Terrain is everything - TT Combat Gothic Ruins MDF kit - ruin base TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I made this base for my TT Combat Gothic ruins way back when, but I never actually shared it. 

The ruins themselves come in two parts, a ground floor piece and this upper floor and I wanted an option so I could have them as two separate pieces.

This was built, primed and based for years before I finally painted the small bits of debris the other week

And for this I get a Great Big Big Build BLESSED VERDIGRIS Stamp of Approval, because it was built in 2021/22 Season.

I primed the bases with my truly awful Simoniz Red Oxide Primer. Loads of shaking and it still won't mix properly. I managed it in the end though, using a toilet roll tube to mask off the model itself and just spray the base. Then I went on with my standard Red Planet Base process. 

Here's my Great Big Big Build Base BLESSED VERDIGRIS Stamp of Approval, although I didn;t take any pictures at the time.

This sat for so long with these half dozen bits of debris just waiting to be finished.

And it's not like I hadn't done Blessed Verdigris countless times, I just hadn't remembered ti do these bits too.

Not that I'm ever likely to use it but you never know.

I mean it's the bread and butter of Red Planet BASE! 🔴

Nothing fancy, so no excuse why it took so long.

But it's done!

Anyway as I finished it this season - a Bloody Great Big Bloody Stamp of Bloody Approval!

Terrain is everything - TT Combat Gothic Ruins MDF kit - Red ruined walls.

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer on my TT Combat Gothic Ruins. First up some simple first stage Red Planet BASE highlights all over - stippled/drybrushed on.

The advantage for having the same colour for your buildings as your battlefield is you have this technique and all it's colours ready to hand [although when I run out of the Home & Bargains Vermillion I'm stuffed!].

You can see I added some shading around the windows to make it look like the top rendering had fractured off round the window frames. I then added highlights to the cracks, just the same as my House Raven Imperial Knights - yet more transferrable skills!

I shaded the edges of the ruins with black - where they might have been damage by fire and smoke.

 

Inside I'd stippled on more Burnt Umber on the cream walls to give a grungy grimdark finish. 

On my Sanctum Imperialis I went on to add some bone highlights to tone this brown grime down, but I deliberately decided to leave this as is for a few reasons. Ordinarily I get to this stage and wish I could leave it but feel compelled to carry on painting, so for once I refused to be a slave to my compulsions. Also, it's quicker to leave it as is and as much as I like this terrain a quicker more slap-dash approach is fine.

Additionally, it would be useful to have something that didn't go all the way to the degree I did on the Sanctum Imperialis, just as a measure to compare when I do.

That's not to say I've rushed this, far from it. I thought I'd be really quick with it but I did far too much detail than I wanted to.

In my defence I always add far too much detail but I had hoped to fly through these and not worry but I think I settled somewhere inbetween, and this is just before the Blessed Verdigris was to be added!

I did discover this floor has bowed, which was quite a surprise. I think I stored it with something on top and it;s pushed it down by at least 5mm in the middle. I might look to try and weight it in the other direction.

I liked the floor like this, and probably should have left it. but there was going to be now way I couldn't add some more metallics and verdigris, so look forward to how I foolishly handle that in the next update.

Blessed Verdigris next...

Terrain is everything - Ferron Fire Firs

My last update on these was April 2018. They've essentially sat in a box untouched until now. Other projects take priority and terrain often falls by the wayside. Frustratingly not a lot needed doing to complete them - the Red Planet BASE! and some additional highlights on some of the trees for variety.

I did my Red Planet BASE! highlights, I also did all the Genestealer Aberrants, Hive Guard, Rippers, Termagants, Tyranid Warrior and Redemptor Dreadnought while I was at it - you see that's the advantage of the Big Build programme, it allows you to get them ready for basing.

I then did the extra highlights of the mid-yellow [lemon] and then threw on some white for super hot streaks of combustion. Hopefully they'll fit in with the other set I've done previously, although the very reason for the extra highlights is variety so not sure how 'fitting in' is supposed to manifest itself as I've expressly painted them different...

Wraithbone chips next and then a quick varnish. I actually have once of those cheap spray-can car varnishes so I decided to give it give a go. It seemed the easiest way even if the soft cover makes varnish almost redundant. The red trees are from the first set I bought, where I didn't paint the big trees because I thought they were too big - this was before LoS for Knights was needed, so I'm finishing these off too.

The clear lacquer did alright and the 'bottle brush' feels slightly more substantial know because of it. 

However, it is glossy, which for the trees I actually like.

But for the bases I don't.

Protection wise I'm satisfied but I'll be painting all the bases with my Winsor & Newton Matt Varnish. Not only will this add more protection where this terrain is prone to damage but also supply the finish I'm after.

It'll be dull 'drone' work, that I'm not particularly looking forward to but it's just the one last step and I can tick it off my To Do List as a great start to the new season - terrain ✔️, quantity ✔️, long time in production ✔️

I also picked up a couple of extra art acrylics, so I've got my infra-red spectrum going here. I need another can of clear lacquer to varnish up my first set of trees to the same level of protection but typically Home & Bargain is out of stock.

Terrain is everything - Sanctum Imperialis - TO DONE!

Aah the Sanctum Imperalis… It's taken a while to get the opportunity to take pictures but I needed some to add to last season's hobby review.

It's a big piece and so it's a struggle to fit it into my homemade light box but I got there in the end.

As you may recall this was a project not without challenges, in particular the 'bold' choice of full verdigris on buttresses, supports and skirting boards.

The red glass lighting also suffered from a lack of contrast that I repeated on my Ravenwing Dark Shroud - sometimes Tamiya Clear Red X-27 is too good.

But the colour choices were made to stretch me, to do something more challenging than just the weathered brassy bronze and as you can see the Ferron Proxima background finally gives it the context it needed.

On the full red/orange background the verdigris provides the ideal framework to break up the monotony of the red rockcrete walls.

With the cream interior adding another dimension.

I can't wait to eventually see these used on my Realm of Battle board, although that could be a long time hence.

I had plans to add some creeping yellow flock up the walls and around the buttresses but didn't get round to it.

I did get the occasional propaganda poster in though ;)

And the white background pics, which aren't totally without merit.

At least it matches the interior a bit, there's consistency and sense of reason that grounds the turquoise.

But as I've maintained buildings in real life are not always colour-matched and consistent.

They often have elements that are incongruous and garish. So whatever the result I committed to the aesthetic and executed it.

Better late than never the [last] Big Teal Stamp of Approval for 2018/19 and completing some terrain!