andes' Solar Watch

[andes]

I won a box of Vertus Praetors in a recent Charityhammer raffle, almost simultaneous with finishing my lockdown Primaris Imperial Fists. 9e Orks (Evil Suns were my main 8e army) feels a long way off. Aaaaand I need something for the 12 Months of Hobby Challenge. Clearly, The Emperor is trying to tell me something. He's telling me to start a Custodes army. Clever fellow.

 

Since white armies are almost as cool as yellow ones, there's really only one direction to head: Solar Watch.

 

I just finished a test model, which I think worked out pretty well. Next step, the rest of the squad then on to some Allarus Custodians.

 

http://i.imgur.com/9F56NkGl.jpg

[duz_]

Nice that pure white looks great can't wait to see more

Any list your building towards?

[andes]

Nice that pure white looks great can't wait to see more

Any list your building towards?

 

Thanks! I haven’t built out a specific list yet, I’m just kind’a messing around right now. I think I’ll go in the direction of a mixed bike and terminator list, backed up with some Sisters of Silence (‘cuz they look like fun to paint). I just play friendly basementhammer, so don’t worry about list effectiveness too terribly much.

[Zebulon]

Beautiful. Never seen them in white before; it’s a really good look.

[andes]

I finally finished the Vertus Praetors. 

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job.

[Skywrath]

Beautiful work, Andes, I got a lot of Vertus Praetors unpainted, and I'll have to copy that scheme, sorry not sorry, haha! Any pointers for painting white, and shading white?

Edited March 29, 2021 by Skywrath

[GenerationTerrorist]

Fair play, these are excellent

[andes]

Beautiful work, Andes, I got a lot of Vertus Praetors unpainted, and I'll have to copy that scheme, sorry not sorry, haha! Any pointers for painting white, and shading white?

 

Thanks! No worries, it's not my scheme after all.. GW came up with the Solar Watch. And even if it was my scheme, I'd still be excited to see what you came up with

 

As far as painting cool white, in my opinion: the most important thing is to use as little white as possible. I use Vallejo Game Color Sombre Grey as the shade, Vallejo Game Color Wolf Grey as the midtone, and Vallejo Model Color White as the highlight/edge-highlight color. Since we can't get whiter than white, you have to be very careful with the highlights; too much, and you lose detail and the model looks blown out. Also, using the same color for the highlights and edge highlights take some getting used to as you lose a lot of flexibility.

 

I use an airbrush to lay down the basecoat and midtone. I find that airbrushing a much darker color over a light one can really lead to speckling, so I start with the Sombre Grey on top of a white primer coat (Stynylrez is my fav) focusing in on the shadows. I then hit the midtones with the Wolf Grey. Once that has dried, I brushpaint in the highlights and edges with the pure white with paint consistency closer to a glaze than a layer paint. The thin white takes several coats but the control is worth it to me.

 

For detail shading (like, panel lines, between fingers, etc.) I use Tamiya Gray Panel Liner, which is an enamel so takes some special prep. I first spray the model with Vallejo Gloss Acrylic Varnish. Once that is dry, I apply the panel liner and let it dry a bit then clean up messy bits with white spirits using a small bit of makeup sponge. Once that's all dry, I spray the model with Vallejo Matte Acrylic Varnish.

 

If you're not an airbrusher, the same approach would work with a normal brush... it'd just take longer. Good luck, and be sure to post pics!

Edited March 29, 2021 by andes

[andes]

It's taken too long, but I've finally managed to finish a unit of Allarus Terminators.

 

[DOGGED]

They look great.

 

Can I ask you about how you went on the gold and its shading in your Custodes?

 

I'm looking for a cold, dark gold, with contrast between recesses and raises and a metallic tone to it (so no NMM) for my minis and the way gold looks in yours seems quite like what I'm trying to achieve.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job on the Terminators.

[andes]

They look great.

 

Can I ask you about how you went on the gold and its shading in your Custodes?

 

I'm looking for a cold, dark gold, with contrast between recesses and raises and a metallic tone to it (so no NMM) for my minis and the way gold looks in yours seems quite like what I'm trying to achieve.

 

Certainly. The gold is Scalecolor Necro Gold washed with Nuln Oil, highlighted with Necro Gold then lightly edge highlighted with Vallejo Game Color Polished God

 

Good job on the Terminators.

 

Thanks Bjorn!

 

I'm finding either this scheme, or Custodes in general, to be really hard to stay focused on. Pretty much every model is character-level detail but not unique from squad-mates which I find really demanding to paint and not very rewarding overall. With, say, orks there's a ton of models but they're all (relatively) unique so maintain my interest. Primaris Marines are more repetitive, but the lower detail level makes them easier to batch paint and power through.

 

Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just me?

 

Edited May 2, 2021 by andes

[andes]

While not a Solar Watch member, Kyria Draxus is very much an Agent of the Imperium and will be helping out my Custodes frequently:

 

 

 

[duz_]

She looks great love the colours! I should really paint mine up...

[andes]

She looks great love the colours! I should really paint mine up...

 

Thanks! She's a super-fun model to paint, though the tactical rock is a bit annoying when one is using an underhive basing scheme...

Edited May 19, 2021 by andes

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work on Draxus' model.