Monday, September 17, 2018

Salamander Commission


Recently I had a reader reach out to me about completing a commission piece. He wanted a Salamander Command Vehicle made and painted to match his existing army. At first I was apprehensive, knowing the amount of time it often takes me to complete a project. But we worked out the terms and I set to work. 

I already had two converted/scratch built Salamanders awaiting paint. I took my favorite of the two and set about making a few more tweaks. I made a spare link of tracks and attached it to the side of the hull using some lead foil. I also updated the antenna on the coms unit, opting for some needle and high tension model aircraft wire for strength.


I also removed and replaced the barrel on the pintel mounted cannon in favor of a metal one.


All the weapons were magnetized to allow for easy swapping depending on his preferred load-out.


The model was painted in Vallejo paints to match the scheme of his existing army. I started with a pre-shaded primer coat and then followed up with light coats of the base and high light colors he had provided making sure to let the primer shading show through. All the metallic parts were made by applying graphite over flat black. The red stripe was masked and painted and then it was time to start weathering.

Looking at pictures of his other tank I noted the level of wear on the vehicle and went for something in that ballpark. I applied a light layer of chipping in the areas of heaviest wear using the sponge technique. I then applied a coat of clear gloss. Atop the gloss I applied Tamyia Panel Line accent to all the panel lines and rivets. Were appropriate the panel liner was dragged downward with a brush. Elsewhere, extra wash was removed with a Q-Tip. Once I was satisfied with the level of weathering a mat finish was sprayed over the model. 

Gloss finishes were applied to the lenses and a fresh rubbing of graphite was applied to the metal bits. The gunner and commander received the same treatments as the Salamander.







I'm always open to the idea of commissions. Between work and raising an 8 month old I can't say I'll always say yes but I find this kind of work quite fun. It gives me a deadline I feel much more pressure to beat than my own arbitrary goals, and it gives me a reason to paint something outside of my norm, plus I don't have to find a place to store it afterwards! If you have a commission request feel free to shoot me an email and I'll get back to you with pricing.

Monday, September 10, 2018

Ork Looted Tank


I finished up my this looted tank in a traditional red paint job to ensure maximum speed! 






The tank commander was pieced together using the torso from the GW Grot kit and a head from my bits box. The arms were sculpted from green stuff as were the sleeves and collar of his shirt.




For details on how I pieced together this build check out my previous two 'Work in Progress' posts linked below:

Monday, September 3, 2018

Grot Tank


I found these World War Toons Sherman tanks from MENG at Hobby Lobby. You can also find them at your local hobby store or online. They run between $7-$15 each.


The aesthetic is very similar to the Hasegawa Egg planes I've been using to make Grot Dakka Jets. The obvious next step was to make some Grot Tanks so I got about building. Unfortunately I forgot to take WIP photos but I do have this before/after example to give you an idea of the work I did:


MENG makes several variants of these tanks and they all share a toony quality. I used a few bits and a bunch of styrene scrap to convert the tank. I also used greenstuff to make the weld lines. The model was airbrushed with Vallejo paints of various tones of red and detailed with Vallejo acrylics. Most of the metallic were achieved with graphite powder. After the painting was completed I washed it all in oil paints and sealed it with a mat finish and touched up the graphite areas.