Helbrecht Complete!

...well, mostly.  I still have to knock out the scenic base.  I was able to get him done in eight days, in time to enter him at WGC.  Unfortunately, logistics with the painting competition there went south, and results were only read for three categories, none of which were sci-fi.  Prize support, even winners' plaques, was nonexistent except for three categories that received free airbrushes (which were really cool) provided by Grex, and the belt buckle for Best in Show that Goatboy had done for trophies  The downside to that is that they apparently insisted their airbrushes only be provided to categories they chose, and everyone else was left out in the cold.

Since I'm local to the area, I threw my hat in to revamp how it's handled in the future, and I intend to turn the thing around and make it into a feature of Wargamescon, rather than an increasingly distant afterthought.  I've been meaning to get up to Reapercon to compete for a couple of years, anyway, so not being able to compete at home might actually motivate me to make the trip. :)

Anywho, I have some photos of Helbrecht on his temporary plinth for you all.

The back of the cloak seems lacking, but I was pressed for time - I will probably go back and do something on the edges while I'm painting the scenic base.

On to other things;  I'll post again soon!

Marshall Helbrecht Painting Time Attack!

Apologies, it's been far too long since I've posted anything.  Daemons have sapped a lot of my interest in messing with the Space Wolves of late, and other things have sapped my time away from messing with Daemons.  On that note, look for pics of the myriad horrors I'm working on for that army in an upcoming post.

Tonight, we're jumping right in with shots of my completed resculpt of Black Templar High Marshall Helbrecht, sans scenic base, which sculptor's block has put a bit of hiatus on.  I know GW has given the old crusaders a cold shoulder lately, but they aren't entirely forgotten.

You'll probably spot a few bits in there from other kits; I used a head from a Space Wolf sprue (and for a time considered leaving the mohawk on).  I pulled several parts from a finecast copy of the stock Helbrecht, but with it being finecast, I still ended up having to remake the candles on his backpack (which is a mark II pack to replace the unusable mk I pack that came with the model) from scratch.  Same went for his sword, which is decidedly small and unheroic - I built a new one using the blade of a Forge World terminator power sword.

On to the first PIP photos from 5/29!  I like to do the heads first on most of my pieces, and with gold featuring so prominently on this model I wanted to make sure my recipe was going to come out well, so I started on his pointing arm.

At this point, I began blocking in colors, since it's hard to get a grasp of the model when it's covered in a gold basecoat.  I've since completed the head in its entirety, but haven't taken more photos yet.  I have barely over 7 days until WargamesCon 2013, and the urge to put a piece in has resurfaced, so we'll see if I can get it done in time!

Space Wolf step-by-step part 4: Bronze, Leather & Stones

Here we go with the fourth and final part on my step-by-step Long Fang painting series.  By now he's looking pretty close to complete, but there are still a couple of little things to do, as well as a component that really brings the scheme together.


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

Black (Primer)


Bronze & Vertigris
VGC Brassy Brass
VMC Mahogany Sand
VMC Gunship Green
VMC Bluegreen
GW Tin Bitz
GW Devlan Mud
GW Thraka Green


Stone Talismans
GW Dawnstone
GW Ogryn Flesh
GW Ceramite White
VMC Iraquian Sand


Leather
P3 Bootstrap Leather
GW Devlan Mud
GW Ogryn Flesh
VMC Iraquian Sand

We'll start off with the item I most often get questions about, my bronze technique.

1: I start by basing the bronze with a 1:1:1 mix of VGC Brassy Brass, VMC Mahogany Sand, and GW Tin Bitz.  The Mahogany Sand does a pretty good job of beefing up the coverage of the paint, but some areas might require a second pass to get an even coat.

2: Next, I give the area a good wash of GW Devlan Mud.

3: I then go back with a lighter wash of GW Thraka Green.  If you are not planning to weather your bronze, you can skip steps 4 & 5 and add a simple edge highlight of pure Brassy Brass to some of the high points of the model, but I'll assume most of you aren't reading this tutorial to learn about factory-fresh marines.

