A new year and a finished Sigmarine.

Well school is still in full effect (as well as work, and family life), but I was able to carve a few hours out and actually get some painting done. My goal for the year is to get the Warhammer Quest box set painted as well as the Super Dungeon Explorer box and the Rivet Wars set (can you see a pattern emerging?).

So with that in mind I figured I could at least knock out the first model and get the snow ball rolling. Here is the Sigmarine. I really like the gold, blue and red color scheme. And I have decided that yellow will be on every model in the box as a tie in. So here ya go. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when painting the model.

Warhammer Quest - The start of a journey though a box.

I was given a copy of this set a few months back and have had no time to paint. I've been counting down the weeks till the end of the semester. So as it's Finals Week and I have only two left I figured after a day of reading and review for 8 hours I deserved to treat myself to some painting.

It's been a while since I've worked on a GW model and frankly it's a bit weird. I'm so used to metal or resin models that these things just feel like nothing in the hand (think ice cream cone vs cotton candy). It is kinda nice that they stay on holders with just a small bit of blue tac though.

Anyway I am starting with the Knight thing and what I thought were blue and pink horrors, I looked back at the box AFTER getting the pink where I wanted it to realize that these are actually also blues so they will have to be changed.

So stay tuned. The blog is back, the updates will be regular and my goal is to knock out the 40ish models in the box over Christmas break!

Here have some extremely early WIP pics.

Helldrake you say?

So the Helldrake is coming along quite nicely, now that the base is finally looking like I want it to. The first layers of weathering have been added and are drying. Soon it will be time to add a bit of pigments and call this one done.

I'm also really happy that I finally found a use for the monoliths I got from Secret Weapons Miniatures about 5 years ago......

So here are a bunch of pictures to make up for not posting about this model in a while.

Heldrake 2.0

Work continues on the Heldrake. I was able to spend a few hours starting on the gold, and let me tell you there is a metric ton of it going onto this model.....

I chose Vallejo Alcohol based - Old gold for this. I find that it works really well with the reds and the almost red tint of the gold picks up a reflection like quality.

So this is how far I was able to get. So much more to go.....

Heldrake WIP.


It's been a while since I've worked on a GW model, a good friend asked if I would paint his Heldrake. I've admired this bad boy for a long time, so I jumped at the chance to take it on.

My first thought was "Holy cow that's a big model" which was closely followed by "Holy cow, that's a lot of detail for a big model".

So with a stout heart I began by taping off the flight stand and priming the model. I primed it grey using Vallejo Surface Primer and let it cure for about 8 hours. Then coated it with Vallejo Model Color Grey/Black. Once dry I used Dawler Roweny - Red Ink as a base for the reds. After that it was time to add in the highlights and shadows. I mixed up some Vallejo Game Color - Stone Grey and added a few drops of P3 red ink to give it a more natural tone. Then it was time for the bright red of the P3 red ink.

All in all I'm about 3 hours into this behemoth and it's just now got its first layer of gloss coat. Next it will be the tedious work of browning all of the parts for the undercoat of the golds!

So here is the sequence in pictures.

In the home stretch...

I was able to spend a few hours working on the Rhino and other GW tank last night. Basically I finished up the weathering and then sealed it with a matte varnish (to keep the pigments in place).

The weathering beyond the chipping is pretty easy to do. First thing is to gloss coat after the chipping stage is done. This basically puts a barrier between anything and the hairspray that is still under the paint. Once the gloss coat cured it was time to add the wash. For this model I went with Red Ochre oil paints mixed into a wash by adding mineral spirits. The oil needed over night to dry. Then I used Secret Weapons Miniatures - Rust Red weathering powder to give it a good rusted, dirty look. Then sealed it with matte varnish. The thing to remember about pigments is that they will always darken a bit after being varnished.

So here are the tanks. Now to just finish up the turrets and weapons and this one will be done.

Batch Painting - a few thoughts.


I was waiting for the next gloss coat to dry on the GW tanks yesterday but wanted to get some painting done. I had a few models laying around (who doesn't really?) that were primed and and patiently waiting their turn in line on the shelf. I decided to get them at least base coated. I knew that all of them were going to have strong reds and figured "why waste the paint?"

Batch painting, especially with an airbrush is pretty easy and can save a you a bunch of time. Make sure all of your models are prepped and ready to go. Keep them off to the side so that they are not picking up any over spray, and have at it. Simple really but what a time and effort saver. From base coat to under ehighlights to inks all four models took less than an hour.

So here are some pics....

GW Rhino 3.0

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a week since I have been able to post any work updates. Darn life has been getting in the way of painting time.....

