Wargamer Hub

First attempt with weathering powders

2012-05-24T16:31:00.002-04:00

Here is my first serious attempt at weating a vehicle with acrylics and weathering powders. My source of inspiration was from the AFV Acrylic Techniques DVD made by Vallejo. It was a great reference source and I'll write up a review on it shortly. The chips were painted on with the Vallejo Heavy Opaque dark grey color (something Granite I think), rust streaks were from Vallejo Smokey Ink, and 3 different Vallejo Pigments were used for the rust, black soot, and light gray.

I used rubbing alcohol to help set the pigments so they don't just blow off the model. It evaporates quickly and keeps the matte powdered look where some mediums will dissolve and darken it slightly. I'll keep you guys posted on the long term wear results as I go. Hope you guys like it!

Blood Angels Assault Marines and Sanguinary Priests

2012-05-21T09:54:00.000-04:00

Here are some Blood Angels I have painted up. They have the yellow helmets of the assault marines because why wouldn't you take them over a tac squad. There are a couple Sanguinary Priests at the bottom too. Sory for the horrible pics, but I still haven't gotten my light setup I loaned out. Any larger and they get fuzzy.

The bases used are Micro Arts Studios Urban Rubble bases. While nice looking they don't have very many flat spots to attach feet to. Luckily many of these guys are running and only had to find a spot for one foot to anchor down. I probably wouldn't recommend them if you had normal stance marines.

More Infinity Yu Jing Done

2012-05-04T08:56:00.000-04:00

Here are more of the Infinity troops I have been working on. The first 4 are Infinity Yu Jing Maramaki Zensenbutai. The next pic is a Yu Jing Hsien and a Sun Tze. The next group is a WIP shot of two Kempeitai and Shinmen Mushashi from the Mercenaries faction that fits in well with the theme. The colors are a bit off and washed out since my lighting setup is loaned out, but close enough. The yellow got especially washed out. GW foundation for the base, P3 for the main color, and vallejo model color used on the highlights to keep it out of the orange spectrum.

Infinity Yu Jing Maramaki Zensenbutai

2012-04-22T22:50:00.001-04:00

Here is a model done for a game I really want to get into more, Infinity. This is a Maramaki Zensenbutai for the Yu Jing Faction. I went off the basic colors on the box, but made the red prominent on the armor. The fade on the sword is hard to see. I used the P3 paints for the armor and sword and am really happy with them. They behave a bit differently than vallejo and plan on filling out the range as I replace old paints. Hope you like it, more Infinity figs in the works.

3rd Magnetized Chaos Daemon Prince Completed

2012-04-19T02:24:00.000-04:00

Here is the last of the series of Daemon Princes I had magnetized for a commission. You can see others in my earlier posts. Same body, alternate heads, arms, and back pieces painted separately and magnetized. I painted the wings with more of a coarse striated look to break up the purple. Hope you guys like it, comments always welcome.

Eldar Craftworld Mymeara WIP

2012-04-02T09:16:00.000-04:00

I loved the look of the Mymearan Craftworld for the Eldar since I saw the color plates for them in Imperial Armor Apocalypse 11 - The Doom of Mymeara. They had a cool fade of Turquoise and Jade that shouldn't be too difficult to pull off with an airbrush. They have a lot of reference pics for vehicles that show off the paint jobs, but only one lonely pic of a troop choice here:

With that I decided to try to paint up a group of Wraithguard and a Farseer (see Eldrad) to see how they looked so far and get some opinions. From looking at the pictures in the book and the one above it didn't look like the fade was something static on the armor but more of reflection of the paint depending on how the light hits it. With that in mind I painted up the base colors of my test pieces.

Let me know what you guys think. I was hoping the jade was a bit brighter for more contrast, but on the other hand it helps it blend well too. My son is bugging me to do the Void Dragons Corsair so I may try my hand at a couple of them too depending on if I can use both within an army list. Not doing two different armies! Hope you enjoy and please leave any comments or suggestions.

On the table - WIPs

2012-03-30T02:36:00.000-04:00

Here is a quick update of what I have on the table right now. The Blood Angels are getting near done. The power fist in the middle is complese with his buddies clsoe behind. The bases are from Micro Art Studios and are very high quality.
The flying purple people eater in the next shot got it's airbrushed main color and I'll go back in to darken some of the shadows. then on to the armor with the same scheme I did for the other two.

