BA Today

[SnorriSnorrison]

I've resumed work on my Death Company conversions today. I had shelved them because I didn't quite get satisfactory results painting the black armour. I think I'm onto a more promising method just using Eshin Grey as the base armour colour, and pin-washing all the recesses with something like Nuln Oil or some watered down black paint. Then just a few subtle highlights with Mechanicus.

 

Can't decide how to paint my Chaplain though. I've used the Primaris Chaplain and given him a Sanguinary Guard jump pack + wings, to run him as a regular chaplain with Angel's Wing rules wise. Can't decide if the wings should be white or black; and also can't decide if the robe should be black or red. Urrrghhh. On one hand, white wings (or rather, off white bone colour) would match his skull mask/ribcage. On the other hand, black would represent his role more aptly (He shall be named Raziel- My soul reaver... My angel of death...)

 

Input appreciated.

I'd try out wings in red depending on the colour of the robe; the primars chaplain has a bit of a leathery type kind of robe, so maybe try and paint it in a close to black brown and add some effect to make it look like leather. For that, I'd check out the original mini by GW and try to match some techniques that'll yield similar results.

 

 

So, I've been working on the Vanvets over the last two weeks. By and by, they come to a state where I'm getting a bit giddy about seeing the final results.7

 

My revelation so far:

1. Get an airbrush. Even just for the priming, it's so satisfying and smooth, and so. damn. quick!

2. For metals, use a 1:1 mix of Nuln Oil and Black Templar, perhaps add some Lahmian medium. It soooo good.

3. The ASM sprue has some very dynamic leg poses, some that the VAS sprue lacks. Mixing them will provide a good deal of different poses.

 

Just a teaser below:

 

 

 

Also, I'Ve picked up the Phobos Captain. Since I wasn't sure about the bearded Mcscreamy face and the pointing arm of doom, I switched it out for an auspex. The head is the one from the BA Primaris sprue with the bionic eye (currently not in picture ).

Needed to add some magic sculpt to raise the shoulder pad to one level and also connect the cloak over said shoulder.

 

 

Will post more once I'm getting closer to completion. The next character that'll be finished is the Chaplain Smash though, then the Phobos captain and then Mephiston.

[Panzer]

I've resumed work on my Death Company conversions today. I had shelved them because I didn't quite get satisfactory results painting the black armour. I think I'm onto a more promising method just using Eshin Grey as the base armour colour, and pin-washing all the recesses with something like Nuln Oil or some watered down black paint. Then just a few subtle highlights with Mechanicus.

 

Can't decide how to paint my Chaplain though. I've used the Primaris Chaplain and given him a Sanguinary Guard jump pack + wings, to run him as a regular chaplain with Angel's Wing rules wise. Can't decide if the wings should be white or black; and also can't decide if the robe should be black or red. Urrrghhh. On one hand, white wings (or rather, off white bone colour) would match his skull mask/ribcage. On the other hand, black would represent his role more aptly (He shall be named Raziel- My soul reaver... My angel of death...)

 

Input appreciated.

Painting a dark grey instead of pure black so you have some room for shadows is definitely a good approach to painting black armour.

 

As for your Chaplain problem, I'd say red robe and the SG jump pack with a black frame+thruster and golden feathers (did that for my Angel's Wing Captain which I'm going to use as Astorath counts-as in my next game ).

Edited April 7, 2020 by Panzer

[Majkhel]

Hi Vermintide, I also thik that starting black armour from dark grey gives many nice options. Regarding the wings - dark colours match the Chaplain. Always :).

For the robe - the leather approach looks cool. Weather you tint it red, black or just brown is up to you.

I've personally fount this video very educating regarding the painting of a dark, heavy leather coat like the one on the Chaplain.
I helped me a lot with the cloak on my Inquisitor

[redshadow]

Over last couple of days managed to get building again

2 executionors, 2 impulsors and slash cpt all built, they’ll probably stay gray for a long time tho....

Edited April 7, 2020 by redshadow

[Vermintide]

Thanks for the responses chaps!

 

I'm fairly sure I'll end up going with black wings. Possibly I'll use gold for the top edge trims, since gold trims are a theme of the army. I'll probably stick with dark brown/black for the robe too; it wants to look more like a distressed leather trenchcoat/duster than a cloth robe.

The red I use is a very dark red, so it probably wouldn't look out of place. But nevertheless, his classic look on the box art is kinda too cool to go messing with :)

[Xenith]

Over last couple of days managed to get building again

2 executionors, 2 impulsors and slash cpt all built, they’ll probably stay gray for a long time tho....

That's a lot of primaris! Looking forward to seeing all the Aggressors built up.

