The Thing

Some time back, at one of the many model shows I've attended I won a The Thing model kit from Toy Biz. It was a Level 1 Snap together kit. I've never been a big fan of the Fantastic 4 or Thing but the model looked like a quick build and a chance to do something a little different so I gave it a go. 

Assembly

There were few parts and the assembly was quite easy, however, there were significant issues with the seems. I will say that for a snap together kit almost nothing snapped together. There were many clamps involved in getting the pieces to join. Another complaint would be that the rocky texture of the Thing completely fell apart around the seems. I most of my time working on marrying up the textures and in the end I think I could have kept working at it a bit longer. Ultimately what I didn't achieve in texture I tried to imply with shading and I think it came out pretty well.

Priming & Pre-Shading

The model was primed in Stynylrez Black, highlighted with Stynylrez Grey at a 90 degree and once more with Stynylrez White from above with special attention paid to protruding surfaces. Some people claim that pre-shading is a waist of time but I think it depends on the model. The key is to ensure that the top coats are light enough to allow your pre-shading to determine the tone, shade, or hue of the color applied. In this case I think it had a very noticeable impact on the final result.

Color, Highlights, and Shading

All colors were Vallejo acrylics sprayed from my iwata Neo. I based the model in a 1:1:1 mix of Orange Red, Golden Brown, and Flow Improver. The shorts were painted in Dark Blue with Army Painter Blue Tone brushed into the shadows and Vallejo DeepSky Blue + Dark Blue for highlights. The belt, eyes, and teeth are Ivory with White highlights. All the shading and highlights of the stone texture are the result of pre-shading with the exception of the crevices which were hand painted with Games Workshop Nulin Oil (that was tedious).

 

 

 

Base

I did not care for the original base or the way it was painted in the box art. It was far to smooth for a destroyed street. To fix this I added texture with Liquatex Resin Sand and a mix of course and fine sand and PVA glue.

The Thing's foot didn't fit flush to the base so I layed down a layer of apoxie sculpt where his foot would make contact, wrapped his foot in plastic wrap and pressed it into the putty. once it cured I applied the same texture to the visible portions of the foot print.

It was all primed black, washed with a thinned Heavy Brown, and again with Umber Wash. Heavy Brown was then dry brushed across the gravely textures. The metal components were dry brushed with Army Painter Gun Metal then washed with multiple rust colors. 

The street sign was airbrushed with  Gun Metal from the top down. The street name plate was masked and airbrushed with light green and an ivory border was brushed on. I made the Lee St (RIP Stan) lettering in Comic Sans and cut it out on my Cricut. Chipping was added and a black wash was applied to the recesses.

In the end I'm pretty happy with how this guy turned out. It might not be the most complicated build or paint scheme ever but I'm happy with what I achieved and I think I was able to capture the old time comic feel better than the box art example.

Vallejo Paint Stands

I recently picked up three laser cut paint stands from Vallejo. Two of the corner, and one of the front modules will set you back about $60 from Amazon.com. I didn't quite realize how large the racks would be until I had them assembled and on my desk. Each of the racks connects to the other. Mounting 'hardware' is included.

I was a little disappointing that the larger diameter holes along the top edge are too small to accommodate my large Tamiya bottles. They are the perfect size for P3, Mig, GW, and small Tamiya bottles.

This represents less than half of my Vallejo paints so I plan on purchasing three more of the front module paint stands which I plan on placing under and forward of these. It will require me to build a custom stand but I think once it is all done it will work quite well. I have also decided to change the mounts of my overhead lamps to the sides of my desk so that I can slide the paint stands back flush to the wall.

Storm Eagle Assembly

I recently started helping a fellow gamer (Joe) out with some of his assembly work in exchange for trade. The most recent project was a Forge World Storm Eagle he had acquired for his Imperial Fist 30k army.

The kit was new in the bag and ready for work. There was some mild warping of the hull, weapons, canards, wings, doors, well basicly all of the resin was slightly warped. Nothing a little hot water couldn't help.

After everything was straightened I went about cleaning everything off the sprue and touching up the resin bits where needed.

Joe wanted the interior detailed so I went about assembling all that I could before that point first. One of those steps was to magnetize the missile pods. This will help to prevent breakage during transport and allow for easy removal in game after receiving weapon destroyed results.

After the various hull sections were assembled I primed the interior black, gave it a drybrushing of Army Painter 'Gun Metal' and went about detailing the interior lights and screens.  I applied some OSL to all the lights and finished the lights and screens off with a gloss varnish. 

The front ramp got a little love with some hazard stripes too.

Later, after I assembled the hull I realized just how obscured almost all of the detail work I had done had become. Oh well, I suppose it's best to err on the side of detail.

Once the interior had been painted it was time to glue the hull together. I would normally use plastic weld, but because some of the parts are plastic and some resin I had to use super glue. I was also glad to have several small clamps on hand as the resin, despite my work straightening it, was still warped to some degree.

After a night curing in place the clamps were removed and I was back to work. The engines were added. Some areas needed either plastic card, putty, sanding, or a combo of all three to get them squared away. I also magnetized the wings to allow for easy transport and to reduce the risk of breakage later on.

