Stormlord

I picked up the Baneblade kit late last year at the Modelzona competition in Mesa, AZ. I knew I wanted a lot of firepower so I opted for the Stormlord build and ordered a second pair of sponsons from Games Workshop. I built this as an addition to my Pardus 8th Armored regiment. 

I based out the model in the same Tamiya acrylics I've been using on all my Pardus armor. All the metallics were primed in black and brushed with graphite as outlined in this tutorial.

I wanted to make use of the rear deck. I stuffed five guardsmen in the back in various firing positions.

I wanted a couple of guys stepping up or taking a knee. To do this I cut one leg off a standing pair of legs and cut one off a kneeling pair and then swapped them. I cleaned up the edges with liquid greenstuff. It came out great!

I wanted the tank to have a real lived in feeling. To accomplish this I applied a bunch of bits to the model including a great deal of storage from Value Gear Details.

I also added a bunch of sandbags around the rear deck and top hatch. Laying down a layer of plastic wrap first allows you to work greenstuff into position but still remove it after it sets for painting.

Once all initial details were painted I applied a layer of shipping using the sponge technique, then applied a gloss layer before laying down decals.

After some oil washes a layer of dullcote was applied. That was followed up by additional weathering. The tracks were painted with GW Typhus Corrosion followed by another pass of graphite and a layer of Secret Weapon Miniature powders.

I sculpted the power cells directly into a Value Gear Details crate and made the spent power cells out of styrene.

The spent shell casings are piles of styrene rod cut to size.

I airbrushed some soot around each vent using a light coat of flat black.

Razor wire and rope helped to tie together the storage.

I added jewelry chain to the front and back tow hooks.

All weapons and sponsons, including the main vulcan cannon are removable for game play.

I pleased to say that the Stormlord took 1st in the Science Fiction Fantasy & Space, Fantasy All Scales and Types category. Considering it was painted with Tamiya paints it's fitting that this award was sponsored by Tamiya.

Weathering Kit

While cleaning up my workspace a while ago I decided it would be more convenient to keep all of my weathering supplies in one convenient location. As weathering is one of the last steps of each of my modeling projects I've found that I like having an all in one kit that I can pull out when I'm ready to start weathering a model.

Everyone has their own tools, supplies, and techniques for weathering. I thought I'd share what I keep in my weathering kit.

 Mixing Vessels

You can never have enough vessels to mix paints, washes, and pigments in. I use bottle caps for mixing paints and washes but I prefer to use sealable containers for mixing  pigments.

Patina

To create a patina effect on copper and bronze I have a technical paint from Games Workshop, a three part kit from the craft store, and even a powder from Secret Weapon Miniatures. When applying the powder I mix it in mineral spirits before applying to the model.

I really like the three part patina kit I got from the craft store. When used together, they provide a much greater variation in color than the GW or SWM patinas do alone.

Chipping Effects

There are a lot of methods to getting a good chipping effect on a model and I use them all. There are two basic methods of chipping, additive and subtractive. Additive is when you use a brush or sponge to paint on the appearance of chipping paint. Subtractive is when you apply something under a top coat which allows you to remove paint. AK makes a series of chipping fluids which go on under your top coat and allow you to rub or pick away at the top coat. You can also sponge on a masking fluid and rub off later, or apply some salt to your model prior to laying down your top coat and flake off the salt.

The major advantage to the subtractive method is that you can pre paint a great weathered effect under your top coat and reveal it in a very natural way. This is harder to do with the additive method but you do have far more control, however, sometimes having too much control can lead to a very forced weathered effect.

Oil Washes

 

Oil washes are achieved using oil paints thinned with mineral spirits. I keep brown, black, and burnt sienna on hand. A good supply of cotton swabs helps when cleaning up excess wash.

Weathering Pigments

I have a variety of rust and dirt pigments from Secret Weapon Miniatures as well as patina and metallic colors. I also have artists charcoal for making exhaust and soot effects. I apply these powders using makeup applicators and beat up paintbrushes. I also keep a small tub of graphite powder (similar if not the same) as the Metallic Iron pigment from SWM.

Final Touches

After all my weathering is complete and a coat of dullcote is down, I apply any gloss effects including the above series of engine fuel & oils from mig.

There you have it. That's my complete weathering kit. I'll be doing some additional weathering tutorials in the future using these items.

Tutorial - Metal with Graphite

While attending this year's Sonoran Desert Model Builders' Scorpfest I observed a demonstration by the club president, Dave "The Weatherman". Not surprisingly his demonstration was on various weathering techniques. While I've been using graphite in my weathering for some time I hadn't ever considered using it in the ways that Dave did. In one example he used it as an alternative to metallic paint. I liked the method he used and the opportunity to use it finally presented itself in my Baneblade Stormlord.

You can purchase graphite, shave it from a pencil, or in my case, I harvest it from my drafting pencil sharpener. On a side note I highly recommend getting a drafting pencil. They are great for drawing as you can purchase any hardness of lead you want and sharpening them is a breeze, there is almost no waste. If you use your shavings for your models there is zero waste with the drafting pencil.

I collect the graphite powder in a small sealable plastic pot.

Begin by priming the object you want to metalize in flat black.

Rub the graphite onto the primed surface. You may use your finger, a compact applicator, cotton swab, or sponge. I used my finger tips, a compact applicator, and a makeup sponge.

The more you buff the surface the shinier and more metallic it will get. It looks great on the above heavy stubbers but looks equally as good on other surfaces.

The exhaust pipes for my Stormlord really came out great!

Dave covered another method for utilizing graphite. He mixed it into a rust colored acrylic paint. After the paint was dried he rubbed the high points with a cotton swab which revealed a metallic sheen. As with the above technique the more he rubbed the shinier the appearance but in this case it was a subtractive technique instead of additive.