Broken Paintbrush

Well it only took 4 weeks but I have finished my first squad of Ork Boyz! One could argue that I spent a bit too much time on simple boyz, but since I’m doing this for the enjoyment of it, and trying something new, even Boyz get a shiny paint job

Even though these are the Orks from the Assault on Black Reach set, they are still detailed and entertaining to paint. From their unique sneers, dangling teef, and cobbled together weapons (there are bolts holding the choppas together!) it was fun picking out the details as I went along.

A decided to paint the squad as Death Skulls for two reasons: I like the color blue, and I wanted to try a hand at war paint. So each Ork has sone form of blue face paint, painted weapons, or shoulder tatooes.

I was also going for a heavily weathered look so I added rust, teal patina a lots of scratches. Even the mud was brought up the legs, knees and rear ends of the models.

For the most part I followed the painting guide from WD350 where they paint the AoBR Warboss step-by-step. Obviously the blue was replaced for the yellow and I didn’t go nearly into the number of layers/colors that they used, but it was a very handy guide.

For the bases I wanted to add lots of texture and follow what I did for my Tau suites. I will be putting together a post on how I did this while I work on the Deffcoptas.

After painting this squad I can see how some get the green fever and go all out with the Orks. While I was working on the squad I was continually looking up units in the Codex and online, reading Ork blog posts, and in general fantasizing my own Waaaagh! but for now I need to keep it in check as I have a goal to do: four 500 point armies by the end of 2012!

As promised I completed Cypher and posting the pictures, off to a good start on my new goals!

Cypher was a great character in 3rd Edition Chaos that was mysteriously phased out in the following Codex which really is a shame. Though after reading DFG’s rumor roundup it seems like he may be making a comeback!

And here is the full squad together. I am quite aware that I may never be able to play with the squad (except for Apoc of course) but after sitting in my closet for years I figured that Cypher had earned himself a squad.

Well the pictures capture that I haven’t really “completed” the squad as most evident by the lack of a banner. I also haven’t finished clear coating and glossing the models (see the back of the medic for a finished piece there), but it is done enough to post and put on the shelf until the day I decide to add custom banners to models.

Next up will be some Ork Boyz!

So I finally completed the last two members of the Fallen Angel command squad to accompany Cypher. Well when I say complete, the models are complete, I now need to create a banner or the pole bearer… I’ll be spending some time on FTW trying to get ideas for that.

First up, the standard bearer:

And the final member: the power weapon bearing dude.

And here is the squad all together waiting their mighty, if mysterious leader.As I paint Cypher up I plan to take more step-by-step pictures to post how I did each step. stay tuned!

Finished two more Fallen Angels for Cypher’s retinue. As I wanted to treat Cypher as a Space Marine Captain (or is he really the Primarch!?!) I built the retinue as a command squad including a medic. I figured that even Fallen Angels need to preserve their gene seed to continue the fight.And the third Fallen:

Something about robed marines is rather fun to paint and quite dramatic.

And the first three together.Even though I’m painting each one at a time, I’ve written down the paint colors for each step so each model stays consistent even when I leave the lid off my wet pallet and it all dries up.

So with the long, holiday weekend I spent a bit of time finishing up the two Traitor Russes.

Here is the finished Traitor Leman Russ #2.

At first I was going to paint the lenses green to match my Iron Warriors but through it clashed a bit too much and decided on the blue instead.

I also thought the cargo boxes looked a bit funny being empty so I painted up some bitz to add some details. This one has an extra gas can (for those torch wielding fanatics), an extra lasgun and a rusty shovel.

And Russ #3.

This one got a camo cloth and broken down  stubber.

Hope you all like how they turned out. I have the two Leman Russ Demolishers still to do but first I have a surprise. The next unit has been sitting on my desk for a few years now begging to be painted and all you old school Chaos players might remember this character

Just finished the second Obliterator.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It has been a good step in learning how to sculpt, hopefully I will eventually be able to sculpt all the parts. Until then I have boxes full of bitzs to use.

I also put together a stage-by-stage picture, I think it is pretty inspiration for me, especially as I’m about to start the third, and last for now, obliterator.

click for larger picture

until next time…

Finished the third and final (for now) Rhino for my Iron Warriors army (see the first and second here). This one I tried a few new things. The first is the scratched metal. I tried using an old, tough brush and splayed the bristels to create parallel streaks. I don’t think they all work out well, but it is something to build off of.

The second is the free-hand Chaos star on the top hatch. I took the design from one I found in the 4th edition Codex showing the dual rings and 3d shape. I don’t think I pulled it off how I wanted, but for a first attempt, I’m happy with it.

For this tank I decided to put the stripes on the outer faces of the smoke stacks. Keeping it simple was needed too keep the tank from becoming too busy with the start, chain and skulls and havoc launcher.

And here is all three in their finished states (click for bigger picture!).

I have a couple random projects I want to do next (one currently in progress) before continuing the completion of my Iron Warriors or traitor guard. stay tuned!

Ahh… the dreaded Reaper Bolt Thrower. Not much to be said about it other than this is another paint job from the beginning of the army but other than the metal areas I think it looks pretty good and looks great for a table-top piece.

I had created a larger base for the unit but in never got passed to the primed black stage, perhaps when I finish it I will repost with the unit on the base.

Finished up the details on Rhino #4 which mostly entailed the stripes and spot light. After the last Rhino’s attempt at doing the strips freehand I decided to cheat a bit on this one and mask the black areas off with scotch tape.

I started by taping all the area around where I wanted black so I could spray it. I then took some clear masking fluid and sponged it into the area. This way I could take an eraser to it and uncover the metal area underneath.

I then sprayed it black, waited for it to dry and then covered it with scotch tape. After marking out each stripe I cut it apart with the handy knife and removed the tape where I wanted the yellow. After painting up the yellow I removed the tape and washed the whole thing with sepia wash. Once that was dry I rubbed off the clear masking fluid to finish the worn effect.

Overall I’m happy with how the stripes turned out with this technique, which is good because it was very tedious.

And here are the two finished Rhinos together. Work has started on the last Rhino of this group  and will hopefully have it done latter this week.

-Update: Finished the last Rhino here

As always comments are welcome and appreciated!

Decided to finish each of the Rhinos one at a time, so here is the first.

I credit Wienas for the idea o f hazard strips on the front panel, so thanks for that! I think they turned out ok.

I made the mistake of deciding to paint the interior and although it turned out ok, the amount of work that went into something that may never been seen any way… not so sure.