Ferrus Workshops

Krieg Painting and Weathering - Tips and Techniques

2011-09-02T23:04:00.001+12:00

After the obligatory straightening of bent parts and washing in warm water with some citric acid based cleaner I assembled everything. Pretty straight forward. Had to use balls of putty to attach the arms and fill gaps afterwards. Wasn’t too much hassle but for the average modeller it could be a bit daunting. Forgeworld stuff definitely requires patience.

I sprayed it all with K&H etch primer for non-ferrous metals. This is an Aussie primer intended for brass but it works wonders for white metal and resin. It microscopically etches and attaches itself to the model thus it’s a perfect primer. It’s white and quite thin so I often follow up a day later with chaos black spray or equivalent.

The key to this army was the use of an airbrush. I purchased one from Chicago Airbrush Supply. Great prices and service. I got a Paasche Talon with 3 tips. My Grandad used to airbrush ceramics and I have inherited his workshop and gear so I already had a compressor and air tank. I just attached a moisture trap and was ready to go.

I had only used an airbrush on rare occasions before this army but was knowledgeable on their functions and use. There are many guides out there about that stuff. It’s a pretty big topic in itself. I am mostly working at 20 to 30 psi and used the .38mm tip. I got some Vallejo Model Air paints for this project and that was also a first. I am very impressed with them.

http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/gb/model-air-gb.html

I airbrushed an undercoat of German Grey on the whole army except the horses. I then mixed in some white and went back over at a higher angle, leaving the recesses dark. On the tanks this wasn’t so pronounced. I always add a few drops of Vallejo Model Air dilutent to aid flow. It seemed to work, not sure if this is a requirement.

For the infantry I mixed a 70/30 German grey/white mix and focussed on the fatigues, using the double-action trigger to lay down thin coats and blend. I then did a final pure white layer in the same fashion. This made white so much easier to do than If I had brush painted it. In the end I did do a final brush layer highlight with thinned white.

The pants were Charadon granite, the guns and pouches Catachan green and the belts etc Calthan brown and Scorched brown. These were all washed with Badab black and then re highlighted back up with their original colour, mixing in either white or bleached bone for successive highlights. The gas masks were given a really thin glaze of Scorched brown after the highlights to add depth and enrich the colour. The armour and metal is a custom mix of Chaos black and Boltgun metal. It was washed with a 50/50 mix of Badab black and Gryphonne sepia followed by Chainmail/Mithril silver chips. The idea is that they stripped and blackened their armour chemically.

The mud on their trenchcoats and boots is a mix of finely sifted real dirt and a mix of craft paints that I made to match the dirt colour. I also mixed in some artist texture paste. It was then stippled and drybrushed on. I tried to be subtle rather than just slap it on. It pays to look at photos of real soldiers and look at how their fatigues get dirty. I put some of the mix on knees as they would often kneel to fire.

I used a mix of gravel/sand from the gutter on the bases. It got grey when I did the airbrushing but I did wash it with some thin black. The spaces between was painted with the mud mix and then thinly washed with some black to make it darker i.e wetter. The static grass is a 80/20 mix of Woodland Scenics Burnt grass and Harvest Gold.

The snow is Woodland scenics made into a paste with some PVA and carefully painted on and shaped to form drifts.

The Tanks.

The tanks and Hades drill started off with their German Grey undercoat. Highlighted as mentioned before with a bit of white mixed in and using the airbrush to blend.
I then gave them a coat of gloss from a spray can and then two of airbrushed Vallejo Matte. This is key as it protects the underlying paint coat. In the past I have used the hairspray technique on a basecoat that had dried for a week or more and not had to do this. Acrylic actually takes a while to fully set and the polymers fix although it dries in minutes.

I gave them a couple of days to dry just to be sure and then sprayed them with a thin coat of hairspray. The more budget/cheap types are best as they are basically just water soluble acrylic varnishes.

There are many variables to this technique including amount of hairspray, surface texture of the underlying paint coat and amount of time the following paint coat is allowed to dry. That is why some test pieces are a must. The rougher the surface the smaller the chips will be. If too much hairspray is used the paint comes off more easily. That is why I did the two coats of matte varnish; it gives a rougher surface. The ideal situation for tiny chips is using a matte primer on the model that has slight texture to it ( unlike GW chaos black), painting on a base coat, letting that dry for a couple of weeks and then doing the hairspray technique. That’s what I did on my Baneblade and I was amazed at the tiny chips possible.

