Step by Step - Toxic Bases

My last Step By Step was almost two years ago and the Chaos Deamons post is the second highest rated on this blog behind the Thousand Sons post (inexplicably). Given this and the fact that I promised Flayed Ewok that I would post a how-to, I would say that it is time.

Formatting has plagued all of my Step by Step articles. I feel that it stems from them needing to be picture-heavy and coordinating those pictures with text. Either there is no skillful way to do this or I am not skillful enough to get it done. Regardless, all the information will be included in this post however ugly it may look.

What you will need:
Flat GW bases
A rough file
Gorilla Glue
Cotton-tipped applicators
Wood, PVA or Elmer's glue
Water
A small bottle
Basing sand
Spray paint (here Krylon flat black)
A drybrush
Paint for painting the sand (here 1:1 Abbadon Black and Dawnstone, Dawnstone, Nuln Oil)
Paint for painting the toxic sludge (here Celestra Grey, Temple Guard Blue, Gulliman Blue)

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. 

Quick Tip - Fixing Large Bases

 I've noticed that, especially on flyer bases, that the model can get wobbly. I attribute this to the lack of stability int eh base. I've even had the base flex so much that my basing sand cracks off! To fix this, I like to glue some bits of old sprues on that bottom. 

In order to do this, you will need to snip off any bits off the top and bottom of the sprue so that it does not stick out too far. After that, file both sides flat. 

Lastly, glue the bits of sprue into the bottom of that base. It might be a smart idea to file everything flat so that the base lays evenly. The best way I have found to do this is to use some double sided tape and tape a piece of sandpaper to a piece of cardboard or a table that you hate. then move the base in a circular motion to even everything out. Be careful! you can end up sand the base uneven. 

I find the end result a lot more stable. 

Step by Step: Modeling Combi-Plasma and Terminator Captain

This is a step-by-step tutorial on how to turn a Storm Bolter to a combi-plasma weapon. I am going to focus on the side-by-side combi-plasma that comes with the Terminator Librarian rather than the over-under that comes with the new Tactical Squad box or Sternguard box.

Bits you will need:
1. Terminator Storm Bolter
2. Plasma Pistol
3. Bolter

Step by Step: Painting Chaos Daemons Bloodletters

This is my first attempt at a step-by-step painting guide. Some of the pictures did not turn out as well as I would have liked but the guide will hopefully not suffer too much for it.

After painting over a company of Blood angles, I am sick of painting red the conventional way. With the Bloodletters, I wanted to go with something a little different than what I've done in the past.