Bull Dog Chimera part 6: Paint

After some considerable computer troubles, I am back. Here are some pics of my recently painted Chimera. I've finished the initial painting and plant to weather it some more with pigment powder. I will finish the model with some stowage and decals. Over all I think it went well. I had to change my paint scheme as I went but I am super happy with the results.


After it was primed I airbrushed the whole model with Tamiya German Grey. After the paint dried for 24hours, I used rubber cement in select areas of the model to create chipped or worn paint. Then I painted certain areas with Cockpit Green darkened with a touch of German Grey. I used it on the inside of the hatch, the back door and mud guard. This was to give the appearance that the tank had been painted once before in another color or parts of a wreck were used to repair this one.




After another 24hour I hit the model with rubber cement to create green paint ships. I completely covered the inside of the tank hatch with rubber cement to mask it off. I then painted the whole model with Medium Blue. At that time I was planning a more elaborate urban cammo scheme. Next time I will only have to paint the areas that will have the blue stripes. Again after waiting the 24 hours for the paint to fully cure, I applied rubber cement to the model in random place to make some blue paint chips and laid masking tape to create stripes on the tank and turret. When this was done, I painted the whole model with Light Grey.





After a few hours, I peeled the masking tape off to reveal the stripes. By using a ball of dried rubber cement I rubbed off all the rubber cement that was coating the model. There were places where the rubber cement wouldn't come off, but for the most part it did the trick. Instead of using this technique, you could just sponge paint on the areas to create a chipped look. I like to use the rubber cement because it actually rips the paint and makes it raise up a bit as if the paint was really flaking.


Here is the model after I brush painted the heavy bolters and touched up some of the paint. The masking on the inside of the hatch did not clean up very nice, so I hand painted it.


Here is a nice close-up of the turret to show the chipped paint and texture. I think it turned out very nice.


Here is a good close up of the layers of chipped paint. It adds a lot of character to the model and after some washes and some more weathering, it aught to look awesome.

This paint job was my test piece. I really liked how it turned out and will be a good reference for the rest of my army. Since I had already built this model to be hand painted, I wasn't able to use all the techniques that I would have like. I don't like the tracks. I would have liked to have airbrushed them German Grey in the end, but the lasguns in the back made it too difficult to manage. When I build an other Chimera I will nix the lasguns all together and make gun slits instead.

That's all for now. See you next time when I weather and decal this baby.

Assault Squad Finished

I finished this squad last Friday. This is the basic paint scheme for the "Remnant Redeemer" chapter. In real life the blue highlights on the edges of the armor are less noticeable, but for some reason the camera was really picking them up.





I got a chance to try these bad boys out and they mopped up a full Tactical Squad and their Chapter Master and only lost two members. I really like the Chaplain he adds a lot to the squad. I have never been really into assault until the latest version of the rules came out. Now I'm hooked. I'm certainly going to beef this squad up to full capacity in the future.

Bull Dog Chimera part 5: Finishing Touches

Well, I can finally say it's done. After adding the lifting hooks all I had to do was construct the turret's pivot and prime the turret for paint. The pivot was a minor challenge because I didn't have any plastic the perfect diameter of the hole. Eventually I used a piece of model sprue, then I wrapped it with a scrap piece of styrene cut to size. It fits perfectly.







All I have to do now is finish the detailing the rest of my Chimera and paint 'er up.
See you next month. :)

Table Master and Chaplain

I have a lot of Marines. This is mostly because I have been given so many free or discounted starter armies. Plus I bought the Black Reach and Macragge. So, I don't normally get to assemble or pose my Space Marine troops too much. This is great for me, because I can build up a pretty good Marine army to play with while I am creating my dream Imperial Guard army.

Because the Space Marines are basically my table army, I haven't put too much effort in making them extremely stunning. Don't get me wrong, I am not just slapping the paint on. I'm forcing myself to not be so picky so that I will finish all the marines that I own before I die. I would like to have a finished army with basic paint then a couple squads of perfect mini's


I like this mini from the Black Reach box. Notice that I didn't put any writing on the banner. That's what I'm talking about. Basic. I'm painting for overall table presence.


Here is the back of my Master/Captain. I had never painted white fabric before. I like how it turned out.


I was excited to paint this Chaplain. It is one of the only mini's I got to pic out. As with the figure above, I didn't spend too much time with pretty details. I was going for basic effect. Still the mini is pretty stunning. I like him a lot. The picture does not do it justice. But who cares, It's going to look great leading my Assault Marines in a charge.

Bull Dog Chimera part 4: Cast Effect

Spent the morning on giving the turret a dappled finish to simulate that it was cast in one piece. I added this cast effect to the turret and the mallet and left the turret rack clean so that it would look like stamped sheet metal. After I put on the lifting rings it will be ready for primer.

Two details that I have been considering are adding a machine gun ring and making an interchangeable auto cannon turret.



Also, earlier today I was called on to fix some Christmas decor using my modeling/painting skills. Christmas is saved. :)

Bull Dog Chimera part 3: basic turret complete

It's been a late night at the work table. I put in a couple of hours on the turret conversion. I already had a good attack plan for fabricating and installing the turret rack, I have just been lazy to start it. Also, I am kinda fearful that I would screw up the turret. I was only about 80% sure that my idea would work. Ultimately it didn't go a well as I would like, but it went better then I had feared it would. (Twice tonight I have glued my finger to the model :P)


I added some rivets for some realistic detail. I might possibly add a little more detail to the rack it's self, but I will wait for tomorrow when I am refreshed.


I threw some spare stowage in the rack to show how much it can hold. Eventually I think I will hand make some bed rolls and add fuel cans and ammo boxes.




Here is a test shot to see how the turret looks on the vehicle. I can't lie, I'm getting pretty excited to see the finished results.

Bad Skins A Bash Em'

Here is another mental health mini. I don't really have an Ork army, but I'm thinking I might start one now. I bought the Assault on Black Reach and it came with a starter Ork Army. I don't think that I have ever painted an Ork before. It was really refreshing. I painted this guy with a more sketchy painting style then usual. I think it gives the mini a particularly cartoon-ish look, which I think works well for Orks.

The only part of the paint scheme that I had planned out was the boots. I was trying for a Doc Martens style burgundy. I think I nailed it. At least I satisfied myself. One part of the mini that I didn't plan to do, was the checks. I like Ska and since I was giving him Doc Martens, I thought I might as well give him checks too. I have never painted checks before either. I think I did well enough. I wasn't too concerned about the neatness of the squares. I don't think Orks care that much. One last little bit that I like was the red bullet tips. I just kinda did it. I guess it's special ammo.

Oh, I almost forgot to comment about the base. I usually don't do much with the base, but I thought he should be standing on some nice Orky rubble. I have a couple big bins of discarded model parts, so I sliced up and old tank kit. I like the rubble and will most likely put it on all my Ork models in the future. Bad Skins are go!