Touch Up - White Marking

Did some thinking and experimenting on the Ultramarines white markings and I came up with this.

Base Celestra Grey, wide highlight of Ulthuan Grey then White Scar on the edges. It helps dampen down the starkness of the white over the darker blue while still keeping it bright.

It also adds some depth to the white markings that the white on white lacked.

I don't know what I am going to do when it comes to doing the helmets of the veterans or the laurels, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. 

Finished - Ultramarine Test Marines

I wish I had titled these "finished" posts with the tag "stick a fork in" instead. Regardless these little blue devils are finished.

I started by spray painting the minis with Krylon "satin oxford blue" which is the closest that I could find to Kantor Blue and still not be gloss. I like matte or satin primer as the next layer tends to stick better. Because the primer and base were so close, I didn't waste much time in getting a good foundation.

To get a good base, I did an overbush of Ultramarines Blue or Altdorf Guard Blue as it is known now. I didn't make efforts to cover the recesses or cover up too much detail. Once the base color is down then it is time for the secondary colors. I paint black all the areas that I want black or silver straight black. The silver areas get a dose of Ironbreaker and the black areas are painted my new favorite color Eshin Grey before getting a heavy drybrush of Dawnstone. Both areas get washed black.

I used to use a 1:1 mix of Abbadon Black and Dawnstone as my base color for black with good success. I discovered that Eshin Grey is almost an exact match. I would rather have per-mixed paints for consistency. Also, if I was making a new batch, it took two pots of paint to make one batch of mix and it rarely lasted until gone as mixed and diluted paints tend to gum up on me.

On The Table - Blood Bowl Nuns 3 of 16

Working on Blood Bowl Nuns for JHaygood on Vyndica and I am learning some things about myself as a commission painter. I have taken on too many projects at this point and I am not managing my time well. Painting time is down in general and I am not doing a good job prioritizing commission work over my own work.

I am also getting bored with big projects. The Char's Zaku project is grinding on and I am stalling out on it. I can tell that the client is getting frustrated with the slow progress so I need to finish it quicker to keep him happy.

I am also struggling with communication with a few clients. Part of that is that I have not made some things explicit in my painter profile and also that I am not great at communication personally.

Despite all these challenges, I am really enjoying commission painting. It is challenging me and getting me to do some things that I would not normally be doing. 

On The Table - New Rollers

Got a little tired of paying $2-3 a piece for nice bases. I had seen Green Stuff World's rollers for making textured bases. They were a little pricey at $15 before shipping but if I can make 10 bases with one it has paid for itself.

So I bought two.

I got the Factory and the Diamond Plate ones. I really wanted the Dark Ruins ones for when I start on the CSM and Deathguard armies. I should have also gotten the smooth flat one too to roll out the bases.

In terms of using them, they are decent. So far my first 5 bases have turned out of but not stellar. It is hard to get the green stuff smooth and even across the base for starters. The instructions say to use a lubricant or powder or nothing to keep GS from sticking to the roller. Pro top: that last one is not very helpful. GS got all up in the diamond plate roller on the first try. Now they are soaking in WD40.

So far I like them. It is going to take some time to get good at it, but hopefully this will let me bast whole armies for little money.