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Trying a different (painting) take on my Ultras....


Prot

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So with the help of a friend I got a bunch of stuff put together.

The idea was to do as much preliminary airbrushing blends, and zenith highlights as possible so I can just go in without having to do line highlights on every model and just do detail work.

gallery_2760_10216_358299.jpg

This is the result.

This is actually several hours of just airbrushing, and then a wash of Guilliman. Then I went back a final time with some very modest zenith highights.

I really don't think it shows the hours of labour put into these, and it did kind of crush my ambition a bit. I may just do some metallics and black to see how bad it is going to be in the end.

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Well when they're all piled up like that, yeah, it IS hard to see the work you put in, Prot! That being said, I'm sure some contrast/complimentary colours will help to bring out each model's character. Don't Ultras use red/white/gold etc.? Let's get that in there! biggrin.png

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Really?  I like blue quite a bit for ease of paint, but I suppose I tend toward darker shades as a preference.  Navy/midnight blues seem to be reasonably forgiving (think Night Lords or Genestealer chitin).

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Wow. I have to be honest I did not think this would illicit any sort of response. That's very cool guys.

 

I also admit that redoing something you had done to the tune of thousands of points is much more difficult than I thought. I thought my enjoyment of the Legion/Chapter would make it easy but to a large degree it does feel laborious.

 

I managed to fit in another short session (under 2 hours). And I took a small segment of the above picture... mostly just tacticals and the libby, and told myself to just do the gold trims and aquila's.

 

The goal was to feel a sense of 'complete' even if it's only in a stage, within a selection of models.

 

My last Ultra's ended up with a wider array of blues bringing them brighter. I decided to keep it darker so the gold I selected is right between a Vallejo and Retributor gold to come in slightly lighter as a metallic sitting on the slightly darker blue.

 

I'll see how far I get. Originally my goal was to finish this to 1500 for a highlander tournament in March. I don't think that will be possible though.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

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I've never done airbrushing, but might end up trying it eventually. I must say I do really like the layers of blue you've achieved with the different layers. Once I get an airbrush eventually, I might seek some advice on your level of blue rolleyesclean.gif .

Keep up the good work! I'm looking forward to battle reports from Port with a fully painted army!

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I've never done airbrushing, but might end up trying it eventually. I must say I do really like the layers of blue you've achieved with the different layers. Once I get an airbrush eventually, I might seek some advice on your level of blue rolleyesclean.gif .

Keep up the good work! I'm looking forward to battle reports from Port with a fully painted army!

Thanks a lot guys!

I get this kind of comment a lot.... I think to be fair it's really easy to basecoat with your airbrush. Once you start trying to layer on blends, and add contrasts, and lighting, things can be very intimidating.

I'm not going to lie I've been airbrushing for 5-6 years and painting 40K for about 18 years.

My first 2 years of airbrushing... I hated it. All I could do was base coat and not much beyond that. It takes time, and patience. Not only with the technique but with the gear. I mean I went through a zillion airbrushes before finding what I like. The size of the tip, the mixing, the clogging, the PSI, the blending... it's all something that I think -anyone- can do but it will take some time.

If you're not fussy you can get right into it, and just do light shades and let the brush do most the work. I did that for many years and really liked how it looked.

With my Thousand Sons, and maybe my last 2-3 armies I went to town with airbrush before typical brushwork. The funny thing is this doesn't make it less time consuming, but probably more time consuming (Unless you just want to plop something on the table.)

As far as Ultramarines....

I was in stages of adding metallics and blacks to the picture you see above. Today it's become official there is a pre-release announced in the next White Dwarf for Mark III Space Marine armour. (60 CDN).

So we had rumours this was happening but I may put a hold on the space marines until I see what they look like. It's just too much work to redo stuff. If the height and size is very different, I may hold off.

However I CAN do all the Scouts and vehicles (can you imagine if they re-did the Rhino?) but that's about it, making it VERY hard for me to commit to the Tournament next month with Ultra unless I came up with something very sassy for a list. ;)

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I don't get it though....

 

The 'leaked' info has Guilliman ordering new makes of armour. Why would GW issue "Mark III". Did you guys see that pre-order?

 

Oh crud... I just figured it out.... they are just releasing Prospero stuff.. The Tartaros are in there too. lol

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Prot, may I suggest this is a pretty great opportunity for you to build up a 30/40k force?

 

Make all your models using MKIV or III kits, and they'll be interchangeable for both settings.

 

Only a few models aren't compatible (Centurions, guys with Grav)

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Hmmm. That is an interesting proposition. I had always thought. I would save those for 40k Iron Warriors or imperial Fist or even death guard.

 

I think Ultras might suit them the least in 40k ? I dunno.

 

I have so much work to do it isn't funny. I kind of look at the Ultra to do pile and I just get discouraged by it and start elsewhere. I need to put a serious dent in it to even attempt the ITC event with UM. I may have to concede this round.

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It's much less complicated than I used to do it....

 

Now it's just: Prime blue (citadel primer)

airbrush with Macragge blue.

 

Slowly add Calgar blue to the mix with a little more water to taste...

 

As it dries, go back to the first model with a healthy dose of Lothern blue added in. (don't go crazy on this but it should look slightly brighter than you want it to end up because....)

 

Then you wash it in watered down Guilliman wash. Make sure to watch for pooling before walking away from it.

 

Come back to it with a final hit of the last mix you used with Lotherd + Calgar. (very light).

 

That simple.

 

All of these paints are now available through the air line.

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Wow, thank you so much for such a fast and detailed answer :)

I will definitely try it like this (as i adore the results you got and if i get anything near that i will be happy (i'm a newbie).

I was just thinking of getting a couple of air line citadel colors for this weekend (when i get the airbrush) so that's great!

Quick (probably stupid question), should i think the air line paints as well? I have a Vallejo thinner (actually this is an airbrush thinner it was just the only one available so i grabbed it before the airbrush).

The only thing i plan on doing differently is priming it with black (as it is the only primer i have) :) Will see how it turns out and post results!

Thanks again!

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The airbrush line from Citadel is quite good... surprisingly even the 'problematic' colours I find from other brands work very well. I would not thin these paints until you start getting into the very subtle transitions.

 

This gives you more working time, and space as the intensity of the pigment is diluted more.... so as your highlights get stronger in colour, start to use just tiny amounts of water or thinner in your mixes. You can always go back over a spot if you think it needs another level of intensity or brightness.

 

Black Primer is just fine. You will just spend a little longer with the Macragge session of your base colour process. Take your time...! Have fun with it.

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