Air Necronia, flight WIP942…

… to assimilation-land. This is captain 00110001 and flight engineer 00110010 welcoming you aboard. Have a nice flight and vaporize the living. Thank you.

Oh teh OSL!

A bit of a close up this time. I hope some of you are jumping with joy ;) Airbrushed with the Neo, so it seems it can handle pretty small detail. Still not used to the trigger, it's a bit more "jumpy" compared to the H&S Infinity.

WIP: Immortals

Working in "bulk" like I do with the necrons sure eats up space in your working area. There is absolutely no way to set up the photo equipment properly. These were put on top of the spray booth with a makeshift light setup (that's why they're a bit yellow). I even had to crouch like Quasimodo to be able to see what my camera was aimed at. The stuff I do for you in order to show some WIP photos, eh?

Same technique as on the warriors. Zenithal metallics and all that jazz. Just finished painting the basecoat on their guns and the white stripes [att: pop culture reference] on their heads. Some more highlights and detailing to do before the oil washe(s).

Well that's it. Back to getting metal flakes all over my precious brushes!

A crowded paint station...

They said they came in peace. Bringing gifts and stuff. At least that's what I think they said. "010011010110000101110100001000000101011101100001011100100110010000100000011001010110000101110100011100110010000001100010011000010110001001101001011001010111001100100001" is kinda hard to understand.

Which reminds me of a cool short story Stephen King wrote about a dudes army men coming alive. It was my favorite when I was a young teen discovering the joy of horror.

The Warriors are painted pretty standard. Black primer, VMA Dark Metal, Gun & Steel in a progressive zenithal style. Guns are getting more or less black and right now I'm debating wether to do them with red rods/glow or the standard green. Green is more 60s sci-fi, but red is more Terminator/80's LED... Both are themes I love so I have a hard time deciding. Perhaps I should have thought this out before starting to paint them. But meh. Planning is for mortals.

Adventures in Oil: Einstein WIP #2

Found some time inbetween x-mas stuff (for me, assembling Necrons) to paint some more on Einstein. I think I'm done with the basic skin color. At least it feels like this is a good base for adding some discoloration like pinkish lips and some blue to the eye-sockets.

One fun thing about oils is that they kinda behave different from acrylics. Below is a shot of the colors I used for shade and highlight and they are way different than how they acted on the figure. I guess the blue (Winsor Blue (Green)) and yellow (Chrome Yellow Hue) are way stronger than the Yellow Ochre I mix them with. So when blending it turns more green than brown-green.

Start color is #3 but then I realized I wanted more contrast so I upped the highlights a little since the shadow would turn out more or less 100% black if I went down that route.

Anyways. I have to assemble a ton of necrons. See you on the other side of X-mas!

WIP: Space Marine Chaplain

I've been working on and off on the chaplain for a week now. The base was shown earlier I think. Now it's gotten some paint (marble tiles are a b*tch) and I'm partly done with the chaplain itself. 

Still needs some cleanup and coats of matte/satin varnish here and there. Then some weathering. Trying to keep him clean, not because it's warranted, just because I'm so tired of painting dirty orks. I want to paint shiny stuff every now and then!

Tried out some techniques in oil paint taken from the old book "Building and Painting Scale Figures" by Sheperd Paine. Oils can be really forgiving in terms of blending. Don't be fooled by their long open time though. Oils are open longer, but when working in this small scale it sure aint open as long as they are on canvas.

Not completely sure on the pose. I wanted him a bit more forward leaning, so it looks like he has jumped down and are on his way up again. But I don't want him to look like he has tripped and are falling down. So I guess I'll just sleep on it. =)

WIPBOSS #2

Even more paint on the warboss. I'm getting to the frustration-stage now where there is only the undecided parts left to paint.

I was originally trying to go for a NMM on the metal parts. But the more I think of NMM the more I think it's kinda stupid on a figure made for play. Static display models are another thing.

WIP Ork Warboss

After the defeat in Uppsala I've had to re-build my list a little. Which meant that I couldn't afford a mega armoured warboss running around. So I had to get one of the good old AOBR warbosses.