After the thin spray of hairspray had dried for about an hour I airbrushed on some Vallejo Model Air white. You can also play with the opacity and shading here to create really thin coats that represent nearly completely washed off whitewashes. If you do a completely opaque (not see-through) layer the chips will be more pronounced. I let that dry for about 30 mins.

The next step is to use short stiff bristled brushes dipped in warm water to scrub the paint off. This part is completely subjective to the technique of the user; Pressure, angle and amount of water can play a part. I didn’t need much water at all; in fact the brushes were barely damp. Look at photos of real tanks to see where the paint rubs off and think about rain in terms of the winter whitewash as that would affect how it comes off compared to normal chips. It certainly pays to use scrap parts or Plasticard to practice this technique.

You can see on the Vanquisher that I put on a thicker coat of white than the Exterminator and thus the paint chips are more defined.

I frequently washed my brush to get rid of the removed paint but noticed an interesting side effect of the scrubbing that left slight ridges of white on the edges of the chips that almost looks as if I had highlighted them. Happy mistake I guess.

After they were chipped to my satisfaction I left them to dry. I went a step further to reinforce the idea that the winter white was washing off. I used an airbrush and really thin white to add thin coats over some of the chipped areas as well as creating downwards strokes to represent the action of rain. I also did some work with thin white paint and a brush to create some more depth and glaze over the chipped areas.

The rust and dirt stain marks are all done with GW washes and thinned paint. I often mix other paints into GW washes in a rather hap-hazard manner on my palette. This was all done taking care to be subtle and think about where the rain might affect the tank and run off. Just remember that there is that hairspray coat underneath and if you are too frisky with the brush it might start to allow the white to come off where you don’t want it. A coat of matte might help here but I was just careful. Military modellers often do a gloss coat and then use oil based washes and glazes but I couldn’t be bothered with all that faff. I much prefer acrylics with some flow improver or mixed pre-prepared washes for gaming tanks.

I used the same mud mixture on the track and splattered up the hull as from the infantry. Really thin black darkened some areas to make them look wetter. I also sprinkled on some finely sifted earth and applied some snow mix as a final step.

Final step for the army was a coat of Ardcoat and a couple of airbrushed layers of Matte.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask. I hope this is interesting and provides you with some useful tips. I’m sorry I don’t have time for a photographic step by step tutorial.

This is where I got all the insight and info on the Hairspray Technique:

http://www.migproductionsforums.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3293

Cheers
Earl

Death Korps of Krieg Army - Tanks and more

2011-09-02T02:10:00.000+12:00

Here are the Tanks and Death Riders of the recently completed Krieg:

Tomorrow I'll post the written report on how I went about painting and weathering these models.

Death Korps of Krieg Army - Winter scheme

2011-08-24T00:17:00.000+12:00

This is a commission I have just finished for a very patient client in Australia. I've been trying to get it done for 5 months but mother nature had something to say. A very shallow 6.6 quake, many thousands of aftershocks and a broken house later I have finally completed them.

The client wanted a winter scheme. The infantry have only been issued with white winter coats; they wear normal fatigues underneath. The tanks would be grey but have been whitewashed and seen much action. I used the hairspray technique for this.

The models required much work to assemble but are totally worth the effort. Many were repaired after a significant aftershock knocked them to the floor!

I have built a light box and experimented with daylight fluorescents. Still getting a handle on taking good photos. Let me know if they are up to standard.

I will be working on a tutorial of how to do the weathering and painting of white very soon.

Anyway, comments and critiques are highly appreciated!

cheers
Earl

I'll post the Vehicles and Rough Riders tomorrow.

