For Vostroya!

[The Mad Hermit]

These are some of my all-time favorite Vostroyans I've yet seen. Incredibly well done.

 

It might not help you or be something you want to do but I protect my metal minis from chipping by giving them a coating of gloss varnish firstly... GWs 'Hard Coat' or whatever they call it now) because gloss varnish is typically thicker and more durable... then hitting it with an anti-shine spray or something.

 

I've actually found that a coat of pure Lahmian Medium over the gloss varnish actually dulls things down really well, but as always, it might take some experimenting to get results that you think are perfect.

[jeremy1391]

Awesome work! Vostroyans are the one guard army I still kick myself for not getting a bunch of back when they were available and not over priced.

[Inquisitor lorr]

These are some of my all-time favorite Vostroyans I've yet seen. Incredibly well done.

 

It might not help you or be something you want to do but I protect my metal minis from chipping by giving them a coating of gloss varnish firstly... GWs 'Hard Coat' or whatever they call it now) because gloss varnish is typically thicker and more durable... then hitting it with an anti-shine spray or something.

 

I've actually found that a coat of pure Lahmian Medium over the gloss varnish actually dulls things down really well, but as always, it might take some experimenting to get results that you think are perfect.

Thanks so much for the kind words, and the handy tips. I’ll look into the varnishing - I had some bad experiences with varnishing models previously but think I’ll have an experiment.

 

 

Awesome work! Vostroyans are the one guard army I still kick myself for not getting a bunch of back when they were available and not over priced.

Thank you! Yes, they’re brilliant models (apart from the odd few), and the character is what made me love the models of old. There’s still a few knocking around on eBay for fairly decent prices, although it’s a bit hit and miss. I had a few leftover from way back when, and then collected various bits from eBay (but, as you say, generally at pretty high prices), and then made the snap decision to buy three platoons when they did the made to order a while back. I wasn’t really back in the hobby when I bought them, so was a bit speculative, but glad I did now!

 

I do need to rein in it a bit though, I have even more Kasrkin and Steel Legion to get through too...

 

Cheers

 

Lorr

[Wulf Vengis]

These are awesome. Amazing job.

[Inquisitor lorr]

Five more basic troopers done, and with that I’m agonisingly close to two full squads! Waiting on some paints to finish a few more, then I think I’ll turn to ‘topping up’ the details and finish on everything I’ve done to date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Lorr

Edited May 7, 2021 by Inquisitor lorr

[Emurian]

They look very nice, crisp, clean, the faces show your taking your time to paint these guys.

Seeing as your saying your coming back after a 15 year break from the hobby, would you mind if I make one suggestion to try out?

We both seem to roughly follow the same colour scheme. Now by the looks of it, the faces look washed of yours but nothing else, is this correct?

I would like to suggest taking a single model of yours and just coating the whole body with a heavy agrax earthshade wash. Its a very fast process and you might like the result. The one I am showing here is just a single base colour dude with a single heavy wash over it. No drybrushing, no highlighting, not spending time cleaning up parts. I knew when I started on this project that I will paint around 150-200 of them in the long term. Thats why I had to settle on a simpler approach to paint them.

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by Emurian

[Commisar Necros]

Very nice job! When they came out they almost pried me away from my Cadians, but couldn't quite, its good to see them in such good form. How are you marking the squads separate? One issue Ive been running into is the other player not being able to tell which units are which.

 

One thing to help with chipping is a varnish. I just watched a video(ill edit if i remember which/can find link) where the guy said to matte varnish just after priming to help seal it on and resist chipping. With the amount of metal your moving around that may be worth investigating.

[Emurian]

I might be able to also give a tip for squad markings that will still make it look cohesive. 

I use the barrel tip in combination with the boots colour to show which squad it is. 
Barrel: Silver, brass, red, black
Boots: brown, black, grey

Allows you to paint up 120 infantry, which should cover most people their list. 

You can ofc also opt for different tones of the boots if you want to stick to the same colour. (Example: Vallejo Earth, Bestial Brown, Leather Brown.)

I use the hats to show their rank. 
Regular infantry: Brown
Sergeants: Grey 
Commander: White

-Considering Black for Conscripts, Beige for Veterans.-
 

[Inquisitor lorr]

@Emurian - thanks for the tips. That’s a great result with the washes. I’m not a huge fan of that approach myself, mainly because I do like to try and improve my techniques wherever I can and I can’t do that so much when relying on washes. But I can see it’s a great way to get a lot of models battle ready very quickly.

