First Commission - Jade Falcon Loki

[Goblinho]

A friend has commissioned me to paint up a Thor battlemech for use in his RPG and campaign he's going to be running. He gave me the mini in a Loki box in a cunning ploy to confuse me (it worked and I only noticed after creating the thread). Hoping to paint this to a decent standard as there is the chance that there will be a few more mini's he will want done in the future.

The only brief he has given me so far is that it is to be Jade Falcon clan pattern and he would like the base kept relatively plain as he is going to be using the mech on different types of terrain.

Anyone got any experience painting these types of figure?

Had something like this in mind,

View attachment 9203

 

[marjedi]

You might say that...i have around 100 painted mechs. No Jade falcons though

 

[stevey293]

Was this fella in a computer game many moons ago? Seen it before but not from a model.

As for painting i'd treat it as a dreadnought but without scratches and paintchips they would hardly be seen if these things are as big as i remember from the game?

 

[marjedi]

Mechwarrior game series.

The digital version of uber board game Battletech.

The scale doesnt lend it self well to battle damage, so keep it clean and tidy

 

[cassar]

that a summoner?
paint scheme looks about right compared to the pc games stuff.

 

[marjedi]

Jade Falcon Galaxy i think it is.

Camospecs.com should cover all the battletech scheme needs

 

[cannon_fodder]

I'll second the camospecs.com referral. I know the guy who runs it and the artists are really good.

I'd also like to add...Classic Battletech isn't a board game...unless 40k is....

I'm kinda the designated 'mech painter of our group. Fun to paint, but don't go too crazy...keep it simple and know that canopy 'jeweling' will help any 'mech paint job look better.

 

[Goblinho]

Thanks for the feedback folks, I went on camospecs.co and it is now favourited

Colours wise I am limited with what I have available. The only green I have is GW Goblin Green. Which I use with the Thraka green wash usually. I was hopeing for something slightly more vibrant than that so was thinking of cutting it with some sunburst yellow and a touch of skull white.
Also the mini is primed with white spray paint, I prefer to work from a black basecoat but think the green will come out closer to what I want with the white. Anyone ever mix the basecoats on mini's? I have never tried because I always think it won't look right.

Plus please set me right here, Summoner was the innersphere name for the mech and Thor the clan name?

 

[GunjiNoKanrei]

Yes, that's a Summoner (Clan name) or Thor (Inner Sphere name).
I think you can work with Goblin Green. Over a white primer it should be vibrant enough. Adding yellow for highlights should work too. Maybe add a touch of white for the final highlights.
You can also try using a dark blue for shading instead of Thraka Green.

The scale doesnt lend it self well to battle damage, so keep it clean and tidy

I disagree ... you can achieve excellent results even at that scale (6mm). Sure, it can easily looks out of scale, but still it can be done. And personally I prefer a Mech looking, well not necessarily as if it has been through hell, but used over something too clean and cartoony. Adding (a little bit) of wear and tear helps to make the Mech more 'realistic' in my opinion.

Having something on the base to give a sense of scale also helps - not just with battle damage, but with the overall appearance of the Mech as a machine of war and a tank on legs as well.

 

[cannon_fodder]

Honestly, the image in the OP looks to be close to scorpion green...If you can get it, I'd use that. If not, I'd highlight all the way down to yellow (as you mentioned) then glaze it with a couple coats of the Goblin Green (basecoat color) to blend it all in. I'd done the same thing with red and it turns out fairly well.