Countdown to Conflict Part 3

Day 3 of my countdown.

This is turning into an interesting view of my process. First I lay down all my base colors, then I shade the model, then I highlight it and paint all the little details.  

Here you can see that I’ve completed my base colors. Painting the green parts with Orkhide Shade, the balc parts (legs, weapons, other mechanical parts) the white with a base of Deneb Stone. Once that was complete, I mixed my special “outlining wash.” This is scorched brown, with a little black, watered down and mixing with a dab of white glue. The glue is important and it pulls the solution in the recesses of the model, much like a citadel wash.

At this stage, the models look rather messy but that’s the shading stage for you. The next stage will be to clean up the model and begin highlighting them. I’ve got 2 more nights for this and I am very pleased as it looks like I will hit my deadline. 

Crisis Battlesuits are a lot easier to paint when you paint them in pieces. You can see that I have not glued the heads or arms and this allows to me to apply paint on those hard to reach places. Painting the heads separate also makes it easier to paint the lenses and details. Heads need to look awesome as they are the focal point of the model. It also helps if they are painted in lighter colors than the rest of the model.  

Countdown to Conflict Part 2

So here am I, day 2 of the my countdown. I've finished assembly now on to painting. First I always undercoat my Tau Cadre in Leather Brown from Army Painter, then I paint the bases Bestial Brown and drybrush it with Snakebite Leather, Bubonic Brown and then finally Bleached Bone This gives me that nice warm desert color. 

The next step is to paint all of the basecoats. I mixed up a pot of OSH Khaki for this as you can see below. It is 2 parts Vallejo Model Color: Khaki and 1 part Vallejo Model Color: Dark Sand. I used an old washes pot for this as these have a superior cap design. 

Below you can see the models with the base color of OSH Khaki. Time is ticking but I am pleased with where I am at right now. I think I'm going to meet my deadline. The next step with be painting all the dark green parts, the black parts and then the white ones. After that, it's on to shading the models. More to come!

Countdown to Conflict

The first installment of Countdown to Conflict. Here are 2 of the 6 twin-linked missile pod suits that I am building for this tournament. My list has 10 of these suits in it, the goal to utilize the increased accuracy of twin-linking, so I can save markerlights for cover removal rather than boosting the to-hit roll. Once the enemy unit has been popped out of a transport, it's time for the kamikaze-rush-in to drop 3 flamer templates and then assault block. 

As you can see, instead of loading up to missile racks on each suit, I've decided I want to represent the 'twin-linked" rule by equipping each missile pod with an independent targeting system, that follows the movements of the pilot's head, to a degree. The second pic below demonstrates one of the design flaws however, as the suits will have to turn completely to the right to target units on that side. Alas, even the great Fio'O have not come up with a solution yet. 

Tonight, I'm aiming to complete assembly and flock the bases on all 6.