By The Book - Cygnar: Prime

I think I want to try and paint the models I own from way back. To do that, I'm going "by the book", meaning I'll begin with Prime and work my way through to Legends, painting whatever Cygnar and Merc models I encounter along the way, in the order they appear in the book.

That means, since pCaine and pHaley are already painted, we get pStryker. I'll also take this opportunity to go back, in order, and paint front arc markings on completed models. So, to follow my standard routine, we begin with base colors...

Base Coat
*Armor - base the metals in VGC Gunmetal Metal.
*Vented plates - plates with holes get a 1:2 of VGC Tinny Tin and VMC Brass.
*Sword - base the sword in RMS Honed Steel.
*Leathers - base the leather pants and some arm areas in VGC Beasty Brown.
*Jacket - base the coat in 1:1 P3 Ironhull Grey and P3 Morrow White.
*Inner jacket - base with P3 Ironhull Grey
*Jacket trim - base with P3 Cygnar Blue Base.
*Armor highlight - gets P3 Cygnar Blue Base.
*Skin - base the face in a 1:1 mix of VMC Cork Brown and VGC Elf Skintone.
*Hair - base the hair in VGC Charred Brown.
*Hair - base with 2:1:1 mix of VMC Orange Brown, VGC Orange Fire, & VGC Bloody Red. Leave an edge of brown near the hair line.

Shading
*Armor, jacket, inner jacket, sword, and hair get a wash of GW Badab Black.
*Vented plates, leathers, and skin get a wash of GW Devlan Mud.
*Jacket trim and armor highlights get a wash of GW Asurmen Blue.
*Hair gets a wash of VGC Beasty Brown and GAFA Burnt Sienna.
*Hair gets a 1:1 mix of VGC Gory Red and GAFA Raw Umber painted into deep recesses.

Highlighting
*Hair gets rehighlighted with the base orange, then orange mixed with RMS Creamy Ivory.
*Begin highlights by reclaiming areas with base colors.
*Jacket trim and armor highlight get a 1:1 P3 Cygnar Base and Cygnar Highlight.

Wet Blending for Simple Armor Plates

...and other large surface areas. This comes from DangerMouse, a super prolific and talented painter, often featuring his work on the PP Modeling and Painting forum. His water bases are amazing!

1) Lay down the base coat color (let this dry i do all the base coat at one time)
2) Mix base color with a touch of highlight (in this case about 5 drops of base and one of white)
-at this point a also normally make 3 more mixes of: about 5 to 2 and 50/50
3) Paint the mix on where the highlighting is needed one one plate
4) Wet blend with base cat back into the dark areas (the spots where base coat is showing)
5) Blend 5 to 1 for first highlight area
6) Blend 5 to 2 for the next
7) Blend 50/50 for bright spots, edges and that sort of thing

I also work form ether the top down or the bottom up on the jack that way my lighting stays consistent . Also the mixes are not set at 5 to 1, 5 to 2, and 50/50 i mix them until they look right and give a nice some flow from base color to bright.

Wanted this preserved, so I wouldn't forget it. It's basically the process I had to accidentally discover as I painted my Grundback Blaster. Thanks again, DM! Colonel K says - well done!


EDIT: @Airport... my definition of blending. Hmmm.... Instead of thinning my paints with water, I use drying retardant, flow improver, and distilled water, in a roughly 1:1:2 ratio. A drop or two in my paint on the palette helps keep the paint workable longer.

For the Gun Bunnies below, I would paint the upper third in the first highlight color, and while wet, use a clean brush to pull the color down in streaks into the middle third. Sometimes, I'd need to add a little base color back in and swirl it while it dries. The goal is a smooth gradiant without obviously lines.

Repeat the process with the second highlight, but only cover the top quarter of the area. Blend in with some of the first highlight color. Swirl it, mix it, "blend" it - just play around so it looks right.

The final highlight is more stark, IMO, and usually a little less subtle in the blending. I try to retain a smooth transition without an obvious line, but the distance it takes to go from highlight to next color darker is a much narrower area.

