K0rtmer's echo chamber: mechanising the vintage DG

[Sandalphon]

The weathered armour is outstanding!

[Thousand Eyes]

Really like the original terminator. I have a squad or so of those around somewhere that I keep meaning to work on.

[K0rtmer]

Brief update: I finished the Goliath cultists.

Also almost done with the Black Legion tester.

I purchased an icon bearer in the meantime, bringing the squad of veterans up to 7. Means there are 5 more to go. Can't say I'm enjoying painting lots of golden trim on black armour, but, hey, I think the results looks good enough to push through it for a single squad.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the models.

[K0rtmer]

The Black Legion is done. Well, almost. I've decided to swap the champion's backpack out for one that's a bit more fancier, that came with the icon bearer in the mail. (He'll take the squad up to seven, including the Lord.) It's just been stripped and it'll be a while before it comes on. Until then though: they're done.

I also managed to take a halfway decent picture of Epidemius in my photo box. Finally.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Fine work on the Black Legionnaires and the Daemon.

[Shovellovin]

Fine work on the Black Legionnaires and the Daemon.

I agree. Well done!

[Sandalphon]

I love the irony of what looks like a racing pennant on the palanquin, also an excellent use of subtle greens with that dirty red. Great work.

[K0rtmer]

I love the irony of what looks like a racing pennant on the palanquin, also an excellent use of subtle greens with that dirty red. Great work.

Glad it hasn't gone unnoticed. LOL. Thank you.

In the meantime I've made some progress with the second terminator. Most highlights done now, next up: battle damage and weathering.

A friend had asked me to put together a visual step-by-step tutorial for my Plaguebeares. Interesting challenge, so I gave it a shot. Can't say I found easy to take a series of pictures with white balances similar enough. I'm not arrogant enough to think that somebody would want to replicate my steps, but the series of pictures came out rather nice and somebody might just enjoy it as what it is. IDK. Hence the share.

Not sure what I'll pick up next. Let's see what happens. LOL

[K0rtmer]

Oh, and then this happened too. It'll be a long time before I get it done.

[Naryn]

Whoa, love that plaguebearer and his red basecoat, I'll definitely borrow that for some non-board-relevant figures i'm working on!

[K0rtmer]

Finished the Blood Angels terminator.

[Naryn]

Love it! I have the same Terminator mini that's been sitting on my desk for years; I should paint him up. My favorite part of your paintjob is the lovely chipping, but the markings on the flamer are a really characterful touch.

[K0rtmer]

Love it! I have the same Terminator mini that's been sitting on my desk for years; I should paint him up. My favorite part of your paintjob is the lovely chipping, but the markings on the flamer are a really characterful touch.

Thank you; glad you like him. Took me more practice than I care to admit to get that chipping right. Actually these terminators are just little projects to help me with learning and leveling up, and painting chipping and battle damage was pretty high up the list of things I wanted to achieve. 

[K0rtmer]

WIP on the Space Crusade genestealers:

[space wolf]

Beautiful work. Small thing that I noticed is you have semi elaborate bases, but they DONT go over the rim of the base. That I really like! :)

[Urauloth]

Nice to see those classic 'stealers.

 

I like the step-by-step photos of the plaguebearer, I always like it when I can see the painting process of a miniature. Looks like the pictures came out well in terms of balance. Seeing the pics makes me curious to know what colours you used, if you don't mind posting a writeup?

 

Very unusual to see BL with blue as a spot colour, it works very well.

[StratoKhan]

The BA Terminator with heavy flamer looks great.

Lovely paintjob, looks like your practicing is going rather well. The chipping and battle damage look fantastic.

Are the markings all decals?

 

I’m also loving the classic colour scheme you gave the Genestealers.

[K0rtmer]

Apologies for the late replies, wasn't actually expecting replies. LOL 
 

Beautiful work. Small thing that I noticed is you have semi elaborate bases, but they DONT go over the rim of the base. That I really like!

