ZeroWolf's Painting Trials

[Rusted Boltgun]

They are looking really nice indeed.

Relayering the cloaks worked well and the white helms look really good too.

[ZeroWolf]

23 hours ago, Rusted Boltgun said:

They are looking really nice indeed.

Relayering the cloaks worked well and the white helms look really good too.

Thanks!

 

Well, the terminators are done! (Excluding transfers...really need to get them done)

Terminator Captain:

 

Close up of Screamer Killer:

Back Shot:

 

Finecast Marneus Calgar

so, i discovered something else about him last night, after he took a disastrous tumble off the table. His shield Eagle thing on his left arm? Had been glued on the wrong way (ironically it was the only thing that didn't break during the fall). I'm tempted to try and track down a metal version for another go.

back shot:

 

Librarian in Terminator Armour:

back shot:

 

Terminator Squad:

 

Now that these guys are done, time to move onto the next batch!

Going to really push myself on the free handing on the Dreadnought but I'm also not looking forward to the apothecary biologist armour...

[Firedrake Cordova]

42 minutes ago, ZeroWolf said:

I'm also not looking forward to the apothecary biologist armour...

I think the answer may be Apothecary White Contrast paint. Juan Hidalgo, Warhipster, Darcy Bono, and The Painting Coach all have good tutorials, each with a different method.

[ZeroWolf]

I will have to pick some up next time I'm at the flgs, at least i don't think I own that one? I'll give the tutorials a look over as well.

[ZeroWolf]

The Dread and first few Infernus are in the early stages, along with the apothecary biologis and Deathwatch Cassius (for the Ultramarine Character collection) along with an errant teleport homer for the terminators.

 

Ballistus Dreadnought

 

Infernus Marines (First Five) and Teleport Homer

 

Apothecary biologis and Orto Cassius

 

picked up some apothecary white earlier so i should be good to go for him. I've started picking out any bits that are fated to be gold or white, with grey, building up to white, though I'm not finished with this task yet.

 

I'm also getting the urge to paint more Tyranids however....I must be good and finish these guys!

[Firedrake Cordova]

Looks like they're off to a good start.  I'm surprised how small Cassius looks compared to the Apothecary!  (I know the scenic base isn't helping perspective)

[Brother Christopher]

The Space Marine player in me is happy with your focus on this part of the box. The size difference between the Apothecary and Cassius is quite striking. One note, it seems that the paint on the right-front panel (as in the photo) of the Dread is a bit on the thick side. I imagine that's either the light in the photo or the problem of applying paint to large surfaces by brush - it's tricky to get good coverage, avoid streaks and unwanted texture.

[ZeroWolf]

45 minutes ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

Looks like they're off to a good start.  I'm surprised how small Cassius looks compared to the Apothecary!  (I know the scenic base isn't helping perspective)

Yeah there's a bit of a difference between the two for poor old Cassius, it isn't so bad when he's stood next to a infernus marine but tactical bases don't help him! I'm hoping GW revisit him at some point.

 

23 minutes ago, Brother Christopher said:

The Space Marine player in me is happy with your focus on this part of the box. The size difference between the Apothecary and Cassius is quite striking. One note, it seems that the paint on the right-front panel (as in the photo) of the Dread is a bit on the thick side. I imagine that's either the light in the photo or the problem of applying paint to large surfaces by brush - it's tricky to get good coverage, avoid streaks and unwanted texture.

Yeah, I can see what you mean. I had thinned the paint but it does seem to gone thick there. Doesn't help that the Dreadnought is large panels, so a lot more noticeable. I need to get better at it before even thinking of getting some tank action in.

[Brother Christopher]

I have no experience with painting other vehicles than black but I found that after applying 2-3 layers of proper paint, a super-watered-down (with a consistency similar to a wash) final layer helps smooth out and get rid of the texture. The drawback is that it leaves stains/streaks visible under certain angles but I find the result to be better than without it.

 

Or maybe using a glaze medium could help?

[Firedrake Cordova]

Flat panels like that are a pain to paint by brush. Using a wet palette and/or drying retarder to help control consistency (i.e. keep the paint thin and not gradually thicken when you're not looking at it), and flow improver (to help the paint flow off the brush and reduce the appearance of brush strokes) helps.  

 

Using an airbrush is kinda the "cheat mode".  I painted one of the 2nd Ed Rhinos with Snot Green over Chaos Black by brush once ... never again ...

Edited February 21, 2024 by Firedrake Cordova

[ZeroWolf]

I do have an air brush (Xmas present from the wife) but I'm having a little difficulty in actually getting paint into into it  tried mixing abaddon black with thinner but the consistency was way off.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Paint needs to be thin when used in an airbrush (as Vince V says, "if you think you've thinned it enough, you're wrong" ) - as a general rule of thumb, if you drag the paint up the inside of the cup, it should run back down. This is probably the most helpful video I've seen on the subject for working out where you went wrong:

 

  

Edited February 22, 2024 by Firedrake Cordova

[ZeroWolf]

3 hours ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

Paint needs to be thin when used in an airbrush (as Vince V says, "if you think you've thinned it enough, you're wrong" ) - as a general rule of thumb, if you drag the paint up the inside of the cup, it should run back down. This is probably the most helpful video I've seen on the subject for working out where you went wrong:

 

  

I'll definitely give that a watch...I'm all too familiar with that blotch in the lower right of the thumbnail!  

Thanks for the link!

[ZeroWolf]

Onto the first metal coating now and things are starting to take shape, though the blue shoulder pads with a grey rim is reminding me of something but I'm not sure what...

 

Because of the comments before, I've got Cassius next to an infernus marine this time to show the height difference. Also realised that Orto has a little bit of a tactical rock situation going on.

