The Swords of Vaul

[koran]

A couple of friends got me a lynx for my birthday as they knew I get a little too excited over that model. Its been made and primed (and basecoat done), Im just waiting for the weather to perk up for me to get airbrushing.

While Ive been waiting for it to get less cold (or I might have to resort to doing it inside as its for a painting competition and the deadline is looming).

In the mean time I got working on the base. I wanted to do something a little different. Most people have their grav tanks just above the ground but I wanted something a little closer to it flying. But there needed to be a reason for it to be flying (as its not exactly stealthy so I cant see an Eldar just doing it for giggles ) so I added in an eldar ruin on the base that was slowly being reclaimed by nature (probably on a maiden world or abandoned Eldar world).

So one large flying base later and some foam core I had this:

[Fable]

The base looks excellent. I hope you post pics of the Lynx on the base once it's painted.

[koran]

Of course I will mate

[Hendarion]

The base is a bit flat, but really really nice. The earth looks as if it is really earth. What colour you used for that brown and what material?

[koran]

Yeah the base is flat but that's intentional. For fast moving vehicles it is often good to have a flat(ish) base (in my experience) as it helps to give a look of fast movement. Its something to do with how we perceive things that I dont understand. Its the same as you put a smaller head on larger creatures like giants (see GW giant for reference) as it makes them look "bigger".

The colours are Vallejo colours (German camo black brown, then burnt umber and finally beige brown). You then use dirt weathering pigment.

I wanted to update on my progress. Ive got the basics done now: colours and highlights, wraithbone, gun, gems (I went for purple as its a bit uncommon and works with the red gun and the blue hull) and pilot.

I also managed to get some of the freehand started with some runes at the front of the "wings".

Next up will be some more freehand and then battle damage.

As always comments and constructive criticism is welcome.

[razormasticator]

Wow, gorgeous man!

[Sildani]

That's excellent! Did you use a salt technique to weather the white stripes?

[Meraklis]

excellent! I am impressed!

What is your airbrush setup?

[Evilgnome]

Lovely Lynx!

The base is great inspiration for when I do mine!

[koran]

Thanks for the comments guys.

@ Sildani: I did indeed use the salt masking technique. Its something I bring out every so often for a play to give a chipped look but I have found it causing problems if ever used on a larger area than these stripes (though that may be due to my ability more than it being a bad technique).

@ Meraklis: Being a little out of funds I have had a bit of a mission trying to find high quality but low cost products and I managed to find a company thats great (well if you live in the UK it is). The company is called RGD tools and apparently imports a lot of products in from manufacturers without middle men getting involved. The compressor I use is the MINI AIR COMPRESSOR PERFECT FOR AIRBRUSHES (UK 3 PIN PLUG) found on this page: http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/COMPRESSORS.html

The airbrush I use is the BD-183 Professional Double Action Airbrush (gravity feed) airbrush on the following page: http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/AIR_BRUSHES_.html

The whole set up cost me less than Ł100 and as far as I can tell (though admittedly Im not an expert) the compressor is practically identical to ones I have seen for double the cost and the airbrush looks pretty identical to ones with Iwata airbrushed that can reach over Ł100 on their own.

A bit of a ramble but I cant wax lyrical about this site enough. Hope it helps (if you're looking to get going with an airbrush).

Im hoping for an update soon as I really need to get going when I have another free moment to paint.

[SamWISEyyz]

Paint job looks fantastic so far. I think the flat base is fine, not everything has to be on a pile of dead stuff or on a hill!

Thanks for the heads up with RDG tools too, will definitely consider getting a similar setup with those results and that price.

[Hendarion]

The runes are great. I always adore when people highlight such small freehands. The weapon is also cool, very smooth, very straight gradient. The white stripes round it up, but the blue could benefit from a bit more highlights and I think the tones of the base colour are a bit different hue. The base colour looks like deep plain blue (or with tiny amount of purple in it) whereas the highlights seem to have some hint of green or yellow in it. Is that intentionally? It also just might be the camera

[koran]

The blue to green is very intentional. I like the unnatural highlight on eldar as I think it helps to make them look that little bit more not human. In real life it actually looks more apparent.

The runes are great. I always adore when people highlight such small freehands. The weapon is also cool, very smooth, very straight gradient. The white stripes round it up, but the blue could benefit from a bit more highlights and I think the tones of the base colour are a bit different hue. The base colour looks like deep plain blue (or with tiny amount of purple in it) whereas the highlights seem to have some hint of green or yellow in it. Is that intentionally? It also just might be the camera

[MuGGzy]

KORAN, go delete some of your old PMs, you can't get anymore cuz your PM box is full!

[koran]

LMAO. I hadnt noticed that... Done.

[koran]

Managed to finish the model as much as I will be able to before a painting competition I want to enter it into.

Ive done a few more runes and battle damage/weathering.

[SamWISEyyz]

Stunning! Good luck with the competition too

[Meraklis]

cheers ! Great work again!

Hope to see more of your work!

[Jo-Jo]

Words fail me

[Sildani]

Awesome work, looks convincingly real. Don't forget the canopy!