Queen Bee Knight -- Thank you! Please read the new post

[JeffTibbetts]

Mo weathering, coming at you. I've been playing with some of what I would call advanced weathering techniques. In this case, after the other layers of metal finish, I've added some oil paint weathering. I'm going pretty much all out on her left leg to see how it looks before I move on to her other leg. Let alone the rest of the model...

Here's a good shot of the entire leg. Since the last time you saw it, I've added some thinned filter spots of lamp black oil paint, blended in with mineral spirits (white spirits across the pond). Then, around the rivets, I've added bits of burnt sienna oil paint and thinned and streaked it down. In some spots I thinned it to a filter, and in others I've let it build up more. On top of that, once it was dry(isn) I stipled on a bit more metallic silver with a sponge to represent the more recent chipping and wear.

From the front. I think the layers around the knee and upper thigh turned out really well.

Is it weird to call this a crotch shot? Sorry, girly. Anyway the depth in this area is great. Between the subtle texture of the Typhus Corrosion, the drybrushing, and then the weathering, it looks pretty realistic to me. Too bad most of this will be covered by armor. Oh well. You and I still know it's there.

And the back of the leg. I like how gnarly that gash on the outside of the back of her knee looks with the rust effects.

I think that's as far as I can take the metal parts until I get the non-metal bits painted and I can get some clear coat on it. I will eventually be adding weathering powders to get some nice dry, crusty bits around the bolts, and I'm working on some oil and grease effects that will be added as a finishing touch as well. I think this makes for a nice base.

Whadya think, ladies and gentlemen?

[Forté]

Excellent. Plain and simple. Can't elaborate because it looks that good.

[Battybattybats]

Looks superb!

[JeffTibbetts]

And now for her right leg. I took some process shots this time around, for the curious. They don't look like much, but you can see how easy it is.

First, the 'before' shot. In truth I had already done the black at this stage, but that is admittedly subtle. You can see some subtle darker patches, and that's the lamp black oil paint thinned down with mineral spirits into a filter, or glaze, in select patches.

Here you can see big blobs and smears of burnt sienna oil paint. The placement isn't terribly important, actually. It will move around a lot when you work it. All you do is get a brush you don't care much about (I bought a $5 pack at Michael's just for the oil work), dip it in mineral spirits and get most of it off (keep more on if you're blending down to a filter, less if you're just streaking) and then start wetting down the patches and moving the pigment around. For spots that I wanted to take most off, I kept a paper towel handy and occasionally wiped the brush a bit to remove the built up paint and spirits.

And here it is spread around and thinned out.

Final stage was just a sponged on layer of Runefang Steel to give it the fresh scratches. This step looks much cooler in person and really sells the technique, actually. It makes for great contrast with the tired, worn metal.

And I'll toss in a few shots of different angles. I took these before the spotted steel layer for some reason.

Notice the inner-thigh piston in the background? Yeah, her left leg loosened while I was working on this and I had to reglue it. :P That's what you get for converting the holy hell out of a big kit like this. I took great pains to make the knees strong, only to leave the hips weak. I think it'll be fine, but I'm watching it to see how the glue holds up.

Anyway. how's it looking, peeps? I feel like a lot of people missed the last update for whatever reason. Maybe I'll catch you this time. Anyone think it looks overdone? I personally think it's just right, but looking at it in natural sunlight the effect is actually less drastic than you think. I think any less than this amount would all but disappear on the gaming table.

[Ovidius Incertus]

Absolutely love it.  Excellent weathering, and I'm going to have to dabble in oil paints, which I've thus far avoided.

[JeffTibbetts]

I highly recommend it. I hesitated because I paint clean marines, but the cost investment was quite low. I bought a pack of very small oil paint tubes for beginners (which I'll probably never use all of since the technique barely uses any) for $5, brushes for another $5, odorless mineral spirits for maybe $6 or 7, and I already had some Testors brush cleaner but you can use the mineral spirits for that as well. That stuff will all last me just about forever. Plus, when I get weathering powders I can use the spirits to fix them in place.

[Ace Debonair]

Lookin' sharp, man.

You can almost feel the age, the years of wear and tear, just by looking at the legs.

[JeffTibbetts]

I did up a quick color and weathering test.

It looks pretty messy up close. Especially the black side. I think the yellow turned out very well.

