Ravenwing Stencil

I was painting up some Ravenwing speeders and wanted to do something extra for the flying base. I could add some texture or sand to the base, but Sammael's speeder should have a bit more. So I added the ravenwing symbol to the base.

I found a simple Ravenwing symbol online and added several of them to a word doc and printed out a page. I tested it out by taping it to a plastic top and cut out the shape with a sharp exacto knife. An example can be seen below.

It came out a bit fuzzy as the paint was able to get under the paper. So I then laid down a couple strips of 18mm Tamiya tape onto a ceramic tile and cut the symbol out onto that. I then transferred it to the bottom of the clear base. I could have just as easy used a cutting board instead of the tile. Here you can see what was cut out and tape that was used. 

Spraying the base white first puts the symbol onto the base. As you want to see the symbol coming up through the base, you must do this first. It's opposite of what is normally done, ie. spraying a design into a finished product. The top of the base was masked off and then black was sprayed onto the rest of the base. Give the finished bottom of the base a coat or two of gloss coat to protect it from the scraping it'll receive as it's moved across the tabletop. 

You could do the same for others too such as Battle Fleet Gothic, assault troops, Tau Drones, or anything else using a flying stand. 

Side Tracked

I got a bit off hobby last week. I had a track day planned for Roebling Road in Savannah, GA and wanted to paint up my helmet. I'm tired of the basic black, white, or silver. So, I attempted to paint mine up similar to my car color.

If you ever plan to do this to a helmet, YOU MUST mask everywhere the spray may get to the liner. Else, the spray will eat away the styrofoam liner rendering the helmet useless. 

Starting with my silver Stilo Rally Helmet, I sanded it down, masked off the rubber trim and padding, and primed it white. Letting it sit overnight I then used Tamiya 3/4" masking tape. I lined up three rows and marked it every 3/4" with a vertical line. I very carefully laid each one down onto the helmet, beginning with the middle piece as shown. The Tamiya tape is the savior here. It is just tacky enough to stick, but not too much where it will peel the paint off.

Using a flexible metal ruler, I carefully cut the tape along the vertical lines I made and removed every other piece. After that step, I sprayed it black, added an extra 1/2" piece of tape to the sides and masked it all. 

That is when I proceeded to paint the helmet the main color. Using Tamiyas Racing Blue spray cans, I went through 3 of them to get a thorough coat. 

I let that sit untouched for an hour before removing the centerline of tape that you can see at the top of the helmet above. 

To protect the helmet, I gave it acouple coats of Testors Gloss and then several more coats of Krylon Polyurethane to protect it. Word of caution with the Krylon spray: you must be careful to not let it build up, it must be thin even layers. Otherwise, the colors underneath will yellow. Nice if you want something to look antique, not if you want a sharp white. 

The final outcome. Once I precut the masking tape away from the helmet, there was still some spots where you can see the white primer. This can be fixed with a slight black edging to blend it with the rubber border. I should have done this a month ago, not three days prior. It came out nice and many thought I used a sticker for the checkerboard.

Oh yeah, here's my ride!

Updates: Dark Vengeance

So what have I been doing? I have decided to take it upon myself and completely paint all the models in the Dark Vengeance set. I've been sitting on it since it came out. Here are some quick picks of the results.

I went for the Emperor's Children scheme. The back of the Champion was done with glazes over a white base. An experiment that came out fine. The Chaos forces just have so much detail to them that I really enjoyed painting them... What does that mean for my 'All Imperial' forces?

And with the Dreadnought, I decided to go the hard way and put more skin on it. He's the one that came out the best.

With the Dark Angels, I used the standard Dark Angels Green. I still had a bit left. The Caliban green just isn't right. I even went out and got a quart of what was remaining matched so I can still add onto my force. The only change I made was to use one of my old backpacks for the Sgt. This way I can give him a matching banner stating what squad he is with.

I did have issues withe Terminators in that they do not match what I currently have. The newer ones are lighter. They still came out good, but there is a slight difference when compared to my originals from 2005. The way I did these was with an old can of Bone White then highlighted with Vallejo bone white and ivory. Much easier than, the same spray, wash, repaint, and then highlight. I'm all about the quickest, most effective way to completion.

The Bikes are completed too. Although, I had to add to the three that it came with. I'll post pics of those in the next update.

Mordheim...

So what ever happened to the campaign? Well, it was tight just to get the eight weeks in. Real life interrupted and more important things got in the way. 

It was planned to get another six weeks in. Since then I think we have all met up again three to four times since late July. The overall winner went to the Wolves of Winter, Christina's Middenheimers. So that's that. 

Maybe, this Spring, I will run a Vampire Campaign based on Mordheim rules. The rules can be found here: The Vampire Hunters

The best part is the campaign is cooperative. The GM runs the undead with the players working to defeat the bad guys. 

Soon I will post what I've been up to the last few months. 

Thanks. 

Vengeance Weapon Batteries

In the process of painting up some of the Vengeance Weapon Batteries. They are part of the GW Apocalypse release. Very simple models with very few parts and no spruces. I purposely left all the gothic add on off of the models. I want them to look more like field fortifications than armed pieces of architecture.

I still have a few steps remaining and will post finished photos of them.

The finished product. With some weathering and a layer of Testors Dullcoat

Four Color Camo Scheme on Chimeras

Two completed Chimeras in 4 color scheme

This time I want to show you how to do a four color camo scheme. It's actually quite simple. Even more so if you have an airbrush. If you do not, then do not worry, you can do the same thing with standard spray cans. Here is the final look of my Chimeras. I would love to show you what I had envisioned from the first Imperial Armor, but I don't want to cause any issues with the big guys in Nottingham.

