20100331

Field Report: Airbrushed Flames



Now I've seen flame paint jobs on cars using an airbrush, but it takes a special sort of painting maniac to attempt such flames on something the size of a Space Marine.  But how else will you get easy flames for your Legion of the Damned?  Striker at Aero-Powa takes you step-by-step. (Google translation)

Hat tip to M. Fontaine for the link, as discussed in his airbrushing class at Adepticon.

Got an article you've found recently you'd like to share? Send a link along to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and get it recognized!

20100330

Emperor and Horus


This is what happens when you go to conventions.  You wander all around, checking out all the beautiful armies and painting contest entries and then suddenly you see something that makes you want to put 2 and 2 together and get awesome.

Horus above is done by Dave Taylor and part of Adepticon 40k Tournament Best General BushidoRedPanda's CSM army (counts as Abaddon).  Providing the Emperor and the steps of Terra is Dakka's AgeOfEgos.


If only someone brought a slain Sanguineous the scene would have been complete!  It is amazing that the two models are done by two different people.  The scale and look of them both is perfect!

Field Report: Heavy Jungle/Foliage


Col Corbane hooked us up with another link to a tutorial that he has recently cross posted from FTW to Corbania Prime. Great ideas and something I've considered doing myself but haven't had the time/will/space! Nice to see a finished product with a lot of great WIP along the way. Check it out!

Oh, you have links? We want them. Send your links to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and we'll sort through and find the gems in the rough!

20100329

Reinforcements: Commander Shadowsun


After getting a generous donation of an old Eldar force from a friend, I decided I wanted to do something for him to pay him back in a way. After talking a bit with another friend, UCPesmerga, we decided that Commander Shadowsun would be the best model for the job! The model was ordered and arrived ( with another model for myself ), and I got to work.

The model was a bit of a pain to assemble to be honest. The shoulder sockets weren't large enough or the nubs were too big, with a lot of filing and flash to be removed. I'm really not impressed with the out of the box quality GW is presenting these days. I know it's part of the hobby, but the metal model quality has declined in recent years quite noticeably. I don't mean the detail and design, just the mold and to customer product.

For a primer I used Krylon white primer with a low pressure cap from my old GW Chaos Black. I highly suggest using a different cap than the standard spray cap that most cans come with. Krylon went from good primer to great primer with that one little detail swapped!

I used the airbrush to get my base color down for this piece. When the model has a lot of armor plating that will be similar color, the airbrush is a life saver. I sprayed a solid layer of Scab Red as my base layer. Then using a uni-directional spray, I laid down a first layer highlight with Red Gore on the upper surfaces. For a final pass I used Blood Red in a light misting of the shoulder and head. This doesn't take long using the airbrush, and I was able to get all of the drones done to the same stage along with Shadowsun in a matter of minutes. Having a paint cup instead of pots is a huge plus, so if you're using a pot system, look at the company website for your airbrush and check into getting a metal cup, you won't look back.

Once all of the airbrushed colors were dry, I broke out the Devlin Mud and gave the entire model and light coat with special attention paid to the recesses of the model. Being a bit lighter over the flat plates and heavier in the creases. Be sure to wait out the drying process before applying more or moving on to another step. Not letting your washes dry completely before working on it again will hurt your finished product. If you're impatient just work on another model at the same time!

I hit the upper edges of the armor plates with a bit of Blood Red for the first stage highlight. Since I wasn't quite sure of what spots would end up red or black at this stage, I highlighted most of the model to start. Once finished with the Blood Red, I went back with a touch of Fiery Orange around the head and shoulders to bring that area a bit more focus. I was keen to not be too heavy with the orange though, I wasn't trying to overpower the rest of the model, just bring your eye their first.

The black was laid out after finishing the red highlights. Special attention to composition is really key to breaking up a color scheme and using details wisely to draw your viewer around the piece. You don't want to overpower what you have in mind for your main color, in this case the red, you want to frame it. The black was highlighted with Codex Grey and then a light Fortress Grey was applied leaving most of the Codex Grey showing.

The lens work was done using a medium blue, black and Space Wolves Grey, with only the slightest spot of true white. For the shoulder lens it was quite straight forward, but for the head lens, I used a more centered inner light style, making the center the brightest instead of the bottom rim.