Thank goodness I was able to get a few hours in tonight! In picking up where I left off. I finished up the slivers on the tank treads and all the fiddly bits, and tried a new technique on the smoke stacks. I was looking at pictures of exhaust pipes and thought about how they typically go from silver to gold to blue I wanted to give it shot on the model. I already had the base gold laid down, so I took a new paint in my collection P3 - Blighted Gold and used it as a transition to the top of the stacks. Then I mixed a blue and black acrylic was together for the uppermost part and I really like how it turned out. Then it was time to add a bit more weathering to the model. The first step is the oil wash. I used W&N Red Ocher and applied it liberally to the model. Once this is dry it will be time to go with a good rust colored weathering powder and this one will be in the books.

So here is a bad picture of the progress so far.

GW Rhino 2.0

I got a bit more work done on the tanks last night. I worked on getting the rust effects looking right. I used the hairspray method as mentioned in the last post. Once that was done I sealed the model with Tester's Gloss Coat. then it was time to work on the Golds and Silvers. The golds are Vallejo  Alcohol based - Red Gold, and the silver is P3 - Pig Iron. Pig Iron has been my favorite silver since the old GW - Chain Mail went by the way side. It has similar dark tones to it which makes it a great base for highlighting, it also has amazing coverage.

So here are a few pics to keep you satisfied. I also need to fix the line between the purple and white. As you can see in the picture I got a bit of bleed over when using water to activate the hairspray underneath the paint.

GW models you say? 

Yep, I figured I'd mix it up a bit and work on some Games Workshop stuff. 

So this is a tank (I think a Rhino?). I am told that this is a Chaos model so it's going to be all rusted out and nasty looking. 

I started with an undercoat of brown/red/orange mix. Once that was dry I hit it with a good coat of Tester's Gloss Coat to seal in the freshness.... Well OK to facilitate the next step in the process. Once the gloss varnish had time (overnight) to cure I then applied a coating of hair spray. I use Aqua Net as its really cheap and water soluble. 

Then it was time to add the main colors of the tank. I was going for a split color of white and purple. This step is critical. You need just enough paint to cover the browns, without saturating the hairspray. to do this I turned up the PSI on the airbrush and shot from a bit further away than normal (about 6 inches) so that the paint was just about dry by the time it hit the model. 

I started with the white coat of paint. waited for it to dry completely, then masked off the center with painters tape. It was then time to use the purple. 

I let everything dry overnight again (nobody said this is a quick process). 

And it was then time to activate the hairspray and chip some paint. Doing this is fairly easy. Get a fresh cup of water, a paintbrush and something to chip the paint with. I personally use a straw that has been cut on the bias. It's sharp enough to chip up the paint, but not so sharp that it will cut through the varnish. 

Here are the steps for the rust chipping. 

1. take your paintbrush and get it good and wet.

2. "paint" the water onto the section you want to chip.

3. wait about 30 second for the water to get under the paint to the hairspray.

4. chip the paint gently with the tool of your choice. 

5. when you are satisfied with the level of rust. dry off the area with a clean paper towel. 

After the chipping is done it was time to seal the model with another layer of Gloss Varnish. 

And you get something like this. 

Once the Varnish cures it will be time to work on details, washes, powders and all the fun stuff to ruin a perfectly good paint job!

Major Announcement Time!

As I promised at the begging of the year, I have been expanding the blog. So far I have worked on different models. I have started on the product reviews (stay tuned for more and better!), and now for the next. 

We are officially launching the store today!

The first product that we are offering are dice trays. Not just any dice trays but cognizable trays that don't cost a fortune! The trays are made from real wood, with the most durable felt we could find (and believe me we tested a lot of felt).  You will be able to add lettering to the sides and logo's or pictures to the bottoms, to truly make your dice tray unique! All this for the low price of $45. 

So what are your choices? 

You can choose felt in Red, Black, Blue or Green. We will have three differnt fonts avaiable for the lettering on the sides and logos on the bottom will be 6in by 6in. The Dice Trays themselves are 9in by 9in so they offer plenty of room to roll dice, carry models, cards, or anything else you can think of. 

So come over to the store and check it out! 

http://www.flightmedicgaming.com/

As a side note the blue tray is the only one showing right now (working on it!) You can still order any colors you would like. When checking out you will be asked what text you would like, Just let us know what color felt you want and we will make it happen!

Oh and I'd bet you'd like to see the trays. This is one of the trays we did for the one and only Menoth John.

Butcher 3.

I love a lazy Saturday. I was able to put about 4 hours into this guy today so far and now I'm just waiting for the Gloss varnish to dry so I can start in on the Oil Washes.

