Blackadder Paints a Couple of Armies:

[Blackadder]

Dross into Gold:

So what's Blackadder doing posting a painting thread; he doesn't know how to paint? Well I need a Space Marine army for my Thunderhawk and a Cadian army for my Tanks/Titans and Adeptus Mechanicus Priesthood Enclave again for the Titans so to show them off to their best so I decided to paint up some figures.


Once again as with my Tyranids airbrushing foray I am totally at sea regarding painting so this learning experience for me will be of help to newly initiated into war gaming.


I'm going to start with the Space Marines; my son with over 10 years in 40K Wargaming has progressed from a mere tyro to an accomplished painter/gamer but in the course of which has left behind literally hundreds of 'poor' to 'indifferently' finished figures so rather than plunk down beaucoup bucks for new squad kits I going to salvage the dross and turn it into gold (At least that is my intent and hope.)


Below you see about a tenth of the derilict SM host I have to refurbish:


http://i.imgur.com/bI6UGOp.jpg

These SM figures were in the scrap bitz box and number about 200 figures in varied states of completion and execution.


First I divided them up into homogeneous groups:


http://i.imgur.com/8S7FvTf.jpg

Again this is only a sampling of the number of figures I have to disassemble, clean, repair and paint.


I employed my tried and true method of hammer and chisel to separate the figures from their bases and worried the arms, jet packs, what-have-you from the basic figures and scraped, carved, filed, and sanded the excess glue and thick paint from the figures....


http://i.imgur.com/RJD9wUw.jpg

Next post Please...............

 

[Blackadder]

Of course it's a judgement call, I'm not going to spend a lot of time cleaning and repairing garbage. Some of these figures only have a coat of prime and some are bare styrene. Most of the cleaning only requires paring off glued seams buildup.


Pieces that are too far gone can be used as hors de combat in related scenery.


There are quite a few metal figures as well.


The theme I am adopting is a basic black and 'Death World Forest' green which suits my understated taste:


http://i.imgur.com/lnrlqWn.jpg

and will go well with my proposed Thunderhawk and IG Cadians scheme.

 

[Blackadder]

Dreadnoughts:



There are only two complete Dreadnoughts that I can find; one metal and one plastic. I disassembled them as far as practical, filed the mating surfaces for a flush fit (especially the metal one that bore a resemblance more so to a piece of slag than a combat vessel.)

I filed the hood lines to crisp up the corners and re-assembled with sparing drops of cyanoacrylate glue......


http://i.imgur.com/r1nFyxu.jpg

These lump-like constructions are the better for simplistic paint schemes because the highly ornate paint work tends to obliterate their already murky lines.


The unfortunate Chaos model is missing exhaust pack and leg assemblies.


http://i.imgur.com/9pwjGdu.jpg

Dreadnoughts are not among my favorite 40K denizens being more refugees from 'Silent Running' so I'm going to use them for practicing paint schemes.

 

[Blackadder]

Glued For the Ages:

Okay before I go too far into this tutorial/ Learning experience I have to make a comment on model assembly. Now I know for a fact that these models were not built by my son because he got them from a friend.


For the life of me I cannot fathom why anyone would glue together the entire model before painting; at least the hard to reach places. Paint it first then glue it together. And what gluing!!!!! I had to hammer seams, pry, Literally snap the model apart on two of the cycles to get the driver out of the seat! YA DON'T NEED THAT MUCH GLUE!!!!! Scrap a bit of the paint off were the pieces join and put on a small drop of glue.


http://i.imgur.com/Mk5QSEy.jpg

That way as your skills improve you can disassemble the model with ease and upgrade your work.


Now nothing I did was irreparable because I've had a lot of practice. Chances are that no one will see the dissection seams but wouldn't it be easier to use a bit of discretion when gluing ????


http://i.imgur.com/XYqVJtF.jpg

Now that I've got that off my chest I can proceed with the painting.


http://i.imgur.com/1aLop09.jpg

 

[wargamesculptor]

Nice new thread Blackadder ! Liking your colour choice for the marines should fit well with all the different components

 

[Blackadder]

Belated thanks for the reply,

Chaos Dreadnought:

The snows fall'n and I've got a bit of a cold so I'm looking around for something simple to do and came upon these Dreadnoughts I started to refurbish last Summer.


One SM plastic Dreadnought pretty much done but needs some embellishment on the top, the trouble is I have no idea what goes with it and I can't find it on google.


Then I have a Metal SM Dreadnought that's also complete except for a broken left arm.


Then we have the problem of the Chaos Dreadnought that has two right arms, no left CC weapon missing one foot and the exhaust manifold piece.


http://i.imgur.com/q4GId6N.jpg

That's where I shall start today; making those missing pieces.


We'll start with the foot..............

