Engel's Imperial Fists Blog

[Inquisitor Engel]

So, I'm going to lie, this is reaches of masochism I can't even begin to fathom.



The semi-melty face on the middle one is from a two-second exposure to a flame - if you try this, be very careful! (See below) Excuse the mould lines on the one, it was a quick-n-dirty test mini!

I've tried a couple of different methods of painting the Marines, and only have one to try out... the spray gun. Straight Golden Yellow and go from there.

Spray-white and then Yellow Ink looked like I painted him with egg yolk. Working from brown looked... disappointing. I've painted a couple with varying degrees of success using the Tauspet Ocre, Iyanden Darksun drybrush and then four drybrush layers of golden yellow.





First is the test mini, second is an experimental "assembly line" model.
And it's still not consistent enough...

I have gotten the round-decals down though, normal application followed by microsol followed by a half-second exposure to flame, followed by more microsol if needed.



Works like a charm.

More to follow once I've figured out the best way possible! Spray gun, here we go!

[TheUsersAreReal]

They look great! However, you should try thinning your paints out for the next batch.

[Shadowphrakt]

The spraygun is excellent for Imperial fists I used it...

[Inquisitor Engel]

They look great! However, you should try thinning your paints out for the next batch.

Paints don't get much thinner than Golden Yellow.

The drybrushing just kind of builds up - hopefully the spray gun will remedy the real problems.

[TheUsersAreReal]

Paints don't get much thinner than Golden Yellow.

The drybrushing just kind of builds up - hopefully the spray gun will remedy the real problems.

1. Base coat of white.
2. Brown wash.
3. Progessive, thin layers of yellow, until an acceptable level is acheived.
4. Highlight with Golden yellow mixed with white.
5. Highlight with White.


Here's a really good tutorial I found on this forum:
http://warseer.com/forums/showthread...=167241&page=2

[dave8oy]

or you could just go down the Iyanden Darksun route with Dehenb Stone highlights works for me :-)

[cailus]

Inquisitor Engel, cool paint jobs! I always liked the look of the Imperial Fists but painting yellow is daunting.

or you could just go down the Iyanden Darksun route with Dehenb Stone highlights works for me :-)

I really like this as an idea for my Orks.

[Inquisitor Engel]

Iyanden Darksun is my second layer - it's simply too dark for my tastes. I'm not all for the super-bright ones the 'Eavy Metal team tends to do (Lysander for instance is way too bright for me) but ... yeah it's just too dark.

Got the citadel spray gun and some [non-GW] propellant today, so we'll see how this goes. Brace yourselves for a test-mini soon (Halloween permitting).

[Inquisitor Engel]

Haha!

Finally, with kingmong's help, I've finally found an efficient, smooth and above all CONSISTENT method of painting yellow.

The new method is modified from his method.

1. Spray Tamiya Camel Yellow over unprimed model. This can take SEVERAL, VERY light coats as it can slide over the plastic, but white and black undercoats didn't get the desired effect.
2. Spray with purity seal, testors dullcoat, matte finish whatever.
3. Selective wash of equal-parts Gryphonne Sepia, Devlad Mud and water. Kingmong seems to do this over the whole model, but it ended up too dark for me so I use it to shad only.
4. VERY light drybrush of golden yellow to bring the colour up.
5. Do metal/shoulders/Aquila as desired.
6. Drybrush 50/50 Golden Yellow/Skull White for small edge highlights.

As you can tell, slightly modified kingmong who I'd like to think for turning me on to the Tamiya spray!

Anyway, I've used more than a full Tactical Squad in finding this method, and this is what turned out DECENT. There are four more that were aborted very early on in painting due to wash issues, wrong colour entirely etc.



On the left we have my test mini, in the center the second one done. The second one done really bothered me and had me learn the hard way how difficult it is to get that consistency with yellow. Towards the right, Mr. Melty-face. A better attempt at consistency, but not as bright as the test mini.



Mr. Melty-face on the left. In the center, someone I was finally satisfied with, but still no measure of consistency. On the right, my first done tit-for-tat with kingmong's method. It just looked too orange for me, he's clearly better with his spray and wash than I am, so I took the easy way out.



Finally, the final model I'm satisfied with. I love it. Perfect yellow, smooth coverage, easy detail, simple blacklining. Love it. I can see how to do vehicles and squads from this method - like I said to him though, I can see why he sprays without the arms on!

Can't wait to get started with more!

[Ironjens]

Looks sweet!

I took an even simpler way, which however leads to a less stellar result: Macharius Solar Orange basecoat and then just drybrush Sunburst yellow. Of course I like mine a bit orange-y... Mmmm tangy

Keep up the good work and keep them yellow marines coming!

[kingmong]

Looking good, glad you came up with a formula and look you are comfortable with

Suggestions, you could get a Tamiya weathering kit and dirty up the lower torso area. It would make the model look as if it had been around. Might want to add a thin layer of highlight on the edges of the helmet, as that would draw attention to it.

Good job, mate. Keep them coming.

[Inquisitor Engel]

Alright, time for a quick update.

