Reinforcements: The Sanguinor

Early mornings these last two weeks have found me getting more accomplished.  Completing new Space Wolves in the form of Wolf Scouts last week and a Rune Priest this week was a good break from the black and red of my Angels Sanguine.  This time around, I've found time to finish my Sanguinor that I was lucky enough to win through a random giveaway by Santa Cruz Warhammer a while back.  It's good to finally get this model finished after having him shelved for so long and I hope the paint does the model, and their generosity, justice in the end.

Reinforcements: Rune Priest

Making short work of the detail work that was left on my Rune Priest, I was able to get him finished yesterday.  The majority of my time taken up by working the metallic areas so that they looked appropriately deep and didn't detract from the rest of the model by overwhelming him.  I'm actually quite happy with how this model came out in the end, especially when I was so apprehensive about it when I started this project.  It's been some years since I've worked on an old style terminator model and it's good to know you can still make them look cool after all this time.

The model followed the color scheme I've had laid out for some months now and didn't really diverge too greatly from that.  The biggest hurdle with this model was defining what areas would be gold and what would be silver.  With the Rune detailing taking up so much real estate around the model, I was afraid of them taking the model over and ruining the overall feel.  Originally I had these pegged for gold, but thankfully I started washing all of the other details first and was going to go back in on the runes carefully with Sepia.  But once I had the major gold sections washed, I began to see the runes in a different light.  They had a cool blue hint thanks to all of the Shadow Grey surrounding them and weren't standing out, instead they worked more like a part of the armor and helped to break up the monotony of gold that would have taken things over.  I decided to leave them in Mithril Silver and went back on each with a hit of Badab Black to tone them back a little more.

Water-slide transfers can always be a pain, especially on a rounded surface.  To help things along, I used a military modelling trick of old and painted the shoulder pad with VMC Gloss.  This allows the decal to slide into place easier and helps to blur the edges.  I also gave the transfer a few small slits with a hobby knife before placing it on the pad, which will let the transfer buckle in and out a little in areas that would normally pinch.  I couldn't use the typical Y pattern that a lot of folks talk about, but instead cut where I could that I could easily fill back in should it spread too much.  I was also able to cut it directly on the shoulder at pinching spots, a sharp knife and just enough pressure to cut did the trick.  The gloss coat helped to protect the paint in this maneuver as well, so yet another bonus to going with that step!  Once the transfer was in place I used Micro-Sol, a dissolving solution, on the decal to soften it up and allow it to form better to the shoulder.  When it was dry I used my finger to help stamp down any trouble areas and hit it again with Micro-Sol.  Rinse and repeat as needed and it was finally flat to the shoulder.  A few spots spread from the cuts I made so I went back in with Chaos Black to fill them back in.  A final coat over the entire shoulder pad with VMC Matt Varnish and it was done!

While I was at it with the shoulder Gloss coat, I went ahead and touched the gems with it to give them a little more luster.  It's a small thing but seems to work out nicely.  I tend to varnish my entire model after it's finished with Krylon Matte Finish Spray, but even through that stage the gloss seems to add a touch more to those areas I've done in it.

One the Matt Varnish was dry, I finally finished the models base using my typical snow method.

I have a lot of old models like this just sitting around in cases and in bits boxes.  They never really find the light of day but with this 'test' I might be considering more of them in the future.  With this model I get my Space Wolves army up to around 850 points of terrible battlefield ability.  Some day I'll add some armor and long range to them but for now they're just pretty to look at and easy to kill! 

I hope everyone enjoys this bouncing around from project to project as much as I do.  It's really reinvigorated me about painting things and allows me to have more fun than just trudging along through a single army build hating the grind.  I highly suggest everyone out there have at least one or two side projects to work on at any given time!

On The Table: Old School Rune Priest

Well, affirming that I can never stay with a single project any longer, I've dug in on a new model that just happened to catch my eye a few days ago.  This Space Wolves Rune Priest is from the way back days of 2nd Edition and comes from the collection of old wolf models my friend handed over to me when he stepped away from the hobby. 

There was just something about seeing it in my cases after getting the Wolf Scouts finished up that made me want to give him some table time.  I rummaged through my bases and found a 40mm that I had in resin, unfortunately the base was pre-modeled with details I couldn't use, so I just sanded the top down and pinned the chunk of metal that is an old school terminator to it! 

The paint is following my basic scheme for them so far, with the runes being the only real hurdle of thought.  I had considered going with gold for them, but after getting the other gold sections down, and seeing the cool blue/silver that has come from the Mithril Silver being surrounded by all of that Shadow Grey tone, I'm quite happy with how it's looking.  I did give them a quick hit of Badab Black to give them a little additional depth though. 

Still a bunch of detail work and a little more washing and metallics work to go.  I'm expecting to have this guy finished in short order, so stay tuned for more random modeling and painting projects and the final photos of this and other models as I get them done.  Not to mention the tips and ideas that come from them!