Thank you, glad you like them. I think I started making bases from cork and sand about 5 years ago now and I never looked back. Really simple and works well for me. 

 

Nice to see those classic 'stealers.

 

I like the step-by-step photos of the plaguebearer, I always like it when I can see the painting process of a miniature. Looks like the pictures came out well in terms of balance. Seeing the pics makes me curious to know what colours you used, if you don't mind posting a writeup?

 

Very unusual to see BL with blue as a spot colour, it works very well.

Thanks. I really enjoyed the process, but I must say I found it frustratingly difficult to take the pictures in a way to then be able to adjust the white balances near-uniformly across the series. I used Adobe Lightbox for Android. Took me longer than I care to admit and the result is, well, presentable but really not good enough for what it is. Too fiddly. Should be easier with the photobooth I have now, but that's opening another can of worms in itself.

No trouble sharing the write-up since I did one for that friend anyway.

1. Prime. The colour doesn’t matter. I’ve done this scheme over black and the rust brown shown, which is mostly a choice of convenience because it’s a good starting colour for my base. I wouldn’t use white though.
2. Airbrush a very dark green from below, then a light grey from diagonally above. I used Vallejo Model Air Black Green and Light Grey.
3. Airbrush a red-brown (like Rhinox Hide) where you want a bruised look to the skin. This is easy to overdo. Less is more, you’ll build it up further later. On most models I’d focus this on the stomach, arse, back, or hands and lower arms.
   Optional: as shown, lightly spray pure white from a zenithal direction on the head and face. That’s where you’ll do most of the detail work.
4. You’ve likely lost some depth when spraying the grey over the dark green. Work it back up with the same dark green, medium, and water, by colouring in the shadows and recesses. Brush strokes towards where you want shadows to build up.Carefully drybrush the whole model with a light warm grey. Rakarth Flesh is one of the best colours in the world and does a great job here. If you’ve used white on the face, drybrush that pure white instead.
5. Paint all bone, horn, teeth, and eye details in a bone colour. Pick out all open sores, dangling guts, etc., in a red-brown colour like Rhinox Hide. I don’t worry too much about small mistakes before breaking out the washes in 7.–8. 
   Paint all metal parts in a medium grey like Skavenblight Dinge.
6. Work up the bruises by glazing an orange tone over the patches you sprayed brown in 3. I have an old pot of Fuegan Orange that works well, but any warm orange-y paint should do with enough medium. Thin layers and smooth transitions, one at a time, so you know when to stop.
   Mix a bright red into your brown from 5. and add interest to the wounds.
   Optional: use that mix of reds and browns to carefully glaze up your orange-y bruises for a more extreme look. (Not shown above.)
7. Apply a generous warm brown wash. This is a filter for the skin tone, helps to tie together the different parts of the model, and is a first step to building up much-needed contrast. I use Army Painter Soft Tone : flow improver approx. 2:1, which helps with tide marks. Apply liberally, with a large brush, but make sure you avoid pooling and wipe excess wash off. As a rule, I try to think about where on the model I can get away without wash, and get it off there. (Otherwise you might as well dip.)
8. Apply a controlled darker brown wash like Army Painter Strong Tone. Use a smaller brush, paint directly into recesses and work up shadows where necessary. This is your main way to build up contrast and definition.
   Most likely you’ll have to re-detail teeth and eyes with a bone tone, eyes up to pure white. Blend the horns from the pure bone down to Strong Tone. I like using a bit of the orange-y glaze to add interest to the teeth.
9. Paint over the medium-grey of the metal parts with thinned down Nihilakh Oxide or a similar Verdigris-like colour. Make sure it builds up most where water would pool. If it comes out too strong, carefully drybrush the medium grey paint over.
   Use a black wash or ink to push contrast one last time. Less is more, targeted application. I used Nuln Oil with some extra flow improver.
10. Drybrush a warm bronze over the metal parts. Drybrush to paint only the exposed parts where Verdigris would’ve rubbed or chipped off. You can achieve a duller look by using a non-metallic ochre (like XV88) instead.
    At this stage I tidied up teeth, horns, and the eye with bone and pure white.
    Drybrush a lot of bright orange on the base. I used Ryza Rust – crazy colour. Follow up by a more careful edge-only drybrush with a flat yellow-ish or ochre tone to build up contrast. I paint the rim in Gorthor Brown, which is literally the best colour in the world.
11. You may want to use thinned Nuln Oil to shade details on the weapon, but make sure you don’t dull down the Oxide paint too much.
    Water down some of the dark green you used in the very beginning and use it to emphasise shade on the base. Controlled application where little light would go.
    To finish off, I put a ultra-matte varnish over everything and used very small amounts of Blood For The Blood God to work up weeping sores. Less is more, but you might want to apply more liberally.
12. Done!