First one I've put under the brush. It's a pretty relaxing figure to paint. The blends look a lot better IRL, camera flash really kills all your careful blending. -.-

*zoooom* Dakkajet Continued

This thing is a blast to paint! It's really striking when you paint some of the newer kits right after painting some early/very early ones. Like now, I just finished off a pretty bad (fine!)cast of Ghazkull. With a ton of details that aren't really clear on how to paint. Is it pants or is it just a smooth part of a bionic leg? Of course it's easier with vehicle kits, but even the rather new Chimera suffers from some of it.

The ever growing WIP-shelf in my cabinet.

Anyhow... lets quickly forget the WIP-stuff (notice some stuff from a year ago?) and move on to the Dakka Jet. Painting is progressing. The first coat of wash is on, just a general one to act as wash/filter, and once that one is dry it's time to add some chipping and concentrating on toning down the chrome of the jet exhausts.

One thing that's really helping is using slower drying enamel colours for the washes. It's pretty common to use an oil colour based wash on vehicles. While that has its purposes (really really really long open time) I kinda prefer enamels due to their rather long open time.

For the Dakka-Jet I used some of the enamel washes from AK Interactive. These enamel based washes remain workable for an hour or two before setting. Oil colour washes, at least when I do them, tend to stay workable for a day or so depending on how thick they are.

Oh, and a Pro-Tip... do NOT lick the brushes you use for non-waterbased-acrylics. It tastes really really bad. I promise you... -.-

Yet another WIP...

Actually the KV-1 is finished and stuff. But I just havent got around to setting up the photo stuff in order to add it to "finished models". In a couple of days perhaps. The desk is occupied by that -awesome- Dakka Jet at the moment, no time to photograph stuff!

I – of course – went with a Luftwaffe camouflage-ish camo. Sure, I waste the rule of red paintjob, but it is so much cooler with a "proper" paintjob. Or at least thats what I think... :)

Much to my surprise all my masking held up this time. Usually I get gaps in the masking and then rip up some paint with the tape. Not this time. I guess it has to do with the enormous amount of glosscoat in between the colours. (Note: Invest in some gloss coat manufacturer stock)

Hopefully I'll be able to get this one done within the week. I have a ton of Ork Nobs to paint as well... -.-

Quick Snapshot, WIP KV-1

Remember the KV-1 that I posted earlier? It turned out to be one real fun tank to paint. So when Diablo 3 hasn't been occupying all my time (my life is 99% Diablo at the moment -.-) I've gotten around to painting it.

Trying on a slower technique of weathering instead of slapping on some pigments. Basically much higher contrast and with a lot of layering with oil washes/paints. For now I'm pretty pleased with how it's developing. Still have to muddy it up a little with pigments later on due to their amazing ability to look gritty.

The base colour is from AK-Interactives Soviet Green modulation pack. I'm sort of in love with it. Just the perfect mix of pigments with a slight hint of yellow. I added a filter of yellow ochre on top of it just to make it look more vivid.

PX vs. Decals. 1 - 0

Victory!!!

Finally all the decals are on! Now it's just some more detailing to be done (the arm for the hatch, las-gun-arm and the engine on the back) and I can finally start on contrasts and weathering. Oh, I of course need to touch up the inside a bit since my masking wasn't too good.

One thing I noticed was that the decals is a bit thick-ish. Not as thick as the Games Workshop decals thankfully. But they have some silvering due to the thickness. Hopefully it'll all go away with a coat of varnish.

I'm more than pleased with the freaky-head. The helmet needs some more blending (the shadows are a bit harsh) but it really brightens up the entire suit and makes the head the focal point. Good stuff! :)

Quick WIP-snapshot...

The SAFS-suit has -a-ton- of decals to be applied! Thankfully they're going on without too much hassle. Five done, twenty more to go! -.-

It's a floating head!!!

I was mildly disturbed while painting the head for the pilot inside the MaK SAFS-suit. Something really weirded me out having that head floating on a pedestal. It got a little better now that I got paint on it. When all white it looked a little too ghostly/dead to me. :)

First time I've tried out everything I've been reading about the last month concerning oil painting, historical miniatures and the correct shades of khaki (don't get me started on that!).

