Millicant's Horus Heresy (Blood in the Void - 28Jun)

[Dange]

This is awesome cannot wait to see it finished pure win :)

[Millicant]

Hey gents,

I have received the wall in the mail! I wish I had taken pictures of the box it came in, as well as the unpacking. It was nuts. About 4x3x3' box, filled to the brim with peanuts. Buried like treasure within was my wall, in all it's various pieces. I've primed most of the bits that I wanted to re-prime (he did all black) and I'm finishing the base piece now. It's 4x2' though about 1' of that is black "space" to ensure stability. I painted it a nice black and will add some stars and stellar phenomena for visual appeal.

Expect pics as construction continues! Additionally, as requested, I will add a step-by-step of my Zone Mortalis tiles along with this. Since there are overlaps, I hope to run them concurrently.

Lastly, here are a few pics from my upcoming March of the Legions entry for XX: Alpha Legion.

[Kizzdougs]

Very nice dude! The armour colour looks great :)

[Millicant]

I completed my submission for the March of the Legions painting challenge. Instead of simply uploading pics, I wanted it to look like a page out of the Horus Heresy books. Not sure how well I succeeded, but overall I'm pretty happy.

I have absolutely no interest in the Alpha Legion's fluff, but my oh my this was an absolute blast to paint. Such a great color scheme, I had a great time painting it. It really had me disappointed that I'm not more interested in their fluff, otherwise I would love to paint an army in this scheme.

EDIT: OH crap I just realized I posted the wrong ones - with the spell-check stuff still visible!! Yikes, fixed that now.

[Daemon2027]

Really nice colour on you AL mate and the way you have displayed him is really well done.

[Millicant]

Really nice colour on you AL mate and the way you have displayed him is really well done.

Thanks man! I appreciate that.

On to new(ish) stuff! I finally got a chance to put the wall with my Zone Mortalis tiles, though there is a disturbing lack of paint on most of it. In progress, I assure you.

Pictures, without delay:

Paint is slowly being added. I'm sticking to the blue/grey interior scheme, but I'm trying out the green-grey exterior. Let me know what you guys think.

[marine7312000]

I'm so jealous.

[Slips]

So sad that I'll never be able to field my Fists on a board like that :( Very nice all round. Will definitely make for a stunning scene once fully painted!

[Ceadus]

Hey Millicant, please tell me how you paint your Zone Mortalis board! It looks so freakin' awesome! :)

I started to paint my own board, but I really like your color scheme, especially on the cool photos with your Alpha legionaire.

[Millicant]

Don't worry Slipstreams, either swing by if you visit SoCal, or wait a bit as my first legion project is slated to be Imperial Fists, themed around the battle of Phall. (Matches the board pretty well, wouldn't you say?)

 

I am currently acquiring models as well as deciding on the right yellow... Turns out to be a very difficult proposition. My two test schemes (I will post pics) are Corai's metallic yellow and the second is AridMonk's over on The First Expedition.

 

Hey Millicant, please tell me how you paint your Zone Mortalis board! It looks so freakin' awesome! :)

I started to paint my own board, but I really like your color scheme, especially on the cool photos with your Alpha legionaire.

Thanks! I'm planning on posting a step-by-step with pics when I paint the next tile. Should start soon, but will take a few days to get through the whole thing.

[The_son_of_Dorn]

Sweet

[Slips]

I got a decent yellow by going up the GW Scale in terms of brightness : Averland -> Yriel -> Flash Gitz. Though granted I put no highlights on it (and if I did, I'd do them white then glaze over with Lamenters if I ever get any) and picked out detail with small amounts of Seraphim Sepia.

 

And If I ever voyage to Socal I'll try to remember to bring a ZM force of Some kind :p

 

 

 

 

 

 

To give you an idea.

[Millicant]

Okay, as promised, the beginning of my Zone Mortalis paint scheme tutorial!

Step 1: Clean up your tile. I soaked mine in Simple Green for a few days, scrubbed them all with a brush, and rinsed. Other basic cleanup included trimming flash and filling small holes.

Step 2: Prime. I use the Rustoleum auto-primer, Dark Grey. The stuff is amazing. Inexpensive, solid coat, and lays down better than my dogs.

Step 3: Deck base color. Lots of paint mixes in this scheme. This first one is as follows:

1:1:1

1: VMA German Grey, 71.052

1: VGC Cold Grey, 72.050

1: VGC Wolf Grey, 72.047

Step 4: Bulkhead base color. I mask off the entire floor first, using regular painters tape. Be sure to stick it to your hand, forehead, or jeans first. It reduces the tack and ensures it won't pull up your paint. (I've done that more times than I care to admit.)

