Paint & Grime

How to Paint: House Raven Pt2 ARMIGERS Assemble! 1.        Complete the assembly of your Imperial Knight 2.        Using an acrylic gloss, I prefer Pledge Acrylic Floor Polish (yes the cleaning product), its airbrush ready right out of the giant bottle, give the model a nice solid coat.  Yes you even want to hit the metal.  This will protect your base layers and give it UV protection so it can fight on in the battlefield of the 41 st millennium for years to come…or you know ebay. 3.        Let dry thoroughly, this is usually the last step before I call it a night, though it should be hardened and ready to layer over in about an hour. STICKERS! (or wet slide transfers in the biz) 1.        With larger models we want to add something to the large flat panels, in this case I’m opting for transfers to give a sense of decorum and reg...

How to Paint: Grim Dark House Raven Pt1 A Quick Note on Tools: – My primary paint tool is an airbrush, this is how I quickly lay down base layers, shading and even some weathering.  It’s really good for larger models because you’re going to avoid so many of the headaches that come along with large flat panels like brush strokes, uneven paint, time, etc That being said, in the end you’re still going to need a brush for all that detail work so find a good balance.  My airbrush setup is as follows: Iwata Eclipse HPCS -.50mm 2 Gallon Badger Compressor w/ regulator and water trap 6ft hose Another water trap right before the airbrush (because I live in a humid area) Sub-Assemblies – Knights and larger models in general lend themselves well to sub-assemblies.  It allows you to spray paint or airbrush the larger panels while avoiding overspray onto the ligature and support structures of the knight.  For this build I assembled the chassis, leg...

How to Paint: Martian Terrain and Sector Mechanicus Buildings I glued down the buildings with Gorilla Glue. I Built the ground up with equal parts plaster, cellulose fiber and water by volume. Once dry, I covered that in pebbles, sand and then a grey dry grout mix and soaked everything with rubbing alcohol to break surface tension and then a slurry of pva glue and water to bind all the loose debris. I airbrushed in some of the ground that was not covered with the grey grout mix once everything was dry w/ black and then Crusty Rust enamel wash from AK interactive in a molted pattern. I spread rust colored pigments over large swaths of the ground to create a natural martian looking surface. I had some reference pictures from the NASA missions.  Martian chemical tank with rusty top.  Rust is done with the AK interactive rust and crust shot through an airbrush. I secured all the pigments by spraying everything with rubbing alcohol. I noticed some of the matte varnish ...

Mechanicus Standard Yellow Pt2 This is a follow up to some of the other techniques that I've used to complete my yellow scheme.  I look at the mechanicus army as this interesting hodge-podge of technologically enhanced cyborgs and insane priests with no real homogenious Metal: Vallejo Metal Color - Burnt Iron Vallejo Metal Color - Steel - application should be on high points areas that woul be clean Citadel - 50/50 Nuln Oil and Agrath Earthshade Drybrush - Rub n Buff - Grecian Golden - get rid of almost all product on the brush prior to application you're looking to highlight the edges you don't want huge streaks Drybrush - Rub n Buff - Pewter - Grecian Golden - get rid of almost all product on the brush prior to application you're looking to highlight the edges you don't want huge streaks Gloss Burn Umber Oil Wash remove excess w/ white spirits, should be in deep recesses or AK Interactive Ruststreaks/Streaking Grime for Yellow Vehicles Apply pig...

Mechanicus Standard Yellow Paint Scheme Pt1 A FORWARD TO MY WORK: A note about a vast majority of my painting:  I mostly use an airbrush for all of my basecoats, special effects, shading etc, really as much as I can.  Something you can't use an airbrush for, its just not efficiently possible.  I don't really fancy myself an artist.  I look at myself as more of a craftsmen.  My goal is to produce tabletop+ quality pieces and whole armies in a reasonable amount of time that look great and inspire people.  You'll find that most of my techniques are adapted from the scale model world, for that reason you'll see numerous oil and enamel washes being used, as well as the hairspray chipping technique and color modulation. I chose to do my mechanicus as yellow for the sheer fact that I love the way that yellow weathers and I wanted the mechanicus army I was about to paint to feel like it had seen some action and wasn't the typical red mob of Martian Skittari...

Industrial Bases: I use the Green Stuff World rolling pins, deck plate and mesh. Roll out thin sheets w/ of Sculpey (this is my preferred medium as I can bake and harden it in 15 minutes), downside is it can chip and is white, will need touch ups in the future...I guarantee it Apply bits, I like the idea that my dudes are fighting on an orbital space dock on the ring of iron surrounding Mars or Voss. I try and make that theme work. So no plants, no weeds, just things you'd probably find out there, oil drums, pipes, scrap sludge, slime, fuel leaks, steam leaks, etc. Prime Black  Vallejo - Metal Color Burnt Iron - highlight interesting areas Reaper - Harvest Brown - Lightly mist over burnt iron, you don't want full coverage, you want to give the sense that rust is taking hold. Reaper - Orange Brown - Intensify some areas of the Harvest brown, this will be fresh rust patches AK Interactive - Rust Streaks - I airbrush this over everything in a light coat (for the love of...