I managed to stick in an additional session this week so it turns out my week 1 post was just a bit premature.This session saw the shin armor done up and attached, progress on the harness and some gold details about the armor applied. After having planned something more advanced for the Grand Master's personal heraldry, I backed off and took a more straight forward approach. I very much like the result. I started by masking a straight line down the center of the left shin guard with mounting putty. I started with masking tape, but something in the shape of the curves and overlapping nature of the armor kept me from getting as clean a line as I wished and I was certain to get some spray under the tape. Putty has its own issues, but was easier to get tight and insure good clean lines. a poke here and a prod there with a modelling tool convinced my I'd get a decent straight bar of white in the end, though the lump of putty doesn't look like much here.
I had laid down a thin coat of Testors Model Master Lusterless Flat Lacquer over the shin guard to protect the paint during future masking. That should now pay off. With the putty in place, I turned to the air brush to apply some Vallejo Game Air red (again I forget the exact color). If all turns out, I should have a neat white stripe down the center of a red shin guard. This was left to dry while I took to painting up the harness. I decided it would be painted in the same heraldry as the shin guard.
The restraint piece is not yet complete, but coming along nicely. I look forward to the challenge of doing something interesting with the book's cover and the open pages. I also haven't touched the bars of the restraint nor added any highlights yet. While this piece dried, I went back to the left shin guard and removed the putty. There was some clean up of the lines left between the red and white, but in all I was very happy with how the masking turned out. I neglected to get a picture of the unveiling though. Instead I cracked on with painting the gold details, attending to the purity seal and adding some shading and highlighting. at the last, I applied a couple decals to complete the heraldry.
Another coat of Lusterless Flat Lacquer sealed the new work and will insure that I don't inadvertently injure the decals as work progresses. There are still final highlights to be done but I ended the night satisfied with the work. The protective putty was removed from the legs and shins and everything was glued together. The restraint continues to be left off while I work on the Grand Master himself, however, who got a base coat on his loin cloth and gold details on his armor.
Through out this session, I tinkered away at the dreadknight suit. First, while spraying the red on the shin guard, I decided to go ahead and use the air brush to spray the right shoulder armor where I will duplicate the heraldry by some manner. I think I'll just use the skull since there won't be room for the sword and the skull there. The air brush served, and only a small amount of retouching of the over spray was required for the surrounding metal parts.
The left shin guard was detailed with gold and some shading along with the right. And I put gold on all the inlaid scripture and on a few other details. Short of a concerted effort, this was more to pass the time while other bits dried on the restraint and shin guards since I had the gold already out on the wet palette and did not mean to waste a drop. GW Agrax Earthshade was applied over all the gold, heavily pooled into the gold lettering to be sure it popped once dry. Closing the night's session, I posed the pieces back on the base for a front and rear shot of the progress.
So that is now the true state of progress as I close out week one. The extra effort has paid off and I don't feel any concern about finishing this piece on time for the challenge now. My best wishes for my fellow challengers with their projects. And as always...
Cheers and Happy Gaming!
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