I have quite a few projects going on right now. I have models to assemble, conversion work to do, green stuffing to stuff, painting to get done, and terrain to finish. Right now, however, I really just want to get some painted models on the table because it's starting to get embarassing playing gray legion, so I am working to get my first squad of basic Chaos Marines painted. As I am working on the next squad I will take pictures of each step to create a guide on how I am painting them. I don't expect to win any awards but I do want to have my minis painted to an above average table top quality.
Here's a picture of my sad little cramped work space. It may be cluttered but it is organized, I swear! One day I will have more than 2 square feet of real estate to work with, but for now I work with what I've got.
Here is a group shot of the first squad so far. I don't have my normal lighting setup right now so please excuse the picture and lighting quality. Only one model is completed so far as a test model. The rest have been base coated and given a preliminary black wash and most of the non-metallic colors have been painted and washed as well, except for the Aspiring Champion (possessed in the back.) I will probably do the unarmored bits of the champ's body a greyish blueish color, I haven't made a final decision on the color there. All of the bolters in this squad have been modified. The barrels have been moved upward to make room for bayonets or the even more awesome chainsword bayonet. The arms on the two special weapon/icon dudes are magnetized so I can just swap in whichever special weapon I want to use. I can also and attach any of the five chaos icons to the icon bearer, or just a spear tip if I don't want an icon and just want to give him a basic melee weapon. Customization FTW!
And a picture of the test model, the only one completed so far. More angles can be found in this photobucket album
A quick run-down of how I painted this guy and the materials I used:
Materials:
Liquitex Black Gesso
Delta Ceramcoat (craft paints)
- Charcoal Grey
- Drizzle Grey
- Ivory
- Opaque Yellow
- Bright Red
Heavy Black Wash (Les' Wash Recipe from http://www.awesomepaintjob.com/ )
Sepia Wash (also Les' Wash Recipe)
And the method to my madness:
1. Primed with black gesso. I use the gesso because the weather around here is very rarely rattlecan-friendly and I don't have an indoor space where I can spray. I also work nights so I'm not always awake during the daylight hours and I can gesso any time I damn well feel like it.
2. Base coated with a mix of Charcoal Grey and Drizzle Grey, or you can make your life simple and use Adeptus Battlegrey. Some day I will invest in the GW foundation paint set, but for now craft paints are my friends.
3. Added a couple heavy coats of black wash. I found several guides and forum posts that advocated the use of this method and I think it provides excellent results for the amount of skill needed. Obviously more advanced methods will provide better results, with the drawback of them being, well, more advanced and much more time consuming.
4. Painted the horns and skull Ivory and washed with the Sepia wash. I think this gives an excellent aged bone look and is very simple once you get a good even coat of ivory on there.
5. Added metallic colors on the gun and trim. I left the body of the gun black and I think I like it that way. The metallic colors were extremely bright and clashed horribly with the dull black armor - seriously, it was hurting my eyes to look at it. I used some black wash to dull down the shine and give it a little more of a dull, grimy look and it looks much better now. I also added a little Sepia wash to the gun barrel and a little extra Black on the end just for that little extra effect.
6. The last thing I did was paint the eye sockets with Opaque Yellow then Bright Red on top of the yellow, leaving just a little yellow ring showing around the edge. Finally, I washed the eyes with some Sepia wash to bring the colors together. The other option that I was considering was copper or silver colored eyes, like a reflective shades type of look. I'll have to try it out and see which style I like better.
I think it's a huge improvement over my first attempt at painting when I had no freaking clue what I was doing and didn't know about mould lines or, well, pretty much anything besides "BLACK + COPPER IS AWESOME!!!" Sometimes I look back on that and laugh... or cry...
The guy in the middle was painted by my wife and is obviously still WIP but the other two are mine. The very first two guys I painted... definitely basic tabletop bare minimum. Chaos Black spray (borrowed from a friend) then copper, silver, and a little red in the eyes. I have learned much since then.
That's all for now. Please feel free to comment and leave feedback. I think I could have used a little less black wash to show more contrast but overall I think it's pretty good for a first run. It's kind of hard to tell in the pictures but at least you can get an overall feel for it. Anywho, that's enough rambling. Catch you on the flip side.
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