Metallic work was minimal for this piece, just a little Chainmail on the barrels and the optics of the head. The gun barrels were washed with Devlin Mud in a heavy manner.

The whites were done using my black to white method: Codex > Fortress > White.

The cloth/undersuit was painted Codex Grey highlighted by Fortress Grey, along with the antenna section that was used to tie the model into the rest of his force which uses Codex Grey more prominently where I've gone with black to make the model stand out a bit. Commanders should stand out a little after all!

The base was done with Codex Grey washed with Devlin Mud then drybrushed with Codex Grey. The skull was picked out with Bleached Bone and washed down with Devlin Mud as well. The imperial ruin was painted a mix of Codex Grey and Shadow Grey washed with Devlin.

Limited palette is a big part of how I create color schemes, and it's quite prominent in this piece as well. Stick to the colors you already have in your model instead of trying to throw too many colors onto a single piece.


Hope this more extensive description helps a few folks out there and I'll be sure to continue them in the future as more Reinforcements are featured here on TPC!

20100328

Adepticon 2010 Rogue Demon Best of Show


Announced this afternoon, Mathieu Fontaine's Alice model was selected as Best of Show at the 2010 Adepticon Rogue Demon Painting Contest.

More pics coming soon!

Field Report: Adepticon Rogue Demon 2010 Results



I'm just awake after a long night at Adepticon and here are the winners for the Adepticon Rogue Demon 2010.  Because Adepticon judges all of the painting after hours, players can use their models in the tournaments and still manage to enter the Rogue Demon.

The side effect is that the judges work and discuss into the wee hours to get everything judged before the models are needed for the next day's gaming.  I stayed to the very end of the judging and got back to my room at 3 AM.

Here are the official results from the Adepticon Rogue Demon 2010.

Best Single Historical Miniature
First: Mathieu Fontaine
Second: Bennett Blalock Doane
Third: Dave Taylor

Best Single Fantasy Miniature
First: Dylan Gauker
Second: John Shaffer 
Third: Jess Hodges

Best Single Science Fiction Miniature
First: Mark Raley
Second: Jess Hodges
Third: Dave Taylor

Best Large Monster or Vehicle
First: Mathieu Fontaine
Second: James Wappel
Third: Jess Hodges

Best Small-Scale Miniature
First: Mark Raley
Second: Cathy Wappel
Third: James Wappel

Youngbloods
First: Evan Bauch
Second: Harth Williams

Best Regiment or Squad
First: James Wappel
Second: Bennett Blalock Doane
Third: Jess Hodges

The Open Category
First: Mathieu Fontaine
Second: Bennett Blalock Doane
Third: Ian Villamagna

More pics as soon as I charge the laptop!  Look for the Best of Show results as soon as they are announced this Sunday afternoon.

20100327

Adepticon 2010 Sabol Diorama



Sabol Design's Diorama from this year's Adepticon is a crazy. Here are a few pics and just a few of the hundreds of incredible details on this monster.
















Adepticon 2010 Gladiator Eye Candy

I know Gladiator is all about gaming and generalship, but there were some fantastic and creative armies out there.  Here are a few pictures from the tables from Friday.





Where do you park your Mech Guard?  In a parking lot, of course.



I hate it when those Nids get in the way of my skimmers.



20100326

Adepticon 2010: Day 1, Class 1



My first class at Adepticon was "All the Small Things: Freehand Designs" by James and Cathy Wappel. As inspiration James brought an Inquisitorial Land Raider he painted.  Needless to say I wasn't painting Land Raiders like this by the end of the class, but I learned a lot.  There's just something different about putting paint to model while you are being explained the technique to make it sink it.

And your Friday Quick tip straight from James Wappel: mix in a little on a near-colored GW wash to your paint to get better flow and increase drying time.

Adepticon 2010: Day 1


The first Eye Candy of Adepticon Gladiator: Todd Bryant's scratch built Warhound Titan.  And the first Quick Tip: the best and easiest way to get those uniform plasma coils: use IDE ribbon cable.

More coming soon!

20100325

Field Report: Fortress of Eagles



Rich at Bossman Bitz Box has come up with a fantastic Apocalypse-sized Fortress that you have to see to believe.  Six feet long and composed of about twenty-five Imperial Bastions and other kits composed this monster; one of the best Bastion kit-bashes I've seen.

