Air Support

Back to my Dark Angels. I always paint in squads or pairs. This way I always complete an entire unit at a time, or, if one is good, two are better, philosophy. Besides, I would prefer similar vehicles or units to appear uniform. Painting two vehicles at a time gets them out quicker. I paint them at the same time, get a similar effect on both, and usually can complete them faster than working on them one at a time. 

This time I added one of each flyer for the Ravenwing. I painted them similar to the box version with the wing patterns, but the tail section got the changes. 

The cockpit and pilot were painted first, black with a grey dry brushing, as I was feeling lazy. That, and it's very difficult to see inside clearly. Although, all the panels were painted as well. Looking carefully, you can see the panels have some action on them..

As for the aircraft, to start, I just sprayed the aircraft a light grey, Celestra Grey for the Dark Talon and Ulthuan Grey for the Nephilim. For the bomber, I then added a light outline of where I wanted the Lightning effect to be. That was then added with short streaks of white, that's all. The fighter, after the grey was laid down, I then used a very thin spray of fenris grey to get the blue. Afterwards on both, I then masked off the 'feathers' and the painted tail, and covered them in black. One thing I did do more of, was to use the glazes more. The blue on the stasis chamber was a couple layers of the blue glaze. It tended to pool in the crevices and left the center not as dark. The emulations of the box pictures extended to the bomb. Definitely not the same, but you can see the similarities. I will work on this more. 

                                     

The bases required extra effort. To ensure a good bond, I glued the clear stand to the base first. The clear plastic was then covered with tamiya tape and the base was loaded up with debris and sand to my regular standards. With the stands complete covered, the bases were primed black and painted using my regular steps. The stands were still taped up when I hit them with the gloss/matt sprays, then it was removed. The bases still need some static grass of sorts to give it more layers. 

With them complete, I still haven't used them. I'm getting more into the mode of a happy painter than avid gamer. Though when I do play, I know my armies look good!

Leman Russ Punishers

In order to create space in my backlogged inventory, I have been working on the many kits that I have accumulated over the years. I am now working on some Russ kits I got back when Apocalypse came out. GW had a great deal on a three Russ squadron for $100 or so. Sucker me, I picked it up even though I didn't have an Imperia... Astra Militarum army. Anyway, these kits are for other variants that I will post in the near future. What I have finished recently are a pair of Punishers.

Everybody was in to the Executioner with its plasma cannons. I thought the Punisher was getting neglected. Besides what help the Militarum more than multiple shots, besides twin-linked? These have been sitting on my shelves for a couple of years before I grabbed them and put them together.

I went for a bit of Urban camo for these guys. They were primed black as usual, then Mechanicus Standard Grey. I added a touch of a lighter grey and hit the larger plates and sprayed vertical lines down the side for some pre-weathering. I then added some irregular shapes cut out from my Tamiya tape. Administratum Grey was then used. A touch of Pallid flesh (now Wyche Flesh) was added and again hit large open areas and added vertical stripes again, but trying to hit the same stripes I used for the darker grey to enhance the effect. It's difficult to see the result as it's quite subtle. Then decals, base colors, a coat of gloss spray, then the weathering. 

Just as for the Macharius, I followed many of the tips from the Forge World book.

Red-Tailed Mustang

A good friend of mine, who is also a World War Two buff, really likes the North American P-51 Mustang.

 For his birthday, I decided to put one together for him. I gave myself a week to complete it. I haven't done an historic model for some time, so this was a challenge of sorts. I grabbed a Tamiya kit. I always remembered Tamiya to be of high quality way back when. 

First off, it came out pretty good, not knowing. All the yellow and red was airbrushed, along with the green. The kit came with decals for the yellow stripes and red nose, sans propeller. I decided it was best to paint most everything, as trying to match a decal color will most likely not work. The yellow was eyeballed. The red nose, I just cut out the decal and made a stencil with some Tamiya tape.  The tail was taped off also. All the interior work was done by hand, cockpit, wheel wells, etc. I also didn't have a basic Olive drab for the nose. Probably came out too light to be accurate. I probably should have used a brighter/lighter silver, but I'm pleased with the overall result. 

After researching some photos online, I must say the model has some flaws. The kit is more of a beginner package with basic colors listed for the cockpit interior    2-1 yellow-green for example. The landing light inside the wheel well seems quite large too. The landing gear also seemed more fragile than most. 

Decal-wise, the wing insignia had to go over an airspeed indicator on the bottom and a raised slot on the top. I can't say I succeeded with the top, the most visible. I wasn't thinking ahead, didn't realize, and tried to muscle it on there, failed. Fortunately, GW Midnight Blue appears to be a great match for the USAAF insignia blue! The bottom, I knew about and slit the round part about a 1/4" and slid that around the indicator before pressing out the bubbles. I was disappointed it didn't come with kill markings though. 

What I did like was the pre-cut masks for the canopy that was included, bonus! Prevents unnecessary cuts onto the clear plastic. The instructions gave nice diagrams for parts placement and pre-construction painting. It was a nice easy model to assemble. I would rate it 7 out of 10 with 5-6 being average. 

Macharius Vulcan

I am trying to stick to a schedule of completing a unit per week. Since I finished the Dark Vengeance models, I've been focusing on building the items I already have in house. I am sticking to a moratorium of no purchasing until I clean out many of the shelves/boxes I have of unfinished kits. The Macharius Vulcan was ordered a few years ago and has been sitting around sitting in bubble wrap for some time. Since I've gathered more confidence in my weathering abilities, I figured let's go ahead and pop this guy out, and try a few things. 