[appiah4]

I've resumed work on my Death Company conversions today. I had shelved them because I didn't quite get satisfactory results painting the black armour. I think I'm onto a more promising method just using Eshin Grey as the base armour colour, and pin-washing all the recesses with something like Nuln Oil or some watered down black paint. Then just a few subtle highlights with Mechanicus.

 

Can't decide how to paint my Chaplain though. I've used the Primaris Chaplain and given him a Sanguinary Guard jump pack + wings, to run him as a regular chaplain with Angel's Wing rules wise. Can't decide if the wings should be white or black; and also can't decide if the robe should be black or red. Urrrghhh. On one hand, white wings (or rather, off white bone colour) would match his skull mask/ribcage. On the other hand, black would represent his role more aptly (He shall be named Raziel- My soul reaver... My angel of death...)

 

Input appreciated.

Dark gray with black shading does not really work with power armor or other stuff with lots of flat surfaces, it ends up looking gray.  That usually works with things like cloth that has a lot of natural folds and crevices.  Try it, of course.  I was not a fan.

[redshadow]

Xenith, on 07 Apr 2020 - 11:40 AM, said:

redshadow, on 07 Apr 2020 - 10:15 AM, said:

Over last couple of days managed to get building again

2 executionors, 2 impulsors and slash cpt all built, they’ll probably stay gray for a long time tho....

That's a lot of primaris! Looking forward to seeing all the Aggressors built up.

Ive already built one squad, they were a pain to magnetise

Edited April 7, 2020 by redshadow

[Infernalstone]

I've resumed work on my Death Company conversions today. I had shelved them because I didn't quite get satisfactory results painting the black armour. I think I'm onto a more promising method just using Eshin Grey as the base armour colour, and pin-washing all the recesses with something like Nuln Oil or some watered down black paint. Then just a few subtle highlights with Mechanicus.

 

Can't decide how to paint my Chaplain though. I've used the Primaris Chaplain and given him a Sanguinary Guard jump pack + wings, to run him as a regular chaplain with Angel's Wing rules wise. Can't decide if the wings should be white or black; and also can't decide if the robe should be black or red. Urrrghhh. On one hand, white wings (or rather, off white bone colour) would match his skull mask/ribcage. On the other hand, black would represent his role more aptly (He shall be named Raziel- My soul reaver... My angel of death...)

 

Input appreciated.

Vallejo has a color called Grey Black or Black Grey that I REALLY like.  It's a cooler, very dark grey, as opposed to Eshin which is a warmer grey.  Just a thought.

[Indefragable]

 

I've resumed work on my Death Company conversions today. I had shelved them because I didn't quite get satisfactory results painting the black armour. I think I'm onto a more promising method just using Eshin Grey as the base armour colour, and pin-washing all the recesses with something like Nuln Oil or some watered down black paint. Then just a few subtle highlights with Mechanicus.

 

Can't decide how to paint my Chaplain though. I've used the Primaris Chaplain and given him a Sanguinary Guard jump pack + wings, to run him as a regular chaplain with Angel's Wing rules wise. Can't decide if the wings should be white or black; and also can't decide if the robe should be black or red. Urrrghhh. On one hand, white wings (or rather, off white bone colour) would match his skull mask/ribcage. On the other hand, black would represent his role more aptly (He shall be named Raziel- My soul reaver... My angel of death...)

 

Input appreciated.

Vallejo has a color called Grey Black or Black Grey that I REALLY like.  It's a cooler, very dark grey, as opposed to Eshin which is a warmer grey.  Just a thought.

 

 

I absolutely swear by Vallejo's Grey Black. It goes on not really grey, but not really black, but then you top it off with some Nuln Oil and it looks an excellent tabletop black: it looks black for all intents and purposes across the table, but it still just light enough that recesses et al are noticeably darker. 

[Jolemai]

New Unit of the Week entry:

• Captain on bike

[Vermintide]

 

I've resumed work on my Death Company conversions today. I had shelved them because I didn't quite get satisfactory results painting the black armour. I think I'm onto a more promising method just using Eshin Grey as the base armour colour, and pin-washing all the recesses with something like Nuln Oil or some watered down black paint. Then just a few subtle highlights with Mechanicus.

 

Can't decide how to paint my Chaplain though. I've used the Primaris Chaplain and given him a Sanguinary Guard jump pack + wings, to run him as a regular chaplain with Angel's Wing rules wise. Can't decide if the wings should be white or black; and also can't decide if the robe should be black or red. Urrrghhh. On one hand, white wings (or rather, off white bone colour) would match his skull mask/ribcage. On the other hand, black would represent his role more aptly (He shall be named Raziel- My soul reaver... My angel of death...)

 

Input appreciated.

