Diaskuri update II.

Just a quckie; I made a few photos before I airbrushed the twins (Diascuri as they are called in Mythology) with gloss varnish and used various washes on them. They look much better now, but as usual, documentation is a few steps behind the actual work.

Previously on this project:

Castor & Pollux update

Castor and Pollux basecoated (sort of)

Castor and Pollux - basecoated (sort of)

I had some time for the twins lately. I basecoated them dark gray as I usually do and basecoated them with VMC Ultramarine blue. Much to my surprise it turned to be really ultramarine whereas VGC and Citadel ultramarine is not...
Anyway, I continued with adding some shade and zenithal highlight with my airbrush. After this I drybrushed the predators with a mixture of VGC Ghost gray and VMC ultramarine blue.
Unfortunately the pictures with the early stages fell to the warp, but here what they looked like then:

As you see they looked OK, but there was much chalkiness in the details, especially on the metal parts:

I was kind of expecting this and decide to give it a glaze at this point I heavily diluted VMC transparent blue (vallejo's transparent range is excellent, I can only recommend them, they are like heavy glazes) with liquitex airbrush medium and Vallejo's airbrush cleaner (which I use to dilute acrylics with great success) and gave the tanks two thin coats. Here's how they look like:

As you see the chalkiness is practically gone, and most of the highlights are still there. The new colour is much better suited for the mainstream Ultramarines, and since this is a commercial project, I tend to favour the mainstream... :-)

I think, after retouching the most extreme highlights, the predators will be ready for the painting of the details. I can't wait!

Previously on this project:

Castor & Pollux update

Castor&Pollux update

My classic predator revamp project progresses steadily, I have just finished the rebuilding and detailing the twins.
Rebuilding the predators was quite time consuming as the models were in a very sorry state, the following pictures may give you some idea:

I guess most would view these wrecks as waste of time, but for me they are challenge, and I had the metal parts anyway :-) 

Sometimes I had to replace damaged sections with plasticard but finally they started to come together. I magnetized the turrets, used a large amount of GS/milliput mix to fill the holes and blemishes and finally, after a lot of sanding started the detailing part.

And this is the fun part of course, details make the model alive, they make the difference between the average and the interesting. 

I added extra rivets, and decided to use mark III parts and some imperial guard accessories as the original kit is quite low on details. I also made some tow cables and other appliances. Luckily I also found some old metal tank crew members in one of my bit boxes, that somehow survived the purges.

I'm quite happy with the outcome, and I hope that with proper paintjob the twins will find a nice spot in somebody's Ultramarines army - and help to finance some new projects besides.

So here we are now:

some details:

Update: after the pictures were taken I added some purity seals too - how could I have forgotten?

Update 2: News just in: My librarian Yorias has won me the first prize at the converting competition he was built for! I feel some terminators will soon join my forces...

December retrospective

On the last day of the year it is common to look back to the year, but first I have to look back on December. It's been a busy month a bit too eventful even, as it turned out first of all, my Land Speeder has won a Bronze Gobbo in it's category on the Hungarian Games Day which is quite an achievement, considering that I accidentally applied... (I bought it for to show it to a guy, and he convinced me to enter the competition.) On the same event I won some Xyston 15mm Hellenics on a lottery game, that made me to order some more on eBay.

December has also shown me completing some commissions, plus pimping up some old school Orc vehicles for sale. This is  part of the closing stages of operation Clean Shelf, aiming to keep only minis and vehicles I intend to paint in the foreseeable future.

Finally I stared a major project to restore, superdetail, paint and hopefully sell a pair of pretty much wrecked Classic Space Marine Predators, Castor and Pollux. The aim is to try and master some techniques I saw in Imperial Armour modelling Masterclass. Stay tuned for details. Below you can see Castor in it's original state to the left:

It's been a busy week, and a busy month, and  I expect none less in 2011, though I plan to post more.

Yorias Redux

I just finished him painting. I took a bit different path in painting him compared to the rest of the army, I think the characters will resemble him, while the troops will follow a bit more simple. So here you go, as always commets are welcome.

Yorias the Librarian

For some time now I've been converting this mini, the first true HQ choice for my little chapter. I have a full plastic army in mind, so there was a lot of work with him: all parts, limbs etc were converted, nothing is untouched. Actually this mini was made with a local converting competition in mind, I have secret hopes to win it. (In reality nearly always Orc or Chaos minis win these tournaments....)
I hope you like it!

 

The torso is made from a tactical sergeant's bit, the head is from an old Catachan mini. Instead of the banner, I used some banner-like things from the ravenwing sprue. The legs are repositioned, the feet have lobstered guards. The loincloth is that of an AoBr captain's

I made new style shoulder pads for him, and attached a laser engraved chapter symbol

I like the way the powerpack turned out...

The powersword is made of a piece of plastic, a terminator ornament some lead wire and greenstuff.

And the same with a coat of dark grey primer (as primer brings things together so nicely):

If you are interested in how tis or that detail was made do not hesitate to ask. Comments are welcome too.

