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PracticalBlood Angels Army Project (pic carpet bombing ftw!)

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  • DCBDCB331 Posts: 0Member
    Oooh dirty. Looks like you'd want a base with some nice muddy track ruts in it.
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    Thanks guys! It was touch and go there for a while, with the spray varnish frosting on both the marines and the Land Raider, but I managed to avert disaster. ^^

    @EG180: Yeah, I could use some sunshine that actually heats up something, ie. me, on a bar's terrace, nursing a beer, watching the world trot by... Now we've got the ****tiest season of all, grey skies, drizzle, not cold enough to freeze but moist enough to chill you to the bone, wind but no storm, rain but no thunder. Gah! Boring and depressing. Whenever the sun breaks through, you see people craning their necks and squinting their eyes at that strange yellow orb...
    Ahem, anyway... did you find any time for some 2D stuff by the way? Just out of curiosity.

    @Binkerman: Cheers mate! I'm finding it hard to call it done and walk away. Every time I look i see something that could be made just that little bit better... But I have to be strict on myself, huah!

    @DCB: Hmmmm, yeah, that would look cool. Perhaps I could chuck the little remains of my sanity out of the window and make an Army display board. But since I have absolutely no room to put it... However, since a few weeks I've been nursing two Idea's for little diorama's that I want to build in the foreseeable future. One is basically a Contemptor dreadnought on a gaming base, but crashing into some Striking Scorpions. One being crushed by the powerfist, one impaled on a blade attached to a heavy weapon arm, and one being stomped in the chest. ^^
    The other idea I've got is a Deathwatch diorama; what I've got in mind of this: An enraged Blood Angel with a bloody fist being restrained by two comrades, a headless bureaucrat lying slumped against a wall a few meters back. A Salamander telling some other Administratum adepts to best take their papers and go. A little in the background a Space Wolf and White Scar hanging on to each other, unable to hold back their laughter. And a techmarine securing a dead Carnifex on the back of a commandeered transport truck.
    'Too much paperwork'. Whaddayathink? Feasible? Or downright mad?
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    These look really great Mate!
  • DCBDCB331 Posts: 0Member
    Possibly veering into madness, but as long as the Inquisition don't catch wind of it you should be fine.
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    Heheh, I'll keep my head low. :D

    First I want to finish what's on my plate right now. But I think I'll slowly start scrounging for bits and I'd like to sculpt as little as possible.
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    I managed to finish up the tac- and dev squad. Found a spray can of satin varnish which did not produce any frosting, and I darkened up the bases.

    Oh, and I also managed to completely ruin the weathering powders on on the Razorback and Land Raider yet again... The red hull is now nice and dull, but the varnish completely whitened and frosted the weathering powders... again... raaah! But at least the satin varnish on on there now so I re-applied yet another layer of weathering powders and I'll fixate them with several layers of Klear. With the rest of the model protected by satin, I can easily airbrush on the glossy Klear on just the powdered parts, which might create a nice wet look.
    Some pics!
    The lighting quality was terrible, especially the marines could have used more front light but I only noticed on my monitor. Ah well, once the weather is better I'll take some decent ones. I also feel they come out better with a black background.

    IMG_4647.JPG
    IMG_4657.JPG
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    With the trouble you're having, wouldn't it be easier to just dip them in real mud?
  • DCBDCB331 Posts: 0Member
    Not to mention super-realistic when you leave muddy tank tracks all over the game table.
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    ^ROFL :lol:

    Ah! But I just heard recently that there are special concoctions out there to fixate weathering powder. MIG is supposed to have it for example. I think I'll scour ebay for it. :D
  • BarBar171 Posts: 0Member
    Meph wrote: »
    ^ROFL :lol:

    Ah! But I just heard recently that there are special concoctions out there to fixate weathering powder. MIG is supposed to have it for example. I think I'll scour ebay for it. :D

    Have you tried MIG "dirt and mud" mixed up paint/pigment?
    I used it to simulate a build up of mud from the feet of the guys scrambling to enter the cockpit of this build:
    http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g19/All_the_good_usernames_are_taken/Bentley%20Ar-8%20Arrowhead/IMG_0291.jpg
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    I've heard of it, but I haven't tried it yet. Maybe on the net vehicles. I've still got a magnetized rhino/razorback/predator and another Land Raider in the pipeline. They'll be needing some mud as well. :D
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    Dam Melp that some impressive work mate!
  • ArmondikovArmondikov0 Posts: 0Member
    What about using a procedural bump map? Then you can link the colour to the bump value and generate the mud effect no problem.

    6a00d8341c387d53ef0148c84decb8970c-320wi
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    Cheers Freak! :)

    rofl, yeah, and with a good specular map it would look just as if I had applied read pigment to the model, that'd be wicked massive! :D

    Oh, and just on a whim, I made a little compilation of the major painting and weathering steps. It's seemed like fun to see the evolution in one view. Those models had a slow progress over more than a year, as I don't paint that often. ^^

    0MG_1809.jpg
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    After some more OCD, I did manage to finally seal the weathering powders using that blue-bottled pigment fluid from MIG. Great stuff. Although to add some extra protection I airbrushed on some satin varnish from Vallejo. And now it looks satisfactory, and you can touch it without the powder rubbing off.
    I actually wanted to work on the large terminator this weekend but after another failed attempt, I decided to coat it in satin varnish, which is slightly less slick than Klear. But now that has to dry and cure. So I thought I'd take some high-res pics of the marines and vehicles.