All in all I was quite please with the end result and so was Joe.  Now that he has it in hand I'll be looking forward to see how it looks after he gets done painting it.

Space Wolves Rhinos

Battle damaged decals adorn the front of one rhino

An ornate wolf mural is stenciled on the top hatch which shows heavy wear

Hand holds were added using florist's wire

Footholds show heavy wear

Battle damage punctuates the side of the rhino

The thing about bidding on ebay is that you never know with any certainty that you will win an auction. After losing several auctions you might get the temptation to start throwing bids at everything in hopes that one might stick. The problem with that is, sometimes you win everything you bid on. A while back I wanted to pick up two Space Marine Rhinos so I bidded on four, thinking I might get one or two out of the bunch. Guess what? I was the happy winner of not one, not two, but all four rhinos. I couldn't complain too much as I only paid an average of $15 each and all four were new in the box.

After receiving them they were added to the pile of models to complete, someday. I always like to add some additional details to my models so I ordered the Space Wolves Iconography set from Forge World and picked up a bunch of Space Wolves decal sheets from ebay. Someday finally came and I started work on all four.

#1 Basic Coloring

I used The Army Painter brand base and primer spray paint to base coat the rhinos in Wolf Grey.  I used the Army Painter Daemonic Yellow for some portions of two of the rhinos as well. I made stencils for all of the larger Space Wolf iconography I wanted to put on the models. I painted all of the details and used florists wire to create antena for the rear of the rhinos.

#2 Decals

Once all of the colors were painted I added various decals and tried to maintain a consistent theme. Prior to laying down the decals make sure to coat the model in a gloss finish, decals adhere better to a gloss surface.

The bottom three have their primary colors painted and are pre-weathering.

#3 Chipping

Through normal use the paint on vehicles will experience wear and tear including chipping.  There are many techniques out there to achieve this look and I've tried a few.  Currently my prefered method is the sponge technique.  This utilizes small pieces of sponge and contrasting colors of paint to achieve a worn effect. 

The foam that comes in miniature blister packs works great for this

Using small torn pieces of sponge and a pair of tweezers I lightly dab the sponge in paint, blot it on a piece of paper and then apply the foam gently to the edges and other areas of constant wear. I start with the base color of the model and go over any decals or other graphics which appear above the base color. Afterwards I go over the points of the model which would receive the most wear with a metallic color to show where the paint has been worn down to the metal.

In the above photo chipping has been added using the sponge technique.

#4 Oil Wash

The next step in the weathering process was oil wash.  Begin by spraying your models with a coat of clear gloss or semi-gloss varnish. I mixed brown, burnt umber, and black oil paints with mineral spirits (white spirits). This wash can be loaded onto your paint brush and when touched to details will wick into the creases and around details.  The exact ratio takes some trial and error but don't worry, if you over do it you can always wipe it off with a clean cotton swab.

The above rhino has received a treatment of oil washes.

For an added effect these can be added in layers and, after drying a little, can be dragged down with a dry brush to achieve a more natural weathering appearance.  After this was finished and allowed to dry a coat of matte varnish was applied to the models.

#5 Weathering Powders

Now weathering powders were applied.  I used crushed artists charcoal to create the soot effects around the exhausts and applied them with a large round brush.

Secret Weapon Miniatures weathering powders were used to apply dirt on the tank treads and around the lower edges of the rhinos. The powders were added both by dry brush and by blowing them on.  The brush gives you more control, but blowing them on gives you a more realistic look.  The powders were set with mineral spirits blown through an airbrush, and sealed with a coat of matte varnish.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN WEATHERING POWDERS THROUGH YOUR AIRBRUSH! Unless you want to clog it with mud.

A mixture of the above three powders helps to create a more natural look.

This rhino has received a coat of Secret Weapon Miniature Weathering Powders. 

Once I'm satisfied with everything I finish it off with a coat of matte varnish to seal it all in.

Finished

I used the above mentioned techniques on all four rhinos.  Doing them all together made for light work.  If you're working on one it really isn't all that much more work to do four at the same time and doing so will make it easy to maintain consistency.

Space Wolves Rhino

Today I finished my first Space Wolves Rhino. I ordered some Space Wolves iconography from Forge World which I am using to adorn all of the 4 rhinos I'm working on. I also added some antenna to the rear of the vehicle as I think any military vehicle looks incomplete without one.

For a special touch I created a stencil from an image I found after doing a google image search and using my airbrush I created a mural on the roof of the rhino.

I made sure to detail the interior too. I used a gloss varnish to add some shine to the screens and buttons.

Here you can see some of the Forge World iconography as well as some standard Games Workshop decals and some freehand painting. The chipping effect was achieved using a sponge and Army Painter gun metal.

For weathering I used oil paints thinned with mineral spirits. This wash was applied to each rivet and allowed to wick into all the crevices. Some Secret Weapon Miniatures 'Terracotta Earth' weathering powder was applied to the treads and secured in place with mineral spirits.

The soot effects were created by crushing artists charcoals which I then applied with a brush. I added additional highlights to the edges of the model with the side of a #2 pencil.