Riding along on the crazy train...

Back to the engine of the Siege Train.  I am getting more into the glazing at this point, which you see here, using some Reaper Grey Liner.

For the glow of the lights, I brought out the Vallejo fluorescent paints.  I used the yellow, which was for the most intense glow.  Around the edge, I used a higher chroma reaper yellow...

The idea was to paint the darker color transparently around the edges, to make the lights look lighter.

I also wanted to see what some rudimentary rust and weathering might look like.  There are some deep crevices on it, and I want to be sure that the rust does not look like red glow!

A bit more on the front section... working on some of the edges and details.

I also worked on the back of the train.  Weathering will be even more important here.  Otherwise, it will be a bunch of rather uninteresting grays.

I decided that the roof of the train was going to need more weathering... and some freehand.

And here it is!  Since this is a Union Siege Train, I tried to make it like the US of the Union buckles.

There will be other freehand as well, like these small numbers.

Some work on the upper conduits.

Cleaning up more edges, creating more darks here and there.

I thought it would be fun to put the Wild West Union logo on this side.

I put some more rust effects towards the bottom and the wheels.  I don't want to get too crazy here, since I want to wait until the other sections are painted to this degree... and the rail sections as well!

Some rust effects on the roof!

Where it stands right now.  Time to bring the other sections in line with this one!

They get into everything...

Just like the Arthurian series, I had been trying to find all the images from the homage to John William Godward, one of the last of the Pre Raphaelite artists.

At long last, they are discovered!  And I forgot at least 2 of them entirely!

This was actually one of the last of the series, called Caught in the Act.  Yes, lots of marble, and pesky baby dragons!

Then we have Pool Side Fun, where I had a blast with the reflections in the water.  You will notice that the same dragons keep popping up over and over...

Next up is The Favorite, which was the first in the series.  It is where I first got hooked on painting marble!

The New Toy.  I really enjoyed playing the various colors of marble off the different fabrics.

This was the final painting in the series, called Fairy Symphony.

And Little Rascals.

All of these were watercolors on hot press watercolor board.

Climb aboard the Siege Train. Powered by...

While the original concept art did not show any glowing conduits, you know me and my appetite for such things.

Having read some of the back story of the Wild West Exodus universe, I know that a new 'power source' was discovered, and that it glows red.  So, I located a few spots on the engine that I thought might be fun.

With all the dark colors, and varying shades of gray, the extra interest added by such a glow could be very important.

As usual, out come the Vallejo fluorescent paints.  Keep in mind that while they are very thick consistency, they are very transparent.

You also have to be very aware of what colors you are using to lighten them.  Be sure to use high saturation yellows, and stay away from white.  You will be a weird pink glow instead. :-)

You can see the glow effect start to emerge.  I have to remember that all the dark surfaces near it will get darker, thus magnifying the effect.

Also, I will be doing some glazes on the glowing conduits themselves, which will make the lights that much lighter.

Final bits on the lights.  Now to work on the wheels and the back of the engine.

Here are a few more views of the nearly completed Shaded Basecoat stage.  I have tried to leave myself as much room as possible in the value scale to do more contrasts.

The reason I do the Shaded Basecoat is that it gives me a lot of flexibility as I move forward.  I can change things here and there... I am not locked into a certain path.

Even my initial glazes made quite a difference... those coming up next!  Keep this view in mind when you see the Glazing images.

All aboard for some Shaded Basecoat!

Here's something fun.  The very beginnings of the Siege Train from Wild West Exodus.

This item is supposed to be a centerpiece of their display at GenCon!

I was doing some color test on the engine, and these are some images from the initial Shaded Basecoat.

As always, I was working with a filbert brush, moving quickly, establishing where I wanted the lights and darks to be.

I wanted to play off a few different shades of gray.  Some would be cooler, and others would be warmer.  You can see that already.

Even more noticeable now, as I added more blue/gray to the mix.

This mix is now lightened, as I plot the highlights.

By using the filbert brush, I can do a fair amount of wet into wet mixing.  Keep in mind, however, that there is going to be a lot of tinting and shading in the glazing stage!

Highlights and reflected light applied!

I have now worked the cooler shades of gray to the lightest point.

Now for some brass trim.  I began with a greenish brown.

Planning out these highlights and shadows will be very important.  They will form a vital center of interest for the whole piece.

Just starting to figure out what's going to catch light, and what will be in shadow...

I will be shifting the temperatures of this color, just as I did the blue gray.  That will happen after the glazing stage.

Some shape now revealed.

Long sweeping curves such as these can be very tricky when doing NMM, and this is no exception.

Brighter still, but making sure to ultimately leave 'space' in the value pattern for the brightest highlights.

Just about there.  Next up, a test of some glowing conduits and the blocking in of some other colors.

Remember, that's what this Shaded Basecoat is all about.  Just blocking in the colors, and working from there.