Stay tuned for painted pictures.

Oriental Orc Archer

I try to make up my lack of posting in the last few months, so this is a mini I painted for a local painted miniature exchange lottery. Yes you pick a mini, paint it to the best of your ability, and a dosen or so guys do the same. The minis then get distributed randomly. Works quite fine if everyone paints on the same level, but anyway, Let us concentrate on my entry:

I tried to create a mini diorama with some pieces of scenery, since it is unlikely that anyone in Hungary fields an oriental Orc army. BTW if anyone knows the origins of this mini, please let me know, since I don't even know what make it is.

 I'm quite happy with the results, this is really about the best you can expect from me nowadays. These were my first experiments with pigments on the base, and they look quite natural, so I think it is a success.

I made a mistake of posting it on coolminiornot.com but I got what I deserved. A score of  5.1 - just good enough for tabletop is quite depressing, but I asked for it - again :-)

Budapest Grand Tournament

You know, that I don't play, but I have promote this event; if you are have some time drop in. I buy a beer for all my readers who show up. (I come as a spectator.) It will be held on the 16th-17th of October.

Here is the link  Regular tournament prizes, entry fee is €20 that includes luch on both days.

Saying goodbye to the Catachans

For some time I played with the idea of building an all metal Catachan army (the same way my Bretonnians are being collected) but I have to realize that I will never get to finish them. Facing the fact one has to have a great moral character, that I happen to possess, so here they are for sale.

Reasonable offers in e-mail.

Meanwhile summer holiday passed uneventful, but I managed to sell a lot of unused stuff to local gamers; and so I invested in a new airbrush+compressor combo. I haven't had much time to try it out (family holiday, canoeing with colleagues etc.) but I'm sure my Mk1 will shine at the time of the local Games Day.

The Great Vallejo Wash Review

Regular readers may know that I'm a bit partial to Vallejo paints. I love the dropper bottles, the consistency and the price/quantity ratio. The only thing I kept buying (of course I still own and use a lot of Citadel paints) from the Citadel range are their very cool washes. Obviously when I learned that Vallejo comes out with a brand new range, I had to have them. This is a humble review of my impressions.
I bought my set from Maelstrom; using their latest voucher the whole set cost a mere £ 12.79 for eight bottles, and let me remind you, you get 17ml bottles for this price, not 10 as for Citadel washes.The Citadel set sells around £15, so per ml you pay twice as much for Citadel.
The colour range is very similar as for the Citadel washes, the only exception being the lack of violet, where you get the mysterious pale wash instead. This is how the washes look boxed.

Methodology

I tested the washes basically in 4 or 5 different settings:

1. Undiluted over Vallejo's grey primer. (this is a fine light gray polyurethane resin primer, ready to use in an airbrush, but good to apply with an ordinary brush too.)
2. Wash diluted with distilled water, 1:1, over grey primer
3. Wash diluted with Johnson&Johnson Pronto Floor Polish mix 1:1 over grey primer. We have no Future in Hungary. Of course it is not nihilism, I'm not worried about the national debt, but we have no such product, as Future or Klear, or Klar etc. However we have this floor finish that is almost identical, but is not clear but have a pale almond colour. It disappears though as it dries.I mean the colour. I use my mix with 1 part Pronto and 1 part distilled water, so in this case in fact it is 3 parts water, 1 part Pronto
4. Wash applied over a suitable colour, to show how it fares under real circumstances
5. In case there is something needs testing, armour, a face etc.

For a test model I used CW's very fine Cadian standard bearer. Shown below with primer only, for reference.

Black

Black is one of the basic washes you need and Vallejo's works quite well:

1. Nice even finish, it glazes surface, but stays mainly in the recesses. Perhaps a bit too strong. Has a slight brownish hue 
2. Diluted the wash falls apart a bit and the result is rather blotchy, with some tidemarks
3. Diluted with floor polish the wash performs rather well; remains nicely in recesses,
4. For the colour test I chose Vallejo's air colour grey primer (not to confuse with the urethane one!)
5. The result is quite convincing, a tad too dark again
6. As armour wash over Citadel Mithril Silver: nice gradients, performs quite well

Conclusion: a solid performer, a bit dark, and I learned not to dilute it with water.
Rating: good 

Umber

Another classic. Umber comes in a nice neutral dark brown colour, that I came to like quite well

1. Over the primer it looks quite nice, promising
2. Diluted with water looks much better then black, perhaps a tad too light
3. Diluted with Pronto it looks OK, a bit light again
4. The real test is over VGC Iraqian Sand (I know, but they call it like that regardless) one of my favourites nowadays
5. The colour test looks very much to my taste, exactly what I'd expect from such a colour

Conclusion: Umber and me will be good friends. It has the perfect shade and coverage, can be used to make darker shades too, mixed with other washes

Rating: Excellent

Sepia

Sepia is exactly what you'd expect, a warmer, yellower brown. Less versatile than Umber, but still have it's uses.

