Saturday 12 December 2015

Imperial Knight - Cerastus in manufactorum pt 18 - TO DONE!

The 24th of July was the first proper post I ever did on the Cerastus, five months late and this baby is complete. It's one of the benefits of having a blog in that you can look back at those WiPs and remind yourself of the effort put in to reach this stage.


It's certainly worth projecting that feeling forwards on your next project, reminding yourself that in two or three months whatever enterprise it may be will complete and shiny alongside this effort. Of course that's me I know a few people who can crack these sorts of things out in a week or so but it's great to have one of those big project feelings, like I got with my Tyranid fortifications.


Just in case you're wondering I don't ever envisage going much bigger than a Knight, I'm not one of these Warlord fans, although I do like the Chaos Reaver and Warhounds but I think I'd rather have these guys. You can put a marin nect to them and they look suitably impressive and don't take up the whole of my shed.


Anyway, there's not a huge amount to say about this that hasn't already been said, there are still some decisions I could make regarding weathering powders, extra purity seals and banners but I want to progress some other projects first.


And as an exercise in decals, well although I think I could have achieved something similar, perhaps been more comfortable doing so I also think the need to damage the pristine decals was an easier decision to make because they were perfect - so I got another experience in the process a twofer.


I think this manages to capture the dynamic pose pretty well.



The eyes work too.


You can just see the scratched chest pieces and hardly any of that pipe work underneath, but I know it's there!


The OSL worked really well here, I managed to find another darker orange in my stash of paints to help add some more tones.


The view from the back, very metallic, similar to my Dreadnought in that the front is liveried up but the back view is all metal.


Close ups on the plasma reactors, more win.


And views of the feet and how the shin guards look when in place.



Couldn;t really get the lighting right in these, too much orange reflections.


Yep, that's not working ;)


Nevermind, you've seen it before.


He really has been in the wars, I should probably have scruffed the brass in places too.



The back vent wasn't the greatest, I think Ishould have done it bronze too, the glow effect doesn't really work on top of a similar colour but I think I salvaged it, just.


I'm really happy with the centre of the shield. I add the gloss varnish as it helps accentuate the glow effect. When you move around light catches on it so you can never quite tell if it's the painted reflection or the actual reflection.


Not sure it's how anyone else does lighting, or if it's 'accurate' but I think it's an interesting effect.


I was pleased with the end-result for the lance, although I have just looked at some of the WiP pics and I do  wish I'd been able to capture both the glow effect and the patina underneath but it was a bit of a salvage job after it went south a touch.


And here we go the Big Green Stamp of Approval

 

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |

Friday 11 December 2015

splelings

I'd just liek to... OK case in point before I've even begun to explain this post. Can I please apologise for the quality of blog post spellings recently. I know I don’t have to apologise but I do try and take a lot of care to get things right but I’m seeing and increase in errors and it annoys the hell out of me. In my defence [and I’m sure you’ll all disagree I need one] it’s not the spelling that is at fault, it’s my typing skills that have begun to atrophy, not sure why.

I’ve definitely noticed that I keep using semi-colons instead of apostrophes, they;re next to each other on the keyboard but for many of the other mistakes it’s transposition of letters. Exisiting is another word I consistently get wrong but there are quite a few others too. I do speel check and re-read and often read again after publication and then fix my mistakes, I;ve tried to leave a lot of those mistakes in this post [had you noticed, well I;ve picked them out in red so you can?] so you can see just how bad it is and that ordinarily I’ll then fix 90% of them while I write [which is time-consuming in itself - going back and forward].

Anyway, I know there’s no need to apologise but it annoys me that it’s not better and it’s even more annoying that I’ve noticed it getting worse. I hope you all can be patient with it, I;ve no real excuse aside from the reason I’m probably rushing too much with my typing, maybe my hands aren’t what they used be, I’m not getting younger afterall ;) Thanks for your patience.

