On the table now - Cassius and Librarian

I am in the process of  rehabbing an old Librarian to get ready for the upcoming Psyker-pallooza that 7th is reported to be. I already have the Librarian from the Dark Vengeance set and another one that I converted from the Chapter Master. That's two with Force Swords. I want one with a Force Staff in case GW makes them better. Also I am banging out Chaplain Cassius. I already have one that I filed off the Ultramarines omega symbols and painted him up like a Blood Angel. I wanted a normal one just for fun. 

Step by Step - Blue-White Crux Terminatus

Short and sweet today. Unlike the Blood Angle step-by-step, I am going to stick to the facts and leave the novel out. In this article I am going to give a detail of how I paint my blue-white detail. This is great for Blood Angles with all their wings but it also works great on chest eagles. If you are adventurous, you could also use it for Power Weapons, Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields. I like it on the Crux Terminatus. This technique is a good detail and contrast. It draws attention without overwhelming the mini. 

1. Base Celestra Grey

2. Wash Asurmen Blue

3. Touch up Fenrisian Grey

4. Highlight Celestra Grey and hard edge Skull White

Pretty much that is it. At each layer you want to leave a little of each layer underneath showing. Pay more attention to the tops of surfaces because those are the areas that will reflect the most light. At the end, you should only use a minuscule amount of white. Less is really more at the end. 

Step by Step - Blood Angles

"My other arm is over THERE!"

My other two step-by-step articles seem to be pretty popular, so I decided to try another one. This time around, I am going to tackle something that I am a bit of an expert on, painting red Marines. Blood Angles were my second army that I started in about 2007. I ruined about 50 Marines before I began to figure out how to paint red in a way that I thought looked good. Since then, I have finished a Battle Company plus more  of angry, red, armored killing machines. 

I've made a lot of mistakes and had to learn some hard lessons. What follows is worth about 4 years of worth of painting experience. My way may not be for everyone, but it works for me and produced results that get me compliments every time I take my minis out. 

The basics of how I paint are 1. Basecoat, 2. Wash, 3. Touch up, 4. Hard edge highlighting. There are a few departures from this, but that is essentially it. It sounds really easy but the skill comes in what washes to use and applying them with finesse. If you can't tell from my rants, I am not a fan of dipping or overusing liquid talent like Dev Mud. I prefer skill and precision in my painting. I feel that gives a better result. I am only going to paint these minis once, and to not do my best on each one does a disservice to the minis and my skills. 

Brace yourself, because this is going to be a long long ride. I have a lot to say on the subject of painting so there are going to be a lot of words to read. Don't be daunted! There are some great pearls of wisdom tucked in those walls of text. 

Finished - Commisar

I got this guy for a song on Bartertown and decided to paint him up for fun. I listed him on a Bartertown trade site and got a Stronghold Assault. I had the PDF of it but a $33 book for a mini that maybe cost me $10 and a few hours is a good deal. The thing that kills it is the shipping. I try not to think too had about it as it would mean that I would never do this sort of thing. It is like the price of admission. You just take for granted that both parties are going to pay $5-$15 for each transaction.

I had no plans for this mini. I do not play IG/AM and don't really have plans to. I was going to use him as a Lord Commissar for an Militarum Tempestus army that is in storage but why would you ever give a Commisar a Power Fist? Seems silly.

I honestly thought the book was $55 like a Codex but $33 for this mini is not bad. 

Finished - Termie Captain, Horrors, SW Torso

Those fracking Horrors have been on the table for ages. Maybe a year but probably at least 6 months. Theirs is a long a storied tale of desperation, ambition, betrayal, disappointment and perseverance. Ok well maybe not betrayal unless you could my paint betraying me. 

I started them after the Bloodletters but never made an On the Table post about them. I based them in a blue Foundation color and drybrushed them a green Foundation. After that I drybrushed them in an interference paint. I either washed them in either green or blue. I think most of them got green. 