My Forge World order arrived today and I was a tad disappointed to find that my Red Scorpions Tactical Squad didn't come with legs. (Which means I have some Red Scorpion shoulder pads for sale if you're looking!) I also got plenty of Imperial Fist icon packs and best of all, one medium and one small set of brass-etch Aquilas.

So I found a spare set of legs (alas, my last spare set!) and made my first Sternguard Veteran. His left shoulder pad is the studded one, for good measure.



I made the Sternguard Bolter with by taking the box-clip from a Terminator storm bolter, cutting it in half (each termie arm yields two box clips for bolters if they're held to the chest) and completely removing the magazine and where the magazine goes into. A little greenstuff to make the join a little smoother and the obvious scope and you have a Sternguard bolter!

I've also been working on one of the best metal mini's Games Workshop has ever produced. Ever. It's fantastic.



I tried the "prime-what, blue-ink" method and it seems rather patchy. I'll probably end up using the ink as a base-coat and shading level and highlight the middle up through Ultramarine Blue.

I've also started some assembly-line painting which is... bleh. I've been doing test models and characters for so long it's a big change moving to multiple models like this. I'm excited though, once I get them to a basic level, I'll take each one and give him the attention they deserve.



The lighting makes them look a little more orange than they actually are - currently they've had the Tamiya camel yellow applied, the wonderful kingmong Deval/Gryphonne/Water mix applied and a quick drybrush of golden yellow, only boltgun metal has been applied otherwise thusfar.

Damn you Henry Ford!

(They're not orange, it's just flash and poor lighting)



What I've got so far... real, serious goal: don't buy anything until I'm done with what's on that shelf!

[swifty2]

Nice work on your imperial fists mate, they seem to be turning out nicely, the sternguard looks cool too, I converted 5 for my imperial fists to go with the actual models, I still need to make another 20 so I'll be looking here for a bit of inspiration.

[Inquisitor Engel]

Quick update with decal work.



Just a shot of how smooth I managed to get the decal - I've noticed quite a few people freehanding their Fist patches, which is admirable, but just isn't for me. The method is simple and effective.

1. Cut out decal completely around the circle. Zero overhang can be left.
2. Let sit in Microsol (Microset doesn't seem strong enough) for about two minutes. While this is sitting, lightly wash the area with water so you can still move it around a little bit.
3. Apply with a brush (you'll probably need two brushes)
4. Dab dry with a paper towel.
5. After letting it COMPLETELY DRY, take a lighter (I use a long-stem one for lighting a barbeque) and quickly touch the decal with the flame for LESS THAN A SECOND.
6. If needed, touch quickly again with the flame. Holding it there for more than one second or doing it repeatedly within a short space of time will need to melting.

It takes some getting used to and some serious experimentation, but if you don't have to skill for freehand (like me) then it's well worth a shot, just be sure - try it on an old model first!

I'm more than satisfied with the results.

EDIT: The camera makes it look like it's wrinkled a bit more than it actually is - it's really, really flat, as you can tell from the side-on view. It's not going anywhere, let's put it that way!

[StoogeKing]

Kool ideas and stuff but i think ill go the spray gun way! But i like your wach its really good

[Inquisitor Engel]

Quick update, no painting this time.

I split the battleforce with my friend who's doing Dark Angels and won third in a local doubles tournament this past weekend, which netted me some Vanguard vets. Inspired by the amount of greenstuff casting I could do off them, I set about making them a ten man squad, got carried away, and made from Sternguard too.



Red Scorpion heads or beakies are mandatory for any scratch-built Veteran model.



And another. You'll notice the Vanguard in the back have different weapons than come in the box - I like to be unique.



Dark Angels bolters work great for Sternguard bolters. Just a simple mix-n-match here.



I like the bent knees so he looks like he just landed.

[Inquisitor Engel]

The Sternguard Sergeant (or at least Combat Squad leader) I'll probably do the same thing with the Sternguard that I did with the Vanguard and mix in the metals with some minor conversion work just so it's blatantly obvious what they are to people.

Oh and yes, plastic, pewter, resin AND brass.



This I'm really proud of. I'm going to sculpt the gun to the hands properly, as well as attach a strap (and add the GS casting details) to this later tonight but just to have a left-handed Marine firing with both hands makes me happy. No one around here will do that.



Simple guy on the left.

[Inquisitor Engel]

Bit of a sad update today.

Tamiya makes two kinds of camel yellow.I bought the wrong one and now a command squad and the last two members of the first tactical squad are entirely too bright. :cries:

I may be entirely wrong, but having gotten a better look at his pre-inked mini's, it would seem that Kingmong uses TS-19, made for painting just any old plastic. (Feel free to correct me KM if I'm wrong!) The first unit I did which had a nice, rich, golden/orange hue was done, completely accidentally I might add, with PS-19. Which is made "especially for decorating transparent polycarbonate bodies used in R/C car modeling." Which sounds weird, but looks great to my eyes.

So I'm off tomorrow to buy some PS-19 and start on the next tactical squad. Does anyone have advice to stripping plastic models without ruining the details?



The moral of the story? CHECK THE PART NUMBER. :cries:

[AventineCrusader]

Simple Green.

[Shadowphrakt]

Simple Green.

Or Fairy Power Spray