I started with getting all the Grey/Black onto the fur lining of the cape then adding all the different browns to the model. I used three main browns (well 4 if you count the undercoat for the golds). The outside cape thing is P3 Beast Hide. I've not used this brown before but its got a really nice almost cream look to it and goes on really smooth. I used P3 Blood Tracker Brown for the things hanging from the shoulder armor, and am I am totally blanking on what I used for the under-vest (that professional blogging right there folks.....).

You might notice in the picture above that the face is Green. I have seen this technique before but hadn't tried it yet so I figured, hey why not. I am impressed at how it really brings out the flesh tones and leaves decent shadows underneath. 

Silvers were added and as I still have a bit of the old GW Bleach Bone around I used that on the skulls. (seems appropriate given how much GW loves skulls).

Here is the model after the first Gloss Coat. It needs to cure for a few hours and then I'll start applying the washes. 

More pictures to come soon. 

Iron Fang Kovnik. Quick and Dirty.

I needed a quick palette cleanser today. Something I could paint quickly and do a decent job on in about 2 hours or less. I chose this model for its simplicity and frankly nice swaying cape. On the issue of capes, what's the deal with fantasy models always having them? They serve no real purpose and I would imagine that they would actually get in the way while fighting. O.K. now that my mini rant is out of the way let's get back to the painting. This one was pretty simple. I used the red ink technique on the reds. P3 - Pig Iron for the silvers and Vallejo Model Color - Gold for the well... golds. Once everything was good and dry I dipped into my last remaining bottle of GW Devlin Mud and added a big ole dose of it. And viola a model is in the display case and ready to hit the table.

GW Models for a change.

Well I finally got to working on some 40k models for a friend.

I had been putting these off for a while, but today inspiration struck. I wanted something flashy that will work well in contrast. These are undercoated in an almost neon green bordering on yellow. I am using a kinda modified hairspray technique to get a crackled paint look. I am really digging the purple and green together.

This one should get pretty interesting. I am thinking that any silvers will have to be very very dark, almost like the dark bluing you would see on real rifles. And for the golds I will be using Vallejo Red gold to give it a good dark look. Stay tuned this one is gonna be fun.

Exciting news!

I have wanted to create a YouTube channel for a while now but have lacked the funds/equipment to actually do it. Well my amazing wife (she really is the best out there). Decided that it was time and I was able to purchase a camera, tripod, and everything I need to start creating video's to go along with the pictures and walk-threws I have been doing here.

So I plan to shoot and edit my first video this weekend and play with the editing software. I hope to have it up on YouTube next week!

I hope you will like what I produce and am more then open to suggestions for what the first model worked on should be.

Again I want to give a huge shout out to my Patreon with out you none of this would be possible.

Contest Model 2.0

So today I did a bit of rage painting.

What is rage painting you ask? Well PTSD is a bitch. I was at the point of rage where I needed to remove myself from all of mankind and what better place to go then where I can focus my energy into something productive then the painting table. (I wonder if I can get the VA to pay for my hobby as "Therapy"?

Anywho.... I got some work done on Rocinante. This is the model that I am painting up for a competition based on the theme of Veteran. The idea is to have something that looks like its been there, done that and survived to tell about it. The model is going to be rusted, dirtied, and made downright nasty with battle damage.... But first I have to make it look good before the destruction can occur.

I started by laying the undecoat of browns into reds and up to orange. The base of brown I used is Vallejo Game Color - Beasty Brown. It is a bit lighter than I would normally go for a rust effect but the green I am going to use on the model is very light and it should give a good contrast. After that dried I added a bit of Vallejo Game Color - Gory Red in a 4:2 mix with the Brown. Then moved to a 4:2 ratio of the mix and Old GW - Bright Orange (its a bit more red then most orange out there).

Once the paint was dry it was time to protect the rust layer. This is what we will be chipping down to so we need a good layer of varnish over it so that we don't accidentally go all the way down to the grey plastic when we chip the paint later down the road. I used Tamiya Gloss Varnish because its the best I've found and its tough as nails when dry.

I gave it an hour to cure (worked on some other models I'm not ready to show yet (patience grasshoppers).

Once the Gloss was dry and good to go. I grabbed the Aqua-Net hair spray. This step is key. Use really cheap hairspray. The good stuff is bad for what we want. The hair spray is water soluble so once we are ready to chip we use a bit of water and watch how it dissolves the  hairspray under the paint letting us get a good natural chipping to occur.

Then it was time to start laying down the actual paint layers that will cover the model.

I wanted to keep with the overall feel of the Mercs Faction but did not want to go with a darker green. I used Vallejo Model Color - Russian WWII green and it looks fantastic so far.

Well that's about it for now.

Next up will be to add the silver and golds, but that's another blog entry.

Please leave some feedback. Any suggestions for basing would be greatly helpful.