Painting Recipe
Blue starts out as UM blue basecoat over the undercoat. 2 -3 thin
coats for full coverage. Next was a broad highlight of 75/25 UM
Blue/Enchanted Blue. Then a smaller, but still fairly broad highlight
of 50/50 UM/Enchanted. That's the basecoat.
Next I completely paint over the blue basecoat, highlights and
all, with Vallejo Model Colour Blue (just says Blue in English on
the bottle, has Azul Intenso 925 on it as well - looking at the
colour chart here
I'd say 925 is the number to look for) and that becomes my actual
basic blue colour. I did this as an experiment in underpainting
and it worked OK, but if all you want is that shade of blue, then
UM Blue covered by the Vallejo Blue gives that shade and you can
highlight as normal.
For the highlights I work from a pallette, start with plenty of
the base colour and add a couple of drops of acrylic retarder medium
(I use Atelier's but Vallejo make a nice one too). Then I add the
lighter colours to that colour, with the occasional bit of water
or retarder to keep it smooth and prevent drying. This way I can
get the exact shade I need for the next highlight.
I layer all the highlights in the standard layering way, broad
to start with and smaller with each lighter highlight. I add some
UM Blue to the Vallejo Blue and mix it to around 50/50 Blue/UM and
begin layering. Next is approximately 20/80 Blue/UM. Next I add
Ice Blue into that mix. Proportions are pretty hard to figure out
for that I guess it's sort of 10/60/30 Blue/UM/Ice. Then the final
tiny little highlight is probably heading to 40/60 UM/Ice by that
stage. All of these layers are eyeballed to transition smoothly
(so the %'s are just guesswork) and obviously, each one is finer
than the last.
I did get some comments that the blue needed another highlight
on some of the high points but I guess that a matter of personal
taste. Maybe straight Ice Blue at that point. Keep in mind a good
flat varvish will take the edge of the highest of highlights, so
go a step further than you want the final highlight to look like
and you should be right.
The white, obviously starts with the black basecoat. Codex grey
over the top of that, lots of thin coats. Then Fortress grey, leaving
a little Codex in the recesses and shadows, again 2-3 thin coats.
Then Ghostly Grey. GG is the basic colour. Highlights were 75/25
GG/Skull White, then 50/50, 25/75, then pure Skull White. Again
the highlights are layered and eyeball adjusted to be nice smooth
layers, though it's much easier to fudge the white than the blue.
In painting my Iron Snakes shoulder
pads white I've replaced the Ghostly Grey with the old Citadel Elf
Grey, which is a little warmer and unlike GG I've not heard reports
of it sometimes yellowing over time. Space Wolves Grey would give
a slightly bluer (and colder) edge to the white if you'd rather
use that than GG, plus I've never heard of it yellowing either.
Then I 'whitewashed' the white areas, basically a very thin Skull
White glaze is painted carefully over all white areas, this takes
the light blue/grey edge off the Ghostly Grey and helps to brighten
the white highlights a bit too. As you can see (look at the white
shoulder pad in particular) the white has quite a lot of blue/grey
in, the Iron Snake white is much more
grey than blue and overall I think I prefer it...
I blacklined the SoG I've posted, and I kinda like it, but just
about everyone suggested Shadow Grey instead of black for the darkest
recesses as the black was too much of a contrast. Again pick whichever
you prefer I guess.
The red starts off as Vallejo Game Colour 12 Scar Red (Scab red
equivalent according to the charts, but a much more vibrant and
red colour I find). It's then highlighted in 2-3 layers through
50/50 Scar Red/Red Gore, then straight Red Gore and up to roughly
50/50 RG/Blood Red. 3 highlights is plenty for most of the red areas
as they're pretty small, the bolter gets a first highlight of 75/25
SR/RG, then 25/75 SR/RG, then RG, then 50/50 RG/BR and maybe a final
highlight of Red Gore if needed.
The metal parts are just Boltgun Metal, highlighted 50/50 BG/Chainmail,
then straight Chainmail. Maybe a touch of Mithril silver on the
highest points.
Black areas like bolter foregrip, ribbing and the backpack exhaust
rims are Chaos Black, highlight 50/50 CB/Codex Grey, then a light
touch of Codex. Again if needed a tiny touch of 50/50 Codex/Fortress
on the highest points.
The yellow for the chest eagle I wasn't hugely happy with. Black
undercoat, vomit brown as the base colour, the I just went straight
to Golden Yellow, then 50/50 GY/Bad Moon yellow. I got lazy 'cos
it's behind the bolter basically, most people said it need more
highlights before it was covered up but I haven't heard anything
since :P Still maybe I'll try Graveyard Earth , then highlight up
to Vomit, then Vomit/Golden Yellow, the GY, then Golden Yellow/Bleached
Bone.
The omega symbol is painted 50/50 UM/Enchanted blue and highlighted
up to Ice blue in 2 or 3 stages, this just helps it stand out from
the darker blues nearby. The white wings are painted the same way
as the rest of the white.
Any questions email me via the link
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