P.S. as for grammar... well that's an issue in itself and I ain;t got time for dat!

Thursday 10 December 2015

Imperial Knight - Cerastus in manufactorum pt 17

17 blog posts in and these are the last pictures I've taken before the Lancer is offically 'To Done'. I've mentioned there will be a banner and I may well add some purity seals here and there, maybe as awards for impressive feats on the battlefield but essentially after these pics the Lancer is complete.


These two shots show some extra orange that's been added to the 'hot' areas, it's really helped the OSL look more like what I was after. I've hardly used any yellow in these areas as I wanted it to be clearly orange and the objective force field barriers came up too yellow, so that was definitely a lesson learned.


The chest plates have now been glued in place, I love what I managed to do with it, much more reserved with the damage than elsewhere. A little annoyed that the left panel [as you look at it] is slightly higher up which makes the white stripe not mirror with the right as well as it should. Super critical but when you take pains to do something right and then find out the positioning negates that effort...


I do love what I achieved here and that I decided to do mirrored stripes as it was not the original intent but a decision well made. However, sculpt wise I do find it bulkier than I would like. Obviously you can choose not to put these on but that was never going to happen. I just think they could have been tailored [literally], perhaps the under arm areas trimmed down a bit, to make the torso more lithe as it appears a little top heavy now. But the armour is there to protect so without it would make little sense [although you could say that about a lot of the 40k universe]. Alternatively they could create 'force' armour similar to the gauntlet shield with emitters built into the ribbing. That would allow you to keep the athletic nature of the Lancer, echo the gauntlet shield and also still see the amazing detail underneath the armour plates, it'd be very mechanicum too.


The eyes on the Lancer are tiny, I think I did a great job on them but being so small it's very difficult to see them but they're definitely up to/beyond my expectation.


I have been able to fix the lance OSL, it's nothing fancy, I just managed to smooth the transitions and reach a glowing point. I think I could include some 'lightning' effects over the top of it to make it a little more interesting but for the time being I'm happy to leave it as is. I've cogitated, deliberated and agonised for months on this and I need to say 'To Done!' and move on to something new, else I'll make mistakes that don't need to be made.


This has been a really great project, I've loved all the comments and support throughout and I'm glad so many of you have persevered with the lengthy process [like you've any other option ;) ]. I should have the final pictures taken soons, so look forward to that but the big question is - what's next...?

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

Tuesday 8 December 2015

Imperial Knight - Cerastus in manufactorum pt 16

Whilst bemoaning my lack of a decent macro function on phone I realised I should do something about it and found a macro/micro camera app that's achieved these detailed shots. I'm really impressed as the lighting is OK too, no filters to force legibility. I've battle damaged the carapace, so all the weathering is now done and it'll be lighting effects next. I did far more damage than I'd intended, just got carried away. I expected there to be less on top as this is a big guy and folk won't be able to get up top; so who is scratching and damaging the carapace? Well clearly someone much bigger so I'll have to work that out at some point


I added some more verdigris on the feet, which I think works really well now. I will have to debate whether to apply Secret Weapon miniatures weathering powders. I always imagined this thing kicking up a lot of dust but having covered a lot of the textured metallics with interesting patina am I really about to then cover the patina AND metallics with red and orange dust?


The OSL has started to go on and although I'm quite chuffed with the radial pieces I'm less convinced of the central white area. I'm trying inverse highlights [sort of ] as per Dan Grundy's suggestion and it's definitely working in some places.


But it's hit and miss in others, like the rear view illustrates here, the butt generator looks cool but the back power plants a bit suspect. I'll try and put some more orange into it to rescue it and the eye lenses also need doing.


Having used Mecharius Solar orange for the initial glow I was really impressed how it washed over the model but wished I'd added white to the glow area first as the paint left exposed bronze areas underneath which were dark instead of light. So I then applied white hoping the next highlight wash of pumpkin would fix it, sadly I was wrong as you can see on the two examples on the left and middle, whereas the right vent is a little more what I was after. Still, I'm undaunted and think I can fix it.


