August 2020 - New Project: Kharadron Overlords

 Hi again!

When my 1000pts of Nighthaunt were nearly finished I decided to keep my momentum going by switching to a new project with very different design principles.

I've always loved the Kharadron Overlord fluff and figures but had been intimidated by how detailed their models look. I decided that instead of the speed-oriented approach I had taken with the Nighthaunt I'd plan out another small 1000 point list (I just love projects of this size) and really take my time using traditional brushwork rather than airbrush or contrast paint workarounds.

Here is the initial result of my test scheme. This is the exact same process done over two different basecoats, one a reddish brown and the other a flat black. No other prep before getting to brushwork! Just a flat black undercoat and then layering everything by hand. Outside of a spot of dry-brushing on the metals to tie them together this is all done by brush, and I'm quite happy with how they both turned out!

This is also my first time painting almost exclusively in neutral colors, as my schemes usually go for bright tones that pop and give me strong complimentary colors. This feels very refreshing to me, and I love the earthy and realistic tones I've got out of sticking to the neutral creams and browns.

Painting these chaps has been a really refreshing experience and I'm in the process of finishing off their 10-man squad before moving onto a few more infantry and than an airship or two. More to come!

July 2020 - Nighthaunt Army

Hello dear reader!

Self-isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year proved to be a productive time for my hobby. In addition to finishing nearly 1000 points of Imperial Fists I managed to build and paint the bulk of a 1000 points of Nighthaunt. In both cases I am still 2-5 models away from being fully finished but I'm super pleased with how the armies turned out, and really enjoyed painting forces of this size where you do a few basic troops, a few elite, and a single larger centerpiece.

These Nighthaunt were my first time using the new GW contrast paints and I enjoyed the experience, both the red and blue/turquoise components were put down using a few layers of contrast over a cream off-white base color. I made the red pop a bit more with some shading and higlighting, but it still allowed me to crack out a batch of 30 chainrasps in a single go without losing my mind.

For the Black Coach and the Spirit Hosts I used an airbrush to get some preshading done before putting my ghostly contrast paints over it, but i'm a little less happy with the results. The pre-shading looked promising (you can see an example in the Knight of Shrouds at the bottom that I've yet to paint) but in practice I think the effect was a bit unfocused and messy. It turned out a lot better on the spirit hosts where I did a far lighter amount of preshading. The coached only looks passable to me, but it's saved a little by how busy the model itself is. Ah well, lessons learned!

But overall I'm quite happy with these guys, and proud of myself for cracking out this whole force in about two months. It is absolutely a personal record!

Example of my airbrush pre-shading on the Knight of Shrouds.