There were a few techniques here. Let me try to break it down. First off, there are patches of mapped paint where layers have chipped and been repainted. I used a silly putty (best masking material known to man) and a thin layer of Tamiya White Putty. I took off the putty and sanded down the bits that were left. I then took a sharp knife and peeled up some bits around the edges to add harder edge in some places. After that I laid down the base paints on both sides. I highlighted the black side at this point. I probably should have waited. I took a sponge and dabbed on bits of brown/orange paint. I used a brush to make a few larger patches if this. Then I put down some Leadbelcher in the larger chips and scratches. I highlighted them with Runefang Steel and then put a bit of that on a sponge as well and lightly dabbed it around the edges for fresh chips. I highlighted the yellow side at this point as well, trying to get some around the larger chips. I then laid down some Burnt Ochre oil paint, heavily thinned down into a wast, and let it try for a bit. After it was tacky, I wiped the excess off with a towel in a downward motion. I went back in with Burnt Sienna and added it to the largest chips, and then streaked it downwards with a brush dampened with mineral spirits.

As an afterthought, I added a few of the blue swirls to the right panel. I'll want these on the final (painted much better, I hope) and I wanted to see how the color was. I threw some Future floor polish on them to give them a gloss contrast. I'm aiming for subtle there, with much of the contrast coming from the gloss/matt as opposed to color.

Next time 'round I'll make sure I highlight the black after the chips, for starters. Also, looking at it now I think it makes sense that the most heavily rusting bits shouldn't have bright steel in the chips. I should have a mix of rust patches and some newer steel chips that haven't yet started to rust. Also, I'm not really sure what to do with the blue bits on the black side. I guess I should add them earlier so they get weathered as well. The gloss coat should really be at the end though because it will make them puffy (intentional) and that would catch too much of the sponged chips and oil paint wash, which doesn't really make sense to me.

Other thoughts? Suggestions? I wish I had my weathering pigments because that may change things as well.

[Forté]

Thoughts...

 

Stop adding things to my shopping list!!! You've nearly got me interested in oil paints. Luckily my mum paints in oils so maybe I can..erm..borrow some black and umber from her (and other bits too maybe).

 

As for the tester. Really like the yellow side. With the black side I find the blue bits to be distracting so not too sure on that.

[JeffTibbetts]

Lol. She won't even notice since you barely need any. And if she's already got spirits and brush cleaner... Go get some!

 

Yeah, the more I look at the blue the more I want to do something different with that.

[Battybattybats]

The test came up nicely, though i'm not wholly sold on the blue swirls too. They seem too raised and wet, though maybe that would be a good way to do leaking oil?

[JeffTibbetts]

That's actually one of the ways I'm going to try leaking oil. :D Not blue, but using Future mixed with a bit of paint. Anyway, yeah, I think I'm ditching the blue. Other thoughts were: what I originally wanted to do was a dark gray with black swirls and gloss or, as my fiancé suggested, maybe do the hex pattern on the black side with gloss. I'm concerned that it will end up looking like snake scales if I do the gloss thing, but I like the idea. Maybe I should do a test but it's pretty hard to do a quick test of something that will be stenciled and airbrushed. 

[Battybattybats]

As you are unsure i'd test anyway even if it delays things, better to take longer than to be unhappy with the result if it doesn't work out.

[JeffTibbetts]

Progress continues. I've finally started up the torso frame and metal. Just posting this up to give more insight on the steps and process altogether. I've only gotten as far as the first three steps. It's a big section of the model and I don't want to rush it.

First step is the same as before. It's a 50/50 mix of the old Adeptus Battlegray Foundation paint and Leadbelcher base paint. Not so much drybrushed as just tossed on quickly with the GW tank brush. Not much of this will even show through, but some variation in the color is nice so streaks of black undercoat showing through are fine by me. You can also see the cracked shoulder cage and welded-on patch really well now that everything is the same color.

Heavy slathering of Typhus Corrosion. Man, I love this stuff. Unfortunately most of the actual color will be covered over in the next drybrushing step, but the texture remains and it helps to get a really layered, nuanced aging to the metal. This will represent the deepest levels of grime and rust. Really, though, for a lot of jobs I'd say you could just about leave it here for quick, crusty metal. Maybe one more bright highlight and for troops, I'd say you're good to go.