1:1

1: VGC Cold Grey, 72.050

1: VGC Wolf Grey, 72.047

Step 5: De-mask and admire your work.

Step 6: First level of sponging for damage. I use pure Rhinox Hide. I prefer Scorched Brown but since that's discontinued, I use Rhinox hide instead. For a sponge, I got a set of these nice "artsy" sponges at Dick Blick for a dollar or so. Definitely recommended - though you can just as easily use any foam you have, it's just more "regular."

Alright that's the first several steps! I'll add more as I proceed along with this tile.

[Kilofix]

I completed my submission for the March of the Legions painting challenge. Instead of simply uploading pics, I wanted it to look like a page out of the Horus Heresy books. Not sure how well I succeeded, but overall I'm pretty happy.

I have absolutely no interest in the Alpha Legion's fluff, but my oh my this was an absolute blast to paint. Such a great color scheme, I had a great time painting it. It really had me disappointed that I'm not more interested in their fluff, otherwise I would love to paint an army in this scheme.

EDIT: OH crap I just realized I posted the wrong ones - with the spell-check stuff still visible!! Yikes, fixed that now.

Would you mind disclosing what Font you used for this?

Thanks!

[Millicant]

Of course!  Header is Century Gothic (probably my favorite font), the rest is simply Calibri.  

[Phalanx Warder]

I just ordered the ZM battlefield complex, having done so I started looking around for examples to get some insperation. I found this and I have to say this is very well done, probably the best I have seen to date! So thank you for the inspiration!

 

 

Also I hope to get stationed back at Pendleton, if I do then we should link up for some heresy goodness!

[Millicant]

I just ordered the ZM battlefield complex, having done so I started looking around for examples to get some insperation. I found this and I have to say this is very well done, probably the best I have seen to date! So thank you for the inspiration!

 

 

Also I hope to get stationed back at Pendleton, if I do then we should link up for some heresy goodness!

Wow that's high praise! Thank you. The complex is lovely, I've had a blast playing on it so far. I can't wait to finish the whole board.

 

Definitely let me know. I'm at Miramar now but live closer to Pendleton. So far I don't know anybody locally who plays 30k so I'd be glad to meet up!

[Ceadus]

Thank you for the promised tutorial. Great start and I can't wait for the next update.

[Millicant]

Okay, part 2 of my Zone Mortalis tutorial. I must warn you, this is kind of a mess. I ended up not following my own plan perfectly, and I will talk about how that resulted in a sub-par tile in this case. I deviated from my original scheme in a few key ways, which seemed innocuous at the time but amounted to a rather different look. Ultimately, it's not enough of a delta to make me repaint it, but it certainly adds to the variation between tiles.

On to the tutorial.

I missed taking photos of Step 7: add metal to your sponge damage. Basically do the same thing as you just did with the Rhinox Hide but with VMA Gun 71.072 and only inside the previous brown sponge-marks. Basically it should look like brown scorches with metal showing through inside.

Alright, Step 8: Blue me!

The blue floor tiles are easily the most problematic part of this whole color scheme. With too much variation, it ends up in different shades for every tile. Unavoidable, unfortunately. In this example, my shades are too close and the effect is lost.

The base color is as follows:

3:2

3: VMA Light Sea Blue 71.089

2: VMA German Grey 71.052

Step 9 (though possibly step 7 or 8, this one doesn't matter): Fans

Simple. Stick a thin drybrush down there with some Ironbreaker on it.

Step 10: Wall insets

This is an easy step, though it takes a bit of time and practice. It's basically two drybrushes, but the first one is a little wetter than the first. This is my way of lazily accomplishing the effect without the painstaking process of actually painting every single inset. That way lies madness...

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo between the two layers. Obviously, the first covers almost everything, while the second only the middle area.

Base color drybrush: Rakarth Flesh

Highlight drybrush: Terminatus Stone

Step 11: Blue sponge

This is my first mistake on this tile. The blue colors are not very divergent. It ends up looking too homogeneous instead of having a nice contrast. I tried to fix my mistake by forgoing my standardized plan (As you'll see later) but it didn't really help.