Grey Knights Dread Knight

2012-03-23T00:39:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of Dread Knights on lava bases I have finished up. The gold accents help break up all the silver on it and I am pleased how the swords look with the airbrused fade like the ones I did on the other Grey Knights.

Blue Magnetized Chaos Daemon Prince.

2012-03-21T18:57:00.001-04:00

Here is the 2nd batch of of magnetized bits from the previous post. Alternate head, arms, and the wings are all magnetized if you are a new visitor. See my previous posts.

Varish is cured and being packed up for shipment. Got one more purple daemon prince for this sereis in the works.

Magnetized Chaos Daemon Prince

2012-03-14T22:22:00.000-04:00

Update on the Blue Daemon Prince. All the '40K' bits on now, putting finishing touches on other bits. Replacement head, arms, and wings coming on the next update.

Grey Knights Paladin Terminators on Lava Base

2012-03-03T20:56:00.004-05:00

Here are some pics of some finished Grey Knight Paladins I have done as part of the previous commission. The 40mm bases give me a little more room to make lava a little more dramatic. Two Dread Knights coming up, then some daemon princes.

Raven Guard Contemptor Dreadnought WIP

2012-03-01T08:58:00.000-05:00

A quick snapshot of the Raven Guard Contemptor Dreadnought I'm working on. I used the airbrush to shade all the black. Black Base coat, Vallejo German Grey, then Vallejo Medium grey used sparingly to hit the edges. It may be hard to see but I like how it's turning out.

Quickshade Space Wolves Grey Hunters

2012-02-28T20:43:00.001-05:00

Here are some Space Wolves Grey Hunters (Wolf Guard in the middle) to test how The Army Painter Quickshade performed on models that were not painted with brownish hues. These were some extra models I had stripped in Simple Green that were in rough shape to begin with. With the help of my friend Marq, I had enough Space Wolf bits to start making an army for myself while other projects are on the drying rack.

I needed something quick and simple since I don't have much time to work on my own stuff. All the shading was done with the quickshade. The armor was primed/based with Army Painter Wolf Grey spray primer. The gold was Vallejo Model Air Gold and the rest of the colors were a mix of GW foundation and Vallejo Heavy Opaque paints. Only the wolf tails got 3 different colors along them to transition the base color of the fur. These guys were all done in one sitting and the AP Dip was brushed on so I had more control to prevent it going onto the bases.

The bases started out exactly like the lava bases I did for the Grey Knights on my previous post. This time I made the bottom of the base white along with more white stippled onto the tops of the rock before I glued on Gale Force Nine now effecta with PVA glue.

Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy

Grey Knights on Lava Bases

2012-02-20T21:51:00.001-05:00

Here is a finished squad of Grey Knights. I like the way the lava bases turned out overall. We also went with a airbrushed fade for the Force Weapons. I'm glad we did since I like it better than the lightning look. Between the bases and force weapons I hope this make them stand out a bit more than most other GKs.

Green Daemon Prince Finished

2012-02-15T09:28:00.002-05:00

Here is the finished pics of the Green Daemon Prince after much delay. Hope you all like it. I have Magnetized it extensively per request form the customer so it can represent different wargear builds. It has two heads, two sets of arms, the wings, and back spikes all magnetized. I used the back spikes for this model since he has the fantasy torso. The next two will have power armor chests. I also used the thigh guards as shoulder pads on the fantasy arms to cover the gap that will show from the magnetized joints not being green-stuffed smooth.

The Reaper Master Series paints are not working out for me so far and will not be using them for large surfaces. It is nice because they can get nice thin layers without having to use additives, but many of these layers dissolve (best word I can use to describe it) after your put varnish on it. I even painted the Vallejo Satin Varnish on with a brush and this happened. Not just an aerosol issue. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.

Grey Knights on Lava Bases

2012-01-16T21:23:00.000-05:00

Here is the first of the Grey Knights finished so I could get the green light on the rest of them from my customer. He pretty much wanted to stick with the book color sheme and I gave some blue glowing lenses and a lightning pattern on the force sword. Really happy with how the lava bases are turning out. the Paladin and Dread Knight bases have even more room for the cracked effect. Hope you all enjoy!

