Dread painting

So I changed my mind.

I started this afternoon on the arm.  Yes, I said I would use an airbrush, but I decided that the mess wasn't worth it and just started painting.  As you can tell from the picture, i started with a white base coat.  The reasoning for this is that white makes my red stand out and gives me a better idea if I've missed a spot.  Granted, if you miss something you have to go back and get it, since having a bunch of white spots on your model is annoying.  This is also a feather in a black base coat's cap since you can't see where you've missed with black.

From there we use the Eshin Grey to coat all the metal parts of the dread.  Again, some debate on whether it's better to coat the whole model, but for this one I wanted to only have the grey undercoat on the metal parts of the model.

And apply the first coat of red.  It's really bright right now, but with a wash of blue it'll darken right to where we want it.

-Cj

Dreadnoughts and you!

Well I did it again.

New models!  Games Workshops' Warhammer 40k has been a pretty fun obsession for me, one that has filled that customization itch I've had for a while.  You purchase an army unit box, get a bunch of plastic sprue's, and assemble an awesome looking model!  Once assembled, you base and paint the model as you choose.  I usually base my models either white or black, and then color according to the army style I've chosen.  My current Space Marine army (the group the dreadnought is from) is the Exorcists, a group whos color pattern is a deep red with black trim.

So, to base my models, I start out with GW black primer. Next up I cover the black with Citadel Paint Khorne Red. After covering the whole model, I apply a good amount of Guilliman Blue Glaze.  This does some interesting things, primarily since I've applied a red first you end up with dark shaded lines and stains on some areas of the model.  You can see it on the above model when you look at the Mohawk part of the helmet.  That dark coloring in the cracks is the shade.  After that, I take Eshin Grey and paint it in the cracks of the "flexible" part of the armor as well as the shoulder trim of the paudrons.  From here, it's a coat of black ink over the Eshin Grey, with a highlight of a lighter grey to give the armor cracks some depth, and a reapplication of Khorne Red over the flat areas of the armor.  I do this second coat of red to keep the primarily color of the model red.  Again, with the earlier glaze this gives the model a nice deep red color with some darker highlights which look particularly good on gauntlets or any other surface with large lines and cracks on it.

After that, it's all detail work.  Specific colors vary, but silvers and bronze's round out the metal parts.  I use a lighter shade of red, Evil Sunz Scarlet, to highlight the model.  You do this by dipping the paint brush in the ESS, dabbing off most of the paint to the point where there is almost none on the brush, and brushing the edges of the armor with the flat part of the brush.  You can't use too much paint or you'll end up painting over details, but if you just about dry brush it you'll end up with a good looking line.  I've had difficulty getting the amount of paint right, but when you do it leaves a great looking effect on the armor.

For the dread, I'm going to try a few different things starting at painting the model using an airbrush with the first coat of Khorne Red. Airbrushing on vehicles tends to be easier due to the amount of flat surfaces you have to paint and the ease in which the airbrush does so.  Second, I'm debating about using masking tape and the such to cover the red details and then airbrush Eshin Grey.  In fact, I'm still undecided if I should be doing the Eshin Grey first and the Khorne Red second.  Anyways, from there the glaze and ink will be applied to shade the colors, and the second layer of Khorne Red will be applied.There are a lot more colored details, so after applying the first layer of red layering and blue wash, the metal parts will then receive their first coat of whichever metal color I decide they need. 

Once I get to this point in the painting process, I'll post some pictures to give you something to look at as well as an update as to which path I decided to pursue.

-Cj

Warship Construction

This link will take you to a build thread for a warship I'm currently constructing.  It's a 1/144th scale Bogue WW2 escort carrier.

From the research I've done (Wikipedia, thank you!) the Bogue's were constructed by the American Government around 1941 and distributed through the Lend-lease program to the UK.  The particular ship I'm modeling my carrier after is the USS St. George.  She was transferred and renamed by the British as the HMS Pursuer.  From the article, it appears as though she had seen some action prior to decommissioning.

There's nothing particular about the USS St. George that I find endearing besides the name.  Living in Utah means you hear all about the southern Utah vacationing locations.  St. George also happens to be the name of the largest city in southern Utah, and also the place where my mother's family is from.  Thus, the ship will be the USS St. George.

The kit is one provided by Mike, RGENGR on the forums, and can be found at this site.  It's very easy to assemble everything and has been really fun to work with.  It's taught me a bit about wood working, although yes, I know it's really not real wood working!  However there are a few things like cutting slots into rails to relieve pressure, flexibility of different woods as well as how they react to impacts that have been fun to learn. 

Currently the ship is receiving it's bottom hull plating, and if everything goes according to plan I'll install the drive shaft and fiberglass the bottom within the next two weeks.  After that I'll install the internal components like the motor, Electronic Speed Controller (ESC), and pump.  The radio will come a bit later once the other components are installed.  However, I'm a little nervous for the electronics step.  I know how to install wiring and cabling in electronics, as well as enough to wire electronics without blowing them up but lack knowledge in some of the finer details. This includes why you would want a certain engine or how much juice to wire your battery cells for.  The guys at the forum however are great to work with, so between them and a local hobby shop I've found I'm sure the project will turn out just fine.

-Cj

What will you find on this blog?

Hello there!

I've felt the itch for a while to start a blog, but could never figure out what I was supposed to post about.  I'm not a writer, not by a long shot!  But the itch never faded, and now I find myself typing these words into blogger unsure what to say next.

Since I've got to scratch this itch anyways, it's been decided that this space will be used for some random thoughts as well as to show off some of the progress made on small pet projects.  For now, that's going to be things like RC Warships and Warhammer 40k minifigs.  Hopefully there will be a house one day that needs fixing up and posts inspired by that project, as well as computer problems that need documenting.  But for now, we will just start with those two.

So enjoy your stay!  Hot cocoa is on the counter top over there, but one word of warning: between a 40 hour a week job, night school at the University of Utah, and a fiance there might not be time for regular updates.  Effort however will be made to post regularly, and if you have questions about something I've posted on, feel free to shoot over an e-mail.  We will see if we can't use some of those e-mails for future blog posts!

-Cj