thewarriorhunter's PLOG - For The Greater Good Commission

[thewarriorhunter]

Bottom of the drop pod is almost done. The wash is drying in this picture and next paint sessions I'll do a touch of highlighting and call it done:

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

I see the results of your efforts, and am impressed.

[thewarriorhunter]

It finally looks like my army! Got the base coats on the teal done. Highlights and recess glass of the darker blues, then clean up the gray and a final white highlight on the gray and it's done!

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Body is completely done! Very stoked. I mocked up a couple of fins to get a better idea of how it looked. I LOVE this scheme on a vehicle... I need a Stormbird now...

 

 

 

 

After looking at the finished body and fins I with I would have painted the engine mount on the bottom blue. I'm not terribly worried about it since that will rarely be seen except when I'm showing the model to someone.

 

The harnesses and center console are next, then the top engine and weapons. The weapons are magnetized so I'll do those last so I can glue this up when I have the rest done. I'm heading over to the hobby store tomorrow to pick up some varnish. I've been sealing the pieces up once they're done to help protect them since this scheme shows every blemish very easily.

[thewarriorhunter]

All that stands between me and drop pod completion. Weapon options are magnetized.

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Got some work put in on the console. Steel details were added and a wash was applied. I was trying to figure out what color to paint the lights and settled on the silvergray highlight I use for my armor. I felt yellow would be too garish and no other colors really made sense. I briefly thought about red but felt it would look out of place since I'm not planning on doing any OSL.

 

Screens are next and I think this will be done. I'm not planning on putting a ton of work into it because I want the interior to be muted and not take away from the drop pod as a hole. I may do a few buttons up in red/blue but I don't think I'll do more beyond that.

 

[Fajita Fan]

Wish I could get my dad into this, that’s a great pic. :)

 

That’s a really nice off white too, I’m hoping to pull that off with Adeptus Titanicus.

[thewarriorhunter]

Thanks! My dad is not at all interested in the hobby. He did play a game of Kill Team with me once and he said he liked it but I know he won't actively ask for another game or even consider getting into the hobby.

 

They light gray is not hard to do, it just takes a long time. I end up applying 3-5 layers of the paint in an almost glaze-like manner to keep it smooth. The blue covers better and I can usually get that done in 2 - 3 coats.

Edited December 7, 2018 by thewarriorhunter

[thewarriorhunter]

Command console is done. Freehand on the top is not as clean as I'd like it but better lines will come with more practice.

 

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Got more work done on the harnesses and made some decorations for the tree with the kiddos. They were all about creativity and Minecraft. I made a humble shoulder pad:

 

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Saw a converted model and had to attempt a copy. I think did alright. This will be a jump captain for my SS. He stands almost as tall as an Intercessor so he should fit it with his larger brethren. I'll magnetize his arms for different options. Most likely I'll run him as a jump captain with claws and Silent Stalker or he'll be my Counts-As Shrike.

 

 

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Harnesses are done!

 

 

 

So... couple things. After putting this together I don't think I like my screen on top of the command console... it doesn't really make sense anymore. I'd never thought about how high it was until I mocked up the harnesses. I may end up repainting that, but I'm not sure how.

 

Also doing this made me realize I need to figure out how I distinguish my veterans from line troops. I don't think I'm going to maintain the company colors on the right shoulder. This chapter is too small for that. I'm currently thinking of just making the left shoulder trim black. These guys are not flashy like SW or BA, they are quiet and deadly, so I think just a little detail on the trim should work. You can see on the Sgt harness that I put a simple black detail on the lines on his harness. I think it does a good job and subtly gets the point across.

 

Any other thoughts on veteran markings?

[thewarriorhunter]

Drop pod is 98% finished! I still need to paint up the weapon options for it but I'd have no problem setting this on the table. The weapons are mostly base coated as is right now and should paint up fairly quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

Trying to photograph this really convinces me that I need a better photo setup. I'll probably be looking into a decent light box and a couple of lamps soon. I really want to be able to take better photos.

[thewarriorhunter]

Got a batch of 5 tactical marines ready to be lightly re-primed and then painted. Originally these were going to be Raven Guard but now they'll be Spectral Sicarii. I'll give them a light zenithal-esque gray prime and they should be good to go for painting after that. Unfortunately these were some of the first models I assembled so I know the bolters are going to get in the way and cause me a little grief but I'll have to deal with it.

