Cockroach Coloured Tyranids, a Blackadder Work in Progress

[Blackadder]

That must be some quiet compressor or suddenly I don't feel so bad about my disabilities

Regarding the diminished IQ; the medications might.

Okay so now my acquiring of Tyranid 'Heavy Metal' armour components is relatively complete (albeit still in the kit boxes) With the last night acquisition of a 'Trygon' NIB model I now have that and a Carnifex NIB both of which are in transit; an in house Tyrannafex/Tervigon in the process of being primed and having the arms/armament being magnetically attached (not glued) by installing rare earth magnets (1/8 X 1/16 inch dia. still in transit), a very heavy Hive Tyrant (metal) I won't make that mistake again and a 10 piece Gargoyle set NIB.


That should be enough for the time being seeing as how I have yet to paint a single piece.


So well you may ask that given I have 3 Lucius Titans, More IG Super-heavy Resin tanks than I can count without taking my shoes off and an odd assortment of IG scout bipeds what is my current fascination with a Xeno/Bio army?


In truth I do not know, the spirit just moved me in that direction. I do know this; I have a hankering to do a scratch bipedal Bio-Titan on the order of size analogous to my Warlord. To do that I need good hands on representatives of the Tyranids genera. What better way to acquaint myself with the literally in's and out's of the anatomy than to study some actual Tyranids.


And there you have it, a method and a rational to my personal form of dementia.

 

[Blackadder]

Trannofex/Tervigon Painting


Since I haven't received my Trygon as yet I'll practice my dubious skills on the Trannofex. Yesterday I primed the model with generic spray paint and a bit later applied a thin coat of flat white also generic (Walmart if you must know) but at $0.99 cents a can who's complaining.


After allowing to dry overnight it should be ready for acrylic airbrushing but first a few pictures of my initial foray into dual action airbrushing.


http://i.imgur.com/e5DkdLA.jpg

'BuyPainted' (I wish I knew this guy's name) says in his video he uses light gray prime but in the video it looks almost white.


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

I personally think the belly colours will be more vivid if applied to a flat white sub-coat. We'll see..............

 

[Blackadder]

Trannofex/Tervigon Painting 2:

Well that didn't take long compared to yesterday Under the fluorescent lighting the khaki colour seems a bit greenish I hope that won't affect the final result as it is just a base coat.


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

This image looks like an arthropod with a kick stand.


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

 

[Blackadder]

Trannofex/Tervigon Painting 3:



There's an old maxim stating, "It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools." but the qualifier is, "It's an equally poor craftsman that doesn't realize his tool's limitations."


This airbrush has limited range regarding how fine a line can be sprayed. While it is perfectly adequate for much of the work that needs to be done fine lines of less that 3 MM width are beyond its capabilities.


The bottom line is I need a finer airbrush. Any suggestions as to what brush and dia. tip I should need?


The two images below did not come out too badly but it shouldn't be that hard to render a finer detail line. its like playing the piano with boxing gloves on.


http://i.imgur.com/e5Vy6lH.jpg

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

Otherwise I'm rather pleased with this for a first effort..........

 

[Demihuman]

You will probably be able to get a finer line by taking off the outer most shroud on the tip of the AB. Be warned that will set you up for a tip crash. You can get a special crown cap that resolves that but you don't have to have it. Also decreasing your air pressure should give you a finer line. I have an Iwata .2 mm which i think is pretty small and it will make pencil thin lines. Actually painting them consistently on a mini or even a piece of paper is hard to do, although not something I have practiced much.

Finally, you should be able to replace just the needle and the nozzle. We7 wrote an article for Figure Painter magazine #7 where he talks about using a .15 or .135 for some detail stuff.

 

[Blackadder]

No I actually went back to my old single action Badger, the new airbrushes are useless dimestore Sino junk. Good enough I guess if you are painting a flower pot or such but not for fine detail work. The compressor is also of dubious quality and has no reservoir so runs constantly with minimal interruption so is prone to overheating. After an hour of running it was too hot to touch.

I'll have to get my son to show me how to use a dual action airbrush as I tried it in all configurations, paint dilutions, and tip shroud on and off and cannot get a decent spray pattern consistently or otherwise. The best that can be said about it at this point is it "Looks like an Airbrush" but as with Chinese paperclips that won't clip paper and pencil erasers that smudge dirty trails across the paper instead of erasing graphite lines, they only look like what they are supposed to be.

 

[Demihuman]

I may be sensing some frustration.

I can certainly recommend the Iwata as a well manufactured quality tool. Sounds like an air tank or a new compressor with one is probably in order as well.

 

[Zab]

I'm waiting on badger velocity i asked for from Santa because my patriot has a few limitations, but i am also realizing that I may need to get some more retarder (shut it Demi, I remembered the on switch today) or flow improver if I am going to be working at a lower PSI to do finer work.

 

[Blackadder]

I've already decided it's an Infinity or nothing. I'm probably only going to buy one Airbrush and the Infinity seems the most versatile

View attachment 24261

Go for the gusto, thats my motto...................