On The Table: Sanguinor and Friends

I've decided that fighting my hobby ADD by forcing myself to focus on a single model, or project no longer suits me.  The butterfly that is my wargaming side is never completely settled on any one army and I always long to just do a little work here and there on everything else, be it modeling or painting or a random terrain project.  There are so many great models in my collection that I just can't help but let whatever ends up catching my eye in the hobby room make it to the table for at least a little work. 

Friday Quick Tip: Snow Basing (Video)

In continuation of the video series going back through some of the written tips here on TPC, I took some time to film my snow basing method as I was finishing up my Wolf Scouts earlier this week.  It's a quick little tip, and hopefully it gives a touch more insight into how to go about it. 

Reinforcements: Wolf Scouts

Never content with a single project, I found myself drawn from my Angels Sanguine to my Space Wolves once again.  This time around, the scouts found the painting table.  Some of you might remember I actually started these guys some time ago, only getting so far as their armor and cloth, but as always, I quickly became bored and moved on, leaving these guys to sit in the case waiting their turn.  But thanks to some burn out on my latest army project, I caught a glimpse of these guys and decided to give them a go to help break up the monotony. 

Friday Quick Tip: Sponge Weathering (Video)

Today I'm bringing you what I hope will become the first in many of the tips we've run here on The Painting Corps in video format.  There is a lot that might be getting lost in the translation from my table top, to text, to your table top.  So in an effort to help those who might be skittish about trying out some of the more fun techniques we've covered on TPC, I'll be going back and showing things as I do them.  The end result will hopefully be a more robust tip catalog and a more useful one!




It's not much to look at, no flashy intros and outros, but for now it'll do! I might go back in and add some things to the video to help with the breakdowns, but it gets the information out there, shows you how to do it, and gets you painting faster!

If you are newer to TPC and looking for some additional write up info on this method and a bunch of other weathering techniques that might help, be sure to check out the weathering tag.  If it's more videos you're in the market for, you can check out TPC's youtube page for a few more offerings we've posted in the past.  There isn't a lot up yet, but here's to the future!

Thanks for watching, and if you have something you would love to see covered here on TPC, leave us a comment, or shoot us an email at ThePaintingCorps@gmail.com!

Reinforcements: Eldar

In an effort to get myself to work on more models for the army some day, I thought I'd take today and post some models that haven't graced the pages of TPC, but were posted on the now defunct sister blog Reinforcements.  My Eldar have been put aside for a few different armies and projects over the past year, but they area always on my mind when I'm looking around my hobby room trying to see what sparks my interest. 

Field Report: Sculpting Tiny Details

Massive Voodoo is always putting something interesting up, this post by Roman is no exception.  Simple and to the point with a real impact on the final model, these little additions would be useful all over the wargaming spectrum.  The Britta water filter part is particularly interesting.  Though I might have to use my glass bead rivets instead, since I have those on hand.  The wood block sculpting surface looks to work perfectly as well, so I can see myself using that in the future. 

You can never go wrong with Massive Voodoo when you're trolling for inspiration!  I love the work those guys do.

Open Discussion: The Army Painting Wall

Anyone who has painted, is in the process of painting, or just has painting an army on their mind knows just how hard it can be to get one finished.  It's hard to pin down just what it is that soaks up your motivation, but it always seems to happen.  The latest and hottest army release might have sparked all sorts of inspiration, research and planning, but once you're knee deep in the muck of it, your painting table starts to feel stagnant, the army in front of you in various stages of completion are no longer that super cool awesome force you saw months before on the internet.  How you get over that hump is always different from project to project and getting over it when it's your very first army is one of the most important things you'll ever accomplish in your hobby career! 

So how do you get through it?  It's not something that everyone can agree on how to go about, and it's going to haunt you every time you go forward, but 'the wall' has to be climbed if you're ever going to have a finished force to field.  Do you dig through the internet for some added pointers?  Go back through the army book a few more times to build your interest again?  Let them simmer on the back burner for a while as you paint something entirely different?  Play some games?  Get set up for a tournament? 

Your methods will vary and it's from those that everyone else can learn about a new way to slog through and get things done.  So, how do you get over the wall?

On The Table: Angels Sanguine

As I mentioned in last weeks tip on painting yellow, I've gotten a good amount of work done on my Angels Sanguine Assault Squads over the past week.  The last time I posted about them, they were just bases, now they've begun to come into their own with their armored bits all finished, and details started.  But as everyone knows, this is when things start to get bogged down in batch painting.  Progress will be much slower to come by and that sense of accomplishment after finishing one models stage is quickly diminished when you look up and see another 7 or 8 models staring back at you.

Friday Quick Tip: Iyaden Yellow

While working on my Angels Sanguine, I decided to take a stab at using Iyaden Darksun to lay down my yellows for the helmets.  I didn't want the deep dark yellow that comes out of the pot but also wanted the depth that working up to a highlight gives me.  Yellow in almost every other fashion of paint is nothing but a pain to work with.  I found myself enjoying working with Iyaden Darksun unlike anything previous and managed to get a nice bright looking yellow that has plenty of shade left after the final highlight! 

Roll Call: TGN Fundraiser

Tabletop Gaming News has been one of those sites that's really broadened my wargaming and modeling horizons over the years.  I check it constantly throughout the day waiting for the latest and greatest news to come from miniature companies around the world from the very smallest bits provider to the juggernauts of the industry.  The service they provide is invaluable to me and I suspect many around the internet.  This is where we all come in.  TGN is running a fundraiser right now to help support and expand the site, providing more of the greatness we've all enjoyed for so long, free of charge.  The best part?  They have a ton of great sponsors pitching in to help out! 

So head over to their fundraiser page to give back to a great group of guys and a service that you know you'll be using for many years to come!  If this is your first time seeing TGN, you've been left out for far too long!  As one day without them is one too many!  Give what you can and you might come away with something cool for doing something good! 

I can't express how much I love that site and what they do!  In fact I have to say I was half inspired to create this blog based on how well TGN worked!  Much thanks to Zac and crew!

Ask the Corps: A Pair of Serpents

A group in Austin is working on an Eldar army in the Yme-Loc paint scheme.  Local Psyberwolfe did the great Autarch above and others have been working as well: Bushido Red Panda completed a Cobra and Crazed Red Pretorian is working on a squad of Banshees.

As you can see the color scheme is orange and a nice blue-grey.  My contribution is a pair of Wave Serpents and I originally wanted to do inverted paint schemes on the two.  But then I laid down the base coat on the first one and it turns out that my love affair with orange is still ongoing. (Engines are Tamiya Hull Red, Orange is GW's Foundation Orange shaded with 50-50 Hull Red and highlighted with Tamiya Orange; all laid down with the airbrush.)

Now I'm thinking that I want to lay down the underside of the Serpent in the grey-blue.  Or perhaps just the turret in the grey and the underside an even darker grey-blue.  Or, looking at the rest of the pieces, maybe I should keep the underside white and use the grey-blue on the Wave Serpent energy projectors, just as a touch of color?

And if that's for one, what do you think about the second Wave Serpent?  Inverted color-scheme of the first?  Or identical scheme with other identifying marks?

Have at it!  Let me know what you think for dealing with this unusual color scheme.

Field Report: Golden Demon Spain 2011

Volomir's blog has a great set of photos for us contest photo junkies!  I'm always a big fan of seeing what folks come up with in Europe and seeing the different styles flourish and change from Demon to Demon.  Big big thanks to Volomir for posting such a great set of photos.  I have a feeling I'll be looking to these for inspiration for some time to come!  Head over and take a look!

I really love the Sigmar diorama.  Very cool idea and fantastic presentation.  What's your favorite from the Spanish set this year?

On The Table: Bases Sanguine

I've been mulling over the idea of getting my Angels Sanguine built up into a proper army at long last and have been slowly collecting bits as well as putting the models I plan to use for them to the side.  I've accumulated a good amount of models so far and am planning one last purchase or two that would get them off and running, not to mention fieldable!

For now though, I've taken some time today to crank out a fair amount of bases to save some time down the road.  They're a take off of the work I've already done with my Angels Sanguine Terminator Squad that I made use of the Space Hulk terminators for.  The basing scheme worked well and quickly for them, and works even faster for regular models.  In the end it's a Ork Hulk/Krooza feel and that's something I'm more than happy with!  I've even taken it a few steps further this time creating elevated platforms on two that were built up making small box shapes out of plasticard.  All around it's a variety of plasticard thicknesses, tubing, guitar wire and Contour Mesh for texture.  Rivets were also added that I made using a punch.  I did consider using my tiny rivets, but ended up liking the chunky feel to the big ones.

I'm not certain when this army will see full out build and paint sessions yet, but this was actually a nice breather and allowed me to just play around with ideas while sticking to the theme.  It also let me knock out what could have been a speed bump from unit to unit in a part of a morning!  Getting 17 bases done, including one that fits the slot for my Sanguinor ( Thanks Santa Cruz Warhammer! ).

A single Death Company box should get this army going nicely, and with the bits I've already picked up from the box from Battleroad Games' Ebay shop, I'll have enough cool stuff to help deck out my Assault Squads as well! 

With so many bases it's going to be hard not to start modeling the assault squads right away!  Anyone seen any cool basing ideas around the web lately?

Friday Quick Tip: Wet Palette Improvement

From the Yup, Still Friday Department...

Many moons ago, I shared the cheap wet palette that Mathieu Fontaine used in his classes.  I have been using this wet palette since we hosted Mathieu for a Masterclass in Austin (mostly because I had plenty of plates left over).  Some of the comments asked about the long-term cost effectiveness of this palette because some of the elements are disposable.  It turns out that the plastic plates are quite durable, but I am often replacing the paper towel base as the paper stiffens and reduces its ability to hold water.  I'm always on the lookout to make it better, while still keeping it cheap.