Work and family have not been cooperative with my hobby time of late. It doesn't help that I'm really struggling with these Alpha Legion guys. Just not coming out how I want, and that makes me a lot less interested in sitting down at the table to paint.
Here's what pretty much all of my models look like now- well they're really just a touch greener than these pics, so not SO Ultrasmurf. Same painting pattern on the blues I've been working on for weeks. I thought I had a good direction with spraying some green corrosion around all the base edges (instead of that wash I tried at first which got a little gloppy). Man, the spray green looked good before it dried. Just too subtle now. The model in the header started the same way. You can pick up some of the green tone there, but not much. Once I hit everything with the dark blue oil wash, the blues look great and the green disappears. I'm hoping a satin coat will bring it back out by dropping all that shine and at least giving me a nice consistent luster.
I also opted to go with true metallics. Speed. Just didn't want to deal with NMM on everything. Maybe on the HQs. On a good note, I'm moderately happy with my weathering. I painted the Alpha XX on his shoulder and then sponged the base blue over it to chip it up. Looking OK after a wash to blend it in with everything. I think I can make it work. This guy probably has a bit too much weathering as I was trying some different things out. Definitely too much rust on the shoulder. He could use some more color breaks, but I'm waiting til I've got my other shoulder pads before I jump the gun and overdo that.
Happy Easter all!
~Deet
I gotta say Deet, the shoulderpad in the first image just looks fantastic. I can see where you are having a frustrating problem though...they do seem a bit too ultramarinish. I just love that shoulderpad though...
ReplyDeleteI too just started an Alpha Legion army, and I had great success using two spray paints from Tamiya: Silver Leaf Silver for a primer/undercoat, and Tamiya: Light Metallic Blue for a base. It really gave me that Horus Heresy Alpha Legion Light Metallic Blue that I was looking for. If I can post a picture, I'll be sure to show you. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteGoing actual metallic, like the Alpha Contemptor on the FW site? It's freaking gorgeous. But I want to go a little more beat up and in my minds eye that requires more matte paint. Curious to see how yours looks if you're going more weathered.
Deletehttp://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b484/macchiarolijn15/alpha%20legion/alpha%20legion_zps2sb1ejdk.jpg
ReplyDeletehttp://i1288.photobucket.com/albums/b484/macchiarolijn15/alpha%20legion/alpha%20legion%202_zpse8jo1lup.jpg
Nice blue
DeleteDamn that looks sweet. I also found the recipe that Forge World uses for their XX Legion if you're interested.
ReplyDeleteAIRBRUSH WITH THINNED LEAD BELCHER/ IRON BREAKER (50/50 MIX)
2. AIRBRUSH FROM TOP OF MODEL WITH THINNED RUNFANG STEEL
3. MIX A LITTLE TAMIYA CLEAR GREEN WITH TAMIYA CLEAR BLUE (25/75 MIX) AND AIRBRUSH OVER THE MODEL IN 2 COATS
4. AIRBRUSH ARMOUR PANELS WITH TAMIYA CLEAR BLUE. BLENDING FROM MIDDLE OF FIGURE DOWN, SO THE STRONGEST BLUE COLOUR IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PANNELS
5. AIRBRUSH FROM THE MIDDLE UPWARDS WITH TAMIYA CLEAR GREEN
6. USING AN AIRBRUSH BLEND A HIGHLIGHT ON THE HIGHEST PANNELS (HEAD, SHOULDER PADS, TOP OF BACKPACK) WITH RUNEFANG STEEL WITH A TINY AMOUNT OF LOTHERN BLUE, EXTREMELY THINNED DOWN.
7. APPLY THINNED COAT OF TAMIYA CLEAR BLUE OVER THE HIGHLIGHT AND BLEND INTO THE SURROUNDING AREA.
8. USING A BLUE GLAZE, DRAG DOWN THE WHOLE MODEL ALLOWING IT TO SETTLE IN THE DEEPEST AREAS.
9. SILVER – BASECOAT WITH LEADBELCHER
10. WASH WITH NULN OIL
11. HIGHLIGHT WITH LEADBELCHER IN STRIKING MOTIONS TO CREATED CHIPPED AND WEATHER APPEARANCE
12. HIGHLIGHT WITH IRONBREAKER
sorry for the caps as I copy/pasted it from another site.
I'd be lying if I said it wasn't tempting. Already have the blue and the green would just be an ebay away. Already have 22 guys based up like this though and I don't know if I want to go as shiny/pretty as the FW models are. Nice find though! Thanks for posting. I may have to do at least the Contemptor that way
DeleteI'm currently back in school, so I have not the weathering portion, but I look forward to it when I return for the summer. Just out of curiosity, how do you plan on playing them; with the CSM codex or the regular Space Marine one? or are you just painting for fun? I am trying to use the CSM one, and so far I've been doing reasonably with (even with out the bad rep heldrake).
ReplyDeleteI'm going CSM too. So far Trip and I have only played as goody two shoes armies (not counting Nids). I'm eager to try out the fluff. I love that I could run them with the Marine dex too though, because I haven't spent any time at all in that dex. Could also use the 30K profiles too, because man are there some great rules in there. We'll have to take a closer look once I've got enough to field an army whether or not we feel like that's feasible.
Deletestill looking really ultramarine-y. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteYeah. Part of it is that it's the shadow side of the model- you're not getting as much of the turquoise. I've seen tons of Alpha models that are even more UM than these, but that doesn't mean I want to settle. Going to try a green edge highlight tonight and see what happens.
DeleteI'm trying to make the green look more like aquatic corrosion rather than that irridescent green hit like the FW models- that was all well and good in 30K, but 10,000 years later I want these guys to look a little rough and not so sparkly- not to mention that they're supposed to be able to pass for evil.
Yeah, I totally get it. AL is a very difficult color scheme to get right and NOT spend 5+ hours per miniature.
ReplyDeleteGoing true metal metallics is a great idea. NMM is wonderful for display models but for wargaming figs it really isn't necessary. It's hard to get right over and over again and it really doesn't look that much better for all the work it is.
Keep trucking at some point it will work out and then you'll hit a stride and it'll be glorious.