The lance tip is seriously stuffed though, fixable but I've pretty much covered all my patina texture and it looks less like a glowing super-heated electric shock lance as some rusty spoon covered in Korma sauce!


Have no fear, I'll fix it though and to be positive despite this set back is an achievement in itself. It's really close to completion now and as I'd flitted between a lot of projects initially and then focused primarily on this I'll have to start looking at some of those other projects to take forward as a group again and then find my focus or choose a project and deliver it or just start something new for the giggles. Another decision but it's one I'll easily resolve once the knight is done.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

Sunday 6 December 2015

Imperial Knight - Cerastus in manufactorum pt 15

Right, let's 'foot this ship up', or rude words to that effect! Having carefully applied my decals it was time to make them all scuffed and damaged. I did apply Army painter Anti-shine to cover the gloss varnish and on some panels Lahmian Medium [as suggested by the guys in the GW tutorials]. I have to say the Lahmian Medium is more effective at matting the gloss finish, it's coverage is also better but there are still areas where the gloss shows through. It's no doubt difficult for the medium to find purchase on the smooth surface but I'm sure it'll be fixed with a subsequent coat or Anti-shine. As for the decal, I have figured out why I'm not 100% convinced - the wonderful tecture created by the Vermilion craft acrylic doesn't show through the decal on the Cog. If this had been hand painted you'd have seen that. I've shaded it a little bit but it's still overly bright white, the scratches came out really well, especially the way the paint looks to have smudged. The litany across the top of the guard is a bit dubious but I do think it looks a little like chains so that scotches any concerns.


The other side got a bit fiesty. I think I was overzealous on the highlights on the damage, they're a bit too chunky when viewed close-up. Afterwards I felt I'd rushed it and been clumsy but as the previous comments have made me realise I'm being critical because I am looking at it close up. But it has made it more interesting and the damage on the shins would be considerably more given the way it smashes through terrain and stomps on everything,


And the damage on the chevrons, ooh! If I can mange to replicate this range of highlights on my Ravenwing I'll be a happy man. I'd toyed with the idea of using the red edges as highlight but went for tints of the top layer of paint. I think that makes some logical sense but I'm sure there could be red in there too as it gouges through the Red Oxide Primer the knight is coated in.


Chest plates also got damaged up. I'm still wishing there were more markings and bits on it but I don't know what so this is it and I'm really happy with the result.


And I moved on to my patina, the lower legs of the Lancer. Now some of this weathering is completely wrong, I'm pretty sure it's not going to form inside those ball joints but it's a minor anachronism and only the most anal individual would notice it [just me then ;) ] Some areas had extra weathering on, that usually works best where there is more shading on the metal, the turquoise really shows up against the darker areas but I was bold on the toes.


The is was still wet and I've added more Turquoise in those hollowed areas. I see this as a central core with another metal forged around it so some areas weather quicker than the rest.


And more weathering, the entire lower section is done now and I was particularly judicious on the pelvic region. I went from a thinned turquoise to drybrushing and I really like it.


Until it gets covered up by the groin guard! That still needs the edges weathering though, but it is glued on! That's right I'm starting to actually add pieces together.


But you can still make out some of the great patina I'd created. The hip joints are less weathered just because I thought I'd done a pretty good job on the metallics and wanted to retain as much of that texture as possible.


So, it's all coming together now, a little more battle damage on the carapace and fist. then it's lighting FX on the lance, eyes and plasma areas. Then varnishing and some extra details on the base and umm and ahh about the missing banners...

