ForgeWorld Contemptor Pattern Relic Dreadnought
Catching up on my years old painting queue. Had this built and primed for > 2 years. Finally finished it. I didn’t matte coat it and weather it like my other contemptor, so it’s a bit shiny, but I have SO many models to get through I’m honestly lowering my standard just a bit, especially on stuff I can always circle back on and enhance later (like matte varnish and weathering).
New Mini Studio – 3 Point Lighting
Finally got my semi-permanent mini studio set up.
- 3x Manfrotto Heavy-Duty Flex Arms (237HD)
- 4x Manfrotto Super Clamps (035RL)
- 1x Manfrotto Magic Arm (244)
- 3x LimoStudio Continuous LED Portable Light
- 1x Tablewar Macromat Set
The Manfrotto gear isn’t cheap, but I’ve been collecting a piece here and there for decades. Buy it once, use it for life.
One of the super clamps I bought in 1995 (~23 years ago!)
The LimoStudio Continuous LED Portable lights are super cheap fixtures that hold off the shelf GU10 base LED bulbs. They are non-dimmable so I’m using improvised ‘gels’ (plastic cut from a plastic yogurt container!) to soften/dim the lights a bit. I had to jury rig a tripod mounting screw using these adapters. The lights are el-cheapo, and I’ll play around with some off the shelf GU10 LED bulbs. Ideally I’ll find a small, relatively inexpensive, A/C, dimmable housing with a 3/8th – 16 mount.t
This is a basic ‘Three-Point Lighting‘ setup and my key light is way too bright.
Commision – Lord Commissar – Brandon Minor
commissioned Lord Commissar by Brandon Minor of Frontline Gaming Paint Studios
Commission – Torquemada Coteaz – Brandon Minor
commissioned Torquemada Coteaz by Brandon Minor of Frontline Gaming Paint Studios
Commission – Lord Kaldo Draigo – Brandon Minor
commissioned Kaldor Draigo by Brandon Minor of Frontline Gaming Paint Studios
Commission – Inquisitors – Brandon Minor
commissioned Inquisitors by Brandon Minor of Frontline Gaming Paint Studios
Commission – Lord Castellan Creed – Brandon Minor
commissioned Lord Castellan Creed by Brandon Minor of Frontline Gaming Paint Studios
Commission – Astra Militarum Preachers – Brandon Minor
commissioned Astra Militarum Preachers by Brandon Minor of Frontline Gaming Paint Studios
Commission – Primaris Psyker – Brandon Minor
commissioned Primaris Psyker by Brandon Minor of Frontline Gaming Paint Studios
Commission – Regimental Advisors – Brandon Minor
commissioned Regimental Advisors by Brandon Minor of Frontline Gaming Paint Studios
Commission – Wyrdvane Psykers – Brandon Minor
commissioned Wyrdvane Psykers by Brandon Minor of Frontline Gaming Paint Studios
Commission – Sebastian Yarrick – Brandon Minor
commissioned commissar Yarrick by Brandon Minor of Frontline Gaming Paint Studios
Warlord Titan Saevus Ultio Complete!
It took me 1 year, 2 months, and 7 days to complete my warlord titan. Not the fasted build so far but I enjoyed every minute of it. And my Legio Invicta Maniple is now 1 warlord, 1 reaver, and 2 warhounds!
Warlord Painting Update
I still have lots of painting to do, and have made lots of progress since these pics, but wanted to get a site update out there as it’s been forever.
I used Createx Wicked Crimson and Golden Yellow as the two primary colors.
I started this project in July 2015, and here it is a year later, July 2016, and I’m still not done! My hobby time has been cut in 1/10th since having a kid. kid != hobby time! :)
Warlord Titan – More caution stripes!
For some reason, I got it in my head that the carapace top between the reactor ridges would be cool as black/yellow caution stripes.
Of course it’s one of the hardest areas to mask easily, but I couldn’t get it out of my head, so here goes!
First, about 45 minutes of careful masking with Tamiya masking tape.