Got an article you've found recently you'd like to share? Send a link along to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and get it recognized!

20100324

Field Report: Blending


Massive Voodoo
put up this little number a while back and I thought it a good idea to highlight it. Blending ideas are never out of style.

Got an article you've found recently you'd like to share? Send a link along to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and get it recognized!

20100323

Field Report: Eldar Terrain


Col Corbane sent this little number along about using leftover junk to create some great looking Eldar city terrain. Some great ideas you should definitely check out.

Have a great article you've found recently? A piece you just finished posting? Something sitting deep in your backlog that didn't get proper exposure? Send us a link at ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and get it noticed!

20100322

Field Report Special: Adepticon 2010!



Adepticon 2010 is just around the corner and yours truly will be there in person to witness the spectacle.  Starting Friday look for a few updates from the event as I search out the best eye candy in attendance.  I'll also be covering the Rogue Demon Painting Contest and hopefully should get some great pics of many of the entries.

I will be indulging in several Hobby Seminars, hopefully I'll come back with plenty of tips to share.  Here's my schedule: "Airbrushing for Figurines", "Weathering with Acrylics, Dry Pigment and Oil Paint", "Advanced Painting" and "Freehand Designs".

Anyone else going to Adepticon?  Better yet, anyone entering anything in the Rogue Demons?

Field Report: Ork Fort



Check out Jimbo's Workbench (no relation) for a great recycle of a CD spindle into an Ork Fort.  One thing I always struggle with for terrain is the foundation element-- what will I use as the base piece that will provide the shape of the element.  Once you get the foundation, pieces are easy to decorate.

The CD spindle is plastic and has a great shape for terrain.  The scale is great and they even come in varying sizes.  With four of these and two cereal boxes cut in half vertically you'll have the foundation for a fantastic and huge Ork fort.

Don't forget, if you've got a tutorial you'd like to see featured here, send us a link at ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com! Even if it's not your own article, we're all about sharing great info from around the web!

20100321

Field Report: Speedy Tau Tutorial


Santa Cruz Warhammer has posted a quick and dirty Tau painting tutorial for those in need of a fast tabletop paint job. They've used a favorite wash of mine, Gryphonne Sepia! The crisis suit at the end is really telling of what you can expect with solid washing. Check it out.

Don't forget, if you've got a tutorial you'd like to see featured here, send us a link at ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com! Even if it's not your own article, we're all about sharing great info from around the web!

20100320

Field Report: Layer Painting FoW Minis


Crac des Chevaliers has started putting together a great layering guide for painting WW2 US infantry from Flames of War. It's a nice and clean finish you should definitely check out! Makes me want to paint my Orks for some reason...

Have you posted an article to your own site recently? Read something amazing you think others should check out? Have an old link in your Bookmarks that you've been saving for a rainy day? We want to see em! Send your suggestions to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and we'll get the word out!

20100319

Friday Quick Tip: Flesh Tearers


Les takes us through painting Flesh Tearers Space Marines this week with another comprehensive video tutorial!



If you're considering a new force for the release of GW's new Blood Angels codex, this is a good start! If you've got a different way of going about it, let us in on your techniques!

20100318

Field Report: Desert Themed Terrain/Base


Massive Voodoo has another great step by step posted by Raffa. This time on how he's created a fantastic desert themed base. Most of these would be great details for your terrain boards as well. Check it out here!

Have you posted an article to your own site recently? Read something amazing you think others should check out? Have an old link in your Bookmarks that you've been saving for a rainy day? We want to see em! Send your suggestions to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and we'll get the word out!

20100317

Ask the Corps: Mother of Pearl


Another Corpsmen needs your help!

Joshua Writes:

I'm thinking of doing armor that appears to be made of mother of pearl and jade. I assume the jade would be fairly straight forward, but time-consuming to get the variations in color. Mother of pearl, I'm not so sure about. I'm thinking vallejo's pearl white as a base, then matte medium with some sort of mica flake pigment to get the proper shiny, color shifting look. I'd love to see how someone else would approach either of these.

I've personally never worked with an effect like this, so I'm putting it out to you, the community, to help a fellow modeler/painter out! So let's hear your method!

