Help on Painting Iron Hands

[ShadowCore67]

Hey all!

 

I just wanted to get some advice on painting my Iron Hands. I've found a scheme that I'm happy with but I can't help but feel that something is missing.

 

Here's one of my painted up models:

 

http://i.imgur.com/ftM2eFE.jpg

 

I guess I feel that's not diverse enough maybe? Maybe a good basing job would fix it? I'm not sure, any suggestions would be helpful!

[Doctor Perils]

Very nice armour :) the slight weathering looks rather effective I must say.

 

How about some blue or red detailing? ie, markings on shoulder or knee pads, weapon, helm - even the arms can be nice for that kind of thing. Greaves can be interesting for different campaign markings too for instance :)

 

Here are a few examples of things that can be included as markings on the armour or weapon:

• Squad
• Rank
• Company/Clan
• Kill
• Campaign
• Specialist/Experimental weaponry (ie, he may have one little red square to show he wields a volkite charger for instance)
• Honourifics (medals for space marines, that kind of idea)
• Particular devotions or warrior lodge secret markings. I don't know how the Iron Hands dealt with lodges, but I can well imagine them having something similar - otherwise, there might be some kind of marking showing what Iron Father the marine "confesses too" (whatever the verb should be)

Hope that can be of some help :)

[ShadowCore67]

Thanks for the suggestions! My only worry is that I'm not very good with freehand stuff. I'm afraid I'll mess them up. I also want to keep to black being the primary color so any other colors I add would have to be small and subtle.

[Major_Gilbear]

It needs contrast I think.

 

A great tip I got years ago is to grey-scale the photo of your model to see how much contrast there is around the model (this is even more helpful if you have bright colours).

 

Good contrast (between dark and light) is them main reason you shade and highlight your models when you paint them - it creates a visual interest, and helps show off the model.

 

As Iron Hands, I would suggest some black, white, and maybe a touch of bright silver will help you add this definition. Black/shade to the recesses, silver to the armour edges, and white for the iconography (maybe the weapon too). If you add a *touch* of light blue to your whites, it helps add a little subtle colour to the model. :)

[ShadowCore67]

It needs contrast I think.

A great tip I got years ago is to grey-scale the photo of your model to see how much contrast there is around the model (this is even more helpful if you have bright colours).

Good contrast (between dark and light) is them main reason you shade and highlight your models when you paint them - it creates a visual interest, and helps show off the model.

As Iron Hands, I would suggest some black, white, and maybe a touch of bright silver will help you add this definition. Black/shade to the recesses, silver to the armour edges, and white for the iconography (maybe the weapon too). If you add a *touch* of light blue to your whites, it helps add a little subtle colour to the model.

Thanks for the tip! I'll try it out

[Doctor Perils]

Thanks for the suggestions! My only worry is that I'm not very good with freehand stuff. I'm afraid I'll mess them up. I also want to keep to black being the primary color so any other colors I add would have to be small and subtle.

Yeah, of course :) But the freehand stuff doesn't need to be especially complicated, in particular for the Iron Hands who would rather pragmatism over aesthetics, so a thin line here and there is all you need: you can then add your own explanations as to what they mean :)

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

One simple suggestion I'd make would be to make the metal trim a brighter silver colour - with the Iron Hands, having a pretty monotone scheme means that having contrasting brightness can be a really good way to  make your models pop

 

Additionally, if you wanted to add some colour, maybe consider a glaze of green followed by purple ink in the early stages - that's the way Forge World have achieved their oily look with their studio models: http://m-k-painting-studio.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/iron-hands-armour-guide.html

[Ovidius Incertus]

Try painting the bolter another color?  Maybe a white?  And a light colored base.  I'd avoid gray themed base, for certain.

 

I like the utilitarian weathered black you've got, and just a few contrast colors, as stated by others and a contrasting base will bring it together.

[ShadowCore67]

One simple suggestion I'd make would be to make the metal trim a brighter silver colour - with the Iron Hands, having a pretty monotone scheme means that having contrasting brightness can be a really good way to  make your models pop

 

Additionally, if you wanted to add some colour, maybe consider a glaze of green followed by purple ink in the early stages - that's the way Forge World have achieved their oily look with their studio models: http://m-k-painting-studio.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/iron-hands-armour-guide.html

 

Thanks for the advice on the contrasting!

 

As for the Forgeworld method, I actually attempted it early on when I first started my army. I do really enjoy the results it produces. However I could never get it to turn out quite right. On top of that, the process takes a good amount of time longer than it does to do my method, fiddling with my airbrush doesn't help either lol. I've also found that that paint scheme doesn't look nearly as good on vehicles IMO.

[Ovidius Incertus]

I've been using the FW scheme in my Xth and have only done infantry and dreads so far.  You're right about how time consuming it is.  I was thinking to myself that it might not be as good on vehicles, and I've got 3 of them primed and ready to go.  I was thinking of really toning down the color patch effects.  I will try going light on the pewter drybrush and the green and violet patches and let the golden yellow/smoke color and the smoke overcoat take the lead.

[Indefragable]

Just coming to this party and I don't play Iron Hands, but many players in my club do.

 

Your tactical up top looks AMAZING. Less is more. Your dude looks like he spends most of his time in a dark damp machine bay....just where many an Iron Hand would feel right at home. Secondly, a mechanic who is always tinkering with his own stuff is less likely to care about flash or paint as he is oil, grease, and the right gears. Your Tactical up top really evokes that feeling.

 

I would resist going too much further. As others have said, maybe some subtle squad markings. I would keep them dull or faded less that garrishly pull away from the grungy-machine look your model so awesomely evokes.

 

Often times an artist must know when to stop. There is forever that urge to do more or add more, but sometimes the test of a true artist is knowing when to hold back.

[Grotsmasha]

A lot of good suggestions, for me though, it could be as simple as basing the model in a good contrasting scheme.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[ShadowCore67]

Thanks for all the great input guys!

I think I'm going to start with basing him and then I'll see what it looks like from there

[Kisada]

one tip I read/heard somewhere for mono color models is that you can contrast with the basing ... maybe if you did a red moon rock type basing and then dusted from red dust on the armor

[Kizzdougs]

Like others have said, a contrasting base will really help. The usual Iron Hand colour scheme is made up of 'cold' colours, so I'd suggest a 'warm' coloured base to contrast. Weathering powders are another excellent way to add some character to black armour. 

 

That's what I did when I painted my Iron Hand.