Painting models and a sneak peek.

Heya guys!

I've been busy over the past week getting these guys together and taking photos of my progress. I did this to share what the process is for me while I paint models. In my previous post you would have seen my tutorial for stripping a tank, well I followed the same process for these guys. I bought eight Chaos Space Marines for $15 US on Ebay and managed to strip them so they looked damn near brand new.

First off, here's the before photo:


As you can see, the paint's pretty caked on, but that's no issue if you're patient.

After stripping:


Most of the paint will come off after the first try, but  it often takes two to three soaks to get everything.

Undercoat:


This was accomplished by simply grabbing an acrylic based black and brushing over the models lightly, it usually only takes me one application to completely cover  a single model.

Also for undercoating, whether it's black or white, I tend to use normal acrylic based paints as it's far cheaper and lasts longer than using GW Chaos Black or Skull White while you still get the same results. I still use GW paints for the rest if I have it handy, it also depends on how rich I'm feeling at the time to determine whether or not I'll spend the extra dollars to get the right GW paint, or something similar in a different brand.

Basecoat & Layer:


Avoiding the areas I waned to keep black, I applied a base of Liche Purple (I'm not sure what it's called in the latest paint release, but it works. Also I usually base in Naggaroth night, but I ran out so I mixed a little black with Liche Purple to acquire the darker hue). For the layer I painted over the base with Liche Purple. For the CC marines I didn't have any GW red but I did have a tester pot of red which worked very well.

Trim:


Here, (and this is what I love about Chaos Marines) I trimmed most models in Mithril Silver but some areas I changed it up either by painting over the Liche Purple/Red layer in black and left the trim purple or went with Black and Mithril Silver. (The center marine needs some green stuff to fill in the gap between his arm and chest, but I'll get to that when I get my hands on some :D)

It's usually when I've just finished the trim that I'll start basing. I spread PVA glue on the bases and dip them in sand, let them dry for a few hours, though I like to leave it over night.

Finished product:



For the finishing touches I applied three thin layers of Rotting Flesh to the black horns on two models and left the other two black for a little variance. The boltguns I simply painted Mithril Silver then moved onto dry brushing the bases in white.

For a little more diversity I removed and repositioned the heads that I could without damaging the model, this can be very difficult and dangerous on completely assembled models, especially when using modeling knives. Remember to always cut away from yourself and if the piece on the model can't be removed by finger pressure or you can't get the knife in without risking damage to the model, don't do it! It's not worth the risk to yourself or to the model. I've caught myself out a few times with this and cut myself pretty deeply.

Sorry about the quality of the photos, I'm not that great a photographer  and the only camera I have is my smart phone :D.

Now let's get to the sneak peek. This is the beginnings of my latest 3D model through Maya, which you 40k fans out there will recognize pretty quickly. The purpose of this one is to really test my low poly modeling (hence it's quite blocky appearance) after which I'll learn how to bake it onto single meshes. Enjoy!


Thanks for perusing!

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