If you have a question of your own, send it to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com with the subject 'Ask the Corps'!

20100316

Field Report: CNC Miniature Scenery


Warpstone Flux has posted a two part quick review of CNC Miniature Scenery's Imperial Ruins. I've seen this company's scenery before and it really looks like a great product. Good to see someones first impressions with photos of the product just out of the box as well. Links as follows: Part 1 Part 2.

Have you posted an article to your own site recently? Read something amazing you think others should check out? Have an old link in your Bookmarks that you've been saving for a rainy day? We want to see em! Send your suggestions to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and we'll get the word out!

20100315

Field Report: Miniature Mentor Review


Our good friend CMDante has posted a great review of a video from the Miniature Mentor series. Head over and check out his thoughts on the Todd Swanson Masterclass here.

Have you posted an article to your own site recently? Read something amazing you think others should check out? Have an old link in your Bookmarks that you've been saving for a rainy day? We want to see em! Send your suggestions to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and we'll get the word out!

20100314

Field Report: Sculpey Base


Did some surfing the other day and found a fantastic sculpting blog called LUDstuff. The first post I came across was this wonderful basing WIP. You really need to see what this guy is doing.

Have you posted an article to your own site recently? Read something amazing you think others should check out? Have an old link in your Bookmarks that you've been saving for a rainy day? We want to see em! Send your suggestions to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and we'll get the word out!

20100313

Field Report: Apoxie-Sculpt for Bases


I haven't seen this stuff before, or maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough. Any way around it, I need to check out a pot of this stuff. Looks like a great addition to my arsenal. Check it out the quick thoughts from MBG on BoLS here.

Have you posted an article to your own site recently? Read something amazing you think others should check out? Have an old link in your Bookmarks that you've been saving for a rainy day? We want to see em! Send your suggestions to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and we'll get the word out!

20100312

Friday Quick Tip: Faces and Stubble


I'm finally getting down to really painting my Novamarines from the Badab Campaign (yes, that was several months ago) so I've been hitting the net searching for Marine tips. Monstrous faces from the GW site was nice, but I've been searching a lot for a good stubble technique. Here's a great Friday Quick Tip Video from LBursley on Space Marine faces and getting that great shaved-head stubble effect.

Here's the materials list:

Vallejo Game Color Bone White 72034/GW Bleached Bone
Vallejo Game Color Elf Sintone 72004/GW Elf Flesh
Vallejo Game Color Dwarf Skin 72041/GW Dwarf Flesh
Vallejo Game Color Hexed Lichen 72015/GW Liche Purple
Vallejo Game Color Cold Grey 72050/GW Codex Grey

Additionally LBursley's dilution mix: 10 parts water to 1 part Liquitex Flow Aid. Use this mix to dilute the paint; the video gives you a good idea of the consistency needed.

The key to good stubble appears to be the dilution of the paint and stippling the paint on instead of painting a defined area. On to the video!



Be sure to check out Les' YouTube page with dozens more video tutorials.

How do you do you faces? And eyes? I'm firmly in the no eyes camp, so let's hear it on eyes or not.

20100311

Field Report: Wreck Diorama


Searching long and deep into jungle terrain, I happened by the BoLS website and came across this diorama by Bigred made from a broken Devilfish. If you can't repair your old models, the next best thing is to make them into a nice piece of terrain. I like the faded paint technique used-- it is simple, and easy to apply across a lot of terrain-- and effective.

Have you posted an article to your own site recently? Read something amazing you think others should check out? Have an old link in your Bookmarks that you've been saving for a rainy day? We want to see em! Send your suggestions to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and we'll get the word out!

20100310

Field Report: Roll Your Own Weeds




Yes, read that title carefully. While researching some jungle ideas I came across FichtenFoo's great tutorial on using 3 ply Jute to make grass. Since the twine is cheap and easy to tint with cheap craft paint, this grass is easy and inexpensive to make and fantastic looking.





Look for the wire brushes to go on sale at Harbor Freight.

Have you posted an article to your own site recently? Read something amazing you think others should check out? Have an old link in your Bookmarks that you've been saving for a rainy day? We want to see em! Send your suggestions to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and we'll get the word out!