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

Friday 4 December 2015

Imperial Knight - Cerastus in manufactorum pt 14

Another decision made, although I wanted a predominantly red Knight every time I placed the front shin guard in place the whole red panel looked too much. I didn't really want to chevron it like the right guard as that wouldn't work with the planned AdMech cog decal I wanted. So I just went black, like House Raven. I know I've introduced white in places but adding highlights as I did to the chevrons has really tied this together. I love the slightly textured nature, it's almost looks like it's been coated in leather. I wonder if I can achieve this on my Ravenwing. Regardless I'll definitely try and find a way to use these craft acrylics to texture up my next Knight.


I then gloss varnished the shin guard and applied the House Raven symbol and an AdMech cog. I'm not 100% convinced now, the decals look too perfect. It was definitely worth doing and the models is far from ruined but I'll be finding ingenious ways to try and make them look less pristine.


I may be just a little hasty in my assessment though, it could just be the gloss finish. With some shading and maybe overpainting the cog so it isn't pure white, battle damage and a matt varnish it'll blend it in. The sad thing is I probably could have painted that cog freehand, and I'd have retained the lovely texture underneath too.


I've just spotted this isn't quite perfectly aligned as I'd thought, just a degree or so clockwise but the decals are fiddly. Still I'll weather this in too.


I also wanted to add some numbers on to the chest plate. Big numbers always look great on things. Not sure it's as effective as I'd hoped as the decal numbers are a bit measly but it adds some more interest and if I weather it up it won't stand out as much


Having spent a significant amount of time applying all the extra decals and being satisfied with the results but not exactly overwhelmed I decided to delay no longer my bronze weathering. All I wanted to do was the Power Lance, but I managed to do the carapace too. The actual realism in the verdigris is suspect. I'm still not sure exactly how it forms, I always imaging it'll be worse in areas where rain pools. Or, where the surface tension of rain would mean it was wet longest. So, for instance, you can see the top of the Lance has less patina than the lower edges. It's probably far from accurate but I definitely think it works and amongst the mild disappointment with the decals the verdigris has lifted my spirits.


I wanted less weathering on the carapace, principally because I thought I'd done a pretty bang up job on the metallics so I didn't want to cover it all up. So I was more sparing in the application with concentrations only around the rivets, creases and the bottom edges where it might pool slightly.


It reminds me of the sensitive weathering Marc van Holst did on his Iron Snakes. I'm pretty sure my process is a poor imitation, I'm just thinning down turquoise but I'm really happy with the results.


The only other thing of note was I tried using some of my new Anita's turquoise. Believe it or not I'm still using the same pot of paint I bought 5 years ago that has covered every nid I've ever painted, including the fortifications. It hasn't quite run out so I only occassionally dip into the new supply Evan S got for me. I'd already noticed the formulaiton is slightly different, it's not as opaque, even though it sounds thicker when I shake it, it's just a shade lighter and when watered doesn't quite behave in the same way for verdigris. It's a small annoyance I'll have to come to terms with eventually but for now it was back to my trusty pot [while it still lasts].

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18

Wednesday 2 December 2015

'nids part 181 - 30 Stealers


Although this looks like very little progress I have actually finished the red Planet Basing on all these sans bonewhite chips. This was after the first pass of Vermilion


And subsequent second and third highlight stages, in fact there may even be some pure pumpkin in here.


I'm definitely pleased I mixed up the two highlight batches a while ago and used some old Citadel paint pots to store them in. It's not only helped with this but my Knight too. It's also handy that the paints I used for basing - the Vermilion craft acrylic and the Pumpkin Docrafts are both cheap and plentiful. Although these paints are probably not best for using on your models, for basing it's ideal.


I see a lot of folk asking on groups and message boards about paint and I'm definitely of the opinion to use what works and what you're comfortable with. You only have to look at my Valejo Dark Angels green to see that although it's of no use as an opaque paint it can alter a base coat quite dramatically. And although I'll never use Seraphim Sepia to wash my models if I ever want some crusty powdery weathered effect to screw up my miniature then I know where to go!

Anyway, the next step for these involves the return of why I actually hate painting Tyranids!