Test Mini: Deep Red

Before I jump into a project I like do a test mini. Instead of committing a whole squad or army to a new paint or technique I'll dig through my bits box & use it on a throw away mini first. At very least it helps me get a feel for how well the technique works, and I usually get a decently painted mini out of it.

Once the new CSM book comes out I want to build a unit of allied Word Bearers for my Daemons. I'm not a big fan of the quasi-magenta scheme that GW suggested in 3rd edition, so I want to do something closer to the Flesh Tearers.

So I painted a Flesh Tearer.

Ever since I used krylon spray paint to create the base for my Bone Armored Daemon Prince I've been wanting to see how well it'd expand it to other colors. So last night I went out & bought a can of Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Burgundy (with a Satin finish), and I gave one of my primed minis two coats & let it dry over night.

I wasn't too happy with how the paint spread. It definitely took two coats, then it pooled a bit towards the cracks.  I was a bit worried it would close up some details, but they seemed to hold on just fine.

It's worth noting that the krylon spray comes out of the can a lot harder than Citadel Primer, so either hold the can back further, or blu-tack your bask down so it won't blow away (I did both). Plus, even after it's fully dried the paint still feels tacky, so I plan on having a temporary base, or maybe some cork to hold on to while I paint them.

This morning I woke up & gave the mini a dose of Devlin Mud wash (I'm still trying to use up my old paints) to fill the cracks, take off some of the krylon sheen/stickyness. Once that dried I just applied Red Gore, then a highlight of Red Gore/Skull White.

Once that's done I just gave it a wash of Baal Red, & it was good to go.

If you don't include the Primer/Krylon phases the whole mini was done in under 4 hours.  A lot of that was drying time too, so it wouldn't be difficult at all to batch paint these guys. I imagine painting 5 wouldn't take significantly longer than painting 1 or 2.

Forces of Muninn

I have a difficult time focusing at times. While painting, working, or doing chores i get easily distracted and can move quickly from one task to another. This also come into play when building armies.

As it stands, i have a largish Raven Guard army that I haven't touched in years, a good sized Daemon army and, a smattering of various other armies/units.

These have probably been the most successful at keeping my attention, probably thanks to the variety of colors & techniques I've used for them.

Should a particular mini or unit might entice me I'll usually pick it up, whether or not I have a good reason buy it. Over the years this has added up a bit, so now I'd like to get grasp on my ever-burgeoning bits box, & put some of these minis to good use.

Now that Allies are a thing I'll be trying to build small contingency forces rather than whole armies. Here are two.

The first are the Fire Angels. I started these guys a few years back to start a fresh, but still canon, army. I only got up to finishing 11 marines before getting distracted by college, but now I can breath a fresh life into them as allies, while slowly adding a mini here & there. Plus I'd really like to see that Librarian on the table.

These are more of a pet project. I've started calling them Craftworld Verdain, but only have a grasp on their colors, not their fluff. I have a number of other Eldar kicking around, so whenever I get the yearning to paint something green I'll probably add to this group.We'll see what gets painted up first, Wraithguard or Guardians.

I also have a small handful of other budding ally groups, but I'll get to those in later posts.

~Muninn

Night Wolves: Rune Priest

My commission project with my friends army, the Night Wolves, continues.  It's a pretty good deal really. He converts/assembles his minis, then gives them to me for painting.

Today I finished one of his Rune Priests. His painting requests were relatively simple: He wanted the outstretched hand to glow as though it were shooting lightning, the hair to look like a graying redhead, and the spear to look badass. Here's what I came up with:

 I hope the effect is simple but effective. I didn't want to do much with Object Source Lighting (OSL), so i kept it isolated to the palm of the hand. I also tried to mirror this with the white/blue eyes.

It isn't as noticeable in the pictures, but I also tried my hand at an electrical effect on the spear to go along with the lightning motif.

The Thousand Son on the base was its own little accomplishment. the 1k Son & Rune Priest use a pretty similar palette, so I tried to lighten the prone marine's armor, & did a little OSL green to differentiate it & draw a little attention to it.

This was a fun one to paint overall. I'm not sure if I'd do anything differently other than lighten the 1k Son's armor a bit more.

~Muninn

New Daemon minis! (screen cap pics)

I've been waiting for plastic plaguebearers with bated breath for a long time now, and GW has not disappointed.  I went through and made some screencaps of a video made by 9k Painting, and here they are.

I'm obviously most excited about the bearers, but I'm also looking forward to painting up the new Flamers. I don't really use Scribes, Screamers, or Seekers in my current list, but this might need to change once I see how they'd fit into my playing style.  I hear the Screamers have gotten a particular boost, so they might be getting some paint shortly.

~Muninn

How to: Bone Armor

I've had a few friends ask me how to do the bone armor from my Daemon Prince. In truth, it was probably the easiest part of the whole mini. I picked up the technique from watching Soul of Iron work on his sandstone necrosphynx.

Steps:
1. base the model with Krylon Almond Indoor/Outdoor paint
2. wash with Gryphonne Sepia
3. drybrush a bit of white to find the high areas
4. paint thin coats of a light ivory color (I'm using P3 Menoth White Highlight)


I first primed the body, then wrapped it up in masking tape so only the armor bits were showing in order to spray them for a nice even basecoat.

 Then the spray

The next step is to apply a nice wash of Gryphonne Sepia on the armor.

From there all I had to do is apply thin coats of Menoth White Highlight

Easy, clean, & people will wonder how you did it.

~Muninn

Commission: Lelith Hesparex

A friend wanted to give a fun present to a DE player friend, and commissioned me to paint up Lelith Hesperax. The player's color scheme is black & purple, but I've taken a little liberty with Lelith's hair & makeup.
People often ask me how long it takes to paint a single mini. I usually shrug and say "hours" because I start, stop, take breaks, move on to other minis, and get distracted by shiny objects.

 Now that I'm doing commissions I figured it'd be helpful to know for certain, so while painting Lelith I used a stopwatch to figure out exactly how long it takes me to finish a figure. Once completed I discovered that it took me about 5 hours & 30 minutes to knock her out. I set my commission price before knowing this though, so it turns out I charged him less than minimum wage for the mini. Not a bad deal for him.

~Muninn