Second Edition Intro Game - Eldar vs. Genestealer Cult

2011-08-07T22:40:00.004+12:00

In the Grim Darkness of 2nd Edition, There Is only Awesomeness…

Recently a friend of mine known only as Bolter took me on a trip back to the nineties to try the super system that is 2nd Edition 40K. As a dedicated 2nd Ed activist Bolter was only too happy to load up his car with a couple of tiny 800 point armies (all painted by me on commission), a box of scenery, a stack of rule books and his trusty tape measure to demo the rules system. As this was essentially a rules teaching session the game was played on a 4 by 4 approx table so the armies had to engage each other head on and one was wiped out by the end of turn 3. Read on to see how things unfolded.

Genestealer Cult were the first army selected. The list was as follows:

Magus with psychic hood, force rod, power field & carapace armour
6 purestrain genestealers
2 squads of 5 hybrids with swords and bolt pistols
10 broodbrothers with lasguns and a heavy bolter
1 leman russ with no vehicle wargear or upgrades

Across the table stood a small Eldar Patrol:

Warlock Champion with aegis suit & singing spear
Pirate hero with chainsword, shuriken catapult and 4 pirates with shuriken catapults
2 squads 5 guardians with shuriken catapults
3 dark reapers
3 fire dragons
1 warwalker with lascannon and scatter laser

Bolter took charge of the Eldar, leaving the cult for me (Earl).

The deployment phase

Because of their dismal strategy rating, the Genestealer Cult force had to deploy first. The genestealers and a squad of hybrids deployed on the left flank. The leman russ and a squad of brood brothers were positioned in the centre and the magus and the remaining squad of hybrids hid in a forest on the right flank. The magus had both psychic scream and gate so completing the “witchhunt” mission he had drawn wasn’t looking too difficult.

Cult Deployment

The Eldar positioned a warwalker and the pirate hero’s squad across from the stealers. The dark reapers and a squad of guardians set up in a forest across from the leman russ and broodbrothers. The warlock and his bodyguard of fire dragons deployed slightly to the right of the table centre close to the back line. This left one squad to hold the Eldar left flank. The Eldar had drawn the “assassins” mission and therefore had to snuff the magus to win. One wound, toughness three, he should be pretty easy to eliminate…

Predictably, Eldar won the first turn and chose to hide in the woods. Two units of guardians advanced, one to threaten the magus and the other to stand in front of the reapers when they emerged from hiding to fire on the leman russ if and when it chose to emerge from cover. A couple of squads went on overwatch and it was time for the psychic phase.

Eldar Guardians and a Warwalker hanging tough...

A custom warp flux of 1d6 +2 went large and four cards were dealt to each side. The first card played was an ultimate force displacement which shifted the broodbrother squad out of hiding but into the cover of the forest directly opposite the dark reapers. Left a little short on both force and ranged attacks, the Eldar declined to cast. The Genestealer Cult then cast psychic scream but luckily warlock was out of range.

The Genestealer Cult turn began with the hybrids and stealers on the left flank advancing while the tank accelerated to combat speed and pushed forward in the centre of the table. The dark reapers fired a volley of Super-Krak missiles at the tank which stuck the turret and hull and failed to penetrate. This gave away their position and both they and the guardians positioned in front of them to act as a meat-shield quickly died to a volley of lasgun, heavy bolter, lascannon and battlecannon fire from the broodbrothers and the Genestealer Cult tank.

The Leman Russ and Broodbrothers finish off the last Dark Reaper

The psychic phase consisted of a single displacement, which pushed the genestealers even further forward on the left.

With the dark reapers dead, all Eldar eyes now looked to the warwalker to stop the cult tank from going on a rampage. With the notable exception of the guardians opposite the magus and his bodyguards, the Eldar infantry remained in hiding and on overwatch – readying themselves for the genestealers charge.

The warwalker stepped out from behind the cover of a building, killed to hybrids with its scatter laser and then took a shot at the leman russ. The shot hit home but failed to penetrate. All over the table space elves turned down their com-links and began to blubber quietly.

The psychic phase consisted of another displacement. I rolled 15” on 3d6, which was enough to throw the stealers into hand to hand with the war walker. Eldar overwatch was ineffective and it looked like the war machine’s days were numbered.

Bugger!