Grey Kinghts WIPs

2012-01-14T01:36:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple quick pics of the Grey Knights I am working on. I used the same cork technique on the bases for the daemon princes, but instead of a rocky snow base, these will painted up a lava bases. Just getting the base colors down, I'll get some shading done and post more pics up soon.

Magnetized Chaos Daemon Princes

2012-01-12T14:02:00.001-05:00

Back on the horse with some updates. Here are some WIP pics of 2 of 3 Magnetized Chaos Daemon Princes I am working on. I used 3/16" whenever I could and 1/8" for smaller spots. Mainly just the pre-shading is done and a couple thin layers to test the color scheme and send to the customer for approval. They all are using a cork base that will be used as a snow theme and I have pinned the feet through (don't just glue it to cork, you're asking for trouble) the plastic base for durability.

Each one has alternate arms and heads. They will all have wings and either spikes or the marine packs depending on the chest that was used. I'll probably be focusing on one to finish and keep updated pics and work on the other two while this one is drying.

I got these to finish, plus more Blood Angels, Space Wolves, and Grey Knights in the queue. Stay tuned!

Tyranid Mawlock Finished

2011-12-01T02:44:00.001-05:00

Mawlock bits are finished. I really like the mouth, but the mandibles on the side are not my favorite options. I continued with just green plates on the little nubby arms since these were not prominent on the model. Overall real happy with the way it came out and happier I don't have to paint any more of those scales, lol.

Tyranid Trygon Prime Finished

2011-11-30T09:08:00.000-05:00

Here is the Trygon Prime version of the earlier post done. Essentially only the tail bit and mandible parts are changed. The Mawlock parts only needs the claws to be finished off and I'll have them up tonight.

Magnetized Tyranid Trygon

2011-11-27T12:07:00.001-05:00

Here is some pics of Magnetized Tyranid project I am working on. I have all the bit to the Trygon done, the other bits are 90%. It came magnetized, but would be happy to magnetize any projects I am given. I did add the paperclip post on the torso to make the top half more stable. I went for a brighter outer shell and the belly scales and smaller arms will be get a more toned down look. The other two versions will be up shortly.

11th Company Guard Done

2011-11-15T13:54:00.001-05:00

Here's the pics for the 11th company Mech Guard that was brought to the tournament in SC over the weekend. I posted up the best pics that turned out. The more close up ones were just too dark. You guys get the gist though right? I'll get some more pics when I meet up with the customer at a gaming night soon. Unfortunately the custom transfers were a little troublesome and when I find a good one I'll pass it along to everyone.

Fix a broken template for a penny

2011-11-15T07:44:00.000-05:00

So what do you do if you put your template in your back pocket and forget about it, only to remember about it once you sit down a break it in half? My friend hands me this and asks if I can perform some pinning majic so he doesn't have to buy a new one. I didn't tink the pinning would be durable even if I had a super thin bit and a steady enough hand to drill into that hard plastic.

I figured some tape should do it. Not just scotch tape, but packing tape is nice a clear to see the markings on the TAC template and its a large enough area to keep together.

The second pic shows all you need, a roll of tape and a good xacto knife to trim the "flash".

I lined up the template and put on overlapping layers of tape that went off the edges of the template as you can kinda see in the third pic.

Lastly, just go around the edges and center hole and trim off the tape. Almost like new, but a heck of a lot cheaper than buying new ones.

Relictors 2000pt Army Done

2011-11-08T08:50:00.001-05:00

Here is the relictors force I had up in a previous thread all finished for the 11th company tournament. Base color was p3 Ironhull Grey and goes through the the airbrush like butter. then just base colors and Dark Tone quickshade for the models. The apothocary was highlighed with white & astronomicon grey because of the tint of the quickshade. The little bit of foundation mixed in has helped cut down on the number of layers form my experience. Decals were put on and the weathering was dessert yellow and feathered up from the bottom of the bikes with an airbrush. Lastly the matte coat was applied to give it the proper sheen. Hope you guys like it. The guard is getting its finishing touches and will be up Wednesday.

Dark Angels 1st Company Banner

2011-11-01T09:16:00.001-04:00

Here is another attempt at a freehand banner for a friend. It's going to be going on his Dark Angels 1st company Deathwing that will also be an the 11th Company tournament.