Drowned in Plastic

I'm back with another round of tutorials in my Space Wolf step-by-step project.  This time I'll be covering the face, as well as the bone and fur areas of the model.  I've also done a quick tabletop job on the steel and soft cables on the model.


My Color List for this tutorial (GW is from the Games Workshop Range, VMC is Vallejo Model Color, P3 is Privateer Press Formula P3):

Black (Primer)

Face & Hair
P3 Sanguine Base
P3 Menoth Highlight
GW Tallarn Flesh
GW Ogryn Flesh
GW Astronomican Grey
GW Ceramite White
VMC Iraquian Sand

Fur
GW Khemri Brown
GW Dheneb Stone
GW Ceramite White
GW Gryphonne Sepia
GW Devlan Mud
GW Badab Black

Bone
P3 Thamar Black
GW Khemri Brown
GW Hormagaunt Purple
GW Graveyard Earth
GW Bleached Bone
GW Ceramite White
GW Badab Black (Optional)

Steel
GW Boltgun Metal
GW Mithril Silver
GW Badab Black


Soft Cables
VMC German Grey
GW Badab Black

Now that you've got the paints, lets start off with the face!


1: The face was based with a 1:1 mix of GW Tallarn Flesh and P3 Sanguine Base.  This base will give your end result a warmer look, which will contrast well with the general cold feeling of the rest of the model.

2: Layer on pure Tallarn flesh.

3: At this point we'll start adding in some VMC Iraquian Sand and being more particular about where we place our highlights.  This step is a 2:1 mix of Tallarn Flesh and Iraquian Sand.

4: Continue the highlights with a 1:1 mix of Tallarn Flesh and Iraquian Sand.

5: For the final highlight, we'll add in some  P3 Menoth Highlight.  this 2:2:1 mix (the "1" being the Menoth) should be very selective, touching bone structure, wrinkles you might want to add and other high points light would catch.  I have also added a glaze of GW Ogryn Flesh in the eye area to shade that part back.  This particular head is pretty squinty, so I just used pure Menoth Highlight to line in the suggestion of his eyeballs.

6:  As a Long Fang, this guy has white hair.  I started with a base of GW Astronomican Grey.  Don't forget his eyebrows (as I sometimes do!)

7:  I gave his hair a pretty liberal highlight of P3 Menoth Highlight, leaving the base in the recesses, or in places I wanted to suggest some texture (such as the top of his mohawk).

8:  Finally, a highlight of GW Ceramite White goes on sparingly.

And that's the head!  If you happen to be painting a Grey Hunter or a Blood Claw, simply sub out the white hair for a color of your choice.  On to the steel and soft cables...

This is a pretty quick process for my tabletop models, and one of the areas where I cut corners to save time, but the pictures serve to show you the overall look of the model at this stage.


On the left, you can see my basecoats:  VMC German Grey for the soft cables, GW Boltgun Metal for the steel.  On the right is essentially the final result after both are washed with GW Badab Black.  The final step is a simple edge highlight on the steel with GW Mithril Silver.  This step isn't shown, due to the limited amount of steel on this particular model.

The final process we're going to tackle tonight is for Bone and Fur, which feature prominently in most Space Wolf models.


1: Both the fur and the bone are based with GW Khemri Brown.

2: Wash the bone with a 2:2:1:10 mix of GW Graveyard Earth, GW Hormagaunt Purple, P3 Thamar Black and Water.  Reapply a thin layer of Khemri Brown as a highlight.

Begin highlighting the bottom half of the wolf tail with a 1:1 mix of Khemri Brown and GW Dheneb Stone, followed by a 1:2 mix of Khemri Brown and Dheneb Stone, and finally add a bit of GW Ceramite White to the mix.

3: Gradually add GW Bleached Bone to the mix and begin highlighting the skull.  For tabletop pieces, I save time by layering in the striated pattern you see above, rather than the wet blending I might normally resort to.

Wash the top 2/3 of the tail with GW Gryphonne Sepia.

4:  Continue adding Bleached Bone to the mix, with an edge of pure Bleached Bone on high points of the skull.

Wash the top 1/2 of the tail with GW Devlan Mud.

5:  Add a bit of GW Ceramite White to your Bleached Bone for a selective final highlight along some of the sharper edges.  I also added a wash of GW Badab Black in the nose and eye sockets, to bring them down a little bit more.

Apply one coat of Badab Black to the top 1/4 of the tail.  Once that dries, add a second coat around the recess at the top of the tail.

That concludes our work for tonight.  Kick back, have a pint (or a keg!), and check back soon for the next installment, wherein we'll take a look at the bronze and leather parts of the model, as well as a quick look at rune stones.