Hive Tyrant continues:

The best thing about the Metal Hive Tyrant is that being metal it's great to practice on. If I make a big mistake I can just soak it in Simple green overnight and wash the paint off in the dishwasher.


So far no real mistakes but I lack the finesse of a Pro-Painter that and I'm more comfortable with my single action Badger siphon brush


I learned a few tricks on how to isolate areas already painted from overspray, the best being Tack Putty. The only stuff I have lying about was 3M Adheasive Putty but I understand Blue Tack is better.


Anyway I'm prepared to highlight the rib cage and tail so I have the carapace masked off.


http://i.imgur.com/pCZrxF0.jpg

In the back ground you see the Tervigon/Tyrannofex which awaits todays trial and my makeshift paint booth set up.


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

http://i.imgur.com/3aOQF24.jpg

This is all a new experience for me because other than the Warhound Lucie I not had ay experience painting figures with an airbrush.

 

[Zab]

That is a sexy brush. You really only need one brush if you can get different sized nozzle/needle combos. Yellow tack can leave stains that show up later. Blu tack sometimes requires sealing before use so it doesn't pull up the paint. I like silly putty, but some people have trouble getting it to stick.

 

[Blackadder]

Thanks for the info, This 3M stuff says it won't leave a stain on painted walls it seems pretty dried out I've had it lying about for ages. I'll have to check out the Silly putty.

 

[Demihuman]

Ooh precious....

The Tamiya masking tape is supposed to be very nice. Not sure how much help it would be on that model. I have also used post-its for masking.

 

[Blackadder]

Whoa this is coming along swimmingly; forget Tyranids I'm gonna get a job body paint'n nekkid girls..........

I've finally found my true vocation Ha!

Of course I did screw it up just now in my exuberance but that's easily remedied. Photos later after I patch up the screw up.

Thanks for the info post'ms thats a good idea.

BTW Mrs B'adder says I can't go to California to follow my dream darn!

 

[Blackadder]

Tervigon/Tyrannofex Paint Odyssey Continues:


As promised an update of today's earlier post.

Screwup repaired there are still errors that need attention but hey you really can't make a mistake with Biological Organisms (my asymmetrically patterned cat for example) anyway its time to explain that the current coat is Vallejo Light Brown over Khaki Brown with Umbral Umber ('Formula mfg' as the dark colour) on the carapace.


As usual I find working on larger models easier than small models so the Hive Tyrant actually took more time and effort that the Tyrannofex.


I've found that with very little effort I have graduated from not even able to get any paint through the airbrush to defining a 1/16 inch stream of paint virtually anywhere on a model. Where was airbrushing (Body Painting) on the menu when I had my 'Career chip Installed?


Anyway after mebbe half an hour of total airbrushing hands on time I managed this: (If I can, anyone can)


http://i.imgur.com/QVe51nt.jpg

Look, Compressor industrial quality with 3 gallon tank $50 bucks (at Home Depot,) a gravity feed Master Airbrush $10- 15 bucks on Amazon. Paint is the big cost but Hey you probably have paint. Gad who would paint with a brush?


http://i.imgur.com/6Bi0vfQ.jpg

 

[Zab]

Ace! What did you use to define a 1/16" stream on the mini - to thin, I mean.

 

[Blackadder]

Well I watched the video and removed the tip guard. With a bit of practice (couple of minutes actually) I found I could regulate the paint flow to give a fine line about 1/16 inch wide (2.0 MM). Thats when I got carried away and over did the detail on the tail I was practicing scales and rib curves and while it worked it was too cluttered looking so I had to repaint it. Ha!

 

[Zab]

Hmm... I'm not sure that will work with my patriot. I have tried it removing the tip guard and it won't spray without it. Maybe I had the paint too thick or the PSI too low. I'll have to do some more playing! YAY!

 

[RuneBrush]

Ooh precious....

The Tamiya masking tape is supposed to be very nice. Not sure how much help it would be on that model. I have also used post-its for masking.

I used tamiya masking tape for masking off on an Araknarok. Worked really well, cut small pieces off and carefully place using tweezers and a rubber tipped sculpting tool. Took flipping hours, but worked really well and no marks or damage on the painted area either - really satisfying when you peel it off too!

 

[Blackadder]

Trygon vs Mawloc

Decisions, decisions why can't anything simple and straight forward.


I finally started assembling my Trygon and there are dozens of extra parts. Thanks GW for all the options; I had less trouble kitting out my car. (Actually the car was a piece of cake I called up half a dozen dealers with the spec's I wanted and one guy said, "They're driving just that vehicle off the trailer as we speak.)


Anyway then I find out that different tails go with the different varients; well F... that I want the forked tail on the basic Trygon. Mebbe he's a 'sport'.


http://i.imgur.com/mxQz7wh.jpg

The other thing I can't understand is why do Tyranids have so many scrotums?

 

[Zab]

The other thing I can't understand is why do Tyranids have so many scrotums?

So that you know you are well and truly F***ed when you see them across the table from you :curse: