Hey, All.
Thanks for all of your marvellous suggestions for my baneblade Zarathustra - I finally laid down the basic pattern last night. Yup, after a lot of experimenting with old tank hulks (I took pictures, but they were at night, so not really worth posting), I decided that I could make grey work okay:
I've kept it simple, and I was forced (through lack of funds) to do it all with drybrushing rather than airbrushing/spray cans, but she looks alright from a distance:
Atop the black basecoat, it's a very simple drybrush of Codex Grey followed by bands of Fortress Grey. I'd been pondering this, but this entry from Buyaki, here, tipped the balance.Thanks, mate:
Obviously, I've yet to do all the details, but as the lovely Mrs. Drax said when she floated past me this morning, "Oh, your big tank's looking good, Love!". Nothing to do with the fact that I was cooking her a bubble-and-squeak brunch at the time. Nothing.
Two things I wish to mention are as follows: Firstly, a chap calling himself 'Fiacha' over the Pond in Texas, who sent me some interesting ideas (Fiacha: if you get a blog up-and-running I'll pop a link in here), and secondly the two cheap and nasty brushes I bought yesterday to drybrush with. They were a quid for two, and perfect for basic broad drybrushing!
Now I just need to think about details and markings. Suggestions are always welcome!
Ave Imperator,
- Drax.
Actually looks air brushed rather than dry brushed to me, coming along good!
ReplyDeleteAnd if I may ask, what's a 'bubble-and-squeak brunch'?
Quality looking paint scheme. It does look airbrushed rather than drybrushed.
ReplyDeleteI went for basic markings on my Baneblade, I tried to make it look realistic without looking too busy.
Can't wait to see it finished.
- Courtney @ Cadian 127th
(How can a master chef not know what Bubble & Squeek is ?!?!)
ReplyDeleteMashed potato with carrot and cabbage in it (exact ratios vary depending on what exactly there is to chuck in, but other relatively comman things include bacon, an egg, grated fromage, swede and so on. Some may favour a pinch of curry powder of splash of chilli oil, but I'm sticking with salt and pepper). All previously cooked, the mixture is bashed into a pattie of random mass and dimensions and lightly fried. Each family tends to make it slightly differently, but if Drax's B&S is anything like the Zarathusithingy, it'll just leave you wanting more.
Beautiful work Drax, surely you have a unifying "army badge" tying all of yor iggies together ?
lol, Da Masta CHEEF, not Chef! (can't imagine why but that name tends to elicit groans from the dedicated Halo players...)
ReplyDeleteAfter asking around the office to which I got nothing but raised eyebrows we googled it. Refried leftovers as breakfast with cabbage & brussels sprouts of all things (and lots of pepper) seemed to be a common theme. I can't really think of any American equivalent. So we learned of something new from the Admiral this morning.
Looking great Drax! Say what you will about the new BB kit being relatively inexpensive and easy to assemble, but the old Forge World Baneblade is still the better looking model. Awesome work so far, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product!
ReplyDeleteAs far as detail markings, I think you can't go wrong with the tri-color vertical stripe tank identifier on the front track guards - similar to what is show here perhaps: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/File:Lemanrusspicture.JPG
That is looking very nice.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great start. The stripes are subtle but really effective - that last photo really shows them off.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mordian, go with some tri-colored stripes along the front.
Simon
Really nice scheme. I'm going to have to steal that for an upcoming Apocalypse project due in March. Exactly the right colours I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteLooks great! I thought you'd sprayed it when I first saw it. It's hard to believe you did all that with a drybrush!
ReplyDeleteDang, you have some serious dry brushing skills and/or a lot of patience. Either way, well done.
ReplyDeleteI would try to put your cool squad mark on there somewhere prominent, or maybe as a penant draped from the barrel of the main cannon. Other than that... aquilae I hear are ALWAYS in fashion.
Markings.... depends on how much patience you have? I've been doing little army-style equipment scribbles near major and minor hatches, gun breeches, etc-- anything that looks like you need to say something about it to a soldier who needs to know, from "No Step" to "Contents include the following". Not that any of them are legible, but I've found it adds a nice level of detail to tanks and (human) vehicles in general. That said, you could get some decal sheets and do it the easy way. I would definitely put a long bit of prayer near that cool-ass engine shrine in the back.
ReplyDeleteOh, and don't forget the numbers for the tank, it squadron, and its company! Hit some of the military sites out there for details and placement.
Thanks, Chaps - praise indeed, especially that some of you thought it may have been airbrushed!
ReplyDelete@ Da Masta Cheef (in particular):
This morning's bubble-and-squeak was leftovers from last night's vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, sautéed leek and spinach) fried up with last night's mashed potato. Yummy!
And I'm glad to be of service!
@ Cadian 127th: Yeah, I'm leaning towards keeping it simple...the trouble really is what to do with the sculpted details.
@ Zzzzzz: Oddly, no. I don't have any unifying army badge. Frustrating, that, but way too late to remedy. And thanks for the vote of confidence!
@ Mordian 7th: Y'know, I've really started to go off it a little. SOmetimes I love it, but mostly it's just a very big white elephant. And the tracks look draedful close up - there's an almighty gap in them. In addition to this, it's just a mish-mash (bubble & squeak??) of bitz from other GW vehicles glued on a little arbitrarily.
And it was bloody expensive. Sure, at the time I bought it I was working three jobs and (being a student) not having to pay tax, but now I've a family and rent and stuff it's a lot of money to try to justfiy!
As for stripes? All of my vehicles have these, but they're from three different units. The baneblade would need to have something different again, but I don't know what (and I'm not very good with colour).
@ everyone else: Thanks! Go for it, Soundwave. And Max: I don't use squad markings - except for my vets. Did you have something in particular in mind?
From a distance, it's far better than fair. That looks awesome. It almost has a NMM sheen going on from purely drybrushing, eh? Very nice touch.
ReplyDeleteI second the tri-colored stripes. If you're looking for colors that look good together, a good place to look would be to the flags of the world:
http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/Flags_World-poster_L.jpg
Variations of red/green/white/black are always nice.
It looks really awesome Drax, makes me want to get mine painted up now. Looking forward to seeing them done up completely.
ReplyDeleteSeriously nice work Drax, makes me want to do one of my own (with a tiny pith helmeted guy at the helm :P)!
ReplyDeleteI always fear messing up the coloured stripes and ruining my hard work, so if you wanted to do something more to it, id suggest couple of weathering techniques, a rust colour on any metal parts would really help them stand out from the rest of the dark coloured hull, just a lumpy/grainy orange wash for this. Also a dry brush of dirt/dust on the tracks and the lowest parts of the tanks flanks (I use kommando khaki, but you might rather use another colour that ties with your bases). Make sure that youve got all of the moisture out of the brush for it tho (normally i try not to waste paint and 'wet' dry brush, but really cant get away with it here) and do lots of layers to build up a film of dust that still shows your work through it.