# Bits and Kits builds a Lynx



## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

Forgeworld Eldar Lynx

Well im a sucker for all things Eldar and this last 12 months has been pretty good for me in terms of new models to build and paint, unfortunately time has not been on my side, but i managed to grab a few moments today to finally make a start, After reading IA11 i fell in love with the idea of making my Lynx belong to the Void Dragon Corsairs, for no other reason than i like the colour scheme and i have done craftworld eldar colours to death.
At the time of writing i havent decided on how im going to paint the tank, i may go the route of painting the entire top in red scales or i may go with part very dark grey and some red/dragon scales to match the art in the IA11 book.

Anyway here is the kit 









The kit was a bit of a shock when it arrived as i hadnt expected the very warped pulsar 








to make matters worse it was warped in two directions, but some hot water and patience and its sorted









the Pulsar is pretty well molded but it does have a slight mold line at the very tip, so i set about it with diamond file and sand paper.

might be a good time to point out what tools im using and why.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

Ok so im using
Razor saw








knife








pin vice








diamond file








1200 grit sand paper








clippers (knipex because im worth it)


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Mine was warped as well, do a good dry fit too, it turned out one of my hull pieces was warped as well, but just slightly.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

djinn24 said:


> Mine was warped as well, do a good dry fit too, it turned out one of my hull pieces was warped as well, but just slightly.


Lol funny you should say that i have spent a half hour getting them to line up,if i hadnt dry fitted it the thing would have flown in two direction as both were out a fair amouny


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## 18827 (Oct 23, 2009)

you going to be airbrushing that?
I've always liked the look of elder but have been put off in the past by all the flat smooth parts.
but now I've started using an airbrush a bit more it puts pay to the brush lines I used to get on the tanks and amour panels.

should look good, keep it coming


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## Rhino 88 (Jan 1, 2012)

Glad you got it sorted B&K....always nice opening fresh stuff....anything that's warped instantly makes me cringe...even the word ! lol

Have you decided what sort of paint job for it yet? are you an airbrush man like the mighty yoda.?

Keep up the work when you get time,

Best of luck

Rhino

P.s *check out djinns tutorial its intense.*


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

I am waiting to paint mine for next months painting challenge, I was doing the scorpion for this months but came to find out that it does not. start until next month, woops.

For the most part my model did not have a ton of warpage and needed minimal pinning to get it all nice and sturdy.


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## Desolatemm (Feb 2, 2008)

That is going to look fantastic! Can't wait to see more.


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## SGMAlice (Aug 13, 2010)

I have never seen any of your work Bits, i look forward to seeing what you do with it  

SGMAlice


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

So this color scheme B7K and are you airbrushing it?


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## jams (Sep 19, 2009)

my missus bought me 2 hornets in WHW yesterday but i'm not allowed them until my birthday next month


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Oh, that would suck. I am going to kitbash mine out of Venoms I think.


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## jams (Sep 19, 2009)

it's ok, i've got a shed load of stuff to work on before then. 

i've got an apoc game at my local gaming club at the end of april to prepare for, which they'll hopefully be ready for, but before i get to them i need to crack on with my cobra and phoenix


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

I have 100 hour in my Cobra and I am about to repaint LOL.


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## jams (Sep 19, 2009)

djinn24 said:


> I have 100 hour in my Cobra and I am about to repaint LOL.


:shok: pray tell, why?


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

I have learned new stuff since then.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

The D Cannon is on the lynx for a comparison.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

ok this is the colour scheme im gonna do









the secondry colour if very dark grey and the corsair symbol is white so some good strong contrast.

Airbrushing???? im a serious novice with an air brush but i might base coat it with one for ease and speed, but i will be working freehand.

Not sure if im gonna do the entire surface with scales or portions as per the book, i will try to post a few examples when i can.


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## Desolatemm (Feb 2, 2008)

djinn24 said:


> I have learned new stuff since then.


I feel the same about all my Infinity models... But I can always paint new armies instead of re-paints. Its a good look back at how far you've developed. In the case of a Cobra though, its probably better to repaint so they all match! Good luck sir


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Ooooooo, Pretty, I wonder what a bluescaled version would look like O_O


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Desolatemm said:


> I feel the same about all my Infinity models... But I can always paint new armies instead of re-paints. Its a good look back at how far you've developed. In the case of a Cobra though, its probably better to repaint so they all match! Good luck sir


I might be able to add the stripping without a full repaint, that is going to be the first thing that I try.