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Shot my first round of paint through my 105. I had four test models to really screw up before I figured I'd try my marines. Overall it was a tedious learning experience which is what I expected. My paint was always too thin but by the end I got closer to what I needed. The five marines I primed will probably end up getting stripped and redone but I'll use them to learn. You can see several spots on them where the paint was too thin and ran/didn't stick where I wanted it too.

 

I will say the time savings is HUGE. To hand brush these 5 guys would have probably taken me a couple hours because of the thin layers and dry time. I sprayed these five guys in about three minutes.

 

 

[thewarriorhunter]

If you listen to The Independent Characters you'll know that purchases count as hobby progress Got the last few things I need for my airbrush today.

 

 

I need to get some dropper bottles so I can really measure out my mixing ratios but I think I've spent enough this month and I can manage for now.

[Doghouse]

Very nice work on that drop pod. That looks great.

[Kizzdougs]

Nice work bro! If you find that your paint is coming out too thin from the air brush you might just need to spray a bit more delicately (or just add more paint to the mixing cup). Spraying thin coats will give the paint more time to dry as opposed to one thicker coat, and with batch painting you won't have to wait around for the paint to dry because there will always be another model to spray. Of course spraying white straight over black is always a bit more challenging than most other colours (prime them white with a spray can) :tu:

[Triszin]

Body is completely done! Very stoked. I mocked up a couple of fins to get a better idea of how it looked. I LOVE this scheme on a vehicle... I need a Stormbird now...

 

 

 

 

After looking at the finished body and fins I with I would have painted the engine mount on the bottom blue. I'm not terribly worried about it since that will rarely be seen except when I'm showing the model to someone.

 

The harnesses and center console are next, then the top engine and weapons. The weapons are magnetized so I'll do those last so I can glue this up when I have the rest done. I'm heading over to the hobby store tomorrow to pick up some varnish. I've been sealing the pieces up once they're done to help protect them since this scheme shows every blemish very easily.

holy crap you paint clean.

 

superb

[thewarriorhunter]

Nice work bro! If you find that your paint is coming out too thin from the air brush you might just need to spray a bit more delicately (or just add more paint to the mixing cup). Spraying thin coats will give the paint more time to dry as opposed to one thicker coat, and with batch painting you won't have to wait around for the paint to dry because there will always be another model to spray. Of course spraying white straight over black is always a bit more challenging than most other colours (prime them white with a spray can)

 

Thanks for the compliments! I realize spraying my light gray over black was not a great idea, but it's what I had and I was excited. I'm going to try and mix a little more paint up and give them a light coating to see how they look. If they're not too gunked up I'll go ahead and finish them off. Otherwise into the stripping solution they go to restart.

[thewarriorhunter]

I have exactly two pots of GW paint, Nuln Oil and Lamium Medium. I may pick up the odd pot here and there in the future but at this point I'm very attached to Vallejo since I have the large set of Model Colors. I've got ~80 bottles of Vallejo and the entire Secret Weapon Miniature line of washes which is another 31 bottles. Grinding it down a bit makes sense so I can use it with all of my paints, otherwise I'm buying a lot of ball bearings.

 

Last night I think I figured out my 'mobile' setup for air brushing. I don't have room at my desk but we've got a folding table that I can steal from the kids. It takes about 10 minutes to get everything set up and my first batch of paint mixed.

 

 

I took a look at the first five guys I base coated that were sloppy and they dried really well. The spots where coverage was bad was still there but the paint dried thin and all of the details were still very clear so I figured I'd give them another try before I shipped them off to the pigmentum removeo. Results were great and I'm very happy that these guys are ready for the next step!

 

I've learned a lot in just two sessions of brushing. I think I'm running through way too much paint so I think next session I'm going to dial the pressure on the tank back a bit. I tend to be heavy handed with fine motor skills that require fingers (I bottom my keyboard out on every stroke) so I think limiting the air pressure may help to preserve the amount of paint I use.

 

[Fajita Fan]

I think I have that brush set, the first couple I used worked nicely.

[thewarriorhunter]

I think I have that brush set, the first couple I used worked nicely.

 

I used one last night for recess glazing a couple reivers and it was a good experience. I've got big hands and the flared part of the handle would be perfect if it was closer to the bristles. The flared handle did work great to prevent the brush from rolling when I set it down. I also can't really give it a fair assessment because the recess stuff is a pain and very tedious, but it's also a necessary part of making my scheme look good as it helps break define the gray areas.

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Got most of the details done on my Reiver Sgt tonight. A few highlights and other details left and he's done. I'm hoping I can get him finished up to take on Tuesday when I play.

 

[Axineton]

Looking good mate!