4: I start the weathering process with a wash of VMC Gunship Green.  This is simply 4 parts water to 1 drop of paint.  This wash goes on pretty heavy, and I quickly go back in with a clean brush and soak up some of the wash, unless I'm looking to make a particularly heavy verdigris effect.

5: I then add a drop of VMC Bluegreen to my Gunship Green wash, and use that to more carefully add heavier verdigris to deeper areas, or places that would retain more moisture and result in greater oxidation.  Adding more drops of Bluegreen will give you brighter oxidation, but I have a lot of blue OSL in my army due to my love of plasma weapons, so I've toned my verdigris back to avoid the "glowy" look that it can take on (causing the verdigris to look more like misplaced OSL)

6: Finally, we'll go in and edge a few places with pure Brassy Brass.  Skip this step if you're creating a heavier verdigris than what I've illustrated above.

Let's take a quick look at talisman stones.  They frequent a lot of Space Wolf models, but unless I'm painting a competition piece, I like to keep them simple and quick.

1: Start with a basecoat of GW Dawnstone.

2: Wash with GW Ogryn Flesh.

3: Begin lining edges of the stone and the etched rune with a 1:1 mix of GW Dawnstone and VMC Iraquian Sand.

4: Add a bit of GW Ceramite White to the mix for a final highlight over some sharper edges, and to add a bit more pop to the outline of the etched rune.  Done!

Finally, another quick item to knock out is the leather.

1: Base the area with P3 Bootstrap Leather.

2: Wash with GW Devlan Mud.

3: Highlight with a 1:1 mix of Iraquian Sand and Bootstrap Leather.  Follow this up with a light wash of GW Ogryn Flesh.

4: Add a final highlight with a 2:1 mix of Iraquian Sand and Bootstrap Leather.

You're pretty much done at this point.  Depending on your model, you might also have a gemstone or eye lenses to paint.  Base your model to match the rest of your force and you're done!  If you happen to be doing snow-themed bases (and what self-respecting wolf isn't?)  be sure to check out my tutorial covering that subject.  This concludes my step by step Space Wolf tutorial.  Thanks for reading!

Space Wolves Escalation Force Update (October)

We're nearing the end of October, so I wanted to sneak in a force update post for the month.  The escalation league itself is dead, as they are wont to do, but I'm pushing ahead on my goal.  Still not sure if I'll push for 3000 points for the Narrative track, or 2000 for the GT for 2013 WGC.  The GT is obviously easier, but I do always have a lot of fun at the Narrative, and get to hang out with the same group of cool people the whole weekend.

My goals for October didn't quite pan out;  I had planned to add a 500 point section to my force, but barring a last minute push to finish my bastion, I'm going to be adding a total of 345 points.  I had to go back and retrofit some models, adding a lascannon to my older dreadnought, as well as doing a bit of work to bring his look into line with the rest of my force.  I also spent some time turning my Wolf Lord's wolf claw into a power fist, something that I've been needing to do since 6th edition came out.

For actual units, I was at least able to get the four Long Fangs from my current series of tutorials painted up, so there's that.

I'm still happy with my progress;  I've got a 1250 point tournament coming up on Nov. 4, and for the first time since I started playing 40k in the mid 90's, I'll actually be playing with a fully painted (by me) army.  It's small (at 19 models), but potent.  If I am able to crank out another dreadnought lascannon arm and paint my bastion, I'll be shifting Bjorn down to a regular dread, and picking up the bastion for the tournament.

Well, that's it for me!  November should be a good month here at the blog;  I'll be finishing up the Long Fang tutorial, as well as showing the final results for my bastion and of course an army update toward the end of the month.  Plus you'll start to see some WIPs from me on my projects for the 2013 painting competition scene.  I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween.  For my part, I'll be binging on store-bought candy and watching old slasher flicks!

Brandon

Space Wolf step-by-step part 3: Faces, Fur & Bones

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.

