Dark Angels - Lava swords, molten metal blades etc.

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I finished #PaintingWarhammer on my Deathwing, but just wanted to show some unseen WiPs of the lava blades. I started with Valejo Game Extra Opaque Heavy Red.

Then I stippled on some dark orange in places, then some Troll Slayer Orange.

It was the same for the unnecessary Bolter Bayonet. 

I mean this was just super easy with very little thought to it.

So much so that when I added VGC Orange Fire it felt like it was painting itself

From here I just wanted to add some yellow.

And with VGC Sun Yellow stippled at the ends they were done. 

Now a light drybrush of black in some places, perhaps the odd black dot in others would help on a bigger blade. But the Lightning Claws were already quite small, so I didn't want to confuse things.

Not sure I got the effect in the right places here but even so I was super chuffed with the results. Enough to recommend giving it a go.

I know I was tentative, despite trying this effect a few times already. If you have doubts, don't. Just give it a go, you'll be surprised how easy it is.

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...

Dark Angels - Macragge Tactical Squad - WHITE PICS

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer Dark Angels Macragge tactical squad. A closer look at these models. Hopefully you can see them in more detail individually. My camera was overheating in the hot weather and with the lights on. Here are all the unique models in the unit - Heavy Weapons, Special Weapons, Sergeant and Squad Leader. 

Here are the monopose, although I think there are actually two poses in here.

Sergeant Vaan, I dunno the name just popped into my head. The freehand text is awful... but I could not believe I managed to get his eyes done. No splodges of white or black and the pupils almost look dead centre.

 

 

Plasma Cannon heavy weapons. Naturally the orange plasma glow was one of the last things I did as it goes over the top of the Blessed Verdigris. I was really pleased with the result. It's always a bit hit and miss, but certainly from a distance I think it's a hit. At the same time, I also did all the underside of my Ravenwing Talonmaster, as the levitation nodes are plasma powered [in my army anyway 😉]. I'll share that update soon as it's one of the next jobs in progress.

 

 

The Las-Cannon, once again using the las-coils as red glass insulators. They'll match the ones on my Old Skool Predator and it's good to get the practice in as I will be doing the same on my Knight Preceptor Las-Impulsor.

 

 

Flamer Special Waepons marine. Hopefully you can see that litany script that my marines usually mark on their armour has been done with a little more panache. I tried to get it to look like cursive italicised text, to give it that handwritten look. Some it works really well on I think, the Las-Cannon guys knee is quite cool.

 

 

Brother Balor, where do I come up with these names? Anyway, he's a Squad Leader, he has a Terminator Honour badge on his back-pack [in Ferron Proxima stone]. I figure he may have been some veteran, even in the Deathwing, hence the broken sword badge on his right shoulder too. Why he is not the Sergeant is as yet a mystery to me. But I like the idea that despite his previous elebvated status he is back with some of the outer circle guys, maybe to better observe their behaviour and ensure loyalty and compliance, even under the Sergeant's command... Here you can just about see there is still some Army Painter Anti-Shine frosting. The second picture [top right], side on view, just a alongside the purity seal on his leg there is a pale circle - that was a bubble of varnish. It's not really noticeable but zoomed in and under the lights it shows up.

 

Also, on the last picture, you can see in the crease between the helmet and the targeting lense there is still some pale frosted varnish.

 

There's a tiny bubble of frosting on his right shoulder pad [our left in the front view]. I was rushing when I did it, I could see the paintbrush was making all these bubbles and because it was the end of the bottle it may well have had more matting agent and it was thicker. The bases too don't quite reveal the darkest of the shading I applied because the Anti-shine has frosted it,. Thankfully it's less obvious.

 

 

This one, frosting inbetween the pouches in the final pic. I had gone over most of those creases with some thinned black but clearly I missed some. It was really annoying at the time and a totally deflating. I will have to remember in future it's the most important part, take my time or end up ruining all this effort.

 

 

This one, frosting inbetween the pouches in the final pic, right leg and piping in the 3rd back pic, and the recess in the helmet crest in the second pic. All since fixed with more black but frustrating both for it to happen and I missed the fix before the pics.

 

 

Frosting in the bottom recess of his right shoulder pad, but you can't see it on final side pic - lights and zoom enhance obviously. As does how rough the chapter symbol looks, and I was so proud of my freehand efforts.

 

 

I really don't need to point out the frosting, you can find it if you look hard enough.

 

 

I still love the muzzle size of this Bolter. I had to cut the original off and use plastic lollipop stick for it.

 

 

Anyway what can I take away from all this? Was I devastated by the frosting? No, disappointed yes, but I took a few days off, fixed it. Took the pics, fixed what I'd missed when I saw the pics and probably still missed some. But again my headspace is such that I can take some of these flaws despite how upsetting they should be. They're all done now and boxed off. Who knows if they'll ever even be on the battlefield in anger. They'll be part of this years Armies On Parade but any flaws won't show up in those pics. The fact I am able to overlook them and move on I think is a huge achievement. Striving for perfection can do more harm than good, for me. So 'finished not perfect' still rings true as one of my mottos.