Well this year we're doing it again - this time as the Heroes of Armageddon - and it's going to be bigger and better than ever. There will be *FOUR* armies to win this time and the crew has been expanded to help carry the load.
Secret Weapon will be chipping in with bases for two of the armies - and I am personally donating this Command Chimera for the Steel Legion army
Now this one isn't finished, obviously, and so I'm going to do a quick breakdown on what I've done so far - including which paints and techniques I've used.
I started with some reasonably simple detailing. I added some brass in the front for track links and added some rivets cut from plastic rod. The stowage is put together from the boxes in my unreleased stowage kit and some of the SWM backpacks.
You can see some of the "Spent Shell Casings: Standard" used to add a bit of detail for the cupola mounted stubber -- and that I filled in the silly little portholes in the back of the vehicle.
Next up I gave the model a coat of burnt umber paint with my airbrush and, after it had dried, a generous helping of hairspray with a light sprinkling of salt.
After the hairspray had dried completely I added a bit of VMC Hull Red and VMC light red to create a lighter rust colour.
Once the red paints were completely dry I used a soft brush to remove all of the salt - which is how I got the light speckled effect - and a toothbrush to create the strong corner and edge chipping. On vehicles with a lot of wear you'll find that there are small sections of light rust, usually red and orange iron oxide, but that the heaviest weathering will be a dark brown or grey as the metal is exposed but not given time to corrode. By using the salt and hairspray technique to create two layers of rust before my base coat I can better capture this look.
And then I used a very thin coat of satin sealer to keep these colours in place before adding more salt and hairspray. The sealer will keep the rust colours safe and the hairspray and salt will create the exposed rust/metal layer for me.
The first colour for my Steel Legion Chimera is a coat of VMC Light Grey. I gave the entire model a VERY light coating and then used a zenithal technique to add highlights to the top of the model from each side angle.
I used GW Rotten Flesh to freehand the camo stripes in a pattern similar to one I found on the GW website. I didn't do anything to create shading on these as I'll come back and do that in a couple of later steps using washes, oils and pigments.
Once the base coat and camo stripes are completely dry I used my soft brush and toothbrush to expose the rust and metal layers. On the cupola I only removed the salt as there is additional work to be done there before I expose any metal.
My feeling for the Steel Legion on Armageddon is that they've been in a protracted war for decades. Their planet is a mess and they need to carry around everything they can salvage. I captured this with the stowage and a classic blue plastic tarp. I also added a couple of the toolkits from my still unreleased (but coming soon) stowage set.
I then used Raw Sienna and Raw Umber oils to create a filter to join the colours together, Lamp Black to hit the recesses again and some Burnt Umber to create the rust streaking. At this stage I have added only a little bit of Ash Grey, Burning Sands and Oxide White from the Secret Weapon Weathering Pigments. The tracks will get generous coatings of each and some Metallic Iron to highlight them. I will also rub some Metallic Iron on some of the exposed metal edges to help make them pop a bit.
And that's where I am right now. Fortunately now that the "Bone Fields" and "Blasted Wetlands" bases have launched I have a bit more free time and should be able to get back to the model this week.
As always I'm happy to answer any questions about the techniques and materials I've used in this piece.
-- misterjustin
Can I ask when you have used the hairspray did you use water to take the paint away were you wanted or have you done it dry?
ReplyDeleteAlso what effect does the salt do and what type of salt do you use?
I love what you have done so far and can't wait to see the new kit's, I wouldn't mind some of those myself to spice up my vehicles and give them a more realistic look.
Excellent questions!
ReplyDeleteLet me start with salt. Salt is used to create small, random chips in the paint. Coat a section the model in hairspray and then sprinkle salt over it. I like to use "Extra Fine" sea salt but plain kitchen salt works just fine.
If you're using salt then start with a dry brush. This gives you more control so you're just removing the salt and not additional areas of hairspray.
When working with just the hairspray then you will need a damp brush - at least in some sections. You can also use a toothpick to chip away lines and such.
Thanks for the questions - keep 'em coming!
I also teach a masterclass tank weathering workshop. I'll be doing two short classes at Kubla Con in San Jose in May and a one day workshop in Sacramento on 4-June. If you can get a group together to bring me out I'm happy to travel though.
Cool thanks for the info. Would the UK be a bit far for you? Please feel free to check out my blog sometime as I use some of the techniques from Forgeworld, and have come up with some reallt good results.
ReplyDeleteThe UK would not be too far - a bit pricey for the trip, perhaps, but not too far :)
ReplyDeleteI've got your blog on my list now.
Cool thanks. Have you ever thought of asking for a stand at the American Games Day and doing your painting demo's there?
ReplyDeleteI suspect that GW might not be terribly interested in having another company doing product demos at their event ;)
ReplyDeleteI am starting to hit the US event circuit though and hope to be doing more workshops in 2012.
How did you create the tarp over the stowage. It looks so good I would love to be able to attempt to recreate something similar for a sniper's nest.
ReplyDeleteThere are several materials you can use - but in this case I used Kleenex :)
ReplyDelete