The stars were in alignment for the Genestealer Cult forces and they made the most of it. The four unengaged stealers charged the nearby pirate hero and his squad and began tearing them limb from limb. The first stealer to attack the warwalker rolled triple ones and a two and was promptly kicked to death. His partner in crime was a little less unlucky and inflicted five wounds on the warwalker pilot. This reduced the Eldar army to a warlock and three firedragons as the broodbrothers and leman russ had kept busy on the right flank and killed of the remaining guardian squad.

The beginning of the end...

Turn three started and ended quickly for the eldar when the genestealers displaced behind them and charged. The Genestealer Cult had triumphed and I had had my first taste of 2nd Edition.

...the end.

Ork Painting Technique

2011-07-08T13:32:00.002+12:00

Earlier this year I worked on an enormous Ork army. The brief of the commission was to paint all the basecoats and highlights of the clothing and skin, leaving details and finishing up to the client. The idea being that they could finish them off at their leisure, having all the hard work done. A good idea I believe, and a nice compromise.

I want to share the painting technique I used in case it may help others out there. It’s fairly different to other Ork skin tones. Much more muted yet still in contrast because of the darker colours used on the clothing and cloth. Addition of red or yellow final details and markings and checkers would make them pop.

Chaos Black undercoat. Basecoat skin Knarloc Green, cloth and belts Scorched Brown and metal with Boltgun Metal.

Give the model a wash of black. I used a custom mix of chaos black, matte medium and Vallejo glaze medium but you could just as easily use Badab Black or any other black wash.

Highlight the skin with a 70/30 mix of Knarloc green and Gretchin Green, leaving the undersides and recesses. Highlight the upper surfaces with a 70/30 mix of Gretchin Green and Knarloc Green. I thinned the paint quite a bit and did a couple of coats, using the transparency of the paint to create multiple levels of highlight.

You could give the uppermost edges a final highlight of thinned pure Gretchin Green.

Highlight the belts, straps and cloth with Bestial Brown, and the metal areas and armour edges with Mithril Silver.

The black pants/shirts can be highlighted with Adeptus Battlegrey.

Finish with the teeth, eyes and details as you like.

Warrick the Wombat

2010-07-23T00:03:00.005+12:00

In an attempt to gain more motivation I am updating this blog with some of my recent work. I've been up to quite a lot so I have plenty to show.

Firstly, a project I finished a couple of months back; to realise the creative vision of Mark Kolbe. It was a challenge and I had great fun doing it. It was hard to capture the stockiness and strength of the wombat and put it into a humanoid form. He has interchangeable heads and each one had to portray a different emotion. Not an easy thing to do with a wombat. I soon realised quite a lot of the emotion comes from the eyes.

He was sculpted in Super Sculpey and then moulded with RTV silicone. I cast in easycast urethane. Had some issues with bubbles; next time I will have to use a pressure vessel.

Anyway, lots of things learnt from the project and I'm happy with the outcome. If I ever get another go I reckon I can do a much better job, especially at the casting stage.

You can see some of Warrick's first adventures here:

http://warrickwombat.blogspot.com/2010/05/welcome-to-wanderings-of-warrick-wombat.html

Priman Factory Scene

2010-04-12T16:19:00.002+12:00

Here are some photos of a diorama I recently completed for the 2010 NZ Model Railway convention held here in Christchurch.

It combines the factory miniature I made a year and a half ago for my film project and is a test of sorts. I wanted to enter something into the competition and it was a good way of trying out some new techniques I had learnt.

The diorama is in 1:48 scale and features a scratch-built Guardsvan from styrene, the Austin is a converted Tamiya kit and the figures are mostly sculpted from scratch.

Khornate Chaos Army Commission

2010-03-24T22:48:00.004+13:00

Here are the promised pictures of the Chaos Marines army I finished a few weeks ago.

It was challenging to get the nice rich red and quatered colour scheme but I believe the results are worth the effort:

(They are unbased as the customer wanted to use his own basing material to match existing miniatures)

Very busy plus new projects afoot

2010-03-22T22:28:00.006+13:00

I’ve been very busy lately with various commissions. Basically that’s my somewhat lame excuse for no updates. It’s hard to sit down and get images ready and write up a post when you want to do other things like work on personal projects and keep up to date with various TV programmes.

My priorities and interests have changed quite a bit since my last post in November. I mentioned how model railways are too restrictive for my creative tastes. I have found that to be untrue.