Then about 30 (or was it 50?) light coats of Wicked Golden Yellow. If you spray this too thick it pools up and dries unevenly, so many many thin coats is the name of the game.
Hit the knee pads while I had the paint in the cup.
Completed base yellow coat, drying overnight.
Sprayed 3 layers of liquitex Glossy varnish so the base yellow would be less likely to come up with the masking tape.
about 20 minutes into the stripe masking job. Because of all the rivets I was sure I was going to get ‘leaks’ of black paint under the taps, so resolved to lay down very, very light coats of black (which dry upon contact and are less likely to ‘run’ under the tape.
and more masking
and more masking
and then paint! about 10 very light coats of Vellejo black primer.
The moment of truth when airbrushing over masks/stencils is removing the mask. Will the paint peel up? how are the mask edges? any leaks? Basically, any black paint over yellow is almost impossible to repair because of hour transparent the yellow paint is… it’d never truly cover the black and look smooth.
Fortunately, the paint stayed down nicely because of my varnish, and the light coats of black paid off, no issues at all with the stripes! yay!
peeling away more mask, still looking good.
stripe mask completely removed, looking good so far!
So I applied 2 coats of varnish, so the masking tape I have to put on top of the whole area when priming the rest of the model silver doesn’t pull up the yellow/black I just spent so much time laying down.
So, in my jubilation, I pulled off the ‘outer mask and pulled up some of my caution striping in my rush. NOOOOOOOoooo!
So, another quick mask
and many layers of Createx wicked yellow
and it’s more or less repaired. There’s a bit more color saturation and an textured edge on the joint, but better than primer grey!
And that is a day of painting. So. Much. Masking.
Warlord Titan – Painting the Legs Part II
Next, let’s do some caution stripe pistons!
Yellow is a PITA, even with an airbrush. Below is about 35 coats of Createx Wicked Golden Yellow (W011). I thinned with W100 reducer, although I just ordered W500 reducer, which I’m super excited about as it’s supposed to be way better. W100 can cause cratering, tip drying, dries slowly, and dires glossy.
W500 claims to address these issues which would make Createx Wicked Colors my main paint for basically everything.
Airbrushing models like this is 90% masking, 5% paint prep, and 5% actually airbrushing. Give in to this fact. Just surrender. Trust me.
I used 1/8″ 3m vinyl tape, which is good for really sharp edges, but a bit too sticky (risk of pulling up paint).
To combat this, I laid down three layers of Liquitex Gloss Varnish and let dry overnight. The gloss varnish toughens up the finish and makes the tape pull up without tearing the paint film. If you don’t have existing tape to use up, I’d recommend 3mm Tamiya masking tape, either the regular yellow stuff or the new white ‘for curves’ variety although I haven’t tried that yet.
After a few hours of masking, about 10 minutes of very light coats of Vallejo Black Primer which is one of my favorite paints of all time, as it shoots through my Iwata HP-BCS Airbrush with the 0.5mm setup like a dream, has great adhesion, and a great matte finish.
Caaaaarefully pulling up the tape.
Starting to apply a brown undercoat to the trim. This is actually P3 Bootstrap leather, my favorite brown paint.
I’m trying the new Games Workshop golds and I HATE THEM. They are super chunky. Applied lightly they give like 2% coverage and would take 50 coats. Applied liberally, they pool up and dry with an uneven, chunky texture. After searching online, I’m going to try Citadel ‘Retribution Armor’ gold base, which is supposed to act like the older Citadel ‘Shining Gold’ Paint which I LOVED. Failing that, adding ‘Lahmian Medium’ is supposed to help the new metallic paints. Failing that, I’ll use Reaper/MSP 9050 Antique Gold which is a perfectly serviceable gold, just not as good as the old ‘Shining Gold.’
Here you can see the pistons painted and glued in. The second picture shows a piston that was clamped wrong, and dried in a tweaked position. :/ This is JBWeld, so once it’s glued, it’s glued. The Armor plates will make this mistake less obvious, but darn! :/
Not great lighting for these pics, but the warning stripe pistons on the warlord feet.