The Lichborne - Krell Completed

[The Pounder]

Great job!

 

The flayed skin across the model is particularly well done.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Gorgeous - the armour is really nice, but the blade and flayed clock are great

[Teetengee]

That is fantastic, and I think the skin works really well. I do wonder if some variation in the skin tones between different stitched sections would have sold the concept further, and also likely been less vibrant, either darker or paler, and let the blue pop further.

Edited February 2 by Teetengee
typo

[firestorm40k]

Absolutely stunning work on this latest miniature - converting and painting   Well done! 

[W.A.Rorie]

Wow really great stuff, @Volgon

[Volgon]

Thank you all for the kind words! My previous project was an exercise in soft shading/glaze layering, not sure the exact term, but working from midtones and glazing the shadows/highlights. For my next project, I wanted to try a more NMM approach, so focused heavily on proper light/shadow placement, painting the model as if it was lit from a specific angle rather than generic lighting from above. Here is Krell, my interpretation of the WHFB character for my 40k force:

 

I tried a slightly modified recipe for the blue which I like a lot so I think I will continue to use it from now on. I wanted to try and go for high contrast, so swapped out my normal shadow color (generally a dark blue, blue black, or dark blue purple) for a near black purple (Tenebrous Grey from AK). As a mirror to the shadow, I added a little more brightness to my highlights, though I personally prefer not going too bright as I don't want the armor to shine like metal.

 

The trim was an absolute nightmare! I was experimenting with new recipes for that as well. It came out a specific way on the Chapter shoulder pad which I really liked so I tried to replicate it countless times on the other pieces of trim but couldn't. I spent 3 days trying to get the same finish on other areas. Eventually I came to some realizations that helped me settle on a recipe. It's basically a black steel on this guy, so looks quite dark at most angles but still has some shine when the light hits, using TMM rather than matte paints highlighted with silvers/chipping. I also came up with a black iron TMM recipe which I like a lot, so next project I will try using that.

 

The trim was a pretty major hiccup so it kind of burned out my motivation. I wanted to try NMM bronze for the various bronze accents but just went with TMM instead to speed things up. The robe is actually kind of interesting. I tried out a recipe on it and came up with basically the perfect soft, matte black, which was the recipe I've been chasing for the trim for ages! I thought it needed a bit of variation at the end so I drybrushed some Skavenblight Dinge on the tips for weathering and variation. I think the axe came out quite well, I like the color of the haft grip a lot, and I'm very happy with the blade gradients and OSL.

 

Things I'd like to work on: figure out how to add some variation to the bases but I'm unsure what to do. I'm already using purples and turquoises on the solid ground areas, did a bit of grey drybrushing on the rocks for variation, bronze when there's metal accents on the base (like on this guy), and of course turquoise on the ectoplasm. Not sure what else I could do, or if it is even necessary, but it's something I think about.

 

As always let me know what you think!

[W.A.Rorie]

Very nicely done. 

[Volgon]

@W.A.Rorie Appreciate it brother! Lots to be happy about, along with a few faults, but definitely some lessons to carry forward. 

 

An update on my next project, an Initiate for a Crusader Squad. I think 4 out of my last 5 projects have been character level, so I want to do something on the easier side. Still a fair amount of detail but I think I've finally settled on a few important aspects so hopefully that speeds up the process.

 

Also this was my first time trying out Oyumaru/blue stuff casting. I have a few design aspects that I find pretty important to the current look of the force, but are difficult to procure for a number of reasons. I'm going to try replicating my own, and this first set didn't come out too bad. The gorget looks really good. The shin pads are decent but flawed. I stuck them on anyway since it's just a regular grunt.

 

 

 

[Rusted Boltgun]

That gorget does look really good, the pad a little out of focus in the photo. I can appreciate your frustrations, casting is a hobby in itself!

For elements with finer detail or sculpts that require multiple replication you might want to look at silicone rather than Blue Stuff.

I'm hesitant to recommend products as I'm only at the beginning of this journey myself but there are lots of resources out there. 

Keep at it, your minis deserve it!

[Volgon]

@Rusted Boltgun I haven't worked with silicone before but I'll keep that in mind! I think the bigger issue is the putty. Milliput is really soft so fills the molds quite well, but after curing it's on the brittle side which makes cleaning up the pieces precarious. It's the only putty I have currently but I'll have to look around and see if there are any other recommendations specifically for casting.

[Rusted Boltgun]

If you are finding the milliput brittle then definitely try a 50:50 mix with green stuff as that provides the flexibility without losing the detail that would happen with pure green stuff. That was the recommendation from Anpharius when I went on one of his courses.

[W.A.Rorie]

Wow 

[Firedrake Cordova]

On 3/14/2026 at 4:26 PM, Rusted Boltgun said:

If you are finding the milliput brittle then definitely try a 50:50 mix with green stuff as that provides the flexibility without losing the detail that would happen with pure green stuff. That was the recommendation from Anpharius when I went on one of his courses.

It's probably worth noting that Polymeric Systems Inc shut their Greenstuff factory. Sylmasta are working on their own formulation, but supply may be iffy in the meantime.  

[Volgon]

Hey all! Been a while since my last update. I started on the piece I posted last time and then took a painting break to engage in other hobbies. I've been painting for the past 2 weeks or so and it's almost complete but not quite yet. In the mean time, I wanted to quickly show off a new technique I tried out:

 

Some of you might have seen this before (I believe it's popular in the scale modelling community) but it's using plastic putty stippled onto an area to create a mottled/cast iron texture. I think it's a really cool effect! I'm considering using this technique for the black armor panels of my color scheme from now on but I have some reservations. I've really struggled to find a black armor recipe that I like. Almost everyone paints black armor with blues and teals while I prefer warmer colors like browns and greys (the major component of my scheme is a cold blue so I like to keep most accent colors warm) which makes it really tough to find display/competition level examples that I can learn from. When I make my own recipe it just never comes out quite like I want. I prefer a really dark, matte finish, never highlighting too bright so the piece confidently reads as black, but that sacrifices contrast and "pizazz" for atmosphere, looking like a dark panel with little readable texture or interest. The plastic putty adds this interest on its own which I can then manipulate a bit depending on what paints I apply on top. 

[Antarius]

Hmmm, it looks good but for some reason I'm not quite sold on it. Might just be that it reminds me of some of my priming mishaps.

I think really fine sand (the stuff you get from pet stores) does something similar, but that might be more useful for corrosion effects.

Personally, I have an AK acrylic "Payne's Grey" that I tend to use for cast iron, because it has a nice not-quite-black colour and it actually has a slightly coarse texture, so I find it just works really well and tends to stand out a bit from the other parts/textures of my models (there's an example on my Blightcrawler in my WIP thread, but it's perhaps not the best example...). That does have more of a greenish hue though (that you only really see once you dilute it quite a bit), so might not be what you're after.

In any case, amazing work! Really beautiful ice-blue - I get why you want some warmer colours in there to contrast with it, but it can totally stand to be the main focus, seeing as it looks so good