Random bits and bobs

Tokens and markers:

Asteroids

Debris Field

Mines

(At least the asteroids and a new station will get done fairly soon. Those have got to be 10 years old at least, from BFG)

Note: What do you think? Alt version of the Liberty or Home One?

Mon Astrea

But in all seriousness - this is the greatest collection of awesome I've seen so far.

Makes me want to revisit my rebel fleet now that I actually like to put some effort in my painting.

**** you Vykes!

Fantastic!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

So when will we see the next instalment of " Forces of the Ceknell Subsector "?

I vote we don't get any more previews until he gets all of his work done, takes some gorgeous prints, and writes it up into a proper sourcebook that we can get leather-bound

Yeah this is quite an impressive catalog, Vykes. Well done.

Vykes,

Your work is pretty much mic dropping worthy when it comes to painting.

Oh, so beautiful! Inspiration city!!! Now to find some time to paint. Oh, and acquire some talent.

.....

Dibs on the Hands.

You can have his heart.

We shall consume his talent and take it as our own!

.....

Dibs on the Hands.

You can have his heart.

We shall consume his talent and take it as our own!

Dio has rocked for a long, long time,

Now it's time for him to pass the torch.

He has songs of wildebeests and angels,

He has soared on the wings of a demon.

It's time to pass the torch,

You're too old to rock, no more rockin' for you.

We're takin' you to a home,

But we will sing a song about you.

And we will make sure that you're very well taken care of.

You'll tell us secrets that you've learned. Raow!

Your sauce will mix with ours,

And we'll make a good goulash, baby!

Dio, time to go!

You must give your cape and scepter to me...

And a smaller one for KG.

Go! Go! Dio! Dio!

Oh, so beautiful! Inspiration city!!! Now to find some time to paint. Oh, and acquire some talent.

You and me both. . . I can drybrush decently. . . that is about it. . .

After updating the bits and bobs bit, I guess I should add the not-so-great tutorial.

The Vykes Hull Method (It's not really that special)

....

Step 0:

-Just make sure to lay down your basecoat over a primer. I used an airbrush and it just so happens that my base colour is also a dual primer.

Step 1:

-This one's very simple, wash the ship is black, or a very dark blue/brown depending on the tone that you want. This one was a straight wash of GW Nuln Oil. settling doesn't matter too much on the plates, it's mostly the recesses that we're worried about.

Step 2:

-Reapply the base colour, or you can go one shade brighter (as I did here) just to further exaggerate the difference between the shadows and the main structure that we'll deal with. It's almost like a form of blacklining.

-you can apply the colour fairly heavily in neat, even coats over every raised part of the model. I prefer it to drybrushing just because of the control, but a drybrush can yield good results as well.

Step 3:

-Here we go about with our first real highlight. It will be pretty heavy, and in general my 'rule of thumb' for adding highlights, is that it should take up half the area of the colour laid down before it. Try to imagine where the light would fall at the front of the plates. (It's looking washed out in the picture, I'll see if I can adjust it any)

-here is where you have a fairly important step for distinction, you can add a lot of little 'lines' to make streaky uneven panels, or use broad 'bending' strokes to connect the plates opposing corners. If you have a square plate, you can use a 'paif of 'J' shapes to make a U' like stroke following the side and slowly curving until it meets the corner diagonal to it. So it's not a straight line, but curved.

Step 4:

-this step further accentuates step 3, adding the same contrast at about 1/2 the line's width. This just slowly brings up the highlight. To a clean enough finish. By now the plates should look nice and shiny, and the colour will approach white (or a very soft blue/bone, depending on palette).

-- It's also at this stage where you can 'countershade, using a touch of wash or ink to paint the 'back' of the plate or even around the smallest little raised plates. It shows better in step 5.

Step 5:

-It seems I used a seperate ship for this picture so pardon the slight variation, but it does bring up another point for this time. The top highlight and an example of countershading.

-The top highlight for this one was white. It will be your absolute lightest colour, and it should be applied conservatively along the edges of the largest separations (different 'decks' as it were), that will bring the ship into focus. The zenith points will be along the ship's dorsal ridge, and along the leading edges of the distinct levels, front and back. Not on every plate.

-The ship should look exceptionally clean by this point, like polished metal. (I can scrounge up some pictures of some Star Destroyers if you'd like me too, I do have one or two at this stage in my records).

Step 6:

-This is something of a make or break. It's where you can apply an extra tint or shade after you've let everything properly dry (I recommend sealing the ship with something like testor's dullcoat, or some other varnish at this point.

-Apply the wash/ink/tint in patches that you find appealing. Mine was done via airbrush and used a teal and a purple tinted black to get smooth variations in colour.

Step 7:

-There is no pictures, but it is, quite literally, repeating steps 4 and 5, to return the ship's zenith highlights and it's upper most layer to tie the ship's colours in and subdue the effect of the tint. Usually the tint or wash reacts well to the full painted highlights rather than just looking like another coat of paint.

Step 8:

-This ship after step 7 and with full detailing.

Thanks mates, just glad to be back on a painting forum!

Ah, but Polda, It's actually the wings of a RAF Mk.II so nothing of value was lost

. . . I was going to like that post. . . till I saw that. . .

.....

Dibs on the Hands.

You can have his heart.

We shall consume his talent and take it as our own!

That leaves me with the models... no complaints

Thanks mates, just glad to be back on a painting forum!

Ah, but Polda, It's actually the wings of a RAF Mk.II so nothing of value was lost

. . . I was going to like that post. . . till I saw that. . .

@Lyraeus, let's not destroy him just yet. He could reveal more of his painting techniques

Thanks mates, just glad to be back on a painting forum!

Ah, but Polda, It's actually the wings of a RAF Mk.II so nothing of value was lost

. . . I was going to like that post. . . till I saw that. . .

Huh, guess I was mislead by the fact they look a lot bigger on the tiny MC30.

@Lyraeus, let's not destroy him just yet. He could reveal more of his painting techniques

No. Those Handses are Mines... Mines... Theys is the Precious! PRECIOUS!

Your raiders and light cruisers are named the same things.

What are the mines made from? Looks like superglue bottle lids and what else?

Your raiders and light cruisers are named the same things.

I vote we rename the Raiders "Dagger", "Dirk" and "Bent Spork"