- Brandon

Space Wolf step-by-step part 2: Banners

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

Space Wolf step-by-step part 1: Armor Plates

I've gotten a fair number of requests on how I paint my Space Wolves, so I’m taking some time during my current unit project to make a series of step-by-step tutorials for painting Space Wolves to a high tabletop quality.  The method is mostly pretty easy to get the hang of, only moderately time consuming, and yields a good result, especially if you’re looking to jump on the Horus Heresy bandwagon that is currently picking up steam;  most of my models sport pieces of older suits at least, and my scheme is in keeping with the medium grey, limited palette of the chapter during its legion days.  But enough of that, let’s get to the painting!

First off, let me say that the initial part of this process is done with an airbrush. Any dual action airbrush ought to handle the job, and you might find that a single action will also work, as it’s only for the basecoat and zenithal highlighting aspects of the armor plates; everything else on the model will be done with either a brush or a sponge.  If you don’t have an airbrush, you can layer to build up highlights on the model.  It’s more time consuming, but it gets the job done.

Paints you’ll need for this tutorial (GW is from the Games Workshop Range, VMC is Vallejo Model Color):

Black (Primer)

Armor Plates

GW Dawnstone

GW Adeptus Battlegrey

GW Devlan Mud

VMC Pale Greyblue

Chipping

GW Boltgun Metal

VMC German Grey

For your Great Company emblem and pack markings, use what you like, including waterslide transfers.  Most of my work is done in freehand, so that’s reflected here.

Sunwolf Emblem

GW Tausept Ochre

GW Iyanden Darksun

GW Ceramite White

Long Fang Pack Marking

GW Badab Black

GW Astronomican Grey

GW Ceramite White

VMC German Grey

VMC Iraqian Sand

I’ve broken the paints down to what you’ll need for each part, so if a paint is repeated, it’s simply because you need it for additional areas.

If you find you don't have a paint I've listed (most come from before their range overhaul) and need to know what current GW paint is closest to it, check out the Citadel Conversion Chart!

1: The model has been prepared; mold lines are removed, and you can see the conversions made to the model, including a studded left pauldron, a unique banner device, and his right hand has been built to hold his helmet.  I envision that he’s removed his helmet to use his lupine senses as well as the auspex to "sniff out" enemies to target.

2: The model has been primed.  I used black here, as it sets a darker tone for the armor after the other colors are applied.

3: The model has received a coat of GW Dawnstone from the airbrush.  As the model is tabletop, I keep the paint lighter on the underside of the model, allowing me to use the black as the darker underside of the armor.  If you want your underside to not be quite so dark, you can spray a reverse-zenithal coat using GW Adeptus Battlegrey (something I do when working on a model of a higher quality).

4: I’ve gone over the model with a zenithal highlight of VMC Pale Greyblue.  Keep this coat light, going over the top of the model at about a 20 degree angle.  You should get brighter coverage on high points, like the top of the helmet and pauldrons, and just a bit of paint on lower areas like the top of his knees or his feet.  This will conclude the airbrush work for the model.

5: The armor plates have been given a thinned wash of GW Devlan Mud.  I thinned the wash down to 3 parts water to 2 parts paint, as you aren’t looking to deepen the color of the model much, but simply to give the crevices a little more definition and to take a bit of the blue out of your zenithal highlight.  If I were painting a higher-quality model, I would glaze the deeper areas with GW Leviathan Purple and then GW Asurman Blue prior to this step, to create deeper contrast beyond the Adeptus Battlegrey shade coat.

Keep this coat wet until an entire plate receives coverage, as you don’t want water lines if you can help it.  Don’t sweat a couple of them here and there; we have a trick for that later!  Use your brush to pull the wash toward your crevices, so that a minimal amount is left sitting on the plates.

