Flint's Tiny Tutes 4: The Blood of Loyalist Lapdogs

[Flint13]

Help! How do Word Bearers Metallic Red?

Subtitle: The Lazy Girl Way

By: Flint, esquire

 

Morning bros and lady bros!

 

So since the color test for my allied XVII legion, I've had approximately all the questions over how I went about the metallic red, very similar to FW's original theme, so I thought I'd put this pic by pic together on my day off.

 

Several initial points, listed alphabetically and by importance:

 

1.) While I love FW's 'original' HH Era Word Bearer scheme utilizing Rub n' Buff pewter and Tamiya clear red, I ran into a few problems. Well one, really. Those fumes are killer when you blow them through an airbrush. So I found a way to get pretty much the exact same look, with a non-toxic alternative that won't get you crazy high if you forget your mask.

 

0.) Also, I'm lazy, I don't like masks...

 

The Bandita Look: Good for a costume party, but a pain to remember every time I wanna airbrush something.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/905/HvaDeM.jpg

 

Anywhosit, check this business out, and feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

 

0.) Here are the materials you'll need, all applied via airbrush.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/903/tEXX4Y.jpg

 

1.) Lay down a super thin coat of Vallejo Gungray across your primered and assembled Astartes. Be sure to get all up in the undercarriage. 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/905/dtuxFP.jpg

 

2.) Make a very (very) small zenith highlight of Vallejo steel fired from directly above the model. You only want the tippy toppest of his helm and arms highlighted. You won't be able to visually see or feel (or taste, probably) much of a difference, but trust me, its there.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/908/VfhXPO.jpg

 

3.) Very thin coat of Carroburg Crimson across the model. I've tried Army Painter red as well, and the finished product looks similar, but a little muddier brown instead of darker wine. It's really personal preference on your part. Anywho, don't skip this step to save wash. It's essential for shading. Also, most airbrush veterans are used to using air from their dual-action brush to help speed drying time. Don't do that here. It'll push the wash around and make it dry all wacky. Just throw down an even coat and go watch a 30 minute episode of something.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/903/PiBun5.jpg

 

4.) Now comes the big step. Minitaire Ghost ink, in Fresh Blood flavo(u)r. This stuff goes on like a dream and holds many advantages over Tamiya clear red. It is far less fumey, coats just fine in a single pass (seriously, you have to try to get it to coat unevenly) and looks awesome. He's 100% dry in this pic, btw.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/910/RxePZk.jpg

 

5.) Now, if we were painting a '32 Deuce or a Chevy Tri-Five, the last step would have been fine to give us a solid Candy Apple Red. However, we want to anoint our Bearer of the Word in the clotted heart blood of the simple minded loyal dregs of the (soon to be) Corpse Emperor. Make one more pass of Carroburg, and you end up with this:

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/907/o6Yy8H.jpg

 

6.) The base red is pretty much done. He's just got a coat of matte varnish here. On the right is a tech marine painted in the traditional Pewter + Clear Red method, for comparo purposes.

 

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/911/XC7gR2.jpg

[Soldier of Dorn]

Could you get a similar effect with a standard brush, do you think?

[Prot]

I never would have guessed the final pass of Carrobburg would bring down the sheen so much. Not like those old shiny inks GW used to use. Their inks/shades are on a whole new level now. I use them a lot too.

 

Very nice.

[Augustus b'Raass]

Yeah that bGW ink really got the sheen down, wow.

 

One question: Which colour basecoat? Black, Grey or White?

[JeffTibbetts]

I don't mean to criticize at all, and maybe it's the light, but that seems to have softened a lot of the details. I think it was the ghost tint step, but it's hard to say.

 

Is this just the photography or does it really fill in a bit? Some spots, like the cables on the chest, look fine. Others, like the helmet, look like they took the worst hit. 

[Olis]

Personally, I wouldn't want to dull the sheen that much but, regardless, that's a nice simple tutorial Flint. :tu:

[1ncarnadine]

Great tutorial! I've just picked up airbrushing recently, and started doing almost exactly the same scheme! I've been using the FW Angron Red, and it looks like it achieves more or less the same results (but also non-toxic). Does the Minitaire red only require one pass? That would speed things up significantly. 

 

Another thing for anyone trying this, it can really help to apply the metallic first layer(s) with an airbrush like Flint did. I've tried the old official FW recipe using Rub'N'Buff applied via brush and it turned out the brush got to areas where the airbrush coats occasionally had trouble getting to. Not a problem if you like to paint in sub-assemblies, but I assembled B@C figures to the same level Flint did plus backpacks and it led to a few problem spots. Oops

 

Oh, and how much fun are those B@C hands attached to the weapons you have to paint separately? So fun.

[Flint13]

Hey bros, sorry for the kinda late replies. I wanted to get one of these Word Bearers mostly finished.

Here's a 60 minute marine.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640x480q90/903/c2Zdjw.jpg

@ Psycho - I will admit I tried using a brush to paint their hands (since in their infinite wisdom, GW/FW attaches them to the bolters now) and the Ghost Tint didn't work so hot. I've done it with Tamiya clear red before just fine though, so I'd recommend sticking with that if you're using a bristle brush.

@ Prot - Thanks!

@ Augustus - I tried basing them in gray and black both, and it didn't really seem to make much of a difference.

@ J-Tibbs - No worries! That's definitely a concern, especially with my heavy handed airbrushing. It is like a solid 4 1/2 coats of paint. Keep the passes super light and you should be fine.

@ Olis - I was using full strength Carroburg, but you can get a lot less of an effect by cutting it with airbrush thinner. Just don't use straight water, it makes the wash do wacky things.

@ LYD - Thanks man! I haven't gotten to try out any of the FW air colors yet but I've heard good things. The Minitaire does indeed work (and works best, actually) with just a single medium pass.

So so fun

[Stormborn]

Thanks Flint excellent tutorial, used it as far as I could (paint supply willing had to use Tamiya Clear Red - makes enamels look user friendly) and really pleased with the results