knight is channelling power through it. So a bit of Sotek Green to the rescue. That's all actually - just trying to blend it towards edges, with a stronger accent on said edges. Definitely makes the weapon more interesting, while the aqua offsets against the golds and red nicely.

The weapon head, beneath the blade, is metallics of course. I didn't want gold, simply because enough of that is on the armour, but a metal of some kind to give it an old yet practical feel. With inspiration from steampunk (no, really) I settled on more of a brass or bronze feel. In the end:

• Balthasar Gold
• Reikland Fleshshade (Gloss)
• Runelord Brass
• Sycorax Bronze

A bit of Nuln Oil (Gloss) on the blade was applied as well. The gloss shades are good for metallic paints, but care has to be taken with them: they have a nasty habit of pooling in the deeper creases and ending up very shiny. Might have to investigate ways of lessening that in future.

Most of the books are done simply enough with Mournfang Brown on the "cover", with Wazdakka Red on the corners. Most of the books are so small with very little of the cover showing that no highlighting or shading is necessary there.
The pages are:

• Rakarth Flesh
• Agrax Earthshade
• Screaming Skull
• Pallid Wych Flesh

Edging of the besagew is:

• Balthasar Gold
• Gehenna's Gold
• Auric Armour Gold

What I classify as a bit of a oldie (from having used it on the Sanguinary Guard), but effective. It can be good to not use the same gold on everything. Not shown above (not that that model in particular has this anyway), but the besagew pattern is replicated in gold and black on the right shoulder pad. Same gold is used there. However, for the besagew itself, the white area is:

• Celestra Grey
• Nuln Oil
• Ulthuan Grey

with the red area:

• Mephiston Red
• Carroburg Crimson
• Wazdakka Red

I purposefully use subtle different reds here just to keep things distinct from the Blood Angels.

The black casing of the storm bolters will probably have highlights using Skavenblight Dinge and Stormvermin Fur, and is likely to be done next. Blades behind books will be standard silvers, with possibly a Liberator Gold pommel. Otherwise, there's a lot of details to be sorted out across the Grey Knights. Wonderful sculpts, but it takes time to consider how each individual piece of detail is going to be done.

A few other random notes:

Fulgrum Pink was bought and used as very tiny spot highlights on purity seals. It just makes the "wax" stand out some more, and helps it look glossy.

I rather suspect that given enough time, the springs inside of the Citadel painting  handles will stretch. I don't take the models out much, but they definitely have loosed up a little when I do. Still, it hasn't affected how well it holds the models so far.

Layer brushes have been tweaked a little bit. They hold water much better somehow now, and have much more pointed tips than the last time I looked (which has been a little while). My old small layer brush is starting to look a little worse for wear, and isn't as effective for details anymore. It has lasted amazingly well though, and I do still use it for some areas.

Guess that's about all for now. Hoping to have the Grey Knights done within a week. Just want to get the finished really.

-- silly painter.

Deathwatch Chaplain (Finished)

Finally, another model done. Chappie the Chaplain is classified as "complete" (although a decal still needs adding to the shoulder pad).

I have a big stick!

 Lots of metallics used on this piece in the end, more than normal, but it all seemed to fit together in the end. It also shows how proper shading and highlighting is just as essential with metallics as it is with "normal" painting. This is good experience that will be applied soon to the model of Horus.

Not sure how those bones don't fall out of the box.

Even though originally in Deathwatch set, the model still fits well as a Blood Angel. Writing on the scrolls and cloth remains something I really need to work on though.

Been a little while since the last post, so there's quite a few things to mention in regards to painting. Firstly, the "wax" seals are:

• Screamer Pink
• Drakenhof Nightshade
• Pink Horror (small highlighting)

More or less may be required on future models, depending on how well they should stand out, how much of a gloss feel they should have, and so on.