Returning to my current hobby project, today I've got a tutorial on painting back banners for your Space Wolf packs.

Once again, our subject is my Long Fang Pack Leader, but you can use the ideas presented here for any banner, be it for a Grey Hunter, Blood Claw or Wolf Guard.

My Color List for this tutorial (GW is from the Games Workshop Range, VMC is Vallejo Model Color, P3 is Privateer Press Formula P3):

Black (Primer)

Back of Banner
P3 Bootstrap Leather
VMC Iraquian Sand
GW Ceramite White
GW Devlan Mud

Front of Banner
P3 Thamar Black
VMC Iraquian Sand
GW Charadon Granite
GW Badab Black
GW Astronomican Grey
GW Ceramite White

Freehand (Sunwolf)
GW Tausept Ochre
GW Iyanden Darksun
GW Ceramite White

Freehand (Knotwork)
GW Calthan Brown
GW Vomit Brown
GW Ceramite White

For the back of the banner, I also like to use a 1:1 mix of water and liquitex flow-aid, brushed directly onto the banner prior to my sponging. This will disperse the pigments and give you a softer (though not perfect) transition between the coats.

Let's start with the back of the banner, as it can be a little messy.



1: Lay down a basecoat of Bootstrap Leather.  Take your time, and put down 2 or three even coats, to make sure you a get a smooth even base. Let it dry completely before moving to the next step.

2: First lay down an even coat of your flow aid (optional), and then use a piece of blister foam to start sponging down a 2:1 mix of Bootstrap Leather & Iraquian Sand.  Notice in my photo that the blotches will run a bit, due to the flow improver.

3:  Continue building up the sponging by increasing your ratio of Iraquian Sand in the mix to 1:1 and decreasing the amount of sponging you add, paying more attention to higher areas.

4: 1:2 Bootstrap Leather:Iraquian Sand

5: Pure Iraquian Sand

6: 3:1 Iraquian Sand:Ceramite White

7: 2:1 Iraquian Sand:Ceramite White.  This completes the sponging.

8: Apply a wash of Devlan Mud to the deep recesses of the area, such as folds at the top, and the area immediately around the banner pole.  Finally, do a fine edge highlight of 1:1 Iraquian Sand & Ceramite White on the creases in the fabric and along some of the edges of the banner.

Don't forget during this process that some of this material might be showing on the front of the banner (such as the folds at the top).  Paint it at the same time to avoid having to go back and do it later!

Now we're ready to move to the front of the banner.


1: Lay down a basecoat of Charadon Granite.  Fabric fades over time, and I assume many of these banners are pretty old, especially those found on a Long Fang unit, so my method for black fabric differs from armor.

2: Feather a 1:1 mix of Charadon Granite and Thamar Black into the folds of the banner.

3: Highlight the creases with a 2:1 mix of Charadon Granite and Iraquian Sand.  You can also use this to add some textured highlights along ripples in the lower part of the banner.

4: Build on the previous highlight with a 1:1 mix, finely edged over the higher points of the fabric.

5: Run a thin glaze of Badab Black over the entire banner front.  This will tie the colors together a bit better, since we're not taking the time to wetblend on this project.

6: Using your 1:1 mix of CG & IS, do one more very fine edge highlight over the edges of the banner, and the harder creases at the top.

7: Using a 1:1 mix of Astronomican Grey and Ceramite White, draw in your pack pattern, using the same principles illustrated here.

8: Use pure Ceramite White to highlight your pattern.  Make sure when you highlight that you do your brush strokes the same direction; this will make areas of lesser coverage look more like texture and give you a nicer result, even under closer inspection.

Now to my favorite part, the freehand!


1: I started by blocking out my company device (the sunwolf) with Tausept Ochre & the area I would do my knotwork embroidery in with Calthan Brown.  As with all freehand, it's very important throughout this part that you thin your paints.

Note!  We all make mistakes;  it was at this point that I realized I had misjudged the location of the white on the banner.  I went back in and adjusted the pattern to make it look right, and then carried on to step 2.

2: Wolf highlights begin; most of the wolf and sun will be covered with a coat of Iyanden Darksun.  The knotwork gets based in with Vomit Brown.  If you have trouble with small lines, try practicing on a flat surface first, to help your hand get used to the movements required.

3: Continuing the wolf highlights, a 2:1 mix of Iyanden Darksun and Ceramite White is used to start picking out edges of the device.  The knotwork has been highlighted with a 2:1 mix of Vomit Brown and Ceramite White

4:  Highlights finish up with 1:1 mixes for both the sunwolf and the knotwork.