Painting not-40K-stuff is way more subtle (and sometimes easier) than the style of grimdark. Unfortunately my oil-paints is still in transit, so I had to resort to using Reaper instead. Perhaps a good thing since I imagine using oils will be a messy business for a couple of sessions until I get a hang of it.

The SAFS-suit is getting along pretty nicely. Hopefully I can get some proper WIP-photos up during the weekend. :)

ICM Sdkfz. 222 Part2

Meep meep! Ich bin ein staubiges Auto!

It's pigmenting time!!! My favorite part of modelling! Inhaling small particle dust and sneezing like a mad man.

I'm trying a different approach this time without using any fixer. For the first layers it's just distilled water, some flow-aid and pigments (African Earth, Rubbel Dust & Light Earth [4:1:1] from MIG) applied like a wash to the entire car.

I then use more of a traditional oil painting approach and move the pigments to where I want them with a moist/damp brush until I've removed all the tidemarks and gotten the streaking like I want it. This first application is more of a "getting the dust where I want it".

Picture was taken when considered myself done for today, but not done with the first application of pigments. There are still a lot of areas to touch up.

After that it's some sealing (which will eat up some of the pigments) to tone it down further. After that even more layers of pigments (mostly the underside that will get a slightly darker tone) and perhaps some rust & oil stains.

I guess the rust stains will be kept to a minimum. Unless the Libyan desert was really rainy in 1941. :)


--
Work has started on the SAFS as well. I painted up the interior while listening to the latest D6 Generation (the vanilla ice-cover was hilarious). Not much to see/photograph now since I've masked it all off in order to lay on the basecoats on the SAFS itself. Hopefully I have something to show next week.

Blindwater: Primed and Ready to Rumble (In the Jungle?)

First! ...let's get these fucking dust bunnies and spiderwebs out of here, shoo! shoo! *coughcough*
There...

Giving grief to all shooting armies since 2010

Been down with the sickness (oh-wah-ah-ah), another cold and sinusitis as a nice followup to my summer flu, and I prioritized lying on the couch, rubbing my belly, eating candy, and coughing my lungs out.
In other words: Sorry for another break in the flow of posts.

I have played my first few games of Warmahordes with my Gatormen, and so far I really like it, while I'm still learning, I feel that the game has sunk its big claws into me.

The good thing about playing is that it makes me really want to paint them too!

"I swear, this wide!"

Got my 15pts list built and primed, using black with white dusting to create a good contrast (alligators having pale bellies, making a zenithal basecoat kinda tricky to pull off.)

Oh, and my list is:
Bloody Barnabas
Bull Snapper
Gatormen Posse (full)
Blackhide Wrastler
15pts

Now that the party is jumping
With the bass kicked in and the vegas are pumpin'
Quick to the point to the point no faking
I'm cooking MC's like a pound of bacon ~ Warrior Poet V. Ice

Merc Mariner WIP Part 2 / The future of PX40k

The deadline for the contest draws near, and I only have a few hours available to finish it. She won't be pretty but I think it will be alright. It's surprisingly hard to paint with fever shakes though, can't shake this summer cold when I can't afford to stay home from work. [Nooo whining! -ed.]

"With a bisquit on the side like fucking tomb stone"

I think I will have to go heavier on the verdigris, otherwise it's turning out quite as planned, not entirely at home with the chipping technique yet, will try another on the arms.
To do : Raw iron/steel surfaces, details, weathering and basing.
I bought some 1mm balsa wood for plank decking on the base, will do a step by step on that at a later date, 'promise!

The other thing I wanted to bring up was the sad lack of updates lately. We are not going away, nor are we on hiatus. Both me and Pixel have just started new jobs, with all that entails. PX40k will be increasing both quality and output when things have stabilized and all spare time isn't taken up by coma like sleep or teething babies. I can say that there is good stuff going on behind the scenes though, but I don't want to jinx anything yet!

Emprahs Enokitake, WIP #3

Click for bigger @ Flickr

I made like 40 track links yesterday. Then I realized it actually was holiday and spent the reminder of the evening drinking beer, high on glue (seriously, what is in that Testors Model Master?) and browsing Dakka Dakka.

