Monday, June 2, 2014

A place to hang out


This is from the Military Pinup series by Hangar 18... the US Army Ranger girl.


I decided to put the jeep hood and the figure on a Secret Weapon plinth, with the thought that I could repeat the US star and the rivet patterns on it.

To do so, I cut up tiny slivers of plastic rod, which were then glued in place.


Ready to prime!!


I have been using a variety of Vallejo military inspired primers lately.  I enjoy priming green, and then letting some of that show through transparent layers of skin tones and so on.


A dark brown and an olive drab green were used for the initial layers.


Once the primer was covered, I started to mix in more of the lighter olive green.


An even lighter, grayed down green was used for subsequent layers, all the while working with the #6 filbert brush.


Then it was time to see what I should do with the iconography.  I didn't want the logo on the base to overpower the figure, so that would have to be worn away, and covered with rust, dirt, etc.


The symbol is ready for some preliminary weathering.


The symbol on the hood will also be worn away a bit.


A beat up craft brush was used to press in a few quick paint chips and other worn surfaces.


Sorry this is fuzzy!  The macro got turned off, but you can get the idea.  Rust and dirt streaks through the icon to tone it down.


More rust!  I will add some finishing layers with Secret Weapon weathering powders at the very end.


Mostly there.  The base is about 80% complete.  I wanted to see how that was going to look before I did too much on the figure.  Stay tuned for more!


A Curious Object indeed


This project will be one of the more unusual items I may ever paint.  This is the Krios Mechanicum battle tank.  The parts are not exactly like the usual Rhino and Land raider pieces!


There was no other way to deal with this but to paint all of the parts individually, and then deal with assembling them later.


There is going to be a lot of brass, bronze and copper on this.  Most of that will be done with tinting glazes, both dark and light.


You can see some basic work done on the gears and the interiors of the tracks.  I also need to think about the future weathering that will take place.


Many more colors will be tinted here.  More towards reds, purples, greens, and so on.


I know that some of these parts will be nearly invisible once this is assembled, but they all have to be rendered equally nonetheless.  That was another thing I knew would happen with this 'open' vehicle.


I chose some deep transparent reds to start out with the various sections of the hull that would be this shade.  It will become much brighter in some areas, but there will be freehand designs as well.

This should be a nice contrast to all the greens of the brass.


A hint of the brighter reds to come...


Here is the juxtaposition I mentioned.  Once some of the weathering gets involved, it will provide even more layers of contrast and intensity.


Lots of gears everywhere!  I predict a lot of green stuff, glue, and cursing in my future this week.  Wish me luck!