Sleepy Smurf

I started my new job last week and so far it's been kicking my ass because it's a lot of activity and early mornings. Two things I'm not super used to. Still, it is always good to have a job so no complaints here. When I get home from work there are a ton of things to do so sadly painting has been taking a backseat to other issues. I've still been painting when I can and when I feel up to it. Currently, I have 5 space marines with a coat of Ultramarine Blue on them. I've been making it my mission to paint at least one marine a night at the very least and tonight I managed to paint two.

The marine on the left has just a Macragge Blue spray coat, a controlled Army Painter Dark Tone wash and Boltgun metal painted on all it's metal parts. The metal bits have all been washed with the Dark tone.
The marine on the right has the first highlight of Ultramarine Blue applied to it. I try to leave a bit of Macragge Blue on the model in places to give it some depth. It looks really nice on the shoulder pads especially if you feather it on a bit.
Hopefully I can make some more progress this week but if not, I will for sure get some painting done this weekend.

I'm still chugging along on this project. I got all ten marines metallic silver parts done and five of them have been washed using a controlled method. I could just wash the whole model but that would darken them a bit and I would like to have a little transition between paint applications to make them pop a bit more. It doesn't save me any time doing it this way but I don't have to be super careful about the wash application so that helps.
I'm feeling a bit under the weather today so I didn't want to push myself to wash all ten today and do a crap job. I'll finish up the next five tomorrow when I'm sure to (hopefully) feel better.

Metal Militia

I tend to start with painting my bases first because it can get a bit messy with all the drybrushing. I've seen people do this last but I rather not risk it. Feels too much like a game of Operation to me and I've always sucked at that game.
After the bases are done I move onto the metallic silver parts and from there I will give these metal parts a wash along with all the models' recesses.
From there it's all highlights and picking out details with a final edge highlight to pull it all together.
I'm trying to get in as much painting as possible because I start my new job this Monday. I'm not sure if the job will be cool and allow me to paint and put models together. I'm not counting on that so in the meantime I'm trying to crank out as many painting hours as I can. Hopefully the blog and my progress won't slow down too much but such is life.

More progress made..

I managed to finish up my first five man squad this morning. I finished the shoulder pads and moved on to painting the edge around the base. I know it would definitely speed things along if I painted the edges black but way back when I got involved in the hobby I read somewhere (White Dwarf magazine I think..) that you must paint your base edges Snakebite Leather so ever since then all my bases on all my armies get that treatment. I'm going to have to figure out what updated paint I will need when my last pot of Snakebite dries up.

I also got my next squad of ten marines all based up this morning and primed to go. There are still some red spots here and there on them but I'll hit those places with some Macragge Blue out of the pot and they'll be fine. The only thing that worried me about the models is any kind of weirdness once the primer hit them. Thankfully it's not too bad but some models have a little bit of wrinkles on their base coat. Nothing too bad but I'm not sure what caused it. Maybe a reaction to the simple green? Or maybe it was too muggy out today or possibly a reaction with the old primer residue on the models? I guess it doesn't matter too much because it's barely noticeable and they'll look fine once they are completed. I'm just anal about my models sometimes.

Decals man, decals...

I managed to get this first squad of five marines finished this weekend. Well, pretty much finished. The last step that I always forget about when it comes to painting space marines is the decals (not to mention static grass and painting the base rim too).

 

I know a lot of people don't like using decals because they think it's like putting a bumper sticker on a Lamborghini but decals are a total time and sanity saver to me.
However, I did paint on the tactical markings because painting an arrow is easy but I will use decals for that moving forward. Painting five arrows isn't so bad but painting 82? Not so much.

Applying decals can be a real time saver and give your army a more uniform look. Freehanding squad markings is great but there will be some inconsistencies. Even so, decals do take some time to apply. I like to start with a coat of ard coat and then once it's dry I am ready to apply the decal. Once the decal is set where I would like it to be I dab it with a tissue and then add a drop or two of the decal setting solution. This stuff works wonders. I usually wait for it to do it's magic over night but softening up the decal and getting rid of wrinkles. If there are still wrinkles when you wake up the next morning then hit it again with the setting solution and you should be good in a few hours.
After the decals wrinkles have been chemically ironed out I then add another coat of ard coat followed by the Lahmian Medium to get rid of the shine.

Hopefully the decal setting solution does it's work tonight and tomorrow I can completely finish up these models and get started on my next batch of marines. I already have them scrubbed and they just need to dry out and get some parts glued back on here and there. After they get based and primed they will be ready for the painting table.




 

The Blue Man Group

We finally had some nice non-muggy weather yesterday so I took the opportunity to primer my first squad of Ultramarines. The new Citadel color spray worked really well. GW's primers are always expensive but totally worth it. You can spray way too much on and somehow it's idiotproof and rights itself. I don't know how but it does.

After I primered the models I used a controlled black wash on all the recesses and painted metal parts. I'm actually pretty far along on my squad and I'll post pics of them shortly.

If at first you don't succeed...

Okay, so my method of using Easy Off and an old toothbrush are not giving me the results that I had hoped for. True, it's been working but it's an awful lot of effort. There is still a lot of paint left on the models in spite of an all day and then overnight soak.

I combed through forums and blogs and decided to try Simple Green out. It's eco-friendly, smells nice and won't harm my models so that's good. I also feel like a standard firm bristle toothbrush just isn't cutting it either so I went to Home Depot and found these nice metal brushes. One is made out of copper and the other is stainless steel. I tried the copper one out because it was a bit softer than the stainless steel one and it worked really well on the models. Took the paint off and didn't scratch the plastic up!

So after I scrubbed the models with my new brush I put then in a fresh Simple Green bath to soak for a while. A word of caution about the brushes though, be careful with how you handle them because they can poke you easily and draw some blood.

I also received all my paints, primer, washes and basing sand but unfortunately it's raining like hell outside so I can't get started on my 5 man squad that are ready to go.
Hopefully the weather tomorrow is better and I can get primer on them.