6: VMC Pale Greyblue has been used to line the edges of the plates.  You don’t need to edge everywhere; in fact it won’t actually look very good if you start lining the black part of the model.  Keep your lines thin, and the plates are done!  Now we just have to add a bit of character…

7a: I’ve added my insignias to the model.  The Sunwolf was painted first with a coat of GW Tausept Ochre, and then highlighted with GW Iyanden Darksun, paying attention to the angle of the plate to continue the zenithal highlight on the plates, and to create a bit more definition on the edges of the fur spikes, etc.  Finally, the emblem was edged with a 1:1 mix of Iyanden Darksun and GW Ceramite White, to get a bit of pop and make the emblem stand out better; You probably noticed when you did the basecoat, that the yellow doesn’t contrast well against the grey.

7b:  As this marine is a Long Fang, his pack colors are black and white.  I keep my markings more low-key, and place them on the right knee.  I start by painting the entire area the pack marking will encompass with VMC German Grey, followed by a wash of GW Badab Black, straight from the pot.  I then edge the high points of the plate with German Grey, followed by finer edge with 1:1 German Grey and VMC Iraqian Sand.

The picture below is a digital representation of how I went about adding the white to form a geometric pack marking.

I start by making a 1:1 mix of GW Astronomican Grey and GW Ceramite White.  For this marking, I started with a single straight line, telling me where the point of the first white triangle would land.  From that point, I made two more lines, creating the outline of the triangle, and then filling that space in.

I decided that wasn't enough and went on to make more triangles, using the first as a guide for my angle, to keep everything uniform and symmetrical.  Once the shape was in place, I highlighted the edges hit by light with pure Ceramite White.

8: Along the way, you probably made some mistakes (I know I do).  Maybe you see a water line on your model, or a place where you edged the armor too thickly.  In my case, you might notice a bit of my sunwolf base color creeping out past where I highlighted to define the fur spike better, at the top of the wolf.  This step covers these issues, as well as making your army look like it belongs on the battlefield.  Take a small sponge (I like to use blister foam) and VMC German Grey, dab the sponge in the paint, and then on a paper towel a few times, and then sponge some of the color on the plates, paying attention to places more likely to see wear and tear, and making sure to hit those spots that have been bothering you up to this point.

9: Take your brush and go back with GW Boltgun Metal.  Paint inside the larger splotches of German Grey, indicating where an abrasion has taken the paint all the way down to the bare metal.  For a higher quality model, my additional step is to go back and edge the underside of the splotches with VMC Pale Greyblue, but I’ve skipped this step for the tabletop models, as it’s more time consuming and they are busy enough from 3 feet as it is.

You’re done with the armor plates!  Hopefully you were operating an assembly line, and have a whole pack done up to this point, in which case sit back with a well-earned ale and marvel at your accomplishment!

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!

Thanks for stopping in, and make sure to come back soon, as I tackle more of the model in part 2 of the Space Wolf Step-by-step!

Space Wolves Escalation Force Update (September)

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.

I had a lot of fun painting this banner.  I like to have a lot of banners in my forces, even for models that don't benefit from the wargear option, and I was able to create a layout that was visually striking, but simple enough that I don't spend too much time on it; I'll save that for the Great Company Banner that is carried by my Thunderwolf Cavalry unit.

I'll leave you with a shot of the full army as it stands now, stretching out to make 1000 points.  I'm working on a Long Fang pack to round the force out before I make the leap for 1500 points in October, which will bolster my existing units, and allow me to refit an old piece to fit with the current army scheme.

Unit Breakdown

HQ - Wolf Lord Bran Solfang

HQ - Bjorn the Fell-Handed

HQ - Rune Priest

Troop - 5 Grey Hunters with Plasma Gun, Power Axe, Wolfen, Banner

Troop - 5 Grey Hunters with Plasma Gun

Fast - 1 Thunderwolf Cavalry with Storm Shield

Tutorial: Warring in a Winter Wonderland

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!

Space Wolves Escalation Force (or how I finally got my army painted)

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!

Wolf Lord Completed

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!

http://www.coolminiornot.com/308607 for all my voters out there!