Jump to content

Catachan Valkyrie: Failed Experiment


Prot

Recommended Posts

Well I learned something last night.... sometimes you're better off leaving well enough alone.

I really thought it would be a great idea to try a new scheme (instead of Blood Pact ) for my IG. Enter Catachans!

But I decided I didn't want to airbrush this army and I had to first locate a green spray that would match my base colour.

All I could find was this Greenskin spray and I knew it was too bright but all the store had was this, or a VERY dark green... close to Caliban Green and I didn't want that.

So here I took what was a based Blood Pact Valkyrie for the experiment and sprayed it.

gallery_2760_7883_59667.jpg

Way too bright. Too close to 'hulk green' for me. So I decided to wash it down with a Vallejo Camo green wash:

gallery_2760_7883_10180.jpg

While the wash did bring it down a notch or two, I wasn't quite there yet but I decided to try a three step process with the Camo pattern anyway. And then work the green yet again back to where I thought it should be.

gallery_2760_7883_221512.jpg

Here's the result. I hand painted a thin line to mark the pattern. Then I sponged on a thicker, 'sandy bone' kind of colour. Then I took a smaller sponged and did a light bone in the center of that darker bone.

Finally to control the camo a bit, I then stippled on a darker Vallejo green to tidy up, and bring the overall green to something I liked. Granted there is no other painted detail on the vehicle, but I just wanted to get a feel for this to see if it would work out.

I think it's pretty horrid actually. Any thoughts?

It's not the most appealing shade of green I've ever seen. It might all come together though if you paint the rest, maybe wash or glaze the whole thing once or twice to tie the colours together more, and add a bit of battle damage/weathering.

 

Some of my favourite paint jobs looked bloody awful at least once during the process. Some models literally only worked after I fixed the weathering powder.

It is a tad on the bright side but once it is shaded then weathered I think it will work.

 

Next time if you want catachan green in a spray can go for tamiya tr61 NATO green. It comes in a 100ml can and you should get a couple of vehicles per can.

 

Nice desert stripes though ;)

Hmmm... maybe the Nuln Oil wash idea might just pull it in together, but then again this a process I would not want to repeat on every vehicle as it was getting quite labor intensive adjusting the green 3 times alone during this model.

 

I'm split between Nuln oil wash, and just finding a different Catachan green.

 

I think you guys are being pretty generous, but I appreciate it anyway. lol

 

Thanks for the compliments on it. I think I could live with the camo recipe, if only the green turned out more... subdued, or flat. There is almost no way I can think of saving this without doing a repaint.

 

I just went to the GW website and I think they use Castellan green as the base. I have to find something similar from Army Painter. (I don't have a local supplier for Tamiya unfortunately). If it's close enough to Castellan, then I might be able to save the Valkyrie with a brush.... Not sure.

The camouflage pattern is really good I think, but I agree that's not a good green for a Catachan. Perhaps Castellan Green would be best as it used to be called Catachan Green. Either that or a slightly darker green, like Dark Angels Green (or whatever the new version is)?

Castellan green is very similar to the army painters cayman green (I believe that's how it was called),I've used both and the army painters is slightly lighter. Either way I'm curious to see your heretic jungle fighters! Will they be nurgle oriented (due to the deadly venoms in a jungle)?

You can always drybrush a darker shade on the green too... weather it up, do your metallics, and you may be surprised by the end result. Most of my stuff looks like crap when I'm painting, but the forgiving thing about vehicles, is they aren't suppose to be showroom fresh!

Okay, thanks to everyone for giving me some ideas. I really mean that. But moving on...

 

The only way I think I can save this is to pick up Castellan Green paint pots and airbrush it. To be honest, I am quite tired of airbrushing, but I don't see a way around it. 

 

The reason I say that is because 1) it looks like a toy to me. I realize it may darken with some tricks BUT 2) I could never fully repeat this process on an army's worth of vehicles without eating a pound of week old green stuff and then gouging my eyes out with some dull x-acto knives. (Yes, the process was that tedious). 3.) The dry brush won't work because what you probably can't see in the picture is that there is a 'sponge-like' bleed of the camo into the green, and then a 'stipple' of green back into the camo to tighten it up. This effect would be 127% ruined by drybrushing. (Although I confess I could go Nuln Oil it to death, but again... the process would be hideous for an army of this size.)

 

So you may think, this guy is just setting himself up for failure! Well, you're possibly right. 

 

A big part of me, I'll say my head specifically, tries to convince myself to stick with the Blood Pact because I admit, it does look good, and I even have squad I'm working on. But it feels a lot like an old girlfriend that let you get to third base and then moved on because you spent a summer holiday apart.... the magic is gone, and her breath stinks.

 

I really did want to try Catachans. Friends think it's too corny for me... being primarily a power armoured player for the last 8 thousand years. I wanted to make them wrong with my 'close combat' Catachan army idea but I think I blew it. First impressions are everything and if Catachans were a girl, she'd be a spoiled, decadent woman, and I'm a broke sailor looking for a fun weekend. We may never connect.

 

But although my friends say this can never happen, I may secretly try to pursue the relationship, box at a time (as fish has suggested.)

 

So I thank you guys. And I would not have responded so honestly except that to be frank, your opinions and attempt to help me have forced me to be truthfull with you, even if it is to the detriment of my hobby efforts.  Sorry, I think the model is clearly a fail. 

Like Bonzi said, a wash of Nuln Oil will help out immensely. I bet if you highlighted the edges as well with a fine detail brush you could change the effect quite a bit too. Details will help out.

 

Regardless, even a failed experiment can turn out to be a great model. Don't let it deter you, just change tactics and give it a little more love.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.