• Vallejo Model Air Black Green
• Vallejo Model Air Light Grey
• Citadel Rhinox Hide
• Vallejo Model Air White
• Citadel Rakarth Flesh
• Citadel Screaming Skull
• Citadel Skavenblight Dinge
• Citadel Fuegan Orange
• Vallejo Model Air Blood Red
• Army Painter Soft Tone
• Army Painter Strong Tone
• Citadel Nihilakh Oxide
• Citadel Nuln Oil
• Citadel Balthasar Bronze
• Citadel Ryza Rust
• Citadel T’au Light Ochre
• Citadel Gorthor Brown
• Citadel Blood For The Blood God

 

The BA Terminator with heavy flamer looks great.
Lovely paintjob, looks like your practicing is going rather well. The chipping and battle damage look fantastic.
Are the markings all decals?

I’m also loving the classic colour scheme you gave the Genestealers.

Cheers. It's been a long process of lots of deliberate practice indeed and I'm still learning lots. Very frustrating mostly, but rewarding in the end. The markings are indeed all decals - no way I could possibly free-hand something like that. Don't see myself picking up that skill any time soon. LOL 

 

Currently waiting for the oils to dry on the Genestealers. Then, more oils. Entirely different way of painting, but I'm enjoying it a lot. 

[K0rtmer]

Yet longer to wait ...

[K0rtmer]

Done with those Genestealers! I keep thinking I could have done a bit of a better job on them, but I also need to keep in mind that I have another 47 models in the Space Crusade box, many of which are less forgiving to paint. Need to let go. I think they're good and they certainly taught me a lot.

I already had the varnish down and most pigments applied when I had the idea of painting the rims of the bases in a characteristic spot colour, purple for the Genestealers. FIgured that would give them a tabletop-gaming piece look. A lot of fun to paint as well and I'll continue that theme throughout the rest of the box.

Currently planning to pull out the CSM and Androids next, but not confirmed. Not sure where the hobby butterfly takes me next. LOL

[K0rtmer]

Needed a break from Oldhammer and Space Crusade and decided to chip away at the Carnival.

Currently struggling with the leader - picture on the left below. I still like the idea and the frame of him, but somehow he's not doing it for me like most of his crew (right). Wondering if it's the size of the clown head on the staff? Too big? Or a wrong sense of motion with the way the dangly bits are sculped? I don't know ... Any C&C would be most appreciated.

Also the Circus has a new attraction: Elephant man! LOL

Obviously a most rough WIP, lots of BluTac and not a bit of greenstuff yet. Might be a bit more involved to work the bits together, but no major re-sculpting required. Should be pretty straightforward. I think he'll be the last counts-as poxwalker in the group. Probably.

[Sherrypie]

Loving those vintage terminators, the grimdark vibe of old is strong with them. The subtle, yet extensive damage and weathering ties them nicely to the grimy aesthetic of the setting.

[K0rtmer]

Think I figured out the ringmaster. Just mucking around in the meantime ...

[PowerHungryMonkey]

Very cool idea. That little guy reminded me of P.T. Flea from A Bug's Life. Just give him a little top-hot and he's set