+ inload: Leman Russ Battle Tank +

+ Shades of Father Ted +

+ Having pontificated at length in the last inload about using a paint scheme to unite disparate models [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], I proceeded with panic painting for the event in Bristol... and ended up painting a tank the wrong colour. +

+ The Lovely Girl here was intended to go with the Catipürnan World-Turners and their associated PDF – the neutral black and white scheme I was outlining in the earlier inload. +

+ Not really paying attention, I ended up using (warm) sepia ink instead of (cool) Payne's grey. After working this in, the tank ended up looking like my Lamb's World vehicles [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], and I guess muscle memory just took over. + 

WIP: The sepia ink granulated beautifully; helped along with some granulating medium.

+ Mainly an experiment in creating texture quickly, I wanted to give the impression that the Lovely Girl is an old mothballed tank, pressed into service by the local PDF. To achieve this, I created wells of sepia ink, Scorched Brown diluted to a watery consistency and Chaos Black, also diluted to a watery consistency. I then pulled the wells together in my palette, and added flow enhancer to the freely-mixing colours. +

+ This was then painted liberally over the surface with a 12mm (½in) flat brush. Working wet-in-wet, I rinsed the brush and used it to apply generous amounts of granulation medium, particularly to the flat surfaces. This medium causes the pigment particles suspended in the paint to clump up, resulting in a grainy appearance. It works best with media that naturally granulate, like sepia ink. +

+ I then rinsed and dried the brush, and used it to selectively lift off the wet paint/ink/medium mixture from the surface, by touching the clean dry brush to the tank's flat areas: the brush draws up the paint (just like loading your brush from your palette), leaving an area of clean highlight. +

+ The pict-capture above shows both the good and the bad effects this has. The speckled high-contrast finish produced by the granulation is most obvious around the hatch, and I think it's pretty successful here. The rear of the sponson, however, just looks a bit mucky. It's not a convincing illusion here. The engine block (on the right of the image, above the trailing part of the track) shows the effect of lifting out – the underlying colour is revealed once more. +

+ It also shows off some of the quick detailing – handprints, hazard striping and shading around the rivets. It's a bit crude, but not bad for a speed paint – in all, this took me around two hours from start to finish; so in terms of quick texture, I think I'll count this a successful experiment. +

+ In terms of painting it the right colour, not so much! +

+ Small details like hand prints – presumably a post-battle superstition adopted by the crew – go a long way to personalising a tank, and implies more detail than is actually there. Like the lenses on the turret, and the weathering scratches and dings, they help to break up a surface that can otherwise just look a bit messy or dull. +

+ inload: Titan, crew and a grand duc +

+ The joys of flitting +

+ Nothing motivates me more than having a project deadline – in this case for a campaign weekend over in Bristol. Unfortunately, that motivation is for largely unrelated models! +

+ Still, paint is paint, and where would the PCRC be without traditional panic-painting? +

+++

+ Legio Nikator +

+ Painting continues, albeit slowly, on Coropedion. The approach I've taken here is to give the whole model a layer of dirty metal, using a similar approach to that used for the early stages of my Iron Warriors [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+]. I've then begun blocking in the terracotta and turquoise. For the terracotta, I'm starting from the orange midtone, to allow me to highlight and shade; while for the turquoise, I've started from a slight highlight, which means it will  be subdued significantly in the finished result – or at least, that's the plan! +

+ My hood is doffed to Games Workshop for this model – it's proving as much a pleasure to paint as it was to build. The details are crisp, the detail raised enough to make brushwork enjoyable while retaining inks/washes, and a lovely mix of smooth plates for considered blending and heavy industrial detail for quick washwork. +

+ The thoughts behind the scheme are in an earlier inload [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], if you'd like to know more about it. +

+ New crew +

+ Vomited forth from the the depths of the immaterium, this Princeps model will join the others [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] in the Sons of the Temple. +

+ I've never been much of a collector; but in gathering together the various Princeps and Titan crew models Forgeworld have produced, I can see why people get the bug. +

+ Meanwhile, in the Court of the Sun King +

‘Yn the Cōurt of the Suñne Cyngge; yclept the latest – ðe Grænd Duc; though whither his duchy, we wit not.’

So spake the owlingman.

‘Still: lieless and sturdy stands the truth on which this tale is told. This fourteen-month saw Childeric muster his allies to his breast; deep in the wildes of Cepheus where the scrimshander-monks gave him succour and made good his pains and his band’s sorrows - yet evenwhilst Sciriusc, the Sunne King, pinned forth The City and swept it clean of forwandlers, perverts and strangemen.’

‘Forewhy? In sanity I could not plumb not fathom; though knowing yet now that howling moon-madness was the best of the bitter platters served for us to choose; so monstrous strange we’re the events yet forthcoming.’

