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.
Once the darkest areas are shaded I shade the blue areas not with Nuln Oil but with Drakenhof Nightshade. As with vehicles, the minis have wash painted on and never dipped. It take too much time and paint to cover up all that darkness.
At this point it is time to touch up the blue areas for any places where the wash has gotten a little out of bounds. I am using an old pot of UM Blue right now and it is pretty watered down. That means that it covers for crap. I want to use it up before getting a new pot though and these are just test minis.
I highlighted the blue areas with Calgar Blue. I wanted to go for a more cobalt blue look or even metallic, but ultimately I settled on a very traditional paint scheme.
The only area that I am not thrilled with is the white areas. They are too bright and over power the model. I need to tone them down. Right now they are based Ulthuan Grey which is a slightly bluish white and highlighted with pure white. I think what I need to do is base the white areas in Fenrisian Grey or Celestra Grey and then highlight up to Ulthuan Grey. This is something that needs to be worked out before I start on the Primaris Marines.
In terms of value, these minis are from the Dark Vengence box and were originally Dark Angels. I converted them by taking a Dremel to the icons on the left shoulders. I would value that conversion work at about $10. The minis themselves run about $1.5-$2 per model judging on completed eBay listings. The painting is pretty darn good for me and is valued at about $5 per mini. The bases are custom made by using the green stuff rollers and are valued at $1 each. That puts the replacement value at about $50 for these 5 minis.
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.
Once the darkest areas are shaded I shade the blue areas not with Nuln Oil but with Drakenhof Nightshade. As with vehicles, the minis have wash painted on and never dipped. It take too much time and paint to cover up all that darkness.
At this point it is time to touch up the blue areas for any places where the wash has gotten a little out of bounds. I am using an old pot of UM Blue right now and it is pretty watered down. That means that it covers for crap. I want to use it up before getting a new pot though and these are just test minis.
I highlighted the blue areas with Calgar Blue. I wanted to go for a more cobalt blue look or even metallic, but ultimately I settled on a very traditional paint scheme.
The only area that I am not thrilled with is the white areas. They are too bright and over power the model. I need to tone them down. Right now they are based Ulthuan Grey which is a slightly bluish white and highlighted with pure white. I think what I need to do is base the white areas in Fenrisian Grey or Celestra Grey and then highlight up to Ulthuan Grey. This is something that needs to be worked out before I start on the Primaris Marines.
In terms of value, these minis are from the Dark Vengence box and were originally Dark Angels. I converted them by taking a Dremel to the icons on the left shoulders. I would value that conversion work at about $10. The minis themselves run about $1.5-$2 per model judging on completed eBay listings. The painting is pretty darn good for me and is valued at about $5 per mini. The bases are custom made by using the green stuff rollers and are valued at $1 each. That puts the replacement value at about $50 for these 5 minis.
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