Over the past years a scale has emerged which promotes freedom and fun with model railways, taking away the need to follow strict prototypes. It is called On30 and is 1:48 scale on 16.5mm track, representing two-foot-six in real size. Bachmann are a major promoter with much choice in Locos and rolling stock. Of course the fun thing is that you can model nearly anything you want by scratch-building new bodies on HO/OO chassis and wheels.

I’ve explored this type of model railway before but never to any end. I have decided that I must build a railway to display at an exhibition here in October. It is to be modular and the theme follows that of the factory miniature and costume you may have seen on my website. It is an exploration of a fantasy world and story of my own creation.

If you are interested in following my creative process and seeing what I have been up to, check out the following link. It is a diary/log of sorts. Most if the early pages involve expanding and working through my ideas. I eventually narrow down the theme, location and plan and have begun various parts of construction.

http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=27022

On the commission painting front I have done much since the last post; a Chaos Space Marines army, a force of Valhallans, some Witch Hunters and recently a Dark Angels army from scratch. I am currently working on Epic Eldar and a Genestealer cult force of the old models plus converted Steel Legion.

Here are some pics of the Dark Angels who were done for Jacob in Australia:

Coming up very soon I have many exciting projects including a series of custom converted and sculpted Genestealer cult figures.

I shall update in the next few days with pics of the other finished projects mentioned

I'm Back

2009-11-27T13:34:00.003+13:00

I can't believe it's been nearly six months since I last updated this blog.

The urge to finish my Mechanicus warband still exists; it's just been something that I've wanted to do but never got around to it. Real life, work (commission painting) etc have got in the way of my own modelling. I've also spent a lot of time exploring other model making avenues such as model railways. That sent me on a research mission, consuming vast amounts of information and learning many new things. In the end, railways are a bit too restrictive for my wandering creative urges. I've now come back to science fiction modelling; it’s something about the mystery and endless creativity it allows.

Some great artists and models I have found on my journeys, hopefully you'll find them interesting:

kallamity.com/galleries

www.fichtenfoo.com

www.maschinenkrueger.com

www.migproductionsforums.com

Here is a little thing I made a couple of months ago from some bits that were lying around. Just started painting it a few days ago. It's not the cleanest paint job but I don't know if I really care because it was so fun to put together and paint. I've done all the conversion work for my warband as seen before, now I am going to undercoat and finally get some paint on them!

I've got this desire to make some sort of large mecha/tank/aircraft with all sort of 1:35 tank parts, 40k bits etc, just like some of the wondrous examples in the links above. It's hard to know what to do though as I have so many ideas. I even had the idea of making a 40k scale gun cutter. In proper scale it would be around 1:48.

Anyone got any advice for me? Should I take the plunge and make a gun-cutter? I am reminded of a quote by Cecil Beaton: "Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slave of the ordinary. It certainly would be daring to make, and would make a great centrepiece for my Weta Workshop portfolio.

Lots more Mechanicus warband stuff

2009-06-08T23:34:00.004+12:00

Well I finally got my Traitor Guard army sold and got some work out of the way, which means progress on my warband.

here’s what I’ve got done:

Swapped out the base from the other smaller techpriest for a new guard one. I really like the sculpting and detail and feel there’s not really and point modifying it any further.

More sculpting and detail on my Techmarine. I’ve tried to go for something much like the art. It’s not perfectly proportional (quite tall) and I don’t think it would actually work in terms of human movement but they are genetically engineered after all, plus it looks neat.

Made a comms servitor using a cool witch hunter’s henchman figure. Few details to go. I’m getting really good at doing hoods now. It helps to look at other GW figures’ hoods and use them as a guide.

The henchmen figures are so cool I had to use this one. I’ve seen a few really cool gas-cutters done for other warbands so had to have one. My one also doubles as a lamp for my tech-assistant. I had the idea that he is a researcher and needs the lamp/cutter for his work rifling around in old libraries/data repositories.

More sculpting done on the protector.

A gun servitor based on a micro art studio track unit. My custom tracks haven’t been cast yet and I’ve got other plans for them. The gun arm is magnetised for weapon hot-swapability. I’m really not sure what to put on the other arm. Any ideas guys? A chainsaw/pincer perhaps or another gun?

