Whilst I have a formulaic approach to tanks and flyers and feel pretty confident about what I am doing I am actually way less confident about infantry and pretty worried about messing them up. This is a snapshot of the infantry I need to finish off:
Its taken me a while to get to this stage and I am on the final straight (all Vallejo is Model Air). So far on the bulk of my infantryI have:
- airbrushed with Vallejo Primer,
- then sprayed with Vallejo Gold Yellow,
- painted helmet grills in Vallejo White,
- painted all the armour edging in Leadbelcher,
- used a sponge and dabbed a mix of Vallejo Black and Vallejo Hull Red to represent chipped/damaged armour
I haven't been able to decide what to do next for ages - so I needed a test piece to experiment on. I know I need to wash them next and have been planning to use the same technique I use on the tanks - airbrush in varnish, then mix an oil wash using white spirit and Windsor Newton Burnt Umber oil paint. So I took this guy with me as a test piece for this technique.
I've got to mention that this model is a Forgeworld Open Day limited edition model and one I have admired for a few years now - I think the shield looks great and it is the same armour variant as in my army so a perfect match. He was only sprayed yellow when I took him with me through the warp so in the confines of an air-conditioned hotel room I added the following:
- Warlock Bronze, then Runelord Brass on the chest eagle, shortsword and shield emblem
- All the purity seals were painted with Blood Red (old citadel range) and Deneb Stone (old citadel range)
- The hammer was painted with Leadbelcher and Runelord Brass
- The helm crest was painted Vallejo White and then washed with Nuln Oil,
- All the edges of armour was then painted with Leadbelcher,
- Edging of shoulder guards and vents on back pack painted Vallejo Black
At this stage, and I wonder if anyone else ever feels like this at the halfway point, I have to say I hated how the model looked and couldn't convince myself it would ever look decent!
On returning home to good old blighty I then airbrushed some Vallejo Satin Varnish.
Why use Satin varnish? I use Satin because I like the way it feels against my skin....sorry wrong topic, I mean...I use Satin as it retains some of the movement that Gloss has when you put a wash over it and doesn't make your model look shiny like a Gloss varnish does. At the same time Matt would be my preference but a wash on Matt varnish just doesn't find the recesses well enough and so I have opted for the varnish in the middle...Satin.
Once dry I then plucked up the courage to mix up the wash. I used the Winsdor Newton Burnt Umber oil paint and mixed it with AK Interactive white spirit (this stuff doesn't smell great so be warned). Its hard to be scientific about the correct amounts of spirit to oil paint; I basically just mix enough of each until the wash slide easily down the pallette when I dab the brush on it - trial and error really. This was applied liberally over the whole model, with particular attention given to the rivets and recessed areas.
Then I put some of the white spirit in a shallow dish and with a 'cotton bud' or 'Q-tip' if you are reading in the US I soaked up a little of the spirit and used this to wipe away the wash that wasn't needed in areas such as the middle of the shoulder guards or leg armour. I've never done this before and was pleased with the results. It has left the wash in the recessed areas and looks naturally graduated whilst keeping the centre of the armour sections nice and yellow!
Once dry, I dry-brushed Leadbelcher onto the black areas, and highlighted the shield and chest emblem in Runelord Brass. Here he is now:
I am really happy with the result and I have now developed a goto technique for my infantry - just another 60 Astartes to go!
More Spartan challenge to come soon in the week....happy painting and modelling till then....
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