Not wanting the entire Crozius Arcanum to be gold in colour, but feeling that it should be mostly metallic rather than bone coloured, I decided on something darker for the shaft. This would keep the emphasis on the head of the weapon while keeping the colours cohesive. Very simple for much of it, with the usual silvers (Leadbelcher, Ironbreaker, Nuln Oil, Stormhost Silver) for the skulls along the shaft (and elsewhere on the model):

• Leadbelcher
• Ironbreaker
• Nuln Oil
• Stormhost Silver

with in between as:

• Warplock Bronze
• Brass Scorpion
• Runelord Brass

No shade on the latter because the details were just too small for it to be worthwhile. The same was applied to small areas of the bolt pistol as well, which makes it look a little steampunk, but also ornate.

The wooden box housing some bones - well, I wanted something "wood", but without being too brown. A red tinge to it, and yet wood and not leather. Still experimenting with that sort of thing, but shown here was:

• Mournfang Brown
• Doombull Brown
• Skag Brown (edging only)
• Agrax Earthshade
• Bloodletter

A bit overkill for such a small feature, but it's the small features that end up standing the most and giving that much more character, so they're quite often worth the extra attention.

Not shown here, but included for the sake of completeness (this was, and is being, done on the Grey Knights) is scrollwork on armour. It shouldn't look like paper, but neither should it give the appearance of bone. Too dark and it's no good, too light and it can't be differentiated from paper, cloth, or other "white" elements. I also wanted a stone carving feel to it - it's a part of the armour, and sculpted to look like paper, so it should feel solid and heavy. In the end:

• Zandri Dust
• Seraphim Sepia
• Karak Stone (at this point, it basically looks like sandstone)
• Ushabti Bone
• Screaming Skull

If it's too dark at this point, very lightly apply Pallid Wych Flesh. Can also swap out Seraphim Sepia for Agrax Earthshade. It works well enough for me though, so keep an eye out in future when I finish the Grey Knights.

For skull and bone iconography, something similar is actually used. It's mostly a case of tone: lighter for this stage to make it distinct.

• Zandri Dust
• Seraphim Sepia
• Ushabti Bone
• Screaming Skull
• Pallid Wych Flesh

It's really the last step that makes everything lighter and more bone-like. I'm also increasingly using Serpahim Sepia for many things. It's far more of an interesting colour than using Agrax Earthshade everywhere, but not as red as Reikland Fleshshade.

Moving on, the skull mask of the chaplain. This really has to stand out on the model, as it's such a central point of focus. It makes or breaks everything else. The airbrushing done previously gave a good white to it, and I didn't really have to add much else. A little bit of shading for depth, and a few edge highlights; sometimes less is more. For making some areas a bit darker, Lahmian Medium was used with Drakenhof Nightshade, at about a 10:1 mix. Really, really thin paint, less than glaze consistency. Multiple coats in a few key areas, and it really adds depth. Mostly applied to the sides, and just above the "brow". It does tend to leave a very slight gloss finish, but this just made the helmet stand out more, so I didn't bother trying to fix that (hint: normally some purity spray does the job if the gloss is too much). The eyes I decided on something blue:

• Black first on the lenses
• Kantor Blue over about half of each lens
• Hoeth Blue over less
• Baharroth Blue over less
• White Scar as a dot on the black areas
• Guilliman Blue in the recesses around the lenses.

It's the last step that really makes the helmet, and the whole model. I didn't want red for the lenses because that just makes him look angry (something that's probably a job requirement for Chaplains). I wanted him to look like a terrible sight to behold for the enemies of the Emperor, to strike fear, but still to be a bastion of leadership for allies. Blue is associated more with supernatural elements than red, so a blue glow to the eyes just seemed to fit. A shade would have been too dark, so a glaze was used instead, and it all just comes together, so I'm happy with how it turned out.

As an update on the Grey Knights: they've been painted just enough to be entirely assembled. All the details need filling in now, so still a bit of time give my slow pace of painting. They are looking good though, courtesy of being such nicely designed models.

-- silly painter.