1. Over the primer it looks good, with some of the quality of Umber, but warmer. It glazed the primer nicely
2. Diluted with water it falls apart a bit
3. Looks great with floor polish, I guess this is my new recipe for bone
4. Again, Sepia will be tested on Iraquian Sand
5. Nice even coverage, but a bit too much. Would look better diluted.

Conclusion: I think sepia will be a good choice for aging gold, bone, cloth, whatever. Good to have on the desk

Rating: very good

Fleshtone

Fleshtone is meant to shade human skin, let's see how it fares. The tone is much lighter than the previous colours, and looks very different than VGC Skin wash, which in fact is a dark orange ink, and looks quitre strange on minies (shading flesh I mean).

1. Applied over primer it looks exciting. It takes some abstract thinking to see human flesh in the flag, but you can try. A bit reddish where it pools.
2. Diluted with water it doesn't cover much
3. Little better with floor polish; stays in the recesses nicely
4. The test is with Iraquian Sand again, as I use it as basic skintone too, quite often
5. The result is OK but again one needs some imagination
6. Helping the thicker hobbyists I painted a Catachan face. I think it looks good, especially if highlights were added

Conclusion: I'm not yet fully convinced as it needs some more testing but the results look OK.
Rating: good

Pale

Pale wash is a very interesting colour. Actually it is light grey, and it is primarily meant to shade white, which is  good news to anyone struggling with that colour (Hey, Island of Blood is coming! Hint, hint... Elves?)

You can't see much on the first few pictures, as the primer and the wash have similar shade. The difference shows when tested on VGC White Primer; it shades white nicely and evenly. With the proper shading the results can be stunning. Please note that in the latest flag the wash was diluted 1:1 with Pronto mixture.

Conclusion: Pale wash is something new and I'm positive that it will make many of us happy in the future

Ranking: very good 

Red

Red is what I feel is the weakest link in the range. It has a dark magenta colour, that is great for enriching red though

1. Painted on the primer, red wash looks rather weird, but the consistency is OK
2. Diluting red is a bad idea. the result is a lot of uneven tidemarks looking quite bad
3. Using floor polish will not solve the problems either
4. I tested the shading qualities over Citadel Blood Red. Perhaps it was not such a good idea, I should have chosen a less saturated colour
5. Red wash shades Blood red nicely, but the result is too weak and light to work. As a side effect the magenta of the wash  boosts the saturation of Blood red to irrational levels.
6. With a second coat of wash the banner looks OKish.

Conclusion: Red wash in one layer will not do the trick, it is too light and bright for that. Might work on oranges perhaps. Before I'd bury it though, it must be said that combined with sepia or umber it will work well, and one can find many useful ways to use it. But still no good to shade red.

Rating: below average

Green

Green is similar to red in many ways but performs better. The colour is quite light and bright, and therefore suitable for lighter greens only.

1. Applies over the primer I quite like the way it looks, though it shows alrready, that the wash is too light
2. Diluted with water it is much less blotchy than red wash is
3. Looks nice, though pale with Pronto too.
4. I tested over VGC's Scorpion Green (A bit too saturated, but unfortunately I have a limited palette of light greens)
5. Wow! This looks cool! The paint and wash look great together.

Conclusion: Green is a decent wash, but to wash Orks or any darker green stuff, it is no good. Mixing it with umber or black may worth a try, but in itself it is good for lighter shades only.

Rating: Average 

Blue

Compared to red and green blue is a much darker shade that works as expected

1. It looks decent on primer
2. Does not look good diluted with water, does not fill the recesses or builds nice gradients
3. Looks OK though, diluted with Pronto 
4. For the test I used Citadel Enchanted Blue
5. I quite like the result, with highlights it would look splendid.

Conclusion: Blue works as expected, and gives a very nice result

Rating: very good

To sum it up

Vallejo washes are a cost effective alternative to Citadel ones. They are slightly more viscous, and should not be diluted with water. Future or matte medium works fine though. The glazing effect of the washes is nice, but they keep to recesses perhaps very slightly less than Citadel washes do. The gradients the washes create are very nice. Red and green are way too saturated and light for my taste. 

The range does not have a purple, and it is a shame, for purple is quite useful at times, but the revolutionary pale wash is a very good trade off. I'm quite happy that I bought the set, and advise all of you the same.

For the price sensitive ones will be delighted to hear that 200ml bottles are also available for £6.52.

For Vallejo I'd recommend to sponsor a professional painter, or a blog to help people to use their products most effectively. I still have no idea how to use VGC Smokey Ink (thick brown paste with flakes in it, no ink at all), VMC transparent smoke, the Skin Wash (not Fleshtone) or basically any of their inks. Up until that day it is trial and error, unless someone does the testing, or writes tutorials. But I think it is most easily done by those who designed these products.

That's all folks, I hope you liked it. Stay tuned there might be a wash comparison one day (including home made wash recipes!)