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## jams (Sep 19, 2009)

@bits

be careful with the scales, one of the staffers at my local GW did a corsair army and started painting his vehicles with scales only they looked a bit like beans...


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

SGMAlice said:


> I have never seen any of your work Bits, i look forward to seeing what you do with it
> 
> SGMAlice


Well I have been a little busy for the last few years starting a business and adopting my little girl (whos just started walking and talking and is teething) so my paints and tools were lofted for a while, but i have a second office at work now so i have decided to see if the skills are still there.
Also might do some experiments with different paint ranges in the future and log the differences. 
these are some of the work im most happy with from the past

















































some of the highlights look alot harsher than they are due to the flash, the chaplain terminator is as close to an accurate representation as i have managed to get.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

jams said:


> @bits
> 
> be careful with the scales, one of the staffers at my local GW did a corsair army and started painting his vehicles with scales only they looked a bit like beans...


duely noted thanks for the heads up, i may do a test on a falcon body to see how it works, was considering doing the scales with a very defined shape rather than random??


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## jams (Sep 19, 2009)

bitsandkits said:


> duely noted thanks for the heads up, i may do a test on a falcon body to see how it works, was considering doing the scales with a very defined shape rather than random??


it would probably be worth it in the long run.

i would suggest plenty of research into different reptillian scale types prior to starting

proper preparation and all that


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

im thinking something like shark skin


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## jams (Sep 19, 2009)

now that's a nice idea. the ridges on the denticles and the scalloped trailing edges would definately stop them looking like beans!


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Let me know what you decide, I may try to follow along.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

Im gonna do some test stuff first , plus it will give me chance to get my eye in and work out which paints to use and such. plus i need to work out whats viable if im gonna carry the theme through to other vehicles. 

pretty exciting though.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Let me know how the test goes.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

ok so this is the colour scheme in the book
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-BiaVfD-****/TzzSZxX1C1I/AAAAAAAANHU/VS_C7n_Lojw/s400/2012-02-16%252009.49.11.jpg
but im thinking that has too little red so i think something similar to the vyper 








so the lynx will be red scaley at the front and black/grey at the back with the amber highlights and white markings, im also tempted to go quite into the Eldar script as the corsairs seem to use it more than the craft worlders.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

Well the first order of the day was removal of the vents from all the parts, for those who are not sure what vents are they are these 









these are the channels the resin runs down inside the mold, in the case of the Lynx we had some quite long and thin ones which i could clip off without much problem








thicker ones will require the razor saw,you could also use a dremmel multitool to cut them away which is much faster, but it can also be a little more difficult to keep accurate and i have has several cutting disks stick,jam and shatter in my face so i now use the razor saw were possible,plus your less likely to slip and gouge a section out of your model with the saw.
as you can see in the second picture i have removed almost all of the vent with clippers,leaving a tiny amount to file and sand away, My clippers are Knipex, they are German made and sharp as a sharp thing on sharp Wednesday wearing a sharp suit from sharps of Harrogate, i always cut with the flush side towards the model,some of the parts are very fragile and can be quite brittle so if your new to FW resin take it slow and if in doubt use a sawto remove vents and then trim with the clippers,when cutting with clippers it should take almost no effort, if your find your having to strain then you risk the model shattering or cracking.

while i was sanding the vents at the rear of the vehicle i noticed this 








which should look like this 








so this will fit in it









I will fix this by making the matching surfaces flat and pinning them together, not a huge fix but its one of the things that resin models can chuck up.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

So with vents removed and sanded back flush the three hull sections look like this 








As pointed out by Djinn i needed to dry fit them to see how they lined up, well they didnt!








It isnt too clear in the photo but if you look at the very tips at the front they look like one is shorter than the other, well thats not really the case, they are actually the same length but one is pointing to the heavens and the other points down. So into a hot bath of boiling water and some scolded fingers later both sections are level.








I dry fit some other parts to check how things fit together, its a relatively simple kit so im happy with how it looks so far. you might notice i have left the vent on the pulsar in the dry fit, im going to use the vent to hold the pulsar when i prime and paint the gun, i have also left the vents on several other parts for the same reason.
I am a paint then assemble man, i will join the three hull sections and paint those together, other parts will be painted and then pinned into place. 