3:1:1

3: VMA Light Sea Blue 71.089

1: VMA German Grey 71.052

1: VMA US Blue Grey 71.114

Step 12: Top metal

I used to use a combo that involved Tin Bitz and Boltgun Metal, but since those aren't available anymore, I use the following:

3:1

3: VMA Chrome 71.064

1: VGC Tinny Tin 72.060

Step 13: The Wash (aka my critical mistake)

Here is where I typically apply a whole-tile coat of gloss varnish. This ensures that the washes sit in all the right places, as well as providing a nice hard protective layer. In this particular example, I skipped the gloss coat to try and correct my color problem with the blue tiles. It sort of worked, but the right answer is to get the colors right instead and stick to the plan! So, if you're doing something similar - apply the gloss coat first!!

The wash for the floor areas is a mixture from Les Bursley's school of awesomepaintjobs. Here is his wash recipe that I use, particularly the Soft Body black. I airbrush this onto the floor only, focusing on the edges of the blue squares and in the corners where the walls meet the floor. Not much gets sprayed onto the center of the tiles. This adds a nice dark grittyness that makes it look dirty and grimdark. I also spray a bit of this onto the tops of the walls, in random places and patterns, just for visual interest.

The walls are washed with a slightly thinned down Nuln Oil, applied by brush, not airbrush. This looks nicer when the gloss is applied first. DO NOT wash the wall insets. They remain untouched.

The tops of the walls are not washed, except for the metal grating. I also wash that with the Nuln Oil via brush.

Step 14: Details

This particular tile is light on details, especially compared to some of the others. Not a complaint, the variation is nice, but I have less to show on this tile. This part is easy, though. Really, just paint some details in some accent colors. I used German grey again, Chrome, Ironbreaker, Hashut copper, White, etc... There's no right or wrong answer for these. I even added red or yellow for extra pop on a few tiles.

Lastly, add a nice coat of matte or satin varnish to protect your hard work. This is terrain, after all, and it will likely take a good deal of abuse.

And that's it! I'll post a photo with this tile adjacent to the others soon, just for comparison. I'll also do a quick addendum tutorial on details in the form of floor templates/colors and decal work on the next tile. Things like the hazard stripes, skull, and other floor details are actually pretty straightforward and add a lot of appeal (to me at least).

Please hit me up with any questions. I love talking about painting!

[Phalanx Warder]

Millicant,

I have to ask you because you are the only ZM owner I know (I will edit this post and take the pics down, I am not trying to hijack you wonderful thread). In what condition did your ZM tiles arrive? You mention small amounts of clean up, I ask because I just received mine and I can tell you (in my eyes) it looks like a Chinese knock off! Not what I would expect from FW. That said I could be holding them at too high of a standard did yours look like this?

[GhostMalone]

I love that guide the only thing I'll be changing is the floor colour to a burgundy crimson

[Millicant]

BattleBrother: Leave the pics up! I'm sure somebody else will also find it helpful. To answer your question, that doesn't look too far from mine. The only issue I really have is the color. Is that just from you sanding it? In general, some of that is very similar to what I saw on mine. Most of it is easily removed with a knife or clippers. The stuff that can't be removed you can just paint over. Mine has it, but did you notice? I would say that mine had some stuff similar to your last two pics, while the first two are a little more messy than mine were.

 

Ultimately, if it really bothers you, or it obscures detail, call Forgeworld! Their customer service is top notch and I have no doubt they will take care of you.

 

Jasp: oooo I bet that will look great! You can do pretty much the same thing but with a nice deep burgundy and a red sponge. Be sure to post pics and link me to them when you do!

[Phalanx Warder]

Millicant, those boards are straight out of the box and I haven’t worked on them yet, I agree they do have an odd coloring to them. Around where the bottom of the wall and the floor meet it is black and you can see the release agent, then in other areas there appears to be no release agent used and it looks like parts of the tile have been ripped off in the mold. I just find it hard that these tiles made it past QC, I have only unboxed 7 tiles and from what I see there is major defects on some of the key areas (consoles/conduit ect.) I think I will email them with some pictures and see what they say.

[Millicant]

Hmm yeah that's not great. If you haven't done anything and there's that weird excess and color, I definitely agree you should call/email. Very strange. Be advised they really appreciate it if you have the batch numbers from the box handy as well.

 

I own three sets now (not counting the flat tiles) and there is always some degree of what you have pictured, but that is worse than anything on my tiles. I'm sure Forgeworld will straighten it out though, I wouldn't worry.

[Gorgoff]

Thou should be damned! Now you made me jalous. Ouh man... I thought very often, that I need a Zone Mortalis but your thread makes me buy one.

Not now, not tomorrow, but I will. Because of you and your hell of a table. It is just to awesome. You hear me? To. AWESOME!

Keep going. Amaze us. Make us feel miserable. ;) I'll be over there in the corner, watching and planing the upcoming bankrobbery. :D