Searforge (General Merc) Test Scheme

I'm using a Grundback Gunner as a test model for my over-all Merc test scheme. With some exception in metallics and various highlight colors, I think this will be the overall scheme across my gray-primed Mercs. I used my Dupli-color Sandable Primer in Hot Rod Grey - which comes very close to matching P3 Greatcoat Grey, making an easy basecoat for what's to come.

Edit 4/16/09 - added a Grundback Blaster to the mix; bringing him up to Base Coat colors and then moving on together as a pair.

Base Coat
*Metals - VGC Gunmetal Metal. The Searforge wouldn't allow oily metals like those crazy Swamp Gobbers or other wilderness types. Nice, even, classic metallic.
*Brass parts - VGC Tinny Tin and VMC Bronze in a 1:2 mix. This accidental color is awesome and creates a really nice tone/value, with good constrast.
*Hull - P3 Greatcoat Grey. See I told ya, priming gray would come in handy. Ease of coverage and a nice base for highlighting.
*Colored Hull Highlight - VGC Hexed Lichen with a spot of RMS Leather White. This accent color will carry through all my Mercs somewhere.
*Metal edging - VMC Brass and VMC Bronze in a 50/50 mix. It pops without being too bright. Including the bronze tones it down and helps blend.

Shading
*Metals - wash with GW Badab Black mixed with a little VMC Matte Medium and plenty of water. This wash may need a couple coats to build up.
*Brass parts & Metal edging - wash with GW Devlan Mud mixed with a little VMC Matte Medium and plenty of water. This wash may need a couple coats.
*Hull - wash with base color mixed with a little GW Badab Black, a little VMC Matte Medium and plenty of water. Focus on the lower areas and blend up.
*Colored Hull Highlight - wash with GW Leviathan Purple, a spot of VMC Matte Medium and plenty of water. Blend up from the lower areas.

Highlights
*Base - this is the perfect point to start the basing. Paint the inside of the base with a solid coat of VGC Earth. Use P3 Thamar Black on the lip.
*Metals - thinking of bold highlights. Highlight with a mix of VGC Gunmetal Metal and VMC Silver. Stay high and wet blend into the darker areas.
*Brass parts - Highlight with straight VMC Bronze. Stay high and wet blend into the darker areas.
*Hull - Highlight with a mix of P3 Greatcoat Grey and RMS Leather White. Stay high and wet blend into the darker areas. Use VGC Glaze Medium.
*Colored Hull Highlight - Highlight with a mix of VGC Hexed Lichen and RMS Leather White. Stay high and wet blend. Use VGC Glaze Medium.
Use VGC Glaze Medium.
*Metal edging - Highlight with straight VMC Brass. Stay high and wet blend into the darker areas.
*Blending - repeat shading washes to blend any overly-stark highlights.

Detailing
*Bolts & Screws - all the grey-based bolts and screws get painted with P3 Thamar Black and then spotted with VMC Silver. Easy! Bronzed bolts get a touch of VMC Brass; brass bolts, VMC Brass and VMC Silver.

Basing - autumn-themed
*Having already painted the inside of the base, retouch with VGC Earth.
*Using 50/50 PVA glue to water to glue my ballast/sand mix into place.
*Wash the entire inside of the base with a wash of P3 Battlefield Brown.
*Get a little sloppy and muddy up the feet - wash, dry brush, or both.
*Dry brush or stipple VGC Earth onto the natural highlights.
*Clean up black lip of base; paint front arc markings in VMC Black Grey.
*Add patches of Cygnar "Summer Blend", GF9 Autumn and GF9 Summer Flocks.
*Add a single dot with the silver Sharpee on each lip, back center.

And some pics...

Incidentally, these pics were the inspiration for my Merc bases in an autumn theme. Not a bad job matching these, considering scale and all, even if I do say so myself.

Bokur Repose

Here's something new. This is my third bokur to be attached to Gudrun in my Searforge lists. Though I'm glad I finished this before the Mk2 rules hit. The bokur was nerfed pretty hard. They're still good solos, just not as b0rken as they once where.

As for this mod. Did some chop. A lot of filing. Some A+B putty on the joins. Then lot of green stuff. Followed by the ol' knock-off Dremel for smoothing, finishing, and molding muscles. Sorry the pics aren't great, but it's some forward progress. ^_^

Pics are clickable for larger close-ups.