+++

+ Now, with reference to flitting from project to project and procrastinating about my Bristol force, this full-figured chap will make an appearance there – he'll be playing the part of a VIP protected by the PDF – and whether he's a bewigged fourth-generation hybrid or brood brother is yet to be seen... +

+ inload: Bristol Silence, Epic marines and oddments

+ Now, where were we? +

+ Those of you following the Alien Wars shared project might well be wondering what's happened to it. Rest assured that it's still ticking over. A couple of weeks ago I received a very cool fan-sculpted dreadnought based on the Rogue Trader-era version. I had been planning to make one myself after discovering a picture of one with the WD138 army on the back of a White Dwarf, but hey, why take the road less travelled – particularly when the alternative looks like this:

+ A really cool sculpt, and beautifully cast. I couldn't resist a few tweaks to the pose (achieved with some simple cutting) to add a little dynamism to what is inherently a static pose. I've used a penny as a waist gimbal to compensate for the material lost when cutting through with the razorsaw. +

+ Size-wise, he's a bit of a beast, standing slightly taller than a Contemptor, which is probably what he'll be used for. +

+ The Aldebaran troops, who will be pulling double-duty for the Alien Wars and the Bristol Silence campaign weekend, continue to get some paint on them – though I won't bore you too much. In the pict-capture above you can see a (rather messy!) painting desk, covered with guardsmen/brood brothers as the grinding painting continues. Last night was spent painting fatigues, straps and respirators with Calth Brown, and then washing them with Agrax Earthshade. All very factory-line, but at least it'll keep them consistent. +

+++

+ Basing Coropedion +

+ The batch painting was pleasantly meditative, but when it started becoming a bit boring, I switched projects and spent half an hour on one of my new Warlords for Legio Sumer-Nikator. +

+ Yesterday we looked at building a board [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+], and this is a related part of that process: basing. Creating your own board and base is a great chance to make sure that they match, which again adds to the immersion. +

+ Bases add a great deal to a model; working as a contrasting setting for the figure itself. It is important to make sure that the model fits into that setting, or you risk things looking off – an ice-world trooper in a desert environment, for example (which isn't to say such things will never work, merely that it's harder to make it seem natural). This needs to be balanced against visual contrast. White-coated ice troopers on snow white bases will blend in. Great in real war, but not for visual appeal. Instead, consider tonal contrast. If you models have a light scheme, go for a darker-toned base, and vice versa. In the case of my Aldebaran soldiers above, I'm going to use mid-grey urban rubble to contrast with the bright white overcoats. +

+ The second aspect of basing, and one that is particularly important for large-based figures, is interest. An over-busy base can detract from the figure, but one that's an empty plain can look dull, making the figure appear toy-like. For Adeptus Titanicus, a nice compromise is to break up the flat surface by adding cork, card or similar scenic elements. Above you can see that I've added some rubble (from a broken resin base I had), plus some of the same ruins that I'm populating my board with (from Epic: 40,000). These are all tied together with some Gold Acrylic coarse texture gel, a goopy textural medium that you smear on and allow to dry. This ties together the different elements. +

+  With similar grittiness and features, the resulting base complements the board rather than matches it. As part of the model, it needs to be treated with a greater level of detail than the broader board, while still echoing it and looking like a detail of the area. +

+ With Coropedion primed and ready to paint, I spent far too long making pew-pew noises, and didn't much done beyond a gunmetal over the whole legs. +

+ With the mandated-somnolence cycle approaching, I thought I'd have fun painting the marines on the base rather than rushing any more of the Titan itself. Although the Legio Sumer-Nikator is a traitor Legion, operating away from Calth, I've added some Ultramarines. I leave the story to the viewer. Perhaps they're falling back after the rest of their squad was destroyed; perhaps they're calling in co-ordinates on the Titan as it walks past, oblivious to their presence; perhaps they've thrown their lot in with the Warmaster?. Hints like this add a little narrative to your base, and also help to evoke a sense of scale. +

I spent a very enjoyable half-hour highlighting and detailing very small marines!

+ inload: Aldebaran 4th/5th Lifeguards +

+ Aldebaran 4th/5th Lifeguards +

An exceptionally cosmopolitan world in the Port Cassian system of Segmentum Ultima, inhabitants of Aldebaran can occasionally be found across the Segmentum (indeed, even beyond) owing to the system's proximity to the Hyperion Warp Corridor, a stable warp route from the rim to the galactic heart.

Their culture one of relative open-mindedness and rationality, its soldiers and naval crew are known for their discipline and dignified deportment, while their officers are admired for their creative and pragmatic approach to challenges. Neither lacking nor notable for ferocity or martial prowess, their peculiar qualities make them particularly adaptable, and much in demand as garrison or bodyguard troops.

