4th session...one squad done for now!

As expected, I was able to close on my first squad with a 4th session of roughly three hours...so that's 12 hours overall to get a ten man squad to this level.  I decided to hold off on decals and any final highlighting.  I feel one challenge with the number of troops here is that as I work out issues with my skills and techniques the end squads will look tons better than my starting squads.  So I'm leaving some room to come back and touch up early squads to match the outcome of later squads to insure the whole army holds together.

I held of on decals so that I could more efficiently apply them in bulk.  Perhaps at the platoon level with these guys.  I also need to make sure I've acquired enough decals so I don't end up with only half the army with decals. :)

So here's the finished squad:

So one down, and...LOTS to go! :)  I've got my work cut out for me.  I love the result though, and considering how long it has taken me to complete past units for other armies, 12 hours isn't really all that bad for me.

Happy Gaming!

Session three...almost there!

Last night was a great session.  The weapons and trench gear were completed, along with highlights to the armor and some base work.  The wash needed to dry, and it was getting late, so the rest of the base work will come in the 4th session.  With the bases underway, I'm much less concerned about the great coats now.

On advice from council, I decided to change the sergeant stripe from white to red.  This will line up better with the red I'm planning for the collars, veterans, and command staff and will draw the units together.

It took some thinking to decide on the weapons. In general, I'm using the green for most metal (armor, heavy weapon casing, ammo boxes, grenades, etc.).  However for the hand weapons, I felt the green would be to much.  I don't want the whole model looking green.  After reviewing the Siege of Vraks books and comparing with some nice results found online for other folks, I decided to go with a black-gray and gunmetal with a black wash for the weapons.  This scheme looks authentic but prevents the hand weapons from standing out and drawing the eye.  The focus should be on the trooper's head/face, not his kit.

If all goes well, the next post will be of the completed unit.  From there, I'll probably not post in such detail for every unit since it will be come repetitive with all the squads needing painting.  I'm very psyched with the results I have achieved across ten models in only three sessions.  That's about 9 hours of work and I already have a table ready unit.  The bases will get finished in the next session, followed by some general clean up of the models (additional shading/highlighting/fixing where necessary) and final details like the campaign marks on the collar. Last, I will add any transfers. I'm planning on shoulder pad decals for the regiment.

I hope you will agree this has been a successful test pass for painting a general unit.  If I can cut the work down to three sessions for a ten man squad from four, that would be ideal.  That's pretty fast for my painting, but I think I will pick up pace as I get more experience with the color scheme.  I look forward to painting veterans, command squads, and heavy weapon bases for variety.  And let's not forget TANKS. :)  That's the whole reason I got into Imperial Guard in the first place.

This whole DKoK obsession started when a friend gave me a GW plastic Baneblade kit in trade for my old edition Orks 2 years ago...

Thanks for reading, and happy gaming!

Day two...

Wow, two days in a row of painting.  It's been awhile since I've made that much consecutive time to paint.  The 1st squad of 2nd platoon is coming right along.  It is a challenge to pick out the test model from the rest of the squad now.  I'm very pleased so far with the results.  My only concern right now is the gray great coats.  Maybe its the unpainted bases, and other bits, but I can't shake the feel that the coats still look like primer.  I will be exploring options .  Here's the unit so far at the end of day 2.  So far I've put in roughly six hours to get the squad this far.

Happy gaming!

Painting has begun...the first session!

    At last!  After many month of collecting and building model, then worrying over a paint scheme, I have begun the painting project in earnest.  The squad above is the first, arbitrary, squad I chose to paint.  I'm beginning with the masses to sharpen my painting skills and to get comfortable with subjects that aren't in power armor.  My other two loves are Grey Knights and Dark Angels space marines.  The guard pose a new challenge for me.  LOTS more models to finish and a different scale and level of detail.  Also the nature of cloth and metal in the guard will develop skills and techniques that I didn't really use with my marines.

I started with a test model.  You can see him on the left in the front row above.  There is  a close up of the model below.  I chose to go with Vallejo paints for this project, almost entirely.  They cater to military color palettes and the quality of the paint and resulting finish is superior to what I was able to achieve with GW paints.  I am using the ModelAir line where colors are available.  These paints come pre-thinned for air brushes, which also make them great for the standard brush!  Smooth flow, no glopping, no thinning necessary.  I find I can paint more quickly without losing any quality - in fact I feel I'm gaining quality and saving time with less touch ups, etc.

The test model is incomplete.  It represents the planned color palette for the clothing only.  I didn't fuss with the details of weapons and equipment.  i felt these were goign to be pretty easy to sort on the fly.  For the bulk of the uniform, however, I can't speak highly enough about taking the time to choose colors and form a plan.  In this case, I start by basing the models in flat gray.  I then start painting with a wash of the great coat followed by a quick highlight.  I then paint the pants and gloves, and wash; paint the leg wraps, boots, and webbing, then spot wash those.  Next the armor, followed by the masks, hoses, and ultimately the equipment.  The process is yielding a reasonably quick table-top standard.  Some final highlights will round out the models, but my focus is on getting units DONE.  IN the past, I've gotten myself bogged down in perfection and details...I end up treating each model like its a special character and this takes too much time.  As a result, I have no complete armies after many years of play and hobby!

The picture above isn't great.  I was trying to illustrate how much I was able to accomplish in only three hours in a single session. I was very pleased with the progress and this helps build incentive to keep up with the project.  Life will always come first for me, but I've decided to really make a serious effort with these guys.  The models are fantastic casts and it's really a shame NOT to get them painted.  

I intend to update this blog with my painting progress and anything interesting I learn along the way.  I started this project with a fairly reasonable goal, but I've far exceeded that now by collecting and assembling a major force of Imperial Guard.  I'll detail the current force in a separate post. :)

Cheers, and thanks for reading.