My favourite bit of work done so far is my heavy gun-servitor. The idea is stolen from one done, I believe, by Dave Taylor. If it is, thanks again Dave. The new sentinel is a neat kit. Lots of cool spare bits to use. I’ve got an idea for a murky puddle on the base, hence the green-stuffed recess.

Lastly, a quick mockup of an engineering control servitor.

This dude was inspired by a creation of Proteius. He’ll be used in the factory complex of my big new project;

I am planning to build a model railway at 1:48 scale and have decided to give it a 40k feel and work it into the abandoned facility board I was thinking about. I find 1:48 works very well with 40k.

I will be scratch building the locos, factory equipment etc. It will hopefully include a rocky mine area, hilly scrubland and the factory complex built into a rocky promontory. I want it to have a mad max/rusty/grimy/damp/Mechanicus feel. It’s combining elements of the Mechanicus with the coal industry of 1920/30’s west coast of New Zealand (which I have an interest in.)

That’s all for now folks. Any ideas, comments you have, please let me know. I probably won’t get much more work done on the warband for a week or so but will be busy designing the railway layout. I’ll be sure to update.

Cheers
Earl

More progress on the Ad-mech

2009-05-20T23:45:00.004+12:00

More progress, finally.

One thing I must say; it’s really annoying how being an artist means that you want to start new projects all the time.

I've got ideas of building a 1:48 gunship that's like Eisenhorn’s' gun-cutter/serenity for use in an Eisenhorn’s/Ravenor inspired film I'm writing the script for. I'll be doing filming later in the year too. (It won't obviously be 40k, but inspired by the aesthetic and dialogue in the Ravenor novels)

I've taken up landscape oil painting, as my grandfather before me did. It's a really good stress release having a flat canvas rather than fiddly little figures. If model making becomes my work then I can see painting being my hobby. Anyone else like this?

Back to the progress:

First up, I’ve started work on a protector for the Arch Magos. I got the idea from the Mechanicum novel. I’ve used the iron hands bionics bits as they look very cool. He will have a robe and hood.

I’ve had to have a go at making a true scale marine after seeing all the awesome ones on the net. I’ve decided to make him a Techmarine as a chapter called the Legio Ferrus has it’s fortress Monastery on the same Forgeworld as my warbands and story is based around; Acieris. Lots of cleanup and sculpting to do, but it’s a good start I reckon. True scale marines are just so much more appropriate to the aesthetic of 40k, it almost epitomises what got me into the hobby in the first place.

Lastly, I’ve been doing some tests trying to achieve a rusty steel look on my baneblade. Not sure if I will keep this as the final layer or do some salt/hairspray masking. It’s been interesting trawling the Military modelling forums and checking out the amazing techniques guys like Mig Jimenez and Adam Wilder use. If you haven’t seen the mig productions forums yet, go there. Some of the best modelmakers in the world regularly post there.

Since my airbrush is in storage atm because of flooding problems in my workshop, I’ve tried to see what I can achieve with acrylics and brushes. It’s all just washes, scratches, sponging etc. Hard to photograph but I think it’s turned out well. I’ll end up using some oils and powders for the final rust stains and weathering though. I have discovered though that matte medium is awesome. Great for making washes and juices.

Well, that’s all for now. Hopefully will get some sculpting done soon and can start undercoating stuff. (when it stops hailing.. )

Cheers
Earl

The start of two Mechanicus Warbands, towards 40k and Terrain

2009-05-07T20:49:00.006+12:00

As an artist, I find myself increasingly unable to stick to one project and follow it to conclusion. There almost is never a conclusion in art, and there lies my dilemma. As new and exciting ideas spring forward, my older and larger projects fall by the wayside. When I get near to finishing an army I have found myself advancing in skill and creativeness so much that I feel the need to redo the things already done, or to start anew.

I feel that I need to abandon my set ways of thinking about colour, painting and modelling itself. I am too rigid and organised in my thinking. I need to adopt a freer flow of inspiration and ideas. One of the main aims of this project is to achieve a portrayal of the feeling, mood and story behind my miniatures, rather than perfection of the painting.