There are a few rules to remember when using spray cans. These are basic pointers, if you already know these skip to the next paragraph. You want to spray the paint on lightly. Spray the paint on from side to side or up/down. You also want to begin spraying before you actually get to the model and carry through till you completely pass the model. Keep the can about a foot away from the model, too close can be too thick, too far can lead to it drying too soon, very not good. Check the humidity in the air, this too can cause bad things to happen with the paint.

I first primed the vehicles with black. Any brand of black will do, although I used Army Painter. This is just a base coat for the paint to adhere to. This initial layer was left to dry overnight. I then used a grey. In my case it was the remainder of my Adeptus Battlegrey, now Mechanicus Standard Grey. I also used Reaper Ash Grey later on for other vehicles. I tried to give the tank a good coverage of the grey. I wasn't too intent on making sure every nook was painted. As I put other layers on, they should get those locations I missed. In addition, having some of the black, or other future colors, peeking through gives it some variety. While this layer was drying, I laid out a strip of Tamiya Masking tape of about 8-10 inches in length.

I then randomly placed the tape onto the tank. The designs can be completely up to you. Be creative if you wish. Cut holes into them to let other layers through. Go round, or add more than 4 sides to each piece. You can vary the sizes from small to large. These will mask the grey under the tape from any other colors that we may put on. When it is finally done and all the tape is removed, the grey will have the appearance of being the last color put onto the tank. When the tape is placed onto the tank, be sure to burnish the edges down to prevent the future layers from seeping under the tape. For this you can use most anything that is smooth and rounded. I used a sculpting tool. Once I was happy with the placement, I proceeded to add the next layer of paint. The next layer happened to be leftover Tamiya Desert Yellow in a spray can. Tallarn Sand is a good replacement. I sprayed this onto the tops and sides of the tank. I didn't go for the bottom of the tank or the bottom of the 'wings' either. Then while that layer was drying, I again got the tape out and cut more designs. I then airbrushed on Graveyard Earth, which is now replaced by Steel Legion Drab. I got the tape out again, but this time I went for varied stripes of tape. Another point, try to have your tape pass over, contact, or in some way contact your previous pieces of tape.

Finally, the last layer of paint was a dark green. I went back to a spray can of Army Painter. I want to point out one thing here. Ultimately, you want to use a spray paint that you also have in bottle form. If you have to do any touchups for any reason, you want the colors to match. This is one of the reasons why using an airbrush is preferred over a spray can. This last layer I tried to get a good coverage over all the tank. In the real world, this layer would usually be the base layer that all the other colors are then added onto.

I let this layer dry after approximately 30 minutes and proceeded to remove the tape carefully. Using an exacto knife to lift an edge on a mask piece, I removed it with tweezers. Here you will see that around the first pieces of tape that there could be raised spots where the paint has built up. You can break these down with a fine sandpaper.  

The next step I took was to complete any extra paining. The guns were painted and washed. The pouches were painted and washed too, the shovels, etc. I then sealed it with a light layer of gloss and applied decals, sealing it again. The gloss coat allows for the decals to settle easier. In addition, the weathering layer is much easier with a smooth coat. 

Using oil paints for weathering is the part that gives most people pause. As they work so much differently than the standard acrylics, many people don't like to step out of their established comfort zone. In this case it was extremely simple. Get a can of turpenoid and a small tube of Van Dyke Brown or even Burnt Umber. Squeeze out a small amount of the paint. I put mine into the lid of an old jar and poured out some turpenoid to create a wash. You may need to experiment here to get the consistency you like. Then, using a detail brush just touch around the rivets with your wash. The paint will fill in the area around the rivet like magic. It'll make you wonder why you never tried it in the first place! Even better, if you went to far or don't like how it came out in some spots, you can wet a qtip with turpenoid and just wipe it away. Here is where the gloss coat really helps you out. Another trick you can try is to dampen a flat brush and lightly drag it down the sides of the vehicle pulling the paint down to create a nice effect akin to rain washing down the side.

Knowing these simple to use tricks, you can change things up and try different combinations. Go for a striking color shame if you wish. This can also be used to great effect of Tau and Eldar craft as well. Imagine a large dragon template cut out in tape and placed onto the edge of a Wave Serpent.

Mordheim Week Eight

Town Cryer Week 8 click here

Finally, our week eight arrived! After about two months, we were able to get another turn in. And this time, the bands Warband Ratings really played a part. The Temple Guardians had the highest rating and chose to pass on the initiative. In our case, this reset the order of movement, forcing the teams with the lowest rating to move first. Resulting in the Temple Guardians going last. All of this led to a huge scrum near the middle of the board with Ed, cajoling three of the other players into the large four-way battle. 

I only had one table setup for the large battle. That was no problem. The only issue was, knowing how Armageddon games go, and large numbers of players in RPGs too, the game tends to last at least twice as long. By the time we had to call the game due to time and others having to leave, I think they were able to get in only four turns each. We were going to leave it up and pick up next week, yet I had plans for the campaign in the weeks to come and just called it later in the week. Oh, the grumblings I heard as everyone said 'they got hosed!' They will get over it. As I knew the Lizardmen were going to rout on their turn and seeing the battle as it stood, I saved all quite a bit of time.

Goblins on the March, with skinks!

Charge of the Cold-Bloods!

Hold the Line!

We still haven't rolled for the injuries for the Lizardmen as of the writing of this post. There may be a big change in the Power Ratings. The Temple Guardians did have at least fives losses with one of them being the new Hired Sword Ogre Bodyguard, the cursed one...