5:  This is the completed banner;  I've gone in with thinned Thamar Black and Ceramite White to clean up any overpaint onto their respective areas.  The knotwork also received a very selective highlight of 1:2 Vomit Brown:Ceramite White, mainly along the high points of fabric ripples.

And that's the banner!  You can easily change what you need to, in order to suit your own Great Company's banners

I decided to break things up a little and give the PC fang a hard earned honor pad to replace his pack marking, as he and his other PC mate (not shown) turned a full 10-man squad of Necron Immortals to slag in one round of shooting by themselves last week.  Ouch!

Well, here we are almost halfway through the month of September and the escalation is in full swing.  I finished my required 500 points for August, and jumped immediately into my September additions, so Grey Hunter squads from both months are in this post.  By stretching points on my HQ units, and adding in a previously painted model, I'm able to field 1000 points now, so I can take the rest of the month to get my remaining unit done and not have to wait until the last minute to get in games that I'll get paint credit for.

Anywho, you probably came here to see some pictures...



This is my second Grey Hunter pack for the army.  You'll start to notice a trend in the units, in that I've got several ways to differentiate my units for my opponent to easily distinguish between them on the battlefield.  For flavor mostly, they have a small geometric design typical of the wolves located on the right knee.  Some forgo this in favor of an honor mark on the same knee.

As that alone is pretty hard to see in the chaos of melee, other features are the differing boss poles of each pack, along with the packs having different shoulder pads, the studded shoulders going to the pack largely made up of mark V & VI armors.


My first Grey Hunter pack is identified by the Wolf Helmets, as well as a skull & crossbones device on the left pad.  I painted more of the models with special gear for this unit, so you can see a Wolf Banner, Power Axe and Mark of the Wolfen in this unit.  I ran into a bit of a setback with this unit, as I ran out of Codex Grey, and must now rely on Dawnstone as my midtone.  This has created a noticeable difference in the armor on my two units.  I think I might be able to bring it in line with a glaze of Dawnstone on the crossbones pack, but that's for later when I have more time;  For now, they'll just have to be a little different.

Space wolves are always right at home in the snow, but too often I see armies based in solid snow fields so thick, an 800 pound astartes should be sunken to his knees in the drift. I wanted to do something different: a truly wartorn field that, while once a serene field of snow, had been churned and shifted by the tides of battle. The snow has been ground into the dirt, turning it to mud.  Constant artillery barrages have long ago reduced any semblance of roads or paths to upheaved chunks of stone.  Snow patches remain, the result of a snowstorm unwilling to lift.  Snow still drifts down on the warriors from above, clinging to their armor and conveying the temperature of this desolate land they fight over.  Here and there, the corpses of the enemy reveal themselves, whether recently killed, or just shifted back to the surface by the latest barrage of artillery shells.

Let's jump into how I did it.

What you'll need:

1. Woodland Scenics Snow - You can find this most places that sell supplies for HO scale trains.

2. White Glue - I like Elmer's; easy to use, easy to find.

3. Windsor & Newton Matt Varnish - Get this at most Art/Craft supply stores (Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc.)  You'll use it a lot at the end of the tutorial, and if you have an airbrush, I recommend using it through your airbrush for your final sealing coat over a thicker aerosol application, such as Testor's Dullcote.

4. Toothpicks

5. A sculpting tool (optional)

And our test subject, a member of the vaunted Thunderwolf Cavalry. You'll want to complete painting the model before moving on to the snow basing.  Notice I've used darker browns for the dirt and more muted tones for the rock, to suggest the the ground is soaked with moisture.










Our first step is to mix a paste consisting of white glue and snow.  Don't worry too much about ratios, just get it good and clumpy.  You'll then use the toothpick or sculpting tool to place clumps on the base, and then mash the edges down to make it conform to the rest of the base.  Pay attention to where snow might gather - around rocks, recessed areas, near a corpse.  Give it a bit of time to dry, and you should have something like this:





















Step two is to tie your clumps to the rest of the base, and creates a lighter concentration of snow.  Start by pouring some white glue around your existing clumps, as well as anywhere you think might need a light coat of snow.  Use a toothpick to smooth the droplets of glue out so that the layer is thinner, especially at the edges.  Now take your snow, and tap the container liberally over the areas you placed glue.  leave it to dry.  Once dry, tap the model to get all the excess snow off, and you should have something like this:




Note that in some cases, you may need to do multiple passes of this step to get the coverage you want.