The endless visual landscape of 40k holds a position of immense inspiration for me; in particular, the art and literature. Illustration as found in the Witch Hunters codex and Inquisitor rulebook I regard the highest. Artists such as John Blanche and Karl Kopinski are among my favourites. In terms of literature, Dan Abnett is the most influential and inspiring. The rich descriptive language he uses, as well as the depth of his characters are important factors. I particularly find inspiration in the way in which he focuses on the everyday individuals and functioning of the Imperium (as well as its enemies.) There are also many modellers that inspire me greatly. Dave Taylor, Mikael Silvanto (Migsula) and Mark Bedford are chief among them.

Right, to the point. I have started a few project logs that I have failed to keep updated recently. As a professional painter, I am currently very busy. This leaves little time for me to explore my own ideas or even finish work on old ones. I am working to better manage my time so that I can work fewer days and have time for myself and my own projects.

I hope this blog/plog becomes a way for me to interact with others in this hobby and get their ideas and thoughts. Good art is never a one-person thing. It’s all about the interaction and combining of ideas and in this I hope everyone feels like they can voice their opinions and interact. It would especially great to get assistance from those that inspire me. Dave Taylor has already given me some great feedback, thanks Dave. The others that have commented, thanks also. You are not forgotten. If you think what I’m doing is cool, let me know. There is a certain degree of satisfaction gained when you know that others like your work.

The Details

My latest interests in armies are the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Dark Mechanicus. I have previously done some small forays into these forces but haven’t really achieved anything I am proud of or that really captures the feel of the Mechanicus

Instead of starting off by aiming to make a whole 40k army for each force, my plan is to work on a small warband for each.
Not only will this allow me to really focus on my modelling and painting, it will stop me from getting bored or overwhelmed.

I plan to make the war bands around 10 figures each. As I work on them I will develop their background, names etc and how they relate to my overall story. They all revolve around a Forgeworld of my own creation called Acieris.

Hopefully I will get a chance to design and build a themed gaming table for my war bands of some part of Acieris. At this point I have an idea of it being an abandoned rail yard, possibly leading to a secret underground experimental facility.

The long term plan is to slowly expand the war bands to make larger forces for normal 40k games. This expansion would also link the ongoing story behind them; the attack of Acieris by the forces of chaos, the intervention of the inquisition etc.

One aspect of the modelling that’s worth mentioning; since figures for the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Dark Mechanicus are nearly non-existent, it is obvious that I will need to do a fair amount of scratch-building, converting and sculpting. I am also planning to design, sculpt and mould/cast my own figures for things like praetorians/servitors etc but with my own flavour/take on the generally accepted aesthetic. The fun part will be in thinking, testing making etc. I’m sure there will be some failures and hard work involved, but that’s what it’s all about. Hopefully there will be some happy mistakes and surprises.

Without further ado, here is some long awaited progress:

A WIP of my first assistant Tech Priest. It's really just a practice piece, although it's turned out to be a cool little model.

A WIP Tech-Servitor for my loyal AM warband. I got inspiration from the forge-world ones and all their cool little details and weirdness. Lots of work still to do; arms, details etc. I think the real 40k universe comes out in these cool little gothic dudes.

A Forgeworld Tech-Priest who I painted a few years ago and have ressurected for this project. He might get replaced but for now is serving as a piece to inspire my future sculpting efforts.

That's all for now, sorry for the long rant. I had to get it all out there so I can really get going on this mighty project.

Thanks for reading,
Earl

What I've been up to...

2009-05-06T00:07:00.007+12:00

To anyone who may be listening/reading, I haven't disappeared. Over the last few months I've been a very busy painter.
By deciding to try my hand at painting full time, I've come to discover that it takes a lot of effort, willpower and patience to be able to keep deadlines and work when you don't really feel like it. In the end though, it is worth it. I would rather be doing this than some menial job, as at least I am learning things and getting better at my craft.

Here is a few examples of what I've been up to:

A zombie pirate army:

A 4000 Point Lizardmen army:

A Battle for Skull Pass set:

Some Chaos Knights (Which were very fun to paint)

The beginnings of a Witchunters army:

And some Bloodletters:

I am still working on more commissions; more Sisters of Battle, a Dark Angels army and some Valhallans. I have had time to work on my own things and i spent some holiday time coming up with cunning plans for my Mechanicus forces and terrain. More on this very soon.

