Saturday, April 14, 2012

Getting Basic Part 2 - Painting a Flying Stand

In Getting Basic Part 1, we discussed the construction and detailing of a flying stand suitable for a fairly large Forge World model, the Tau Tigershark. This flying stand can be used for any number of the Forge World flying models, though I would suggest if you use these techniques for a Thunderhawk to consider slightly larger raw materials to handle the weight.

In part 2, we will have a look at how this flying stand was painted, describing the colours and basic techniques used, and including lots of photos of the finished product. All of these images are clickable to view in close up so you can see some of the details more clearly. Unless otherwise stated, we are using the name equivalents of the recently replaced Games Workshop paint line if you wish to duplicate this scheme. With the recent Games Workshop paint range name changes, I recommend getting a copy of their colour equivalency chart. The new colours are not perfect matches for the old colours, but close enough that you can get similar results.

When painting the model, the colours were chosen to match those already used on other bases that were made for my friend previously. The base was primed with black using an airbrush and Vallejo brand primer. All of the ruins were then painted with Charadon Granite, then Scorched Earth. This gives the concrete a nice bit of colour as you add highlights of grey to it, making it feel more organic and natural, despite being busted up concrete slabs. These colours were applied with an airbrush and were done in random patterns, to give a more natural effect, though the Charadon Granite was more focussed on the areas which were in shade.


The building and ruined walls, and the immediately surrounding rubble were then painted with Mechrite Red using the airbrush, and then with a large stiff bristled brush, similar to the Games Workshop Tank Brush. This was then followed up with a wash of Devlan Mud, then a wash of Badab Black using the airbrush. Badab Black was also stippled on in various areas to simulate flame, scorch and blast marks, using a combination of air brush and the large brush. The whole base was then given a consistently lightening series of grey coloured dry brushing with the large brush, and the sides of the concrete slabs were picked out in the same grey colours with a Games Workshop Base Coat brush, to simulate that the building itself is concrete, with a painted surface.


The metal pipes, deck plates, hatches, and other details were painted first with a black primer using the airbrush. Care must be taken to avoid too much over spray, but when dealing with ruins, some over spray is acceptable as it can simulate soot or burn marks. This primer coat smoothed them out so that there were no dry brush marks from the earlier highlighting process on the rubble.

They were then stippled with Boltgun Metal, and scorched brown. They were washed heavily with Devlan Mud, then again with Badab Black, though this was targeted in the deepest recesses. Finally Macharius Solar Orange was stippled on lightly over the areas that were already painted Scorched Brown, to simulate orange rust, as if this was an old war zone ruin. This was all done with the same large Tank Brush style brush.



Finally, the Imperial Guard were painted using the same palette of colours as the base to simulate a uniform colour representative of the battleground and to prevent them from being TOO obvious to the eye. The centerpiece is supposed to be the mounted Forge World model, after all.

After a black priming, the uniform fabrics were painted with Charadon Granite and the armour was painted with Mechrite Red. These first base coat layer was done with an airbrush, not worrying about over spray as that was touched up by hand, and details would be hand painted using the Standard Brush.

The fabric was highlighted by adding a touch of Astronomican Grey, and washed with Badab Black. The leather bits were based in Calthan Brown, then given a heavy Devlan Mud Wash. They were then highlighted again with Calthan Brown, and then a final highlight with a mix of Astronomican Grey.


The hard armour was coated in Mechrite Red mixed with Scorched Brown over the pure Mechrite Red base coat. This gives the red a deeper and more vibrant red tone, as Scorched Brown is a very reddish dark brown. This helps the models stand out against the grey hue of normal Mechrite Red, and helps them pop a little bit on the scenery. It was then blended up slightly by layering and feathering with Pure Mechrite Red, then given a Devlan Mud Wash. A final highlight of pure thinned Mechrite Red was blended on for a smooth finish, allowing the first layers to be visible as it was thinned to translucence, thus preventing the grey hue to knock the depth back too much.


The flesh was painted using Tallarn Flesh, washed with Ogryn Flesh Wash, and highlighted with Tallarn Flesh and Astronomican Grey for a dusty and pale look. All of this was done with a Games Workshop Standard Brush.

The Metal bits were painted with Boltgun Metal and a Badab Black wash. It was kept dull to avoid reflection and to look like real gunmetal, and the body of the pistol was painted with pure black, a pure hard highlight of Astronomican Grey to make the edges stronger, and then several heavy washes of Badab Black, which tones down the hard highlights and colour shifts it towards black instead of blue grey.


The blood on the wounded soldier was done in two steps. The first was to use Blood Red and stipple the paint onto the hand, a touch on the face, as well as the belly, to represent a painful gut shot. This red was then darkened with a tiny drop of Badab Black, and thinned down. It was then mixed with a gloss varnish, which creates a suitably gory little transparent red paste that was dabbed on. It was put directly on the wound, but also further away from the wound it is darker on the fabric to simulate blood soaked fabric.

Finally, the eyes were painted with a Games Workshop detail brush. They were simply painted Skull White. This was thinned down to the consistency of skim milk and the brush was dragged through the paint, and along the palette to point the bristles and prevent too much paint to build up. It was then dragged along the eye, from corner to corner, several times until the white of the eye was clearly defined with an almond shape. Don't worry about going outside the lines a bit here as it can be corrected.

The pupils were painted Chaos Black. As with the white, the paint was thinned to the consistency of skim milk and the brush loaded in the same way. This time the brush is dragged in a perpendicular motion to the whites, creating a black dot that touches the top and bottom lit. If you go too far, this is easy to correct by using your base flesh colour, thinning it slightly, and painting the eyelids the same way you painted the eye whites. To simulate the pain of the wounded trooper, the eyelids were painted more closely together, as if he is squinting. The eyes of the trooper with the headset were left slightly larger and more rounded, to contrast with the injured trooper and to create a dramatic element of adrenalin driven panic or fear.

Finally, the whole base was given several thin coats of matte varnish to protect it from the rigors of travel and gaming.

Related Articles:
Getting Basic Part 1 - Building a Flying Stand


Links:
Games Workshop
Citadel Paint Equivalency Chart

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