Sons of the XV - 30k & 40k Thousand Sons WIPs

[Skits]

Hello all! This is my WIP thread, for all my current WIP stuff! I have a Showcase thread to show off everything I've finished as well, or you can browse through my albums!

I have several projects in various stages of completion at the moment, and here's some of them to start the thread off with! More pics of each are in the linked album!

Veteran/Librarian squad, experimenting a bit with true-scaling them slightly:

Reposed scimitar jetbike who'll be the sergeant of the jetbike squadron:

Customised Storm Talon (that I finished the mods on months before GW released the Stormhawk Interceptor. I went

[Kraad Belak]

BY THE GODS!!

Those weapons are absolutely fantastic mate, not to mention how good your greenstuff skills are.

 

I'll be watching this one!

[Lord Commander Eidolon]

Impressive green stuff skills there. Love the veteran helmets!! Shall be keeping a close eye on this!

[Major_Gilbear]

I think these look most excellent! Well done, and I look forward to seeing more! :D

[Brother Pheidias]

Great work so far, will keep my eye on this!

[Soldier of Dorn]

Absolutely brilliant conversion work! I look eagerly to where this project will go!

[Skits]

Thank you everyone for all the comments!

So I got my hands on the Legion Praetor Tribune guy, and modified him just a little bit to make him a Librarian for my Sons. I made a book out of plasticard and added a chain made out of greenstuff/superfine white milliput. Also used the GS/Milliput to add some detailing on the cowl and shoulder thingy, and give him the psychic hood head things.

And here he is with some paint on him! I've finished the head and the base, and I'm just about done with the red areas. One day I'll figure out how to photograph the red properly, ugh.

Let me know what you think!

[Vairocanum]

Wow these are all great conversions. The sculpting work is so cleanly done! Looking forward to seeing more

[Skits]

@Vairocanum: Thank you!

Just a little update atm, WoW:Legion has been eating into my free time lately oops.

[Skits]

So, progress! I recently acquired one of those little ribbed-tube-rolling things from Greenstuff World, and my initial use of it was to make the first connector thing for my jetbike guy (it really bugs me that these guys don't have backpacks like ). I still need to make the one for the other side, that's probably going to be fiddly as hell but oh well, I'll manage it somehow!

Also, more progress on the Tartaros Librarian:

I'm pretty pleased with how the gold came out. I'm not sure what to go for with painting the force weapon, though. Leaning towards a purple-tinged blue for colours, but I'm still trying to decide what style to paint it in. Metallic with blue-purple tinting? Blue crystal? Lightning? Something else? Any suggestions or ideas, anyone? Let me know what you think!

[Major_Gilbear]

Beautiful colours again, well done. I'd suggest light blue/turquoise crystal would be a great effect for the power-weapons.

 

Also, can you explain a little about the colours for your red and gold please? A friend and I have gone though a *lot* of iterations on test models recently, and I do rather like the purple shading you've gone with (and this was also the colour we found hardest to get "into" the red without muddying the colour or darkening the look of the model). :)

[Skits]

@Major_Gilbear: Thank you! And no worries, always happy to help!

For the red, I actually start with a base layer of Xereus Purple. Doesn't have to be that purple exactly, in the old range I just used a mix of Scab Red/Fenris Grey. XD As long as it's a nice, rich dark purple, you're good! 

 

I then use a thin layer of Scab Red (not sure what the name of it in the current range is, sorry!) over all the purple, so it's not obviously purple. ;) But the red's still thin enough that the purple base still affects it. From there, build up with thin layers of Red Gore (again not sure of the current range name), leaving darker areas without it. Then Mephiston Red, then Evil Sunz Scarlet. It's basically just a lot of thin layers of those various reds, building up to the brightest areas. Every now and then I'll do a very thin coat/glaze of the Red Gore over the whole lot (except the darkest areas) to blend it all together, then do some more layers of Mephiston/Evil Sunz to bring back up the brightest parts. I'll often alternate a LOT between those three reds until I've got the depth/contrast I want. If it gets too bright, you can always layer on a bit more Scab Red in the darkest areas, too.

 

I then use either a purple or blue wash - but NOT over the whole model. I only use it very carefully in the crevices, and around the edges of plates, to give it the darker 'outline' kind of look without muddying the rest of the red. Personally I don't find too much difference between a purple or a blue wash, they tend to come out pretty similar, so if you have both, try both to see which you prefer! 

 

Edge highlighting (which I haven't done yet on the Tartaros Praetor, oops!) I do with Evil Sunz, then flesh colours - Ratskin and Kislev, mostly. If there's any sharp corners, I'll do just the very corners with white for a little extra pop.