20100309

Field Report: Dune 40k Army


We're way outside the box today with a report which some of you may have seen before: a Dune-themed 40k army by Nicholas Kay. My favorite part are the Sandworms (counts as Land Raiders-- talk about a literal interpretation of the name) made from heat-deformed plastic water bottles. (You might not recognize his name, but if you've seen the Badab Campaign book or seen the 40k Radio website, you know the artist.)



Anyone got any other cross-genre or sci-fi count as 40k armies out there?

20100308

Field Report: 15mm Hay Bales


A Mind of Metal and Wheels has these Flames of War hay bales that are so good looking and so easy to make I had to pass them on. I think I'd opt for a core of foam or tinfoil for a faster drying time, but they should be pretty sturdy made as solid.

Have you posted an article to your own site recently? Read something amazing you think others should check out? Have an old link in your Bookmarks that you've been saving for a rainy day? We want to see em! Send your suggestions to ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com and we'll get the word out!

20100307

Field Report: Nedius' Space Hulk


For Boarding Actions in the Badab campaign, I considered making up a few tiles so we could play Space Hulk-like games. But my wildest imaginations didn't come close to these incredible creations by Nedius. There's such an incredible level of detail you have to check out the gallery for yourself. My favorite is the section with book and pages strewn across the floor. Also check out his site and the thread on Warseer.

20100306

Ask The Corps: Jungle Terrain



As some of you may know, I worked on some of the terrain at BoLSCon last year and was overseer for one of the Narrative Track games. This year at BoLSCon one of the tables will be Beta Anphelion IV, which is also a beautiful terrain set sold by ForgeWorld (and seen above). Unfortunately there's no budget for the ForgeWorld piece, so I'll be making it by scratch.

One part of the board I'm not sure about is the swamp and jungle pieces. (I think the interpretation for the board is going to a little more Dagobah and a little less Jurassic Park.) I'm a little disappointed with the swamp and jungle above, since it just doesn't look "wet" enough for me. Plus since this will be a Narrative Track table it will be home to Apocalypse level games and probably be about 15' x 5' and setup temporarily on conference room tables.

So how do I cover a whole board with swamp and jungle (without actually making a huge board) and still have enough space for Apocalypse toys? If you've worked on any jungle or swamp pictures I'd love to see what you've done.

20100305

Friday Quick Tip: Weathering with Gouache


For a while I've seen tutorials, especially military scale modelers, that use oils to add depth when weathering. Briefly the idea is that you put down a few small bits of the oils all over the model and then use turpentine and a flat brush to pull down the colors and blend them in to the model. In the end you get a nice color variation and a very natural looking background for further highlights like pigments or layers of dry brushing.

I've always wondered if I could get a similar result with gouache. Besides being great for lining tanks, gouache is water-based and dries quickly. Here is out guinea pig, a bit of scratch terrain from BoLSCon with a little spray paint red highlight and a sloppy assembly-line dry brushing.




Let's throw on some gouache, picking some reds/oranges and blues/purples to bring some depth to the piece. I guess I could have gone with some green as well, so don't be afraid to use some bright colors.




Now is the fun part, and where you remember that this hobby is more "art" than "science". Grab some water and start moving the gouache around. If you've let it dry then touch a wet brush to the colors to let them reactivate. I used a combination of tools for this step: wet flat brush (about 1/2" size), wet fingers, a small sponge and a damp paper towel. Some colors respond differently than others. My blues washed out quickly on the grey so I used the brush for them. The orange was very strong, so I rubbed it in with my thumb. In general you want to use a downward motion to give it a more natural appearance.




Now the best part of using gouache: grab your hairdryer and dry the piece off. It should take only a few minutes to get the colors on and blended and, depending on how much water you used, only a minute or two to dry off. If the effect is not quite right, add some more gouache and water. Because the piece will be dry when you are done, you can then move on to the next weathering technique.




Here's another side that received the same treatment. I used a little more orange on this side since I am going to rust it up later with some pigments. Since they are so diffuse, the gouache seems to stand up pretty well to handling, but you could always seal it with a coat of matte varnish for protection. I haven't worked with oils for weathering, but I have a feeling the gouache probably handles more like pigments and powders than oils, since the gouache is just pigment premixed with water.






Anyone find more creative uses for gouache out there?