 

As for the Dread, when I took the picture he was only half finished with the first coat of silver, but I've since finished that annoying task. I retake the photo at the end of the next step.

 

Cassius and Infernus Sargent:

 

The rest of the Infernus Marines:

the barrels of the pyreblasters will not be remaining silver.

 

Dreadnought and Apothecary biologis 

 

Closer look of Apothecary biologis:

Got a bit more paint on his shoulder than I intended, but nothing a touch up can't fix!

 

[Boc]

Looking great so far! I've got to admit the metal spillover on the biologis shoulder is triggering the heck out of my OCD 

 

Dread is looking really well done, paint is very smoothly applied on the plates 

[ZeroWolf]

6 hours ago, Boc said:

Looking great so far! I've got to admit the metal spillover on the biologis shoulder is triggering the heck out of my OCD 

 

Dread is looking really well done, paint is very smoothly applied on the plates 

Same really, but I have to hold fast and do the touch ups before applying washes..

Otherwise I'll be forever doing touch ups after each colour 

 

Here's where things are now-

 

Orto Cassius:

Most of his gold has had a first coat, just the top of his left leg didn’t get a coat (the paint has dried up at that point as I like to thin it on a dry palette).

I also realised I forgot his metal arm 

 

Ballistus Dreadnought:

Carrying on the trend of things I forgot, I was meant to do a layer of light grey over the dark grey on the leg, in prep of the white that I intend to free hand on. 

Still debating wether or not to do some on the missile launcher arm, to break up the block of blue.

 

Apothecary Biologis:

The Apothecary Biologis takes a step towards a wash of Apothecary White. I decided to leave a lot of details till after that step.

 

Infernus Marines:

These boys are ready for the last base colour details (the purity seals, pouches and little handles on the pyreblasters). Then it'll be touch up time. Oh and a layer of white needs to be on the Sargents head.

[Firedrake Cordova]

3 hours ago, ZeroWolf said:

Still debating wether or not to do some on the missile launcher arm, to break up the block of blue.

I suppose you could do a stripe or similar? (using masking tape )

[ZeroWolf]

20 hours ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

I suppose you could do a stripe or similar? (using masking tape )

I may do, once I find where the tape has gone  if I can't find it, I'll jury rig something togtogether as I doubt my ability to paint a straight line at that size 

[ZeroWolf]

Got a bit of free time this afternoon so I went back and cleaned up the first five Infernus Marines. Now all I have to do before the washes, is finish correcting the black parts. The Sargent is complete in that regard, the others are not. Once they've been washed, I'll go back to the others and get them to the same point (Dread just needs a bit of colour fixing here and there)

 

Making progress though!

[ZeroWolf]

Got a bit of time yesterday (was actually able to paint twice!) So the Infernus Marines are ready for washes!

 

 

i was even able to fix the mistakes my son spotted after 2 seconds of looking at them. They even saw table time as I lent them to my youngest for a match (as he'd only built his Terminators and Captain out of his starter set). They performed admirably...against a chimera that was charged into them. Managed to bring it down to just 3 wounds with their flamers the turn before 

 

Dreadnought, apothecary biologis and Cassius

 

Cassius is ready for the next step, while the Dreadnought needs his blue tidying up and red details added.

 

The biologis, is ready for his namesake wash, then I can move onto his other details.

[Firedrake Cordova]

36 minutes ago, ZeroWolf said:

i was even able to fix the mistakes my son spotted after 2 seconds of looking at them

Don't you just love backseat painters?  

[ZeroWolf]

3 hours ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

Don't you just love backseat painters?  

I'm sure this is just Karma from twenty years ago when I did it to my dad 

[ZeroWolf]

Another session, another step closer for the Dreadnought, Apothecary biologis, Cassius and the wee teleporter homer:

 

The apothecary biologis in better focus:

i think i may have gone too much with the apothecary white on the upper thigh armour plates. Was wanting a gradient but overdid it...whoops!

 

Now to start with the rest of the details on him. The Dreadnought, by comparison now only needs his blue cleaning up and then wash time for all!

[Brother Christopher]

To be honest, seeing your progress here is a bit annoying ;) Makes me want to get started on my copy of the Leviathan box but - due to probably ill-founded self-restraint - I can't... Not yet.

 

As for the Apothacary, the white looks a bit rough, but that might just be their WIP status or even the camera. At first glance, I was worried since I thought that the paint is way too thick and chalky (especially on the tassets) but after a closer inspection it turns out that's the gradient/shading.  This leads me to conclude that it's the fault of the photo. I'm very much curious how he'll turn out. I don't like gravis' aesthetics but this Apothecary has really grown on me.

[ZeroWolf]

22 hours ago, Brother Christopher said:

To be honest, seeing your progress here is a bit annoying ;) Makes me want to get started on my copy of the Leviathan box but - due to probably ill-founded self-restraint - I can't... Not yet.

 

As for the Apothacary, the white looks a bit rough, but that might just be their WIP status or even the camera. At first glance, I was worried since I thought that the paint is way too thick and chalky (especially on the tassets) but after a closer inspection it turns out that's the gradient/shading.  This leads me to conclude that it's the fault of the photo. I'm very much curious how he'll turn out. I don't like gravis' aesthetics but this Apothecary has really grown on me.

If I'm honest, I'm really nervous how he'll turn out. Looking at figures I've done previously, I've never done white to this extent (aside from a small 500pts of space marines from 20 years ago that I'd rather not talk about ).

 

I'm working on some of the smaller details tonight, giving the robes another coat. Part of my worry is that I'm going to over do it. After this, I'm not in too much of a hurry to get the other apothecary