Now's where the Matt Varnish comes in.  Take a paint brush, dip it in a 1:1 mixture of varnish and water, and the dip the brush in your snow.  draw the brush over the model in places snow might land, such as parts of armor.  Pay attention not to put snow in hot areas, such as exhaust vents or plasma coils, as well as focusing more snow in places where it's likely to cling better, such as animal fur or the cloth of a banner.  When finished you'll have something like this:


Now it's just a matter of sealing your model, which is very important;  without it, the snow you brushed onto your model will quickly rub off from use.  As I said before, I recommend running your matt varnish through an airbrush if you have one.  Otherwise, you can use dullcote or the like, but be very light with your passes - the snow has a tendency to absorb more than its share of the sealer, and will turn clear and lose the effect.

It may seem time consuming, but most of it is waiting for glue to dry, so it's something you can easily do in steps over the course of a day while you work on other things.

Try it out!

With 6th edition in full swing, my local group has an escalation league starting on August 1st, and running for 3 months.  The guy running it is working on missions for the campaign, as well as a map of the Austin area, modified to be more "grimdark" of course. ;)


Being that I'm such a slow painter, the wolves will be a good fit for me, as I already have a few expensive HQ's painted up, so the force will be focusing on a tactic I'm enjoying right now, that of putting multiple hard-hitting characters on the board, and using them to eliminate enemy leadership quickly and efficiently.  The downside is that at 1500 points (the final value in the last month of the escalation) my army will total 28 models, 11 of which are Imperial Guard infantry.


The first 500 points (my force for the month of August) is a pretty simple 8 models, but still manages to hit pretty hard.  


Thunderwolf Lord w/ Runic Armor, Storm Shield, Wolf Claw, Wolf Tooth Necklace, Wolf Tail Talisman - This guy packs a decent punch, and will spell death for most characters or units I see at the 500 point level.





Rune Priest w/ stock gear, 1 Divination power & 1 Biomancy power - Used mostly as a support character, he beefs up my Grey Hunters' leadership, as well as augmenting their firepower, or the resilience of one my units.  That's the hope anyway; the warp is a fickle benefactor at the best of times. ;)












1 Thunderwolf Cavalry w/ Stormshield - My Wolf Lord's trusty bodyguard, or is it the other way around?  The save afforded by Runic Armor often sees my lord leading from the front, as my narrative supports.









5 Grey Hunters w/ a Plasma Gun & Mark of the Wolven - five of the Great Company's finest, given the honor of making initial planetfall with Bran Solfang himself.


While I have the 2 HQ units painted already, I'm still finishing up the Grey Hunters and the TWC, so look for finished photos of those in the near future, as well as updates on the course of the war effort!

Well, mostly.  I took pictures of him, only to discover after the fact, I had forgotten to paint part of him in my haste to get him done for a painting competition.  Go figure.  I guess that's why I need to not try to paint my entry a week before...  I have since gone back and painted the offending part!

Well it's update time.  I've been pushing hard to get this model out of the gate.  WargamesCon starts (for me) on Friday, and the painting competition is Saturday.  These photos are a couple days old and I'm much further along at this point, so I don't think time will be an issue.  I am woefully behind on projects in general, including two other models that were supposed to be done for WGC, but I suppose as long as I stay diligent and tackle it one thing at a time, I'll catch up eventually, right? :) 


Photos!  The wolf is done, aside from the addition of some snow in the fur.  I wanted to play up the whole "sunwolf" thing with my Wolflord, so I wanted a vibrant yellow wolf, without taking him too far into "Imperial Fists" territory.  At this stage I had finished the armor, including freehand, and worked in the base for the paint chipping.  I also did the basecoat and first wash for the bronze and the soft joints/cables.  He normally wears runic armor, so I wanted to stack as much knotwork and the like on him as possible, without making it look too busy.  Finished pics will come soon!

Hello, the Internet!


Wow it's been crazy times, and I have not been able to get in the hobby time to warrant a post lately. Life and a sudden move really took me out of the game, but things are starting to ease up a little bit.  I was finally able to really get going on a competition piece for WargamesCon, coming up in a few short days;  hopefully I'll be able to finish in time!


Though it's not as ambitious as my original plans for this year's painting competitions, it fits nicely in my army, and will go well to start me on our LGS's 6th edition Escalation League starting up in a few weeks.

The pair of Baal Predators are fully magnetized, allowing them to be switched between any loadout with either a linked Assault Cannon or Flamestorm Cannon & sponson Heavy Flamers or Heavy Bolters.

Another notable conversion are the scout heads, which are from Puppetswar.

The Assault Squad, backbone of the Blood Angels

The Death Company, usually seen running into the loving embrace of Bjorn's fist.