And then starting in with blocking out the brass sections. Again, this is about 70% Averland Sunset base (I used the partially dried, grainy pot that I bought because I like the grit in it. It's actually pretty similar to Typhus Corrosion. GW did replace it for free, though, cuz they're cool like that) and 30% Runelord Brass. It's barely metallic but you can see it in the light just right. Most of the actual metallic will come in later with drybrushing. I chose to do the engine vent covers in brass just like the legs, and extended that to the cylinder cowlings that make an appearance in various places around the body. Also, of course, the exhaust stack heat shrouding and some circular and cylindrical details around the head and face. You can't see it in these pics, but around back I picked out the engine cap in brass as well, and the roundels that appear on the back and bottom of the main body bracing struts.

I could have done more brass, but I didn't want to muddy the waters all that much yet. I want them to be distinct. Plus, I'm actually going to pick out the hard tubes and pipes in a third metal finish. Most likely a heat-stained dark, dirty chrome. I'm thinking of a deep bluish-black metal with the heat-staining applied in washes of purples, blues, etc. I'll mess with some color tests, but from I can tell most of those pipes look like spots that would get very hot so it makes sense. It's either that or a deep browned-black bronze. As in matte black-brown with oil-rubbed bits of metallic bronze showing through. I want to balance some of this warm coloration with blues, though. I've already decided eye lenses and spot colors will be in deep blues to contrast the yellows, and that would give me a blueish metal to bring them together as well. I'll have to brainstorm and see what I can come up with for those bits.

[KrautScientist]

This is really getting better and better all the time. I am closely watching this space, because while my own paintjob for my Knight conversion probably won't be half as elaborate as yours, I am still confident that I'll be able to steal some rather awesome ideas from this thread! :)

[JeffTibbetts]

This is really getting better and better all the time. I am closely watching this space, because while my own paintjob for my Knight conversion probably won't be half as elaborate as yours, I am still confident that I'll be able to steal some rather awesome ideas from this thread!

Thanks, man. I'm glad I can help. I've enjoyed watching some of my original ideas filter out into other people's work. It's actually incredibly rewarding. I love to tinker and if it helps someone else while I'm at it, I'm a happy man.

[Skrundle87]

I never realised how big of a difference that corrosion makes. I may just have to repaint or simply corrode the metal on mine

 

Keep up the good work mate

[JeffTibbetts]

Eh. I like your stuff the way it is, personally. You have to balance out the other stuff you've got going on. For me and The Queen, I knew I wanted the age to be a major factor, so I made sure to limit the color palette and work the corrosion colors into the concepting. In fact I've further reduced the complexity twice. At any rate, with the level of conversion work you do, Skrundle, I think it'd be too busy if you went nuts with weathering. Some like a super messy chaos look, but you don't seem to.

[Skrundle87]

Thanks man, really appreciate your kind words, I've always thought badly of my work because its to clean for chaos and have often thought I should weather and battle damage my models.

[JeffTibbetts]

Thanks man, really appreciate your kind words, I've always thought badly of my work because its to clean for chaos and have often thought I should weather and battle damage my models.

 

Psh. Clean marines come on both sides of the fence. I wouldn't really call them clean, what with the giant daemon faces all over. ;) But seriously, traitors come in many shapes and sizes and at least some of them would be filled with (misguided) martial pride and would be just as interested in maintaining their equipment as the next guy. Add to that insanity and mania, and I bet a fair few of them would be obsessive-compulsive about it. 'Well, this tentacle ain't gonna polish itself' and all that... 

[Montuhotep]

I hope you and all your Knight-building compadres understand that I am shamelessly pinching ideas left, right and centre for the day when I can afford one of these things!

[JeffTibbetts]

I hope you and all your Knight-building compadres understand that I am shamelessly pinching ideas left, right and centre for the day when I can afford one of these things!

 

That's why I do this, man. Steal away. And seriously, get a Knight as soon as you can afford it. They're so cool! 

[ChromeZephyr]

 

 'Well, this tentacle ain't gonna polish itself' and all that... 

 

 

Jerk.  Nearly sprayed soda all over my monitor.  :D  Lookin' good, jefe.

[Grand Master Laertes]

Your attention to painting details is simply amazing... I would like to try similar techniques one day, but when I really concentrate on painting I become so slow that it would take me a week for just to weather a regular marine-sized figure Luckily I can just enjoy admiring someonelse's models, like your Knight!

But... well... maybe on day...

[Hexagon Sun]

She's looking good, I'll be another one ripping a load from this thread when I get round to my knight.