 

For the gold, I started with a base of Warplock Bronze, then did a layer of Retributor Armour. Then I used multiple careful washes of Druchii Violet, avoiding the brighter areas, letting each one dry before applying the next and gradually building up the darker areas. I also used a few layers of Seraphim Sepia in the mix as well. It's a matter of personal preference as to how much purple/sepia you use! You can also use the Sepia over all the gold to help tie it all together, then brighten up the lightest areas with a bit more Retributor. 

 

But yeah, that's pretty much it! Just layers of purple/sepia wash on the areas you want darkest, avoiding the lighter areas and gradually building it up until you're happy with it. Make sure to let each wash layer dry properly first! Otherwise you can take off the previous layers and end up with weird lines. The colour also changes a little once it's dried, so it can end up being a little too dark if you're not careful. 

 

You can then pick out areas you want brighter (like the studs) with more Retributor, and then edge/spot highlight with some Liberator Gold to finish up. Sometimes on corners and high edges I'll even highlight with a touch of Mithril Silver (or whatever it's called now), again for a bit of extra pop.

 

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions! :)

[Corswain]

They look great! I love the Tartaros Libaraian, great use of the model.

 

I really like the icy bases too - are we invading Fenris?;)

[Skits]

@Corswain: Thank you! :D The Tartaros model is such a nice sculpt, I didn't want to mess with it too much. Glad to know the mods I did do work out! 

 

And alas, no, not invading Fenris! It's actually my own made-up planet named Zeith that these guys are currently building a Fortress Monastery on (long story short - small group of loyalist Thousand Sons from pre-Heresy wound up in 40k because Warp Happened, and are currently trying to quietly rebuild into a Chapter named the Shadowed Suns while attempting to not draw too much attention to themselves). The poor Captain/Chaptermaster absolutely hates the 'damned desolate iceball of a planet' but what're ya gonna do. XD

[lionofjudah]

Wow skits- thank you for the purple base for red!!! I'd not have thought of that and i have a fire wasps warhound and a few blood angels to work up:)

Your work is super smooth and I'm excited to see it continue on!!

[Skits]

@lionofjudah: Ahh thank you! I'm happy to help! :D And yeah a purple base for red is really useful for getting those cooler rich reds. If you wanted a warmer red that went up to almost an orange, I'd start with a dark brown base, like Rhinox Hide. I find reds tend to be such thin, translucent paints that whatever base you use for them really affects the end result!

[Major_Gilbear]

Thank you for the colour breakdowns skits - very helpful. :)

 

Weirdly, I think I/we tried that colour combination for the red (using Vallejo's Scar Red, which was their version of GW's Scab Red), but the purple (especially the purple wash) always seems to come out looking rather dark and it makes the red look a bit muddy. Clearly more practice is needed!

 

The gold is very similar to what I use (even the purple/sepia wash), but I don't start from the Warplock bronze - I'll need to give that a go.

Edited September 14, 2016 by Major_Gilbear

[Skits]

No worries! :D And yeah, the purple wash can turn out almost black sometimes, especially if it's too thick. Were you just using it in the crevices, or washing the red with it as well? As for the red turning out muddy itself, it really needs many, many thin layers to build it up to the brightest points. I find reds to be so translucent, only a couple of layers really isn't enough. It took two Friday afternoon/evening sessions of painting to get this guy's reds done, if that helps give you an idea of how many layers I used! XD

 

As for the gold, this was actually the first time I've tried basing it with the bronze! I'm honestly not sure how much difference it made, but it can't hurt to give it a try! XD

[Dagoth Ur]

You know, here in my town we had an exhibition about Tutanchamun and his relics and I have to say, you nailed that ancient, burnished gold perfectly.

[Skits]

@The Observer: Oh wow, thank you very much! :D I'm constantly experimenting with how I do my golds, so it's good to know I've finally got it right! 

[Major_Gilbear]

And yeah, the purple wash can turn out almost black sometimes, especially if it's too thick. Were you just using it in the crevices, or washing the red with it as well?

 

I've used targeted glazes of purple paint, purple ink, and mixtures of these purples with both red paint and red ink. From your comments, it seems that I may be trying to force these transitions a bit too hard (i.e., in too few layers). Anyway, I will try again! :P

[Skits]

Ahh, righto! I don't wash the red at all with purple, I only use it precisely in the crevices and lines, keeping it off the red itself. That might be part of the problem too! I rely just on the purple undercoat and a layer or two of Scab Red for the darkest areas, then just gradually build it right up to almost pure bright red. Let me know how your next attempt goes! :D

[Skits]

Okay, almost done! I decided to go with a blue crystal kind of blade in the end. Still need to finish up some details and add the freehand, but he's nearly complete!

Let me know what you think!

[Brother Pheidias]

He's fab, loving the face especially. Glaive is most pretty also!

[Skits]

@Brother Pheidias: Thank you! I'm really pleased with how the face came out, and the scar was super useful in that it meant I could get away with only painting one pupil.