    The satin spray from GW left the models a bit too matte overall to I brushed on some gloss varnish on the lenses, lights, and gold/copper materials. It did a great deal to bring those parts back to life.

    On another note, this has been announced:

    Lowlands Painting Competition 2012

    I'm thinking to enter the Land Raider and my Stormraven. So I've got a deadline of April 14th to finish that bird. Should be doable...

    But until then, some High-Res Goodness!! (All pics are 1920 x somethingsomething)

    Marines!

    Razorback

    Land Raider Part 1

    Land Raider Part 2

    IMG_4693h.jpg
  • DCBDCB331 Posts: 0Member
    Seems like your assault cannon might have some trouble firing with all those barrels sealed up. Your heavy bolter barrels could stand to be hollowed out a bit wider too. Probably should have offered that advice before you finished the painting though.....
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    lol, yeah, those barrels keep escaping my attention. ^^
    but as that little turret just sits loose on the model, they can still be drilled out though. I think I just might do that.
  • Road WarriorRoad Warrior206 Posts: 813Member
    BEAUTIFUL pics, Meph!!!

    Love the weathering- the mud/dust looks real.
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    Cheers RW! I'm glad you're liking it! :D
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    Alrighty, now that that Clone Trooper is finished, on to the next one.
    I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere with the custom decals for the Storm Raven. Even though I liked the previous designs they were just re-hashing existing 40K artwork, which didn't really sit right in my mind. So after a small epiphany last night I went to work this morning. I went googling for photos of angel statues, picked a few, and dived into Photoshop. After a small hour, this came out. I think this will more suit the purpose of the decals. The imagery might be less clear and defined but I feel the whole look of it will blend in better with the model so it doesn't attract all the visual attention. And since I'll be able to print on a high resolution, the detail will still be there. And for the sake of **** I'll use the same decal on both sides, but mirrored.
    And if you look even really close you'll see even some symbology. On the left you have two angels weeping over a fallen man, and on the right you have the Angels of Death bringing The Light to the fallen, and also a spear to the nuts as punishment for having fallen in the first place. For the Emprah!

    noseart7.jpg

    And also a new version for the tail art. Less piratey, more Blood Angely.

    0Skull&bones005.jpg

    What say you all?
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    I wanted to try them out, so here are some composites for your critical eye.

    noseartTest7b.jpg
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    Anyways, variations! After letting it rest a bit, I'm not that happy with the yellow wings. So I fiddled around a bit. The third and the last have caught my attention... Whaddayathink?

    0SkullnbonesTest.jpg
  • evil_genius_180evil_genius_1804256 Posts: 11,034Member
    I like the last one. :D

    Great stuff all around. That angel decal looks fantastic, awesome work on that. I love the skull too. :thumb:
  • DCBDCB331 Posts: 0Member
    I dunno. I'm still not a fan of that 3D skull - looks too jarring. I think the traditional 2D Jolly Roger skull would look better.

    IYnNbs.jpg
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    Yeah, I get what you mean, DCB. On the other hand, the skull will ultimately be pretty damn small, when scaled down it will appear more stylized.

    Alrighty, some adjustments. I do feel it has a more balanced look right now. I'm not too sure if I'm 100% happy with it yet. Comments?

    noseart8.jpg

    Also, some tail art tried on for size. I must say, the yellow/golden one is growing on me, fast.

    TailArtTest004.jpg

    And as a final reference, the two side panels I had made before using existing artwork. A part of me keeps thinking: "Ditch the rush DIY job and go with these balanced visuals." Dilemma's, dilemma's...

    noseart02.jpg
    noseart05.jpg


    OK guys, shoot. Give it another blast from the Spice-Weasel!
  • FreakFreak1088 Posts: 4,361Member
    Dam that looks really sweet. I am really loving that last one with the full ship.
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    Cheers mate! :D
    In the mean time, I've been playing around a bit with other small decal designs. Such as warning signs, something to go on the side doors, name of the pilot, name of the craft, and even a back sticker that'll be tucked away on the back. ^^
    As reference, the total width of the widest decal here will be 4cm.

    WarningSigntest001.jpg
  • Road WarriorRoad Warrior206 Posts: 813Member
    HAHAHAHAHAH! Awesome! Great stuff, Meph.
  • DCBDCB331 Posts: 0Member
    Meph wrote: »
    Give it another blast from the Spice-Weasel!
    Kick it up a notch! BAM!

    I have a few misc real-world aircraft safety/warning symbols and the like if you want them. They are vector, so you can scale them to whatever size you need.
  • MephMeph331 Posts: 0Member
    Cheers RW! ^^

    Oh, vector decals, just what the doctor ordered. Yes please!
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