Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Oil Dot Color Modulation









I've wanted to dive deep into other painting styles for a while, so I decided to experiment with oil dot color modulation. Both of these tanks were painted to test the technique. The Ferdinand, green camouflage, was painted first copying another painter's style. The Tiger tank was painted more in line with how I normally paint, and then received oil dots on top of it. In person the Ferdinand looks more realistic, but the Tiger makes a better 2' impression. These images are much larger than the actual models, but that was needed so I could share the surface texture change.

The basics of the technique are to paint the model, then add several other oil colors in a polkadot pattern all over the surface of the tank. The oil dots are then blended into the surface using a soft brush, slightly changing the color of the surface. This is basically a distributed multi-color filter that can be wiped off.

I think this was an interesting experiment, and rather than grab more models from my 1/72 scale tank bin to experiment further, I think I should jump right in to trying it out on a large 28mm 40k model of some type.


Thursday, October 3, 2019

Lord Solar Macharius In Front of a Macharius






 After 11 hours of driving, I returned home and needed something to help me relax. I selected an ancient GW model of the Solar Macharius and painted casually. My goal was to make this effortless. I just randomly attacked the model with very little concern for quality. I enjoyed every minute. While the model isn't painted to a very high standard, I'm still really happy with it. It is a slightly awkward pose, but I think it worked out. Much like the tank behind him, sometimes I just paint for the act of painting and not for the end product.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Sons of Horus Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Completed






With our kitchen remodeling almost complete, I was able to relax a bit and finish the dreadclaw. This guy was painted to fit into my existing Sons of Horus army, so I couldn't stray too far from my original color scheme. I'm happy with it. It sits proudly on my shelf alongside other loyalist Sons of Horus. I may wait a bit before tackling the 2nd one. Perhaps I'll attach that to my Ultramarines. One of the best parts of Horus Heresy is seeing loyalists and traitors using the same equipment.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Sons of Horus Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw WIP




I've had to focus my energies elsewhere for a bit, but with renewed hobby mojo, I jumped on our weekly hobby video chat and grabbed a model to paint. I needed something easy. I picked a dreadclaw. So, first mistake down for the evening. At least it will be easy hold....nope...At least I'll know what side is up.....nope....

I had a lot of fun starting this, and I think it is going to look cool when finished. At the moment I'm thinking the door/eye should be blazing orange. I can then weather it back with dark black brown paint chipping. 


Saturday, June 8, 2019

Horsa Glider WIP For Pegasus Bridge Game






This is terrain. Hugely annoying terrain to build. I think game day payoff will make it worth while. The bridge is built, and is an impressive kit by itself. Cafe Gondree has been 3D printed. The British airborne just lack bases. I should probably finish this piece before moving on, but I think the buildings need to be painted next. That will provide a sort of rough in for the table.

Do I need to paint the remaining two gliders? From where I'm standing, one seems like more than enough. This mode kit is 40 plus years old. It did not benefit from computer aided design. That said, it is a fairly nice kit if you are into scale model building. (which you shouldn't be, because it is hell)

Back to the board. The actual table is going to require a lot of water effects. Clear resin smells. I dread that part, but weirdly look forward to it. I love the look of nicely done water. I figure a gallon of resin is enough.

So happy D-Day +2

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

More Imperial Guard




These are nearly done, but I ran out of gas and have a let these sit on my desk for more than a week. This happens from time to time. I start a model and enjoy whatever phase of model making I get to, and then I stop working on it. I have resolved to finish these guys today though. The Chimera is closer to completion than the sentinel, but I think I can knock these out in around an hour of painting and maybe another hour of weathering. My not-an-army army of Cadians now has DKoK markings. I figured as a remnant force they'd be attached to a bigger regiment as replacements. 

Thursday, May 9, 2019

DKoK Quartermaster WIP



I've had these models sitting in their little Forgeworld baggie for years. Now or never!

The first step was laying down all of the base colors. I've added some shading, but realized that I missed a lot of little details. These guys are really small. Even smaller than in the photos, so they are eye strain inducing! That said, I love the little diorama that these guys produce. The guardsman pleading before the quartermaster to avoid summary execution. I have no idea what this squad does in game. Anyone know what they do in this edition?

Friday, April 19, 2019

Imperial Guard Banner Bearer WIP





This rather German looking guy is a Cadian banner bearer, holding the battle flag of Cadia. Shame Cadia fell, but it gave me motivation to build this army. I mean not army. I am definitely not building an army of these guys. Won't happen.

On a more serious note...my god these flags take a long time to paint. This guy is still WIP after 5 hours of painting!

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Imperial Guard Basing






The test bases from the weapon teams looked spot on, so I painted up a bunch of old 25mm bases for the infantry and got to painting. I think I matched the color pretty well. I love the contrast between the miniatures and the bases. Don't worry, weathering power will be added to the model's feet to tie them into the overall scene. I'm really having fun with these old models.

Monday, April 15, 2019

Imperial Guard Weapon Teams WIP




I enjoyed the first batch of guard so much I decided to paint all of my remaining Cadians in one go. I am certain this will not form an army, but I'm happy with how these guys look and am having fun. That is what matters after all.

Friday, April 5, 2019

Imperial Guard WIP


















I'm still sick with convention-crud picked up at Adepticon, so I've had to quarantine myself away for a few days. This has given me time to experiment with some new Imperial Guard color schemes. Initially I just wanted to play around with Secret Weapon Miniatures Dark Rubber paint. However, after making this weird not-squad, I'm pretty close to wanting an entire army of these guys. I think I may have judged the old GW plastic Cadian boxes poorly. These are pretty cool minis. Sure they have mold lines in inconvenient places, and some really odd faces, but overall, these minis rock. I'm surprised. Now I only have to paint 190 more of them to have a force. Maybe I'll just make this a kill team after all.