Warmachine, Warhammer 40k, & Terrain Projects

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Varnish Frosting!!!

I sealed 15 miniatures yesterday with Games Workshop Purity Seal. While it went on clear, after about 20 minutes I got moderate frosting. You can see it clearly on the bases between the two bodgers. Fortunately,the figures I painted look OK a bit ‘dusty’ but this would be unacceptable on my entire army!

After some research I made two mistakes.

  1. Sprayed aerosol varnish in high humidity and low temperature: Last night we had 80% humidity and high 50’s / low 60’s temperature in the garage. After reading through the application pages on Golden & Liquitex varnishes, they don’t recommend applying varnish below 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Sprayed all figures at once: With aerosol cans, if you ‘spray longer’ the can/spray cools down rapidly. That will have lowered the temperature even more, lowering the dew point and allowing water vapor to form in the varnish and create the frost.

I plan on picking up some some Krylon satin varnish (aerosol) and some golden/liquitex matte/satin/gloss varnish (air brush) and experimenting (given that temp/humidity is decent)

 

UPDATE:
I applied a single coat of Krylon UV-Resistant Clear Matte Acrylic Coating over the frosted Games Workshop Purity Seal and it ‘erased’ the frosting experienced with the purity seal. While I can’t vouch for the durability of the krylon matte acrylic coating, it didn’t frost. Temp in the garage is roughly 65 degrees Fahrenheit and 67% relative humidity. Below the Bodger on the left has one coat of ‘frosted’ purity seal and one coat of the Krylon coating. The Bodger on the right has no varnish or finish of any kind. I think the more reddish hue of the bodger on the left was proably just a stronger Reaper ‘flesh’ wash and has nothing to do with the finish.

Hammersmith Heavy Warjack

Centurion Heavy Warjack

Stormblade Infantry with Unit Attachment

I’m pretty happy with the unit. I used frisket film and an airbrush on the banner to get the cygnar symbol…which turned out pretty good. I’m not happy with the gold trim on the officers cloak… generally not in love with that model as I don’t have the skill to make it ‘pop’ in any interesting way.

I really need to get my lighting optimized so I have whiter light and less shadows. Anyhow, I ‘finished’ my StormBlades (all my units are going to be based together at the end for consistency). Carrying them up the stairs to be photographed on the terrain board, the very top-heavy standard bearer and unit leader decided to jump. The standard bent back (more or less) to straight, but the unit leader’s blade was so tweaked it broke when I straightened it, so I had to break it off, file it straight, pin it, glue it, and then add some green stuff to reinforce. I’ll paint the greens stuff tomorrow after testing the strength.

This makes 67 models painted and 51 to go. Going to airbrush base-color and highlight the Centurion and Hammersmith tomorrow night.

New Painting Station

One of the things I love about this hobby is that I can be in the same room with my wife while doing it… Unlike video games or some of my other hobbies. One of my traits is I never do a hobby half ass… So I had TONS of crap (paints, glues, books, tools, etc) allover our kitchen table. It was bugging me so I moved it all up to the computer room. Kitchen was clean again, but painting was… Lonely. So… I put together this painting station yesterday… Still messy, but it’s contained, can roll out of the way, and keeps the kitchen table clear when I’m not actually painting.

Reinholdt Gobber Speculator

59 Models Complete, Half Way There!

Finished Reinholdt, Gobber Speculator tonight. That makes 59 models painted, and 59 models to go. Half way there!

Of the remaining 59 models there are:

  • 43 are in 5 separate units
  • 6 warjacks,
  • 4 warcasters
  • 6 solos.

I just decided I’m going to paint the Stormblade Unit next, followed by the Centurion & Hammersmith Warjacks.

Warhammer 40k airbrushing done

Terminators

Artograph 1520 spray booth

Stormraven Gunship

Painting light comparison

I recently purchased a light recommended by the studio painters at privateer press (LSF 150). It came with 2 unknown 15 watt 18″ T8 bulbs with a stated color rendering index (CRI) of 80. I picked up some GE ‘sunlight bulbs’ with a CRI of 90. The iPhone camera couldn’t deal with direct pics of the bulbs, but could handle the reflection (in this case, a granite countertop). The ‘warmer/yellower’ light on the left is the new GE bulb vs. the greener default light on the right.