Terrain is everything - Thermic Plasma Conduits - Highlights and metallics

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Thermic Plasma Conduits. On with some VGC Sun Yellow highlights, plus some additional shading in places to create more definition/contrast in the structure of the pipes.

I also picked out all pipework with a VGC Gunmetal Metal drybrush, some of the canisters in red, that fits with my Servo Haulers and GSC Sentinels.

I also painted the coils, which everyone else does blue but I wanted them to follow the red insulation glass I've done perviously.

Even the 'chimney' has one and I think it ties everything together.

It does mean the plasma canisters which go in here will need to be red, when I did the one for my Crashed Aquila Lander blue, but the technology is all over the place.

At this stage they were effectively complete, I just wanted to record them here before varnishes etc.

The smoke on the chimney added another subtle addition to the scheme.

A whole lot of effort, for no real purpose, though they'll probably be in next year's Armies on Parade.

But it's about the enjoyment and satisfaction of painting something nowadays. Are they realistic? Not completely but I think they're getting more so, and much like BLESSED VERDIGRIS, rust can vary massively. What you see sometimes doesn't look real, or consistent, but that's because it's a natural process.

It's completely random and throw in a wholly fictional planet with unknown environmental properties and this could be 100% accurate to the conditions on Ferron Proxima. 

Super chuffed, now to varnish, photograph and move on to the next thing.

Terrain is everything - Thermic Plasma Conduits - Rusty yellow

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Thermic Plasma Conduits. Next up Colvin & Co. Burnt Sienna stippled and drybrushed on. 

I mean, when this stuff dries it feels like rust. 

I may have to try this as a final coat in future, rather than an intermediate application. The things is, rust is so diverse there's now reason it can't be different in the same setting.

Sure, you want consistency on the tabletop and the same techniques tie everything together. I love that, I really do, but I'm also about experimenting.

Taking those opportunities to challenge how I do things and explore different ways [like the variety in my Nurgle Blood Bowl team]. And in real life things do look different and incongruous. You don't always get colours that match or compliment each other sometimes they clash and look odd. 

I'll continue to play with that even if I know the safer option might be aesthetically more pleasing to the eye.

That said, the yellow makes them look very different.

Sponged on Colvin & Co. Gamboge as I did with my Preceptor Weapons.

Kept the rust showing through in places.

Added Valejo Game Effects Dry Rust to all the pipeworks and fans.

Also on the control unit to help break things up a bit.

I knew jumping onto these so soon after the Haemotrope Reactor would pay dividends .All the same techniques, just a few little details I'll need to pick out next, more highlights and ways to balance the weathering and rust effects.

Terrain is everything - Thermic Plasma Conduits - BIG BUILD TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer OK I fooled you I did end up putting the Thermic Plasma Coduits together.

I mean it was only at the end of the Haemotrope Reactor and it was another tactic to avoid the Terminators but I was convinced I could rattle through these as all the experience on the reactor would be still fresh in my head.

Again, lots of Oxid Paste texture and red crackle paint to get them suitably weathered.

Some additional brown stippling for one tone of rust on the top.

Just adding more texture to what I'd already built up.

Different pipe.

Other side.

I had decided to make this one an upward vent. I may live to regret that it feel like I'm limited in how I can arrange these with the Reactor but we'll see.

I just wanted a little more verticality and it's decision like this that delayed getting them started int he first place.

The control unit, I've still to prime the plasma canisters that fit in the sockets.

And the control panel itself. More rust and yellow to follow.

Great Big Big Build RUSTY Stamp of Approval for the build.

'nids part 337 - Modern Synthesist's Tyranid Barricade - TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer on Mr Pink, aka The Modern Synthesist's Tyranid Barricade. And this was just another evening's work to get it done. There were a lot of striations on the chitin plates, that middle one in particular, but otherwise it was eerily familiar.

As I was painting the edges it almost felt exactly the same as my own efforts. As each paint stroke went on I could almost feel the process of the sculpt, which brought back those first-hand memories of sculpting my own Tyranid defence lines.

I explored some additional redness to the bonewhite on the inside. Watered down Vallejo Extra Opaque [I know it's a contradiction to water it down] Heavy Red does an amazing job of adding that raw soreness to the interior. It looks like the bio-organic growth is painfully rupturing through the ground and the additional tones make it more interesting too.

The tiny little dots inside some of the furrows are a really nice touch. Adding the odd highlight to them to stand out, as if they are seeding spores - it's a nice touch. The Barricades are not just defensive structures, but also organisms to further xenoform the planet they've infested.

