# BA Project Log (Amature)



## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

Hi everybody! I've been wanting to start posting a project log for a while and here it is! :yahoo:
Now as a word of warning, I'm not nearly as good as the greats here like Varakir or Ultra111 

so with out further adieu the first model i will post my Death Company WIP
















Sword Detail
















i apologize about the picture quality i qas working with some poor lighting due to rain clouds
The sword "energy" isn't the best but its not my worse, anyways C&C please :grin:


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## Midge913 (Oct 21, 2010)

I am not able to see your photos


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

yea i had a problem but its fixed now


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## CLT40k (Jun 18, 2010)

Like the sword. You may want to go with a lighter shade on the parchment


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

Yea, the parchment always torments me, any suggestions on color?


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

bleached bone is great for parchment and you can weather it with devlan mud nicely too. You have the basics of getting the paint on the model down well and it looks neat which in and of itself can be hard.

I would suggest working on drybrushing and highlighting as they will really give your models some pop.


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## Master WootWoot (Oct 17, 2010)

Mouldlines, mouldlines, and you don't use primer?


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## Oldenhaller (Nov 28, 2008)

Master WootWoot said:


> and you don't use primer?


to quote someone I saw on teh internets once "I don't undercoat...I overcoat!"


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

Oldenhaller said:


> to quote someone I saw on teh internets once "I don't undercoat...I overcoat!"


Haha yea that's what I do.:biggrin: 
The reason I don't use primer, other than monetary reasons, is that I have had some really bad experiences with primer, though I have friends pushing me to use Krylon 

Djinn24, I plan to add more highlights when I get grey paint, I'm thinking fortress grey, within probably the next few days. Dry brushing is defiantly something I need to work on, do you have any thecniques for drybrushing, or suggestions for colors to drybrush?


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

1. Use a primer, when they push my damn beginners painter tutorial through it explains why. Shake well, short even bursts, several coats, not when its humid.

2. Take an old brush dip the tips of the bristles into the color you want to highlight. Wipe all the paint off and then using a paper towel drag the brush over it a few times to make sure you have no paint hiding then you basically do what you were doing on the paper towel on the model, dragging the tips of the bristels over the model, what you are trying to do is get the paint to stuck to the hard edges of the model.


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

So I started this Plog a year ago and then abandoned it. Well now that schools out (and I don't have enough money for the next semester) I want to get back into the swing of posting and I'll start by trying to keep updating this thread!
So to start, here's the finished version of the Death Company Marine






And 3 of his buddies 



















Here's to doing this waaay more often! :drinks: Now please, critic at will!


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## RedThirstWill Destroy (Nov 10, 2011)

The only thing i would say and I was told this myself is the paint looks thickin some areas, have you tried thinning it down?

Edit: have you edge highlighted every black edge? have you layered the reds? Sorry I can't quite tell from the pics.


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## docgeo (Jan 8, 2010)

Hey good work so far but I think that some of the advice given is important. 

1. You really need to invest in a primer...maybe army painter. 

2. dilute your paints down and paint thiner coats..you can always add more as needed.

3. thin highlights on the black armor to give it that "pop"!

4. washes are your friend.....you could even try the dips from army painter.

Doc


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## Kobrakai (Jul 25, 2008)

A nice start, but some of the colours could do with a little thinning. 

But that all comes with practice, practice, practice!

Keep it up, look forward to more soon!


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## louisshli (Aug 19, 2010)

The_Hive_Emperor,

Glad to hear that you're a fellow scion of Sanguinius. The Death Company are some of the nicer Marine kits out there right now and they do provide loads of option to individualize your rage-filled Astartes.

Looking at your work, a couple of advice:

1) Invest in primer - some recommended Army Painter, but I've always stuck w/ the Citadel brand. You mentioned in an older post that you don't use primers due to monetary reason, which I can totally understand. However, given the fact that you've invested 30-40 bucks for a Death Company kit already, you should save some money for primer before working on them. It's not too difficult to work w/ a spray can, all you need is to be in a well-ventilated area & have your assembled marines blu-tac at the base to an old box (DC box would work). Shake the can for a full-minute, hold the figs to about 12" away, shoot the primer in controlled burst and remember to apply two thin coats (it dries pretty quick, tbh) as it's better than one thick coat.

2) Water down your paints - thin it out so it's at the consistency of slightly thickened milk.... but not overly runny. Again, thin coats, wait for the first layer to dry before applying next layer.

3) Your grey highlights are too thick - edge highlights over black can be very striking, but you have to have control. Try getting some grey onto your brush, then immediately get the paint off the brush leaving only a small hint of residue. Now apply the highlight using the side of the bristles, not the tip. Drag the side of the brush along the edge of the mini. This way the edge on the mini will only pick up the paint, resulting in the high-light effect. Using the tip might leave you w/ squiggly lines since you're trying to 'aim' for the edge.

Hope this helps!


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## Hellados (Sep 16, 2009)

I agree entirely with louisshli and would advise washes otherwise your painting is pretty clean and tidy and I like the colour schemes


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Definitely a good start, and I agree with the general consensus that you need to thin your paints. One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the eyes. Seeing as you have so much red on the rest of the models, the eyes would give you the oppurtunity to add a small spot colour. Green would work very well, and it would help break up all the red on the helmet.


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

Thanks for the comments guys!


RedThirstWill Destroy said:


> Edit: have you edge highlighted every black edge? have you layered the reds? Sorry I can't quite tell from the pics.


Not on all of them have been highlighted, the marine with the older PF has not been highlighted yet, but that was because I have a lot of models to paint (I bought a friends army when he switched races) and I want to get more of my force done. And yes I use multiple layers of red, I've noticed that with multiple coats blood red looks way more red. 



