+ inload: Warlord Titans WIP +

+ Painting Warlords for Legio Nikator +

+ *WARHORN NOISES* +

+ Warlord Titans. Iconic, awesome, and colossal. This latter point means they take a lot of painting! To break things up and keep things interesting, I'm hopping around a bit, and developing on the fly. This can end up messy, but as long as you keep your paints thin, you can always work over the top. It's the joy of acrylics. +

+ Battle Titans – that it, Warlords and Reavers – are the iconic units of the game for me. Knights and Scout Titans are all very well, but I want to see clashes between these great land-battleships! +

+ Coropedion +

+ Since we last saw him, Coropedion's received a new head, and the turquoise areas have been replaced with some white sections. Turquoise will be reintroduced, but as an accent colour. +

+ Not a huge amount to say here, other than it's a gradual slog from base coat to the finished effect. It's easy to get disheartened, but keep a vision of the final effect in your mind, and keeping going towards it. + 

+ In particular, I find it helpful to pause occasionally with big projects like this. Focus in on a panel or two (like the head, knee and thigh here) and work those up to completion. It provides an enjoyable break from the monotony of base-coating, and gets you one step closer to completion. +

+ With this approach, there is the risk of accidentally overpainting or mucking up completed areas, but roll with it. Allow it to dry, than work back over – perhaps even incorporate the marks. This is particularly appropriate for the ancient Engines of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and is a sort of back-door way into weathering. +

+ The armament here is purely for the pict-capture – I remove the magnetised bits while I'm working. My plan is to get the main chassis of this pair of Titans game-ready – weapons can follow along afterwards. +

+ Here's an example of a completed area. Working a focal point like the head up to completion really gives character to the piece; and encourages you to finish it. Note the use of stormy blue for the eye – complementary to the terracotta – and also that the surrounding area has been knocked back; painted very simply with deep gunmetal and black. This gives tonal contrast with the bright silver trim and piercing blue eye; building to give a sense of impact. +

+ Ipsus Granicus – the Manifest Law +

+ I like the pose on Coropedion, but (whisper it low), the Manifest Law is my favourite. Stomping forward, kicking buildings out of the way... what's not to love about this grouchy thing? +

+ Painted with the same approach as Coropedion, Ipsus Granicus has considerably more white areas at the moment. The opportunity for variety is a brilliant aspect of the heraldic schemes typical of the Titan Legions. +

+ The large panels are just screaming out for some freehand and super-detailing, just like the Senex Codomannus I finished recently [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. +

+ The expansion sprue GW released – with the fist, laser blasters etc. – is lovely: it's no coincidence that my first two Warlords sport the two expansion heads. Ipsus Granicus in particular has my favourite head, reminiscent of the 80s originals. +

+ As with Coropedion, I've worked up the head. Again, deep dark sockets surround bright blue eyes. I've incorporated some gold into the trim here; as the sheer amount of it meant sticking to silver was visually confusing. +