Deathwatch Chaplain WIP #2, Grey Knight WIP #1

When not in use, armour must still be stored in a mighty pose.

Alongside Chappy, there's also one of the Grey Knights I'm also simultaneously painting. Only the one Grey Knight was painted previously, so it's time to finish the rest.

Starting with a couple things in common, the Chaplain and Knight have what I deem to be "white cloth". I like to build this up multiple layers to really give it some depth, and make it look somewhat thick (and therefore more durable during battle). I also leave it mostly unadorned, for no other reason that I don't trust my freehand to not mess up all that hard work! The cloth for the Chaplain is attached at the left hip.
The usual process is likely to now be:

• Zandri Dust (base)
• Agrax Earthshade (wash)
• Karak Stone (layer, leaving deeper recesses alone)
• Screaming Skull (layer, leaving more recesses alone)
• White Scar (layer, very thin coat, here only applied for the Chaplain).

Layering is done with thin coats, and quite a bit of patience. It's very difficult to get the layers blending just right, and I often make mistakes by going over areas still wet. This is bad because it often just removes paint. Really do let each layer dry completely before adding another - it makes everything so much easier in the end.

Scrolls and paperwork are done slightly differently in the hope of giving a different texture at the end. I'm still working on this, but the approach used long ago on the Sanguinary Guard is:

• Steel Legion Drab (base)
• Ushabti Bone (layer)
• Agrax Earthshade (wash, thinly applied)
• Pallid Wych Flesh (layer, thinly applied)
• Black (for the writing; the somewhat ruined black that's now thinned down a lot works really well here)

I'm toying with the idea of going over it with very thin Seraphim Sepia if it's too white at the end. I'll see how the scrolls on the Grey Knight go - they've been base coated, but not layered.

They Grey Knight was airbrushed for the base coats. Basic Leadbelcher, followed by Ironbreaker, and then a (far too thinned, darn) directional of Grey Knights Steel from Forgeworld, and an opposite direction of Deathshroud. A good deal of layer paint, particularly Ironbreaker, was used to fix things afterwards and add some edge highlights, along with a bit of brushwork using Grey Knights Steel. Drakenhof Nightshade around select edges, sometimes with multiple coats to make it very dark, and that's the base armour complete. It sounds fairly easy, but it was a bit tedious at times. Still faster than entirely by hand, and though different to the original Grey Knight, still just as good in the end.
Inset gold writing was, however, quite easy:

• Retributor Armour (base)
• Liberator Gold (layer, applied to try and just catch the writing)
• Seraphim Sepia (wash, applied with a small brush and allowed to pool lower than the lettering)

Letting the wash flow into recesses really makes the wording stand out and easy to read. If done carefully, it doesn't take away too much shine from the raised areas, and it's not so bad if it does; there's enough metallics on the Grey Knights that a little lack of shine on the wording can sometimes add to the model anyway.

-- silly painter.

Deathwatch Chaplain WIP #1

Chappy

Hot on the heels of the "minigun guys" comes the model of the Deathwatch Chaplain. He'll likely end up as a Blood Angel Chaplain, mostly because I don't have a Deathwatch force, and because he can fill the role of a Chaplain without a jump-pack.

So why this model next? Simple really: black armour. Horus himself needs starting, even if his base isn't yet finished, and I wanted a bit more practice with black before I went there.

Using the airbrush, I started on a first highlight with Mechanicus Standard Grey (air), followed by Dawnstone (air), followed by a light coat of Administratum Grey (air).

This did not work. I appear to have damaged part of the airbrush, and it was sputtering and spitting far too much. Couldn't get an even coat. I also probably have been using too small a needle (the 0.15mm) for this kind of work to learn properly, so I'll switch to a larger (0.4mm) for the next models, and have ordered something in between (0.2mm) to hopefully help in future. On a side note, after the current set of models I might go on a run of the Legions simply for airbrush practice. We'll see.

