DreadTober 2018 - Week 2

This week I did more work on the highlights.  First I applied Vallejo Steel over the storm bolters and the connection rods at the knuckles of the hands.

Some Vallejo Silver was painted on the gems followed by some GW Soulstone Blue technical paint to stay consistent with the rest of the Custodes I have painted so far.  Not sure I love the look, but it does ad some pop and I've come this far with it so might as well continue.

I added edge highlights of Vallejo Old Gold to the armor, followed by Vallejo steel for some of the high points.  I think this largely washes out in the photos, but you get a peek of the silver highlights on the gold here and there.  I want it to be subtle, yet still effective to brighten the look of the model.

Vallejo Grey Blue (70.943) was used as an edge highlight for the black on the halberd barrel, the hands, and some of the joints where there were edges to highlight. Some Vallejo Gunmetal was painted on the gears in the joints and highlighted with Vallejo Steel.

Next I set to work on the gold, using Vallejo Chrome as an edge highlight.

Then I took a break and painted up the halberd blade according to my Adeptus Custodes paint recipe as taken from Duncan's youtube video on painting Adeptus Custodes (~10:15). I continue to shy away from painting in the crackling energy, as my attempts thus far have looked like some sea-based life forms clinging to the weapons.  Here's where I got to on the Dreadnought.

Here's the result at a distance.

After this break, it was time for more highlights and cleanup.  The black joints and hands got more highlights, as did various portions of the gold.  I'm coming to a stopping point now where I will step away and complete the base, I think.  Then there will be plenty of time to come back and look things over for during a final pass.

Looking good.  My best wishes go out the all of the other challengers and their projects.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!

Review: Versatile Terrain Custom Name Plates - Part 2

Now with more knights!  Pictured above is the new name plate for Custos Martis driven by Sir Theobald of House Taranis.  The Versatile Terrain custom name plates worked so well for my Mechanicum kill team that I immediately purchased name plates for all of my knights.  Here is Custos Martis in all its glory.

It's a small touch, but the name plate really completes such a large show piece model, in my opinion.  I'm very pleased with the name plates.  They are resin and paint up well.  Here, I have gone with a base/primer coat of Vallejo surface primer black.  The gold was first painted with Tin Bitz, followed by a dry brush of Vallejo Brass and then a highlights of Vallejo Old Gold.  This was then sealed with Model Masters Lusterless Flat coat before being glued to the base with super glue.

I also added name plates to the completed Warglaives.

Bondsman Theil riding Canis Martis

Bondsman Graxx riding Martis Hastam

I then added a name plate to the Freeblade Verum Imperator, late of House Krast and currently in service to the Inquisition.

The remaining plates have been glued to the based of their knights and await a turn at the painting table.  I have named the pilots and engines of all of the House Taranis knights.  The plates will help me remember and keep all the names straight in any games.  And of course they add polish to already amazing kits. I could see name plates making their way to some of the named characters in my collection, such as Grand Master Voldus, but we'll see.  I might be getting carried away at some point.

Are you planning any name plates after seeing these reviews?  Let me know in the comments.

Next up, I'll get share my progress for DreadTober 2018, week 2.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!

DreadTober 2018 - Week 1

Welcome to week one of the DreadTober 2018 blog project.  I'be participated in two prior years, completing a Deathwatch Dreadnought, and a Grey Knights Grand Master in Nemesis Dreadknight Armor.  This year, I will build and paint a Legio Custodes Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought for my Adeptus Custodes force.  This is a resin model, so of course I had to start by cleaning off any remaining mold release agent on the model.  Skipping this step will most often lead to paint not sticking, and then literal sloughing off when the model is handled.  So into a Simple Green bath the parts went...

I let the parts soak over the weekend so I'd be ready to clean and assembled them on the October 1st.  A quick scrub with a tooth brush, then a repeat wash and scrub with some Dawn dish washing liquid. I'm taking no chances here.  Then things were laid out to dry.