I have update my website with details about commission work. If you are interested, please drop by:

Ferrus Workshops

Cheers
Earl

Priman Warrior Bust

2009-03-10T17:06:00.003+13:00

I have been busy with commision work over the last two weeks so haven't done any work on my Dark Mechanicus Forces. In the meantime, I thought I would get some good photos of something I made last year:

It's a concept bust of a Priman Warrior. This is the fictional race I have developed for my own personal film project entitled 'Ferrusia'. I have made miniature sets and costumes for this project, as well as lots of concept art, all of which you can see at my website. I made a short test film last year as part of my degree. I am currently developing the feature length script.

The bust is made from plasticard, super sculpey and epoxy putty. I have plans to make a range of miniatures based around this race in 1:48 scale for use in wargaming.

Dark Mechanicus Arch Magos Ideas

2009-02-25T17:42:00.002+13:00

I've been thinking for ages and doing lots of research and am finding it very hard to come up with ideas for an Arch Magos. He will lead my Dark Mechanicus legions and therefore needs to be a fairly imposing and unique figure.

The best thing I can think of is the description of Meglator in Mechanicum, thought that was fairly vague.

I’ve done this sketch which combines my best ideas and elements of other models that appeal to me.

I've got the idea that he is riding a tracked platform since he is so large and bulky. I'm thinking he'll count as being in terminator armour. Servo arms and mechadendrites are instead of arms, although he has a large drill. Possibly a throwback to his former self and symbol of his power.

Let me know what you think. Any ideas, comments etc are welcome. I am prepared to fully sculpt/scratch build this figure so anything goes.

Also, I will be using rules for a chaos lord or sorcerer. Any ideas for the weapon/accessory/powers choices would be great.

Cheers
Earl

Dark Mechanicus Vindicator plus Skitarii tests

2009-02-22T23:12:00.005+13:00

Got a small update of things I’ve been working on over the last few days when I’ve had time.

First up, I found an old beat-up rhino so decided to make something with it and practice my green stuffing skills. This is what I have come up with. Not bad for a few hours work.

Also, some updates of some small bits of sculpting and touch ups I’ve done to old minis to bring them into my Dark Mechanicus force.

The lascannon teams were originally loyal Admech but needed stripping so they are dark now. The beastmen headed skitarii are from my traitor guard army which has a slight Admech theme so they fit in well. All I have done is touch them up with some of the new washes.

Let me know what you think

Earl

Praetorians WIP

2009-02-13T12:22:00.000+13:00

Here’s what I’ve been working on the last few days.

It’s my prototype track unit and torso for Dark Praetorians. They will be used as rough riders and possibly Chaos Space Marine bikers. I’ve even got an idea of doing a Nobz biker army using these tracks and putting Ork bodies on them

I will be moulding and casting the tracks and torso and hopefully selling them through my website. I’m looking at making a range of sci-fi figures and terrain items that can be used for all sorts of war-games. Anyone interested in custom sculpted and cast items, let me know.

I've still got to work on the arms of the Praetorians. I have made the whole thing very standard so that they can be sold for use in loyal Ad-Mech armies.

I can just cast lots and then add little bits of chaos flesh and other detailing to make them fit my DM force, like they've been corrupted. I was looking at using the Nobz power axes and electro flails for my DM ones but what to do for loyalist praetorians? Servo arms? Some sort of gun or axe?

This is something I will have to research. There is also a few little alterations I need to make to these before they are cast. It's a start though.

Cheers, Earl.

Welcome

2008-12-30T23:13:00.003+13:00

Finally, I have a blog. I have resisted for a long time, fearing being sucked into writing all of my thoughts for all that care to see.

Necessity has prevailed however, and I am in need of a way to document my modelling projects for all to see. Hopefully this will allow people to ask questions and comment on my work. It will also help to increase the exposure of my little business called Ferrus Workshops, and the work that I do.

I still have to figure out all the details of operating this blog, but updates of my latest project will be up in the next few days.

Goodbye for now,

Earl.