9/29/2009: I haven't posted in some time. I have been busy painting.

I finished repainting the Space Wolves Army I got off eBay a few years ago.

Below are some before shots.

First step was cleaning mold lines followed by drilling the barrels of the guns. Some Marines needed minor repairs.

I proceeded to give them a base coat of shadow grey on the armor. Then I hit the metal areas with boltgun metal and shining gold. The shining gold got a wash of baal red while the boltgun metal got a wash of badab black. They already look a lot better in my opinion.

A highlight of chainmail for the boltgun metal areas. The shining gold areas got a highlight of shining gold then a mix if shining gold/mithril silver as the final high light. Simple but effective.

The edges of the armor got a rough highlight of 50/50 mix of shadow grey and space wolves grey, the a final highlight on the edges was straight space wolves grey. Any marine without a helmet got his face and hair repainted. Dark flesh, Tan flesh, dwarf flesh, then elf flesh was layered on the faces.

The armor highlights got cleaned and sharpened up by doing a pass with the base color. The wolf tails and leathers are getting based in scorched brown.

Finished up the gems, power fists, helmet eyes with scab red washed with badab black , then high lighted with blood red, finally blazing orange. The wax for the purity seals is scab red, then blood red , the high lighted with a mix of skull white and blood red. Finished off the fur with with snake bite leather on the scorched brown base, then graveyard earth, then bleached bone, then a little skull white. The parchment of the purity seals are based scorched brown, then grave yard earth, then kommando khaki, then bleached bone, then skull white.

This is the fun stuff. The shoulder pads got a fresh coat of a yellow I mix up. I mix iyanden darksun with skull white and sunburst yellow. Basically lightening the foundation paint to the color of sunburst yellow while keeping its coating properties intact. Also using the yellow to paint up the right side knees of any marine with knee pads.

Decal time! I like decals. Ever since I discovered decal setting solution my decals look great. If you plan on using decals, especially on non flat surfaces I recommend you try this stuff out. It smells like a watered down alcohol solution than softens or melts the decal smooth to the mini.

The trick I have found with decals it to get them to set flat is a several step process. First I coat the area receiving the decal with a smooth layer of card coat. Once its dry I wet the area with clean water then apply the decal. Some times I put little slices around the edges of the decal in strategic places prior to wetting the decal to help it wrap around the shoulder pad once its in place. After the decal is applied to the mini I apply a little decal softener to the decal, very careful not to move the decal and then wait for it to do its magic.

Once the decal softener has evaporated and flattend out the decal, I put a coat of card coat over the decal to cement it in place. The last part of the process is to seal the whole mini with a a coat of Testors dull coat spray lacquer. This stuff is awesome. It will remove the shine of the card coat and give the whole mini a nice matt finish. Its like GWs purity seal laquer. It also has the little side effect of darkening the mini slightly helping to blend highlights. It makes the mini pop! Metal paint look great! Once dull coated and dry you can check the decal for any flaws. If any just paint away any of the clear transparent parts of the decal that appear frosty. It will look seamless.

Land Raider Redeemer:

Well I am going to build my first Land Raider. Figured I would try a Redeemer pattern. After seeing the really cool inside of this thing, the best approach was paint it on the frame. I find this makes the project really drag. Least it feels that way to me. I started by priming all the frames black. Then I airbrushed them Ultramarine blue.

I then clipped out all the parts that make up the inside. Gave them a serviceable paint job. I wonder if anyone will be able to see it when the Land Raider is done? I got Forge World Ultramarine doors. Looks good so far to me.

Painted up the Forge World doors. Assembled the sides and glued the main body together.

Painted up the top. Used some decals I made to put some high gothic writing on the top.

Gluing the top on.

Here it is after the glue set. Not bad.

I put a magnet on the door to make the close nice and tight. I wasn't happy with the slack in the mechanism. Next land raider I will try using a magnet system hidden in the track assembly.

Painted up the Tech gunner.

Here are the new and deadly flamers.

Forge World side doors.

Finally the finished product. I put some weathering in the form of scratches and mud on the bottom and tracks. I think it turned out well.

 Reverse Engineered Battlewagon:

In a proper Speed Freak Ork army one could field multiple Battle Wagon. I ordered a Space Ork Battle Wagon from Forgeworld. When I received I was looking at how it was made. It seemed apparent that is primarily made of plastic card.  I had a vision. I saw how I could replicate the Forgeworld model using plastic card and bitz. My goal was to make my Battle Wagon have the same foot print at the Forgeworld model.

I started the project by measuring the Forgewold model and making pattern. Once the pattern looked good I went cutting the 3mm card for the track assemblies. I used a Ryobi band saw to cut all the pieces at the same time. This kept them uniform I made enough for 2 more Battle Wagon.

I doubled up the tank track wheels from the Leman Russ Battle tank kit. To lay them out on the plastic card I drilled pilot holes through all the track assembly pieces at the same time so all would match.

I needed gismo gear stuff in the center of the assembly. I used 'I' beam, tube and rod with some bitz to work up what I fancied to be air shock.

Once the side were completed It was time to craft the pilot cab and deck. I used a combo of 2mm and 3mm card to fabricate the Cab. I tried to make it match the Forgeworld model as best I could. I got pretty dang close. I think it was Scarpia's site where I found the info on a mail order train modeling outfit to get plastic rivets and bolts and such. I made the roll bar from rod and green stuff. Came out good. It is a little low obstructing the pilots vision but its fine for Ork tech.

The deck was straight forward. I was fortunate that the thing came out mostly plum. I used the score and snap technique to cut most of the card. It is 3mm card for strength.

Now this ride needs a proper Ork power plant. I used a salvaged Land Raider engine for the base. Made two boxes for the headers from 2mm plasticard. For the headers I made a negative mold from the Forgeworld model. I used green stuff and PAM cooking spray to make the molds. Then I pressed out two positive headers. They were a little warped. I wouldn't call them clean. They are very Ork'y through.

All that was needed now was a really cool air intake. I originally tried to work up a air-ram style blower from the tip of a plastic kazoo. It looked ok on its own but the scale was a little big. It didn't look right in the back of the wagon. I took a one inch round base flipped it over, took a cap from a container of one inch Dremmel grinding discs, some thin plastic card punch outs and presto air-filter!

Next came the exhaust, fender plates and weapons. The exhaust I made from plastic tube. The fenders and deck I lined with diamond plate. I stole the rear armor from Nightserpent's design. His stuff looks great. The weapons I ordered from Forgeworld. The Zzapp is riding a little low in this pic sow I raised her up a bit.

While trimming out the model with rivets and 'L' brackets I discovered the bottom of the model. Oops, I neglected to fab the oil cooler and fan. It was a bit of a pain to do with the machine guns mounted but I got it done.

I filled all huge gaps with green stuff. Added a back bumper and fuel drum to the rear of the wagon. The thing didnt look busy enoough so I crafted a gun rack in the rear of the deck. I also carved a couple more sets of Waaaugh teeth and riveted them to the body.

Now for some paint

Painting this thing was so fun. I think I did alright to. I primed the model white then airbrushed the whole thing Sunburst Yellow. Then I hit it with Blood Red. The Yellow undercoat made the red POP! Below are some shots. Mission accomplished!