2/22/2010

Forge World Renegade Psyker WIP [Update 2/22/2010]

Been a few days since I've actually been able to sit down and do an update on the Renegade Psyker, but I got a chance to add in some off the effects to the base that I had hoped. Feedback would be appreciated:





I highlighted the exploding rubble on the base and deepened the shading in the crevices a bit more. I was aiming for a paint-blistered, scorched metal effect on the scrap of Rhino hatch being flung outwards - I'm curious as to people's opinions of that, and whether I came anywhere close in my attempt. The last piece was somewhat of an inspiration. My general impression of comments was that I needed to add some more color to the base without making it stand out awkwardly - I'm hoping a rusty spring fits the bill. I can go back and add a bit more in the way of orange for the rust, but I don't want to overdo it.

2/18/2010

My Army Challenge, Pt. 2

 Well, it's not much of an army and it's got a few stand-ins because I didn't have enough time to finish putting together the conversions (and my wife came home for lunch from work, and it would've been in trouble to not be social) - but it's mine:

 I noticed that I went over in terms of Berzerkers needed points-wise and I need to finagle an Icon of Chaos Glory bearer for the regular CSM's, but assuming I proxy the Vindicator for a plain ol' Rhino, I should be good to go.

My Army Challenge

 Doing the math, I figger it's been about 5 years as of round about this time since I got back into the miniature painting hobby - right off the bat I was painting Warhammer 40K stuff (I started with a Blood Angel and moved right on into some other difficult-to-paint colors, working myself into a corner of display figure painting and a few Demon awards to show for it). I've taken a stab at about 4 armies, most of them still works-in-progress.

 I think it's about time I actually had an army of my own I could use to play the game. I need to quit farting around and actually stick some pieces together, temporary or no, and get sufficient points' worth of plastic bodies to be able to field a starting force - a few vehicles thrown in for variety. The one I've made the most progress on is my Chaos Space Marines - I've got an army list, a tentative tactical plan for how I'm going to deploy my troops, and, more importantly, the expectation that there's going to be a group getting together at a hobby store about 35 minutes away from my house this evening composed of folks I may or may not know from the old now-closed Games Workshop store I used to frequent. (I'd rather attend the supposed Saturday gathering, but I'm going to some seminars/a convention this weekend with my wife, so that's out for this week.)

 The challenge: I'm going to have 500 points assembled by 5:00pm EST this evening. I have no idea what time anyone else is going to be at this gaming store, or even if I'll actually get to play, but I don't care - I'm on a mission... I'll be taking my assembled "beginner" Disciples of the Four CSM army with me when I leave later today.

 The forces of Chaos and their quest for ruin oppose me:

[Edit] (Somebody asked for a screenshot...) [/Edit]

2/16/2010

Hobby Tip - Weathering Powders

 My understanding in using weathering powders is that ideally, what you want to do is paint everything you're going to paint and then seal things, with the final coat being matte. (You could use gloss or semi-gloss, but matte has more "texture" to which the weathering powders can stick.) If planning to paint additionally above and beyond the weathering powder stage, a good halfway point sealant-wise is simple (as cheap and plain as you can get it) hair spray. (Extra Hold Suave used here, "borrowed" from the wife.)

 You can use most any liquid to "thin" weathering powders in order to apply them by brush. Weathering powders are essentially just extra-fine-grained dry pigments and you're technically not "thinning" anything by adding liquid to them, but by using the powders suspended in a liquid medium, this allows them to flow wash-like into crevices and the like. Anything that acts as a surfactant is probably best: like rubbing alcohol, Future Floor Finish/water, GW Washes, water/dish washing detergent, turpentine/mineral spirits/white spirits, etc. The problem lies in "thinning" pigment powders when you use something that dissolves acrylic paint - a little too heavy with the brushing and you've started to ruin the underlying paint job (which in itself can be used as a technique, but that's a different writeup); hence the initial step of putting some sort of barrier between the underlying paint job and the pigments.