Vallejo has a color called Grey Black or Black Grey that I REALLY like.  It's a cooler, very dark grey, as opposed to Eshin which is a warmer grey.  Just a thought.

 

That sounds like it would have been really helpful if I'd read it before coating half the unit in Eshin I'll have to keep that in mind when I get around to painting something more... Heretical...

 

I'm actually pretty pleased with the result though- It already makes the details pop so much better, without even shading any of the detail. I think painting true black on minis is just one of those colours that looks great in 'Eavy Metal photos with perfect lighting and microscopic detail highlighting, but in real life it's never gonna look that good. I have one model painted in the traditional black method of blue-white highlights, which looks pretty nice in an old-school kind of way, but I think the cold colours clash too much with the red and gold:

 

According to my girlfriend, who is a legitimate semi-professional artist, a grey mid-tone with dark shades and subtle light areas is the best way to make something "read" black. You should never be making something black, actually black, and the same goes for white- White is the same thing reversed, grey mid tones with bright highlights and subtle shadows.

 

Against the rest of my army, which is naturally red, I'm pretty confident this approach will come out recognisable as black armour.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Vermintide

[Infernalstone]

You'll never convince me they don't photoshop touch up those pictures and toy with the image coloration.

[Vermintide]

Oh they absolutely do, of course, but that's just standard practice for photography in general these days. The question is if they cheat and smooth out all the lines, make the edge highlights perfectly crisp and uniform... I wouldn't be surprised, but I'd rather not know the truth

 

Like how the codex/rulebook artwork has fallen from glorious hand-drawn line-art, to sloppy video game concept art you could crank out in half a day. Believe me- I've seen my partner power out commissions of a higher standard than a GW codex page in less than six hours, there are simply so many shortcuts available with digital art. It can look amazing don't get me wrong, but like the people who commission my girlfriend, GW clearly isn't paying the kind of money it takes to get someone not to use those shortcuts.

[Panzer]

A lot of what people attribute to photoshop is also just proper lighting and a good camera. Of course the same people wouldn't ever believe it because they never were able to experience the magic of a proper setup and gear themselves. 

[redshadow]

^^^^^^

This

[Vermintide]

A lot of what people attribute to photoshop is also just proper lighting and a good camera. Of course the same people wouldn't ever believe it because they never were able to experience the magic of a proper setup and gear themselves. 

A good photographer doesn't need photoshop, but honestly an amateur can get near enough the same result with "digital dark room" cheats, which I guess is also kind of a skill in its own right too, so... Ehh. Tomayto tomarto.

[Xenith]

 

A lot of what people attribute to photoshop is also just proper lighting and a good camera. Of course the same people wouldn't ever believe it because they never were able to experience the magic of a proper setup and gear themselves. 

A good photographer doesn't need photoshop, but honestly an amateur can get near enough the same result with "digital dark room" cheats, which I guess is also kind of a skill in its own right too, so... Ehh. Tomayto tomarto.

 

 

Thing is, GW has been around longer than photoshop and has needed crisp and uniform edge highlights forever. No reason to suddenly employ a painter and a digital painter to redo their work. Now the backgrounds in the box art are photoshopped for sure, I'll give you that. 

[redshadow]

Primaris Techmarine and last 3 aggressors put together

[Spagunk]

It's been a month since I ran out of mephiston red. I refuse to pay $9.50 usd for one pot of the stuff. It's getting to me that i've wasted all this hobby time.

[Jolemai]

Perhaps there's a cheaper alternative on one of these links?

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/363116-old-new-gw-paint-comparison/?do=findComment&comment=5504204

[Sugarlessllama]

It's been a month since I ran out of mephiston red. I refuse to pay $9.50 usd for one pot of the stuff. It's getting to me that i've wasted all this hobby time.

 

I switched to Army Painter paints a while ago, and haven't looked back. Dragon Red works really well for me. 

[Panzer]

Had a 2k match against AdMech with Knights yesterday. Considering I was bringing stuff like 10 Reivers and 5 DC Intercessors etc it went surprisingly well.

I still lost but at the end of the 5th turn it stood 8:13 and I dealt a lot of damage (Knight Crusader down to 9, both Armiger down to 4, their new transport killed almost three times considering the amount of wounds he healt over the course of the game)

[Karhedron]

I switched to Army Painter paints a while ago, and haven't looked back. Dragon Red works really well for me.

My main problem with Army painter is that their sprays are slightly glossier than GW's. This means that if you paint other colours over the top, they tend to rub off, even with gentle handling. I have to varnish my models the moment that are finished or bolters etc start to show the base colour through, particularly on the corners and edges.

[appiah4]

Vallejo Game Color Heavy Red is an amazing Mephiston Red replacement.