Khorne's Fist said:


> . One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the eyes. Seeing as you have so much red on the rest of the models, the eyes would give you the oppurtunity to add a small spot colour. Green would work very well, and it would help break up all the red on the helmet.


I had not thought of that, I'll give that a try on the next helmeted DC marine I do :biggrin:

As for primer I will be investing in some once I have money and because of school and a ticket headbutt::headbutt::headbutt I currently don't, but I will remedy that. On those models I had not yet discovered watering down, but I was recently shown this technique so I will be using it!


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## RedThirstWill Destroy (Nov 10, 2011)

Khorne's Fist said:


> One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the eyes. Seeing as you have so much red on the rest of the models, the eyes would give you the oppurtunity to add a small spot colour. Green would work very well, and it would help break up all the red on the helmet.


Just to add to this one, it al depends on how steady your are with your brush or how comfortable you feel layering the eye lens'. When i first started doing my eyes I didn't feel skilled enough to do three layers on there so i tried something different, all i did was use skull white on the lens, then use a green wash and drop it on there it worked realy well if I'm honest, and if you don't have a wash just thin a dark green right out prob 3/4:1 water: Paint.

Hope this helps


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## lord marcus (Nov 25, 2007)

The_Hive_Emperor said:


> Haha yea that's what I do.:biggrin:
> The reason I don't use primer, other than monetary reasons, is that I have had some really bad experiences with primer, though I have friends pushing me to use Krylon
> 
> Djinn24, I plan to add more highlights when I get grey paint, I'm thinking fortress grey, within probably the next few days. Dry brushing is defiantly something I need to work on, do you have any thecniques for drybrushing, or suggestions for colors to drybrush?


Krylon works wonders unless you get a really bad can. I'd get some, its only $3 USD and without some sort of primer your paint is going to chip.


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

@RedThirstWillDestroy It does, what would you suggest for the wash or dark green color?

@lord marcus Oh that's right! I have to go brave the garage to see if I have any!


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## LTP (Apr 15, 2009)

Looking good so far  Maybe try nd get smoother and thinned layers. That will add more depth to your models. 

As for priming. I just use chaos black, slap a coat on and off i go lol. I don't bother with spraying as it costs a lot and the weather sucks 


Keep up the good work!  

LTP


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

What is the consensus on foundation paints? I got some this christmas for my wolves (once I get some paint back from my buddy I'll start a separate Plog for them) and I have them all basscoated in a watered down foundation paint.


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## louisshli (Aug 19, 2010)

Foundation paints are great. They are essentially high-pigment paint with a slightly thicker consistency so watering it down before use is essential. Also it helps provide, ummm, a foundation for the other paint you will apply on top. 

So as an example: blood red over a chaos black undercoat requires I would say close to 10-12 layers of thinned out paint whereas a coat of Mechrite red over black, then blood red will cut the number of layers down to say 3-5. 

I personally am a fan of foundation paint, especially if you work with lots of dark schemes. With white undercoat, not as essentially but still good to have around. Mixing foundation paint with regular paint gives some body to your color which is is nice also. 

Hope this helps.


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## RedThirstWill Destroy (Nov 10, 2011)

The_Hive_Emperor said:


> @RedThirstWillDestroy It does, what would you suggest for the wash or dark green color?


The wash i used was one of the vellejo ones, can't remember what colour as i gave them paints away as for a paint to dilute i'd probably go for goblin green or snot green, i've not used it yet but thraka green wash looks like it might work, this is if you want green that is.

If you want red I know the Baal Red wash works, for an example if you look at my project log the death company soldiers have it, http://http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=101263 , you can't make it out that well but it does work.

As above with foundation paint i use the mech' red on my angels and it seriously reduces the ammount of layers, I also do the same as LTP as i havn't bothered buying any primmer yet:shok:

and i Havn't had any drama with loss of detail yet.


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

Here are the next two models I'll be working on, they're older projects that I started but never finished, so there will be some problems with not watered down paints and primer but I will use what I've learned here on what needs to be painted! 

Ok guys, how should I do the energy pattern for that TH? I can't seem to get a good idea





My apologies for the picture quality, the camera I use is crap


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## RedThirstWill Destroy (Nov 10, 2011)

If you look in the painting guide, there's an example of how to do it, it's under swords, all you will need to do is change the colour to one you like.

Keep up the good work


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

Here are 3 more completed models, The TH, one of the PF from my last upload (all highlighted now), and a marine I did a long time ago and just now put the finishing touches on






















I apologize for the picture quality again, I'm trying to improve it, I think next time I'm going to move to a location with more light. C&C wanted and welcome!


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Those are a huge improvement on the first one you posted only a few days ago. Well done.


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

Thanks Khorne's Fist
Here's a quick update







He's not quite done. He still needs some work on the pistol and some more bleach bone in some spots. After that is a few washes and then lettering and highlights.

I'm going to take a couple model break from my Death Company after this guy. Here are the models I'm thinking of finishing up next.






I probably won't do the AoBR Captian (turn libby) next because I need to go get some plasticrack so I can do a conversion on his broken sword. And I moved where I take these pictures so I hope that helps their quality. C&C away!


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

I finally put the finishing touches on the DC marine! I sure took me sweet time :laugh:

And here he is!









I think these pictures are a little better, but I think I may need to keep looking for good spot. What do you guys think? (On both the pictures and the model that is :biggrin


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## Skari (Dec 20, 2011)

Have you used any of the GW washes yet? Using it on the model would really help the detail pop, for example on the parchment and other areas on that deathco model.


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## The_Hive_Emperor (Jun 10, 2010)

I did use washes on the parchment, I just opted to go with a lighter coat of wash on this model, you probably can't tell because of the picture quality, or lack there of.


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