 In terms of sealing or "fixing" the pigment powders to your model, there's a lot of options you can use. The easiest and best-looking would be to use nothing: this lets the texture of the pigments themselves play itself up to best example, but the downside is that the pigments rub off with any handling - probably best left for display models that won't be handled. Next best would probably be what MIG Pigments recommend: a liquid fixative, along the lines of turpentine, acrylic thinner, or MIG Pigment Fixer - it semi-dissolves your underlying sealing spray when (gently and carefully) brushed on over your pigments and when dry, essentially leaves the pigment powders embedded in the underlying sealant. Maybe last best would be some sort of sealant spray again: pump sprayers would cause the least disruption (but be more prone to causing "puddles" due to spray pooling on the figure) whereas aerosol spray would have a more even finish but be more likely to blow away a decent amount of your placed pigment powders during the process of sealing - kind of a Catch-22, but there you go.

 By way of example on this finished GW Skaven Warlord, I used Old Rust and New Rust colored powders on the blade of the bardiche over metallics tinted with purple, brown, and black - I added a few other colors of pigment powders elsewhere, like Concrete Dust on the clothes, Soot in some of the darker crevices near the hem of his robes, etc. After fixing the weathering powders with MIG Fixer, I went back and emphasized the nicks and dings in the blade of the bardiche with paint, as they had gotten "overwhelmed" a hair by the pigment powders. I then added a bit more selective shading and spotting with brown and black translucent inks. The figure is sealed with a few thin coats of Krylon Gloss Varnish spray (so as to try and play up the pigments and coloration) and then a final coat of Testor's Dull Cote spray (for protection and to tone things down a bit). I went back and emphasized select areas of metallics with brush-on gloss, since Dull Cote (or any ultra-matte sealant by nature) tends to make metallics look flat.

2/13/2010

Forge World Renegade Psyker WIP [Update 2/13/2010]

 I finally settled on a secondary equipment (spot?) color for this guy, if not the rest of my eventual Shriven force:

 I think I'm about finished with the Renegade Psyker himself, and everything's been highlighted and weathered. I'd appreciate any feedback, though, especially if there's areas I've missed. I'd like to make the base seem a bit more "lively" - I fixed the coloration and bumped up the contrast in the painting itself but I don't really want to do "contrails" from the "psychic wave of force" or anything like that and I just realized I don't really know how to apply static grass since I've never used it before. (I've got some but I've never touched the stuff and never actually seen anyone using it firsthand.)

 Any opinions on the metals? I tried a new finishing technique with them, mostly visible on his backpack and the scrap plates on his thighs.

Hobby Tip - Cyanoacrylate Gluing, pt. 2

 As sort of a follow-up to my last Hobby Tip regarding Cyanoacrylate Gluing and some ongoing frustration regarding fingers sticking to everything while trying to glue paper to sheet styrene as part of an ongoing Rhino conversion, I figgered I may as well share this tip:

 To prevent your fingers from sticking to CA-glued objects, you can either coat them with a thin layer of Vaseline (per my last Hobby Tip regarding CA gluing) or try using an oil- and moisturizer-rich hand lotion just before you apply the glue. Tried this today after much frustration, using some heavy-duty Eucerin lotion that we have in the house and I'm pleased to say that it works wonderfully! Michigan winter and the lovely triple-threat combination of below-freezing temperatures, extremely dry air and high wind is rough on the skin, so we have a ready supply of lotion handy, all I needed to add was some paper, styrene, and Zap-A-Gap for a trial run:

 One important afterthought: as part of ongoing prep work, make sure that you wash and gently scrub with dishwashing soap (or another degreaser/surfactant) and a toothbrush anything that you've stuck together with hand lotion as a barrier on your fingers, prior to doing any additional work on it, as any residual hand lotion on your work will act as a moisture-proof barrier to everything else, too!

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