The parts clean and ready for assembly

The model was pretty straight forward to assemble.  The arms and legs are a bit fiddly due to how they were designed, but this is a good thing.  This contemptor is very pose-able.  So much so, that I'm sure I am going to look back with some regret on this project.  I chose a pretty stock pose, passing on the opportunity to get really creative here.  However, I have limited hobby time and will need to get on with the painting if I'm going to finish this fella before the end of the month.

Here is how the build turned out.

I used my heat gun to carefully warm up and reshape the halberd which had a slight curve to it.  Otherwise, there as no warping to the parts at all.  The forearms and arm-mounted weapons were designed to be magnetized, which is a really cool feature.  I chose to glue the arms, but I did magnetize the weapons for this build.  The preview 40K datasheet only allows for the twin storm bolters, however Infernus incinerators and Adrathic destructors are also provided with the kit so it seemed a shame not to magnetize them.  Perhaps I'll get in a 30K game, or maybe they'll see their way to the 41st millennium some day.

The weapons sit well with the magnets installed, and no drilling required!  In addition to the magnets, I pinned the top of the carapace so it could be easily removed when it comes time to paint the head. This allowed me to glue the head into position.  There isn't a lot of detail in this area so it will be easy to paint even while attached and then the upper portion of armor can be permanently glued down.

Now assembled, it was time for a coat of Vallejo Surface Primer Black sprayed over all using the airbrush.  I am currently using an Iwata Eclipse, and enjoying it very much. I let the surface primer dry over night to insure a good dry coat and plenty of adhesion before I got on with the gold.

Next I used the airbrush again to lay down some Vallejo Brass, followed by some Vallejo Old Gold sprayed only over the top of the model.  Then I decided a splash of red would tie the model in with my existing Custodes so I painted some GW Mephiston Red over the left shoulder pad.

Then it was time for a coat of GW Reikland Fleshshade over all the gold and red to establish the shadows and some detail while also lending a richer hue to the model over all.  While this dried, I took a look at the base.

I'm staring simple so the contemptor stands out best on it.  I don't want this project to get too busy.  So A simple slab of cork was glued down and topped with Vallejo Black Lava and some model railroad ballast, for interest. Once this dried, along with the contemptor, it was time for a test fit pose...

Yep, that'll do!  While working on things this far, it became clear that I was going to ruin the paint or break something if I keep handling the model directly. So I pulled out the pin-vise and some brass rod and pined the model to one of my signature Bourbon cork stoppers.  I used this same cork for my prior Custodes dreadnought so it has a good vibe about it for this project.

Next up, I began blocking in more of the details and adding some highlights here and there. I chose GW Abbadon Black for the skeletal structure and the hands of the Dreadnought, matching the Forge World paint job. I will use the same power weapon effect from the Duncan YouTube video that I have used on my other Custodes. 

Then, for fun, I finished magnetizing the optional arm weapons. It's pretty cool how the model comes socketed for magnets. They fit amazingly well on the arm with the magnets installed.

Armed with Infernus Incinerators

Armed with Twin-linked Adrathic Destructors

That's where I'm at so far.  It's going well, and quickly, making me think I should have chosen something more challenging. My recent work on Imperial Knights have schooled me towards a quicker, more efficient style I think. Moving into week two I'll be focusing on completing the highlights.

How is your DreadTober project coming along?  Let me know in the comments.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!

Questoris Mechanicus Knight Paladin of House Taranis - TO DONE

Custos Martis is finally complete, and not a moment too soon with DreadTober under way.  Fortunately, I finished this project just prior to October 1 and only my lazy bog practices have kept it from display. The last bits of work were finishing the autocannon, blacking the weapon barrels a bit cleaning up the highlights, the pinning the legs down to the base.  In truth, I could probably make another whole pass at the highlighting, especially on the shoulder trim.  But it'll have to wait.

I'm declaring the project DONE.