Im test driving a new super glue, Javis thin superglue is what i will be using for this project, its very very thin, which i prefer.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Looking good so far! I used this model in an unboxing and the video tutorial on how to wash resin. I really like it as a medium chassis for the Eldar and I think it looks great.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

No progress today im afraid, im far too ill  thank god for beechams powders


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

Gonna make a template of this here for my scales I think.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

Well i got a few moments to slap some paint on,granted it was only primer but its progress so here is the main body glued pinned and sprayed, this is standard GW chaos black primer over FW resin, which was washed with warm soapy water after being filed and sanded.









Nothing overly exciting but i wanted to show that getting this part right is key to getting a good finish later, everything will go ontop of this coat so any imperfections here at this point will need to be sorted or can look worse later on.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

some progress made today, i started to use the new citadel paints.
Anyway i used a mechanical pencil to draw the outline down the cockpit and left wing,i used a base colour of khorne red and a small amount of rhinox flesh for the red,they i started to free hand the scales using evilsun scarlet layer and averland sunset to highlight.










then i used the bloodletter glaze to pull it together.
i also base coated the pilot and seat parts inthe cockpit, i didnt go too far with the cock pit as most of it will be obscured by the torso and arms


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## scscofield (May 23, 2011)

The scales look amazing dude.


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## jaysen (Jul 7, 2011)

Wow, that's really looking beautiful. Good job so far. I've been thinking about starting an Eldar Apoc list.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

I thank you, those are my first attempt at scales and my second model with the new range of paint, i have been doing a test model (high elf reaver) to get to grips with the new paint and to try and work out what the differences are, so far i have noted that the base colours dry alot different to the colour in the pot, they go on quite bright, but once they dry they are alot more muted and dull. Where are the layer colours seem to hold the brightness much better.
Later i will list the colours i used for the scales, i have to admit i have had to start adding water to the base colours as they are not thin enough to use them out of the pot as i had first thought,though for a novice painter i think they are much better out of the pot than the previous set of paints.
So far im very impressed with the new paint range and it has reignited my passion for painting somewhat, when the mood takes me i can paint for weeks none stop,to the point where i will burn out and pack up my paints at the end and leave them alone for months or years, but this is true for other arty things i like to do like sketching,watercolour or comic inking. But im gonna paint the lynx stedily for the moment and post up photos when i make progress.
I think im gonna cheat and buy the FW decal sheet for the large void dragon decal, i know i can free hand Saim hann and the other craftworld as i have done all the craft worlds in the past, but im not sure im up to the task of a corsair icon this soon out of the blocks, plus its white over black so its got to be perfect,i may over paint the decal.

Anyway if this goes well then im gonna do the infantry next followed by a Phantom.

Also im wondering how to approach the black, black is a difficult colour to highlight as its pretty self highlighting, but if its not highlighted it looks unpainted,i love the finish it has now as it highlights the scales, and i dont want to do "extreme" space marine highlights,so im contemplating doing black scales, but far far more subtle than the red.

anyway im just toying with ideas at the moment, i may go very dark grey or even something similar to dark eldar highlights but im kinda looking for something that is neither dark eldar or craftworld so its clear they are Corsairs,if that makes sense????


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

little bit more progress on the scales, Not fully happy with how they have turned out and may go back and paint over a few, im trying hard to not make them look too uniform but i think i may have gone too far and sightly ended up in crazy paving territory, but thats painting for you, I dont get much time to paint so when i do i like to try things i havent done before and i find i improve as i go and then end up having to go back and do the model again.


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## CPT Killjoy (Feb 15, 2012)

I mean, they are painted extremely well, it's just the ones in the front look quite different from the ones near the back of the wing. If you do paint over them, I would just try to paint over the front bit, and blend it into the back. No use repainting the whole thing when you done such great work blending and layering I would think. Really nice model BTW. When I saw what you were using as inspiration, I was a little surprised, because that's damn difficult pattern to take on. But I have to say, I think you’re really doing it great justice. Keep up the good work man, very excited to see the end result.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

Thanks killjoy and i think i may focus on the front third and make my changes there if i decide to go back.


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## KjellThorngaard (Oct 4, 2010)

i agree with killjoy. there is a transition from front to back on the scales. fix that and you are good to go. the scales on the cockpit area are really cool, and the back third to half on the other scales are similiar, then it changes a bit. A step-by-step photo log on how you are doing those scales would be cool Bitz. I think alot of people might give them a try with a little help.


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