It's been an absolute joy to turn this round so quickly. To Take Mr Pink's model blend it with my hive fleet and further expend my on repertoire in how I paint my nids.

It's made me think again about scratchbuilding. I really need to think about my next effort - the Tyranid Promethium relay pipes. My priorities are all my Ravenwing and Death Guard to do for #ArmiesOnParade but once that's out of the way I should explore the joys of scratchbuilding again.

So, here's my Great Big BLESSED VERDIGRIS Stamps of Approval! 

'nids part 336 - Modern Synthesist's Tyranid Barricade - Base, Prime and Basecoat

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've been #PaintingWarhammer, you may or may not recall a year or so ago that Mr Pink, aka The Modern Synthesist sent me a gift. I was so inspired by his Tyranid Barricades back in the day I took a leap of faith and sculpted my own, with no prior experience. Following that I made Tyranid Bastion, Capillary Towers that would form a Skyshield Landing Pad and eventually my Tyranid Void Shield Generator.

My inspiration by him was something he wanted to reward and so he sent me this resin cast of one of his barricade as well as a couple of his original sculpts. I revered these items, but the cast felt like it should be more. It wasn't enough to remain in the slightly dodgy black primer it was languishing it. It deserved to be taken into the Hive Fleet and become part of my own army. I mentioned this to Mr Pink and he was perfectly happy to take it further, it was mine to do with as I wished.

It took a while to both build the confidence to do this and find a spot, but with the Halflings done why not just throw in some Tyranid. So I'd added sand to the base, to match my army and then primed it Red Oxide... That's when I discovered the original  Black Primer was even worse than it's finish portrayed. I don't know it was an enamel primer, but it reacted badly with the Halfords primer and blistered and puckered like fingers that had been in the bath too long.

This quick side project was rapidly deteriorating. So I swiftly decided to strip the worst of the effected areas with acetone free nail varnish remover and then primed it again as you see here. I then Red Planet BASEd the edges.

Bahama Blue Craft Acrylic on the chitin plates, you can see it's still wet!

Bonewhite on the inside and I picked out some of the guitar wire ripping in Khorne Red.

A sepia wash, followed by an Army Painter Strong Tone Wash to give the blue depth.

And on the inside too. I think this was just an evening's work and I'm already onto highlights - good progress.

Here's my Great Big Big Build Base BLESSED VERDIGRIS Stamp of Approval.

#DeathGuard #KillTeam #NewYearNewArmy Big Build TO DONE!

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I stumbled across a tweet the other day pointing out Hachette were doing a 50% off deal on Warhammer Conquest magazine. I Was initially excited but not only were there a lot of the magazines labelled 'Out of stock' there were many that were not that were no longer available. Someone pointed out that there were some Pox Walkers and Death Guard so I rooted around and did indeed find them. As I hope to use these in my #ArmiesOnParaade2022 having a few more to bulk out the baddies made sense and some terrain too to decorate the board. So I got the Poxwalkers and Death Guard, another Munitorum Container, Haemotrope Reactor and some Plasma Conduits. If you spent over £30 you got free postage, this was £40 and then the 50% off came in at £20! Bargain in my book, and these will go on my spreadsheet as magazines, NOT new figures... 😎

So I got to building the marines and it was lucky I got these two sets, as the Marine on the Poxwalker sprue needs the spare weapon that's on the reinforcement sprue.

These Poxwalkers are fantastic models and how they are put together can be really ingenious. I hope we get to see more of this level of creativity in what is essentially a basic model.

They are so good, I don't know how easy they'll be to paint but the variety in them is awesome. However, I'm totally going to keep impaling myself on their spikes!

The Lord of Contagion is pretty hefty beast. You'll not that I've added my twigs and some sharp sand on the bases. They'll still be wading through tar sludge and I've already identified my Red Planet BASE sand colouring isn;t quite right but I'm hoping to solve that problem when they're all done.

Foetid Bloat Drone, so great to have something more substantial to add to the warband. Clearly something that would never be part of Kill Team but I love the model and I'm excited to paint it. My youngest has expressed an interest in trying to paint some figures in the summer. I'm thinking some of these would be a decent starting point.

I absolutely love this, I had no idea quite how large it was, you can hide a Redemptor Dreadnought behind it! I also got the plasma conduits made, but I haven't put their feet on yet as I don't want to commit to a layout just yet, I have a Magnavent and want to see how they all interact first.

I also part built the Munitorum Container, but I want to add functioning doors so it'll be awhile before it's built. So far, for all of this I'm going to get 5 Great Big Big Build BLESSED VERDIGRIS Stamps of Approval [the Poxwalkers only count as one].