 

The faces are multiple layers of highlights and a few shades. Some of the sculpts let them down a bit (the casts due to age etc, and slippage on some of them), combined with poor photography and me still getting back into the swing of things, means they don’t all look great. They look a lot better in real life though.

 

Thanks for the suggestions on the squad markings - it is a real dilemma as I feel the models don’t really suit anything, but will give them a try.

[Emurian]

Oh mate your somewhat mistaken. You seem to view washes as a cheat method. It makes thing easier but that doesn't mean it takes away all the other techniques you can apply.

I am pretty sure you googled on youtube once: How to paint vostroyan and found this one.

The dude shows the step by step process, I just stopped halfway after the shade. He remarks: This is TTQ and can be good enough but if you want to do more then X and X and X. He proceeds cleaning up parts, touching up the red, applying highlights etc. 

You can still drybrush if you want to after a shade (I do this with a lot of other models) or apply highlights and all the other stuff. Shades are just a tool not the solution to everything.

If you want to stick to your own methods I respect that completely, I just want to point out that the option is there, and trying to retain a part of your sanity that you will be sacrifising to the painting gods otherwise. Its not like the shade takes away your ability to learn or apply other techniques, it just saves you time that you can spend elsewhere.

[Inquisitor lorr]

Oh mate your somewhat mistaken. You seem to view washes as a cheat method. It makes thing easier but that doesn't mean it takes away all the other techniques you can apply.

 

I am pretty sure you googled on youtube once: How to paint vostroyan and found this one.

 

 

The dude shows the step by step process, I just stopped halfway after the shade. He remarks: This is TTQ and can be good enough but if you want to do more then X and X and X. He proceeds cleaning up parts, touching up the red, applying highlights etc.

 

You can still drybrush if you want to after a shade (I do this with a lot of other models) or apply highlights and all the other stuff. Shades are just a tool not the solution to everything.

 

If you want to stick to your own methods I respect that completely, I just want to point out that the option is there, and trying to retain a part of your sanity that you will be sacrifising to the painting gods otherwise. Its not like the shade takes away your ability to learn or apply other techniques, it just saves you time that you can spend elsewhere.

Fair enough, and point taken! Haha. Might give it a shot and mix it in a bit but I’m too far in to change the approach completely now - that would drive me insane haha. I do quite like the contrast it gives on the armour though. Cheers again!

[Inquisitor lorr]

A little update. I really need to sort my lighting/camera but the British weather and my phone camera breaking are really not helping matters (!).

 

In particular I don’t seem to be able to get a good photo of the medic - the image appears really sharp.

 

Anyhoo...

 

I included a bit of extra detail on this chap, just to get an idea of what they will all look like at the end. I’ve also tweaked my approach to the various browns on the model. I love this sculpt!

 

 

 

Medic:

 

 

 

Snipers:

 

 

Cheers

 

Lorr

[Inquisitor lorr]

‘Command squad’ (of sorts)

 

 

Cheers

 

Lorr

Edited May 26, 2021 by Inquisitor lorr

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Shouldn't the bolter have a bipod? Resting the weapon on the drum magazine, will diminish its accuracy, possibly damage the magazine and render the weapon unreliable (magazines are generally NOT designed to stabilize a weapon, or bear the weapon's weight).

[Inquisitor lorr]

Shouldn't the bolter have a bipod? Resting the weapon on the drum magazine, will diminish its accuracy, possibly damage the magazine and render the weapon unreliable (magazines are generally NOT designed to stabilize a weapon, or bear the weapon's weight).

Don’t worry - it’s got one. Just hidden by the angle/tucked behind the grass!

[Inquisitor lorr]

Hi all

I’m back after being busy with real life for a little while.

I’ve had this guy planned ever since the Vostroyans came out, but I finally decided to do after a long break from the hobby.

He’s not painted yet, but c&c very welcome, particularly re: the purity seals (or whatever you would call them) on each side of the bear. I like the idea of them and they 40k’ify’ him quite well I think, but not sure they quite work. A lick of paint might help decide. 

Cheers

Lorr

Edited August 21, 2022 by Inquisitor lorr