ETL II WiP - Adeptus Mechanicus

[Hasdrubal]

Qick pictures of the stuff I did this evening to start my vow, this kit is awesome to paint!

 

First: primed parts, stored in boxes:

http://imageshack.us/a/img59/4784/leviathanpartsprimed.jpg

 

then shoulder pads _ titan sized _ after some color modulation work (Vallejo paint pot for barry shot):

http://imageshack.us/a/img200/5197/shoulderplatesmodulated.jpg

 

and the close combat arm, with a carbon fiber effect WiP (I still have to spray more black candy to further darken the whole blade);

http://imageshack.us/a/img211/1604/bladecarbonfiberstep2.jpg

 

Stay tuned for an update next week-end!

[Brother Callius]

Looking good there!

Good to see others taking the challenge for the Mechanicum though I feel we're quite the minority...

I am really looking foward to seeing this bad boy painted up

[Captain Semper]

Go Mechanicum!

 

Hasdrubal - the tough part is still ahead though! Good luck!

 

I'm very excited about this... Last year there was no participation from the Adepts of Mars but this year we have two normal entries and an o-o-c one! :tu:

[Hasdrubal]

Thanks for the feedback guys. A quick description tutorial of the way I've painted the shoulder pads, as most of the larger armoured areas will follow the same steps for basecoating. These steps are all airbrush work, for the refence I'm using an Iwata Eclipse HP-CS with a 0.3 nozzle, which I've found to be versatile enough to handle most situation.

 

 

1. Basecoat with VAC 52 (German Grey), straight from the paint pot, 20 PSI

2. Spray shadows with VAC 54 (Dark Blue Grey), thinned to a 3:1 ratio with water, 15 PSI

3. Spray initial highlights with VAC 53 (Dark Sea Green), thinned to a 3:1 ratio with water, 15 PSI. This is more a color shight than a true highlight, the effect is subtle bu definitely brings something to the model.

4. Spray highlights with VAC 50 (Light Grey), thinned to a 3:1 ratio with water, 15 PSI. Use several layers, the initial one to mist the highlighted area, a second misty one to defined the transition to the basecoat while getting the highlights more solid, and typically a last one where you really wants highlits to pop.

5. At this stage, little of the German Grey basecoat subsists. A thin layer of German Grey is sprayed over the parts, avoiding the recesses, to redefine the color, tone down and help smoothing out the transition to the highlights. Paint is further thinned (2:1 ratio), and sprayed at 10-15 PSI.

6. Spray Gloss Varnish (I use Liquitex, thinned to a 2:1 ratio with water, at about 20 SPI) to protect the parts, and prepare for the next phases (decals).

[Hasdrubal]

I couldn't find time to work on the Crusader during the week due to a combination of heavy load at work (50+ hours/week being the norm in this period, plus 2 cavant positions within the team on top of that) and being sick.

Still I've been feeling better this week-end, and my wife being on a working shift I had spare time to dedicate to the model.

 

I started by adding more color and contrast to the close combat arm, using candy colors. Candy colors are translucent: they will tint a light area, but won't affect a dark one (especially if black). Though Vallejo provides clear colors, I prefer to use dedicated airbrush paints for this type of effect, as I've already got some experience with them. The reducer is a thinner, I prefer to work with either water (for Vallejo) or dedicater rhinner ranges to avoid nasty surprises.

http://imageshack.us/a/img547/4573/t3tz.jpg

 

I sprayed black candy to darken the blade towards the shaft, green candy to tint the carbon fiber effect, and a mix of candy green and transparent white (thinned) to lighten the business end of the sword.

 

The result after a coat of clear varnish to seal the candy (note the candy green tint on the energy-cell like pattern at the right-hand side of the arm):

http://imageshack.us/a/img521/2150/56cm.jpg

 

Most of my work focused on the Vulkan Canon arm (6-barreled heavy gun), starting with a layer of VAC Gunmetal on the barrel. I then masked these area with

- modelling tape, which is lack-tack, and available in width that make sense to the modeller,

- low-tack painting tape to cover larger areas (at the risk of pulling some paint off after; that's OK, should it happen, I have enough weathering steps in mind to cover it)

- blue tack (for areas difficult to access)

http://imageshack.us/a/img46/40/v9fn.jpg

 

I airbrushed the arm using the same color combination as previsouly, shading and highlighting large panels in order to get the model less uniform, more appealing to the eye. This is all the more important as German grey is going to be the dominant color of the model: it will helps the eye break the model into meaningfull shapes. Fast forward to more masking tape, in order to paint hazard stripes on the ammo box at the back of arm (you can see how raised areas have been highlighted):

http://imageshack.us/a/img703/8448/3ozp.jpg

 

I planned to use Gold Yellow (on the picture), but changed it to Yellow Ochre (VAC 33) at the last moment, because if it a more muted, natural-looking yellow. I will fit better with the rest of the model. I wanted to try using chipping fluid from AK Interactive in order to chip the stripes and replicate the effect of distressed, worn paint. It can be done with hairspray, but I figured this would be a safer medium to handle (military modelling forums are choked with people asking why they don't get the desired effect using hairspray). I should have sealed with area with gloss varnish first, but forgot to do it (with results you'll see later), and airbrushed the fluid over the area to be striped. Once dried, I sprayed Yellow Ochre, then highlighted the stripes using a 1:1 mix Yello Ochre / White.

I then used a wet brush and a toothpick to distress paint and leave off particules of yellow paint, revealing the grey basecoat underneath. It must be done carefully, otherwise large areas flake off and need to be integrated into a very worn pattern, such as the bottom stripe on the picture below. You will also notice, in the same stripe, some dark grey showing through: I got too hard with the brush, it also lifted off the highlight layer (that's for forgettting the seal the basecoat)! I'll work out a weathering plan to fix this area, which is also less visible, as being hidden behind. the body

http://imageshack.us/a/img89/9476/l57o.jpg

 

This helped me get a consistent color lightness across the grey and yellow, without having to blend each stripe separately :D

 

Some additional pictures of this arm, with a necron warrior for Barry. See how the shading and higlighths help directing the eye and making sense of the 6-inches long barrel:

http://imageshack.us/a/img694/1214/z94z.jpg

 

And another angle to show the business end of the Vulkan Canon. Barry certainly is happy not to be in the fire lane!

http://imageshack.us/a/img812/7793/ewwn.jpg

 

That's it for this week folks. Hope you enjoyed the WiP and that some of you will find it useful. Feel free to ask me to spend more time detailing steps, there's still a long way to go to bring all the parts to tabletop level, so I can arrange step-by-steps and pictures if you want them! Thanks for having stopped by, your reading is much appreaciated!

[Captain Semper]

Yeap, sure looks the part! This is coming along nicely - love the technique on the sword! Keep it up Hasdrubal - this is going to be  really something!