 

[wargamesculptor]

Embellishment on the top can be a banner, and or searchlight, and or smoke launchers. Hope this helps BA

 

[Blackadder]

Thanks for the reply, I found the plastic Dreadnought on google; it came from a SM starter set.

Dude These Things Are Expensive!

Hell I had no idea how expensive these hideous lumps of metal are.


The three I'm playing with cost about a hundred bucks!


So they're well worth repairing/refurbishing


The plastic foot which I've been scratching on and off today is coming out pretty good


http://i.imgur.com/BKDOkwr.jpg

I have to be careful to not make it too perfect otherwise it will make the metal one look too shoddy.


Seriously there is very little consistency of measurement regarding thickness or spacing of the toes and very few of the angles approach 90° square. it only takes a degree or two on something this small to make it appear haphazardly made.


http://i.imgur.com/gxkjWRh.jpg

I purposely made the toes slightly thicker than they are suppose to be so I can file them to shape when the foot is fully assembled.


http://i.imgur.com/EZFL0aR.jpg

 

[Blackadder]

Here's a question; I just went on ebay and SM Dreadnoughts are going for $35 bucks a pop regardless of condition and Chaos Dreads and going for ten to twenty bucks cheaper; what's the reason for this?

 

[Meph]

That's how Chaos gets you. Evil is always easier. It's hard to be good.

 

[Blackadder]

50 Pieces of Plastic:

That's my rough estimate of the number of pieces contained in this foot.


Many of them much smaller than an ant, it only goes to show what can be done if you set your mind to it.


http://i.imgur.com/qSFF6VS.jpg

Now the real kick in the slats is if you go on ebay you can buy the whole Dreadnought for about $15 bucks including shipping.


So you're working for how much of an hourly rate Blackadder????????

 

[wargamesculptor]

Great looking foot BA, as for an hourly rate we do it for the knowledge we can don't we ! LOL The older style chaos dreads have really dropped in price since GW brought out the plastic Hellbrutes

 

[Blackadder]

Cold Remedy:

Are plastic fumes good for a cold?


How 'bout toxic metals, whatever these Dreads are made of


Anyway the foot fits real good and my trio is shaping up.


http://i.imgur.com/y7MmJfL.jpg

Not bad for a pile of scrap they cleaned up pretty good.


The rear exhaust is coming along as well I think I made the holes too big but perhaps the paint will close them up a tad


http://i.imgur.com/tKTUNhk.jpg

These things are a lot of work for being as tiny as they are. I'm use to vehicles that are measured in feet not inches.


http://i.imgur.com/GbHFXrK.jpg

But they'll look good on the display diorama if for nothing else a scale reference.


http://i.imgur.com/ytE5xYf.jpg

 

[Blackadder]

Well Good Enough:

I had to fudge quite a bit of the exhaust stacks but it's a fair facsimile of a Chaos Helbrute Dreadnought exhaust.

http://i.imgur.com/uilgoWJ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/BJq2vX5.jpg

Yeah I know 'Good enough' is not in my vocabulary but sometimes it is........


Ya gotta draw the line somewhere..........

 

[wargamesculptor]

Looks good to me BA and every chaos dread should be different as they've been adorned and changed over time

 

[Meph]

Yeah, indeed. nop need to worry about uniformity with those evil buggers.

 

[Blackadder]

You only think the're evil because you never took the time to get to know them.....

Little Dude:

I suppose it's a lot of work for something that is relatively valueless but it makes me feel good to make this little dude look as good as he can.


So with a coat of primer and a coat of flat black he's ready for the gilt.


http://i.imgur.com/8qJFqYY.jpg

Now a Question for Chaos aficionados, is it correct to have a Dread painted with the same colour scheme as a Chaos Warhound?


http://i.imgur.com/c2PXtCu.jpg

I mean there is no Adeptus Mechanicus for Chaos is there?


http://i.imgur.com/20UesYU.jpg

So what would a proper colour scheme be if not the rotted green and rusty steel of my Warhound?

 

[wargamesculptor]

Those colours would work perfectly well for a chaos legion, would work well for death guard

 

[Blackadder]

Chaos Dread' Boneyard:

Well the last two of the Dreadnought squad has been cleaned, quite exhausting as the painting was thickly brush applied oil based gloss enamel that completely obscured the detail. I soaked everything in 'Simple Green for two weeks and wire brushed off as most I could then I boiled the remainder until softened and scrapped off the residue. The result came out pretty clean.


We see the result here with the four previously primed and base-coated flat black cadre looking on.


http://i.imgur.com/7QGHaI8.jpg

Once all are is a similar state I can commence the painting proper.


http://i.imgur.com/Xsyg4f2.jpg

This was an arduous task for a bunch of worthless metal..........

 

[Blackadder]

No Excuses;


Well they're all cleaned and primed so there are no excuses left to not start painting these bad boys so first a highlight base of Vallejo German Grey

http://i.imgur.com/d18ta4M.jpg

on the flat panel areas..............