The end result was disappointing. It was too dark and did not have the iridescent effect that I wanted. After Googling a Jeweled Beetle shell and getting sloppy with my Sepia wash, I became a little more happy with the results. The sepia in the joints and recesses added in the red color that the minis was missing. 

On the table now - Terminator Captain with Lightning Claws

Still on hiatus from the Ork Wrecker. I am using putting that project off to clear some long term projects from the painting table. That's productive procrastination. I finished my Terminator project for the moment with three squads of 10 men each and I am rounding out my TDA HQ and special characters. I already have a Captain with TH/SS based on Lysander and a captain with PW/CP based on the Space Hulk Captain. Now that this guy is complete, I have all permutations of of Belial only red. 

This mini is based on the most awesome LC Terminator from Space Hulk. I already had a mini of him from a trade on Bartertown. That mini had all the BA symbols destroyed and it took me a long time to rehab it. 

To convert this mini a Captain I had to do some changes. I dremeled out the face from the front piece in order to do a head swap. I also clipped off the chain on his right shoulder guard in order to apply some wings to the shoulder. I nicked a cape from the Deathwing box (also a trade from Bartertown) because any good captain need a cape. Initially, I wanted to use a Grey Knight head but, in keeping to having all my Captain bare-headed for good personality, I elected to swap for a Blood Angel head. 

Finished - Warsmith and Yarrick

 The Ork Wrecker sits on my painting table just looking at me mockingly. I knows that I maybe bit off more than I could chew in converting and painting and it laughs an evil laugh. So I am taking a break to clear some more minis out of the backlog. 

I traded for both of these guys on Bartertown in different trades. The Warsmith was rehabbed from a Sons of Horus color scheme of sea-green and gold that was atrocious. I painted him in my traditional Iron Warrior color scheme of chainmail, yellow and gold. I was tempted to convert him up a bit as I have an old metal Warsmith from ages ago that I converted to have a servo harness and that mini would be a great stand in for a Warsmith. In the end, I saw that any wargear that I might put on a Warsmith did not necessarily need to me modeled or could be placed on a separate base. 

I think he turned out ok. There was not much room for creativity in his paint job. I showed some spunk in painting the whole left shoulder guard yellow and letting the recessed areas be black stripes. Other than that and the ax (not visible in this photo), there was no opportunity to paint the yellow and black stripes on this mini. I did do a head swap for a horned helmet from the WFB range. I would give this guy a 7 of 10 for my skill. I think he would get a 7 on CMoN. For some reason newer minis tend to get rated higher as does conversion work and metal-colored minis. I don't know why that it but the trolls tend to rate shiny thing higher on there. 

Yarrick was bare metal when I traded for him. I don't even play IG/AM but I love this mini. I am experienced enough at painting his core colors to tackle this mini. I wish I had painted the claw different colors. I did not read his background until after I started painting him. As the claw came from an Ork Warboss, I would have liked to have it a little more beaten up. I could see him wanting it guilded to cover up the Xeno taint, and that's just what I will tell anyone that asks. 

I think this is a decent mini. There are a lot of him out there floating around and I do not think mine stands out from the middle of the pack. I think it is a 5 of 10 for me and maybe a 6 on CMoN. I rate him so low because I really cheated by painting large swaths of the metal the same color when a more detailed approach would have been braver. 

Finished - Long Strike

 I am taking a short break from the Ork Wrecker (which is proving to be pretty frustrating) and painted up a Tau that I got in trade from Bartertown. I am keeping up the theme of panting named characters in unique colors. I wanted Longstrike red but at the last moment, changed it from blood red to a maroon red like Flesh Tearers. I think it turned out pretty well. I would give it a 7 of 10 for my skill. On CMoN it might score a 5 or 6. 

I had particular trouble with the skin. I am still unsure how to make blue skin look lifelike. I tried giving them red insides on the mouth and nasal slit, but now I just think it looks funny. It works on this mini because it ties into the red armor. I don't know what I am going to do if I have to paint more tau flesh.