Here are the gallery shots of the final model. It's going to be hard to step away for DreadTober to do another Adeptus Custodes project.  I feel I should carry on with the next House Taranis Knight.

I had planned some fancier heat damage on the weapon barrels, esp. the battle cannon, but then made to call to keep things simple this time around.  I can come back with the air brush and add that later while working on the other knights, batch painting style.  A little soot staining suits for well enough for now.

Are you participating in DreadTober?  WHY NOT?!

Cheers and Happy Gaming!

WIP: Questoris Mechanicus Knight Paladin of House Taranis - The Base!

While listening to the Long War web-cast last night, I chose to geek out on the base for Custos Martis.  When the Knight Paladin was built as a freeblade, I constructed a custom base from cork tile and many odds and ends from the beats lab.  You can find all sorts of things on this base.  I wanted it to look like the Paladin was striding through an active city battle zone.

Vallejo Black Lava was used for the fine rubble and a spattering of my usual model railroad ballast mix and larger rock rubble was glued down.  I added a length of aluminium tube, which I crushed to give the Knight weight as it stands on it.  Then I glued down bits of chopped City Fight terrain.  As a bonus, I pulled spare bits from my Death Korps of Krieg army and littered that about as well.  You can find bits of lasrifle, a laspistol, ammo clips, a back pack, and even an officers arm (his body apparently crushed under the fallen masonry).

It was a lot of fun to build and I was looking forward to finally getting some paint on it.  In fact, as the evening wore on I was amused at how much fun I was having painting a pile of rubble!  A scenic base like this easily becomes a project all its own, which is why I felt it deserved its own post.

I started painting with the airbrush by blocking in the brown earth, and then picking out the grey rubble.  Next. I put that away and brought out the paint brush to tidy things up and add in the details.  I decided to go with tiled floor sections to add some visual interest to the scene. And some spots of rust, including a rusty scummy pool oozing from the crushed pipe, will add some pop as well.

Then it was time to do some highlighting.  I also decided to experiment with some Vallejo water effects that I've had on hand for quite some time, but never found an excuse to use.  Several layers are patiently added to the ooze.  A little green wash was applied over one of the layers, attempting to give the muck some real depth, with rust sinking and pooling beneath the greenish ooze.  Some GW tin bits was added to the vents in the wall pieces.

The back of the base

Then the remaining details were painted and more water effects layered on to bring the level of the ooze up to a point where it looks like it partially fills the crushed pipe.  Some Secret Weapon Miniatures Fallout Wash was layered on the ooze as well.  We want a really nice toxic soup here for the grim dark.  The arm was painted and highlighted as was the backpack up by the ooze. Some GW Blood for the Blood God was added around the arm to sell the "recently squished" image. Additional highlights were dry brushed over the skulls and other bits to lighten and "dust up" the scene.

I let the base sit 24 hours to be sure the water effects cured properly.  Then I masked off the sludge pool with poster-tac and sprayed the rest of the base with a heavy coat of Model Masters Lusterless Flat, my favorite dull varnish.  While that dried I set about preparing the legs for pinning.  The Imperial Knight feet are hollow and require some filler before they can be pinned down to a base.  I mixed up some green stuff and plugged up a couple of the toes where I wanted to use pins.  Two per foot should do it. ON one toe, you can see where I pressed the feet down on the base to accommodate and uneven bits.

Once the green stuff sets up, I'll drill holes in the green stuff and mount the pins. Then I will just need to drill matching holes in the base and glue the legs down using the pins. I usually use super glue for pinning a model to its base, but I think 5-minute epoxy will be a better choice here.  The base is very irregular and the epoxy will do a better job of gap filling beneath the toes of the feet so I get good solid contact.  I don't want this guy popping off the base unexpectedly!

I hope you've enjoyed checking out the base work in detail.  The next post for this project will be the last!  It's time to put a stamp of DONE on Custos Martis so I can move on to DreadTober with a clean slate.

Cheers and Happy Gaming!