Soldiers of the 4th Aldebaran Infantry, the 'Cornflowers', on deployment.

The uncertainty during the period of the Nova Terra Interregnum, following the secession of Segmentum Pacificus, saw demand for off-planetary forces increase. Some Imperial Commanders sought to protect their world; others merely to bolster their power base. The regiments of Aldebaran had never been in such demand.

Of course, not all found themselves on the right side of history. The tale of the 4th/5th Regiment of Foot, – a combined force made up of recruits intended for, but diverted from, the hard-pressed 'Cornflowers' and 'Wingers' regiments fighting nearby – seconded to the distant rimworld of Vanguard, is a cautionary example of how the righteous and faithful can find themselves damned; through no fault of their own...

+++

+ Getting around to it +

+ It's important for me that my hobby isn't another job; but it's nice to have a goal to paint towards. The PCRC are heading out to the distant Bristol Segmentum in October, to take part in the Bristol Vanguard's Spoils of War gaming weekend [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] +

+ The storyline is themed around an approaching hivefleet, so the PCRC are all taking Tyranids, genestealers and similar gribbly beasties, to fit in with the story. Not owning a Tyranid or Genestealer army myself, the nearest I could come up with is a corrupted PDF force – so I dug out a force that has sat on the backburner for far too long, and restarted my Steel Legion force. +

+ The scheme's pretty simple and quick – grey primer, Charadon granite equipment, Calth brown fatigues, an overall wash of Agrax Earthshade, then building up the overcoat with white before detailing. +

+ With six squads to do, I finally set to last night, burning through the remnants of the first squad (see above), and starting the next. +

 + The army as a whole – or at least the infantry. I'll be adding some ogryns to this, along with a small detachment of genestealers. +

+ inload: Painting the Aldebaran 18th +

+ inload: Painting the Aldebaran 18th +

+ When starting a new project, whether a single figure or a whole mass of troops, I like to start by having a think about what I want to achieve with a colour scheme.

+ Having just finished an Eldar army for a campaign on Frigia (an ice world), I'd had great fun with bright, vibrant colours. The scheme had a warm-blue and yellow as the main (complementary) colours, with a pair of complementary accent colours (magenta and turquoise) that worked in a tetrad. Quite a complex scheme, it worked well. For this new project, I wanted to try something much more restrained and muted, so I'm opting for a simple three-part scheme of blue-grey as the primary, warm brown as the secondary, and red as the accent.

+ The cool blue-grey here is represented on the overcoat and rifle body. On the coat, white primer is shaded down from a midtone of Fenris Grey to Charadon Granite (essentially black in the recesses) and up through Space Wolf Grey to white, which is the dominant tone of the finished area. Light colours reflect more light and so catch the eye, while the deep tones in the recesses provide strong contrast, which builds on that effect.

+ Little of the midtone remains on the coat, which ensures striking contrast – the target of the paint scheme. The rifle has nearly the same range of tone, but restricted to the recesses and edges, so much more of the basic midtone is visible. This means that the two blue-grey areas are coherent in hue – even if the basic tones are very different. This coherency helps ties the model together, while the contrast in tone makes it visually interesting and striking, and makes the gun stand out against the coat, which stops the whole model becoming visually confusing.

+ For the warm brown, I've used Calthan Brown, and this is used on the gloves and respirator. Warm colours draw the eye, so using them on the head and hands makes sense – these form a triangle on most human-shaped figures, which leads the eye around the model and makes looking at the model both restful (because the eye is led around a contained shape) and interesting (because there are multiple points of interest). 

+ As an aside, it's important for this effect that these points (the head and two hands) add up to an odd number – people seem to find these more interesting and visually pleasing. Using an even number of points encourages people to rest on one. This isn't hugely important on a single piece miniature, as the composition is largely done for you, but it's worth bearing in mind when doing conversions. +

+ At this point, the model has interest provided by the strong contrast in tone, but it doesn't catch the eye. For this reason, I added strong reds. These are danger colours that we've evolved to pay attention to! I've used them on the goggles and as a freehand helmet stripe, in order to draw the eye to the head. This, in combination with the wealth of detail here in comparison with the clean spaces of the other areas, makes the head the focal point. 

+ With the red in place, the scheme started looking a bit busy (it's a small model, after all), so I muted the warm brown of the gloves and respirator by adding white to the colour and highlighting them up. This reduces the contrast in hue, and ensures your eye goes straight to the helmet. From here, it travels to the face (respirator), then on to the gloves, where the eye is led back to the focal point.

+ To keep the eye on the model, the figure received a simple base made with Mourn Mountain Snow, one of GW's new texture paints, and a light drybrush of pure white. I added some little tufts of lichen (sponge) for interest. +