Today I awoke, fresh and with a mission to finalize the paintjob on my Emperors Champion. At least to the degree that I can attach him to the still drying base. Before adding weathering and touchups. It doesn't come out too well in the photos but there is a dark / light side to him. The left is visibly much brighter. But I guess I will have to add to it even further in order to really make it stand out. All that when basing is done. For now I'm pretty much done with this one.

Tomorrow will be fun. Back in Orkebro for some test playing of the Dwarf Kings Hold. Boomos baby-son is gonna be the "Counts As" Dwarf King! I'll be myself... counts as undead that is...

Emperors Champion, WIP #2

Blurry photos, but meh... Tried out NMM but I'm not totally sold on it. On some parts it looks pretty good, but figuring out where all the indirect / specular highlights would appear is kinda giving me a headache.

Redid, or refined, the blending on the tabard thingie today as well. The line on the bottom looks kinda "alone". So it'll probably get some sort of decoration like the crusade crosses or something.

Oh, and the new 40K Radio episode is out, and they really make fun of all the hilariousness in this thread over on Dakka. I LOL'd...

EDIT

Redid the "buckle" to look more polished. I kinda want to put a cross on there... or some sort of symbol. The aquila perhaps?

I guess we have to post some 40K...

And I guess it's time to change the name of the blog... With Boomo posting a lot (way more than Lifter does... do you hear me Lifter?) it's not PX & 40K anymore. And to be honest, it's not "all 40K all the time" anymore either... Perhaps I should do some naming-contest thingie since I'm not at all good with coming up with names?

Anyhow... the iPad (no worries, this will be kinda 40K-connected soon) is awesome for watching movies while painting. I had to re-arrange my workspace a little with all the Reaper paints I got. So now I cannot see the telly while painting. iPad to the rescue!

It's not like I watch it a lot though. I mean... I'm actually trying to paint stuff! But it's nice. And I can stream stuff from the computer. Which means that I don't have to watch the home shopping channel.

Emperors champion, WIP.

And now for the 40K stuff... It's the Emperors Mushroom! The GW-store in Stockholm has this Finecast painting comp and I thought I could paint it up for that one. Dunno how well it's going to turn out though. I'm trying to use directional lightning coming from the sword / left. Which means that the sword in itself later on will be -really-bright-. Hopefully it all will come together later on. If not, it's been a mini full with new experiences.

In closing, I'd like to point you to this article on Dakka about photographing stuff, and getting good results from using a crappy camera like the iPhone 3GS. Now I use a Nikon D700 with specialized macro lense and gak. Spent $6000 and I still take photos like I was blind or something. It's not the equipment, it's what you do with it! :)

Painting ADD Forgeworld Hellhound

Is this you Trogdor? Is this me?

I guess it's inevitable. You get a new kit, you paint your orks... but you just can't stop thinking about the new kit. Eventually you break down, get the airbrush and in a haze of ideas you start painting it up. Leaving the orks on the side of the table, looking at them every now and then with guilt in your eyes.

Then you look at the new kit, and it speaks to you. All is forgotten, it says. "Paint me and then kill them. PAINT ME AND THEN KILL THEM!" And you paint... tears of joy in your eyes.

Still a WIP. The hull needs a ton more weathering and detailing. It's a little too non-muddy at the moment. The goal is to depict a vehicle that's been out in the acid rains for months fending of the worshippers of the false emperor. Paint starting to peel and rust, with the crew turning as derelict as their vehicle. Some of them even fusing to the seats like a World of Warcraft player on an achievement grind.

Thinking of leaving the promethium tank either as it is – with some few rust stains – or go all out on it like the tank in this picture. It's kinda nice to have something clean-ish when you do a ton of weathering. It serves as a focal point on an otherwise very busy model.

Weathering is so much fun though... :)

As you can see from the post with the Vallejo-wash-debacle I've stripped it and had it repainted. Together with that some sort of revelation came.

I've always wondered why people talk about airbrush paints being translucent. I could not figure out why. My Vallejo Air paints sure wasn't translucent at all after the second or third layer. Usually a third layer is necessary to get even coverage.

Then I thinned my paints for the brown/rust on the Hellhound, like ten to one... and suddenly it felt more like "it should be". The green was shining through even after the third layer. Making it much easier to build up the brown to the level of coverage I wanted, and to make the transitions much much smoother.

If only I knew a couple of months ago... :)