For the size and detail, the model itself came in just a few pieces with the body being a top and bottom. The sides/tracks were separate parts and the turret was one piece as well. The extra fiddly parts were the twin-linked heavy stubber (three parts), the two exhaust pipes, three pieces for each sponson (flamer or heavy bolter or stubbers), engine cover, two cupola covers, and the extra tracks sitting at the back of the tank. Being resin, there was some warped spots with the stubber a bit crooked (still), and the chassis itself. I soaked the entire body into very hot water and fit it together until it cooled. It went together quite easily afterward. 

I wanted to stick to a basic grey. Using my airbrush, over a black primer, I sprayed Mechanicus Standard Grey, then added a touch of Fortress Grey, then a light flesh color. I tried to follow the steps utilized in the Forge World Masterclass's Earthshaker Emplacement. I then painted basic colors onto any metal parts or items of such, weathered it, and sealed with a gloss coat. An oil wash was then used and dragged down the side of the tank or blended on the horizontal surfaces with a brush using thinner. Since the vehicle was sealed, the original paint is protected from the thinner and the gloss really helps the oil paint to spread freely over the model. 

The main thing to practice with weathering is to do it in layers. Complete a layer, let it dry, then add another layer, and maybe another if desired. A single step of weathering can have a good effect, but if you were to add another and another layer, you then get a more realistic look and feel to the vehicle. Much like I stress the three layer effect of painting, base-shade-highlight, you want to follow multiple layers with vehicles and tanks too. Part of this was accomplished with the lightening of the base colors during the original airbrushing. The sponge effect was used to add paint chips and the weathering with oil paints and pastels over the top of that. 

Finishing a tank of this size and detail to this level really encourages me. I experimented with more weathering. Future floor wax was used to get an oily effect as well. What you really want to accomplish with each kit is to try a new technique or work on a difficult one to push and increase your abilities. With what I gained here, I plan to bring out and build my three Baneblade variants I've been sitting on since not too long after Apocalypse first came out. But first, I have to finish my Command Squads...

Arvus Lighter

I've been dabbling with the idea of FFGs Dark Heresy RPG. If/when I start, I want a flyer to be used for theatrical effect. Unfortunately, Forge World no longer makes the Aquila Lander. This would have gone great with the crashed lander terrain. So I settled for the next best thing, the Arvus Lighter. This is a simple little flyer with no weapons of any kind. It's basically a flying truck. I painted mine up with a bit of dash with arrows on the wings. I also painted up the pilots helmet to resemble my own that I painted this past December. 

I used Astronomicon/Administratum Grey as the base. A drop of white for the panels all over a black primer. Trying to leave the panel lines dark. Charadon Granite/Dryad Bark was sponged on for wear spots. Oil washes was used extensively inside and out. It is so much easier with oil washes to get much if the weathering going. Give it a try at least once.  

On the vehicle, I pretty much had everything pinned, the wings to the engines, engines to the fuselage, fuselage halves together, and rear landing legs to the body. I used large paper clips for the pins, no little ones this time. Overall it went together fairly nice. There was some warped items, but utilizing hot water, I was able to get a desired shape. 

Vindicators

I've had a pair of Vindicators sitting in boxes for a few years. Now that I'm trying to stick to a unit a week, I decided to paint them both up simultaneously. Technically it'll be two units, but I know it's cheating. The two new ones are the plastic kits. I have an original Forgeworld from about ten years ago. So these will make for a Linebreaker Squadron in Apocalypse, if it's still an option. Anyway, here they are.

And for comparison, here is the Forgeworld version. There really aren't many changes. It's mostly a straight port over from resin to plastic.

The only differences are the screen in the back is now deeper, the gun now pivots up/down and the extra armor where the lights sit. Although, my colors are different. Since GW stopped making Dark Angels Green I've moved on to Army Painter's Angel Green that I like quite a bit. Comparison shot

Deathwing

As I was painting up the Dark Vengeance set, I got to thinking of adding to my Dark Angels more.

Now, I have all but a squad of Deathwing Knights and a Command Squad to complete my Deathwing. Currently, I have three complete squads of terminators with two accompanying Landraiders. 

To make the terminators easier, I sprayed them in three layers, a primer of black, a layer of Baneblade Brown at an downward angle, and then a final coat of Ushtabi/bleached bone (of which I have plenty) from a higher angle.

This style of painting allowed for more of a natural shadowing to take place. The next step was a dry brush with Vallejo game color Bonewhite and a final highlight of GW Screaming Skull. I used a brown Micron pen for the crevices   I'm all about the quick and easy way. From there it's just standard gun colors or whatever details added on afterwards. 

The Landraiders were done in a similar fashion as the termies. The only difference is when spraying on the bleached bone, I ensured that I got a good coat on all the big flat spaces, the tops, the panels on the sides, doors. As you use an airbrush, you don not always get a big spray that covers everything like the cans do. It's a much smaller area that can leave for some of the previous layer to show through. This greatly enhances the shadowing effect. These too were dry brushed just like the termies, just no highlighting or use of micron pen. Then a Glosscoat, decals applied, another Glosscoat to seal the decals, then the weathering. Using the sponge effect, I first added a few spots of Vallejo Ivory for superficial chips. I then switched to GW Charadon Granite/Dryad Bark for deeper chips, trying to overlay the previous layer in spots to give depth. Just like the Chimeras, I broke out the oil paints and applied Van Dyke Brown then softened with thinner and pulled the brush down along the sides to give a rusty rain look. 

Oh yeah, the interior was painted completely before construction. 

That gives me about 2000pts in Deathwing alone before adding HQs. Possibly the smallest army you can field outside of Greyknights.