At any rate, with the airbrushing done there was something to work with. Fortunately, I have a black base paint that is now useless as a base paint. Leaving it out overnight can have that effect, but it was recovered with some flow improver and heavy shaking. It now has more in common with a layer paint, and is therefore excellent at blending highlights back into a darker area.

Let this be a lesson: that paint which is ruined, don't get rid of it, try and make something from it! Just because it's no longer useful for the original purpose doesn't mean it's not now useful for something else. A bit of thinner and it can be turned into a wash, or it might be good for dry-brushing, or good to just mix with something else. Experiment and see: it's not like there's anything to lose.

With the somewhat disastrous airbrushing now fixed, a bit of Dawnstone (layer) around selected edges, and that's the basic armour complete. Trimming was always going to be gold, which in this case became the following list:

• Retributor Armour (base)
• Druchii Violet (wash, over it all)
• Gehenna's Gold (layer)
• Auric Armour Gold (layer, edge highlighting)
• Liberator Gold (layer, fine edge highlighting, lots of shaking & stirring to mix the bottle properly)

In this case, Balthasar Gold probably would have been a better choice to start with; as it turns out, Retributor Amour and Druchii Violet more or less has the same appearance of a dull Balthasar Gold. I could have used the wash more sparingly to only do careful, select areas for a bit more depth had I started with something else, but lesson learned.

The Crozius Arcanum had a couple more steps done, namely the addition of a small amount of Druchii Violet at the end to help define a few places, and also some Reikland Fleshshade (wash, gloss) applied sparingly to tie together some of the metallic blending, and give some extra depth (for lack of a better word) overall. The Crozius will be a focal point of the entire model, so it deserves that little bit of extra effort.

Scrolls and parchment are likely to be painted next, allowing the missing shoulder pad, backpack, and head (skull-shaped helmet of course) to be added without trouble. The pace of this model has been surprisingly quick, but that probably as more to do with some spare time, and knowing which colours to use and how to achieve a desired look.

4 other models have actually been started as well: the remaining Grey Knight Terminators. That, however, is a post for another day.

-- silly painter.

IX Legion - the "Minigun Guys"

If one minigun doesn't work, try five.

They're classified as "complete" now. A few decals to round things off, simply because the Forgeworld ones seem to be of good quality. Didn't know how these fellows would fit into the legion hierarchy, so gave them 2nd company. One day I might paint something else on to indicate heavy support, but for now I'll just leave it as is.

Backpacks contain ammo storage, and I didn't want that to just be silver. Bullet casings elsewhere are more copper or brass in colour, so it didn't fit to just be some grey metal colour. Instead, Brass Scorpion was applied to give it just enough of a (brass) sheen. It also ties it in with the red armour just a little bit.

Pauldrons are edged in black, and given an Eshin Grey highlight, followed by more edging with Dawnstone. Same was done for the straps on the backpack, while the helmet only had Dawnstone applied. No highlights were done to the other black edging of the armour on accounting of wanting some of the black to show.

The insignia was based with black, and then highlighted with Dark Reaper, with final edging of Russ Grey in places. This helps separate the insignia from the shoulder pad edges, while still giving it that black look. I did try to put some 'Ardcoat on a blood drop, but it was far too shiny and really didn't harmonise with the rest of the model.

One thing missing from this set is an edge highlight of Wild Rider Red. I normally do that as a final highlight on red armour, but in this case it wasn't needed. Such highlights serve as a border around panel areas, giving more depth to the model. This was instead served by the black edging.

The barrels of the rotor cannons do not have any burnt or heated metal effect applied. If there would be anything, it would be a blackened muzzle. More or less didn't want that, because the gun was black enough as it is. Regular maintenance and more efficient propellant might help reduce blackened endings as well.

All in all, these models were a lot of fun to paint. Just would have liked the arm and weapon positioning to be less of a pain, but with plastic variants of the armour available, perhaps that won't be such a problem in future.

-- silly painter.

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.