+ inload: Are you a Catachan, or a Catacan't? +

+ If it bleeds we Catachan kill it +

+ No prizes for guessing who this Hasslefree miniature [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+] represents. The first of those Rogue Trader-themed models I posted about recently to receive paint, he's proving good fun. The over-muscled arms and chiseled features make it fun to play around with lighting, giving an almost cel-shaded look at this stage. I'll be refining him with some highlights, but it's been good to get some variety in pinks and ochres to – hopefully – give some realism. +

+ Not sure how I'll tackle the fatigues etc. Urban or desert could work, letting him tie in respectively with my Red Hand or Imperial guard; but there's also the option of running with the jungle theme of the inspiration. +

+ The same painting session saw me tackle some beards and skin on the dwarfs – there's only tiny flashes of skin visible, but it'll all add up to a nice effect when they're finished (I hope). +

+ To avoid an uncanny-valley effect of models in particular units all having the same beard colour, I plucked random piles of models from across the army, and used slightly variations on a few 'core mixes'. That allowed me to do a sort of half-way house between batch painting and individualy focus. +

+ Further work necessary, but this is proving a marathon, not a sprint. I'm aiming to have 1,000pts finished for a PCRC 'parade' at the end of May, which is still looking fairly likely. +

 + To close, another shot of our 80s action hero. +

+ inload: Paint It Black – the Iron Hands scheme +

+ At last, some time for painting. I'd been getting carried away with building – which is fair enough, as it breaks the rhythm to have to clear up modelling tools and bits to set out your paints – and writing which, while very enjoyable, doesn't look quite as good on a visual medium like this blog. +

+ Anyway, here's the narrator for my May You Live Forever project, all painted and ready for – well, I guess we'll have to wait and see... +

+ If you're interested in following this project or providing feedback (always very welcome!) on the Bolter and Chainsword forum, please follow this [+noospheric inloadlink+] +

+ Painting the Iron Hands +

+ The scheme is a fairly simple one – in fact, I've banged on about it before [+noospheric inloadlink embedded+], but it uses a surprisingly broad range of materials. Irons Hands have monochrome heraldry, but this sets challenges of creating an interesting visual, and opens up a broad palette of techniques and materials. To put it another way, since the scheme's so simple, you can have fun exploring new ideas. After all, you can generally just add another layer of black and start again. +

+ Order of work +

_1 Undercoat with grey primer.
_2 Spray black.
_3 Metallics base.
_4 Black base.
_5 Washes.
_6 Reapplying midtones.
_7 Highlights.
_8 Details.
_9 Focal point.
_10 Basing.
_11 Weathering.
_12 Realising it's half-past eleven and you need to go to bed.

+ Painting black +

+ The black itself is not a pure black – this can appear dead. In any case, using Chaos Black (or equivalent) paint as your first layer leaves you nowhere to go for shading. For this reason, I mix three parts black to one part dark for my 'black' base. The dark mixer paint will vary depending on the scheme. Here, I used Charadon Granite as the mixer. +

+ Once that layer has dried, mix in blue-grey – Russ grey or Fenris grey was used here – and gradually highlight up. Work slightly lighter than you might usually. You want a high-contrast over-emphasised highlight effect at this stage, as the washes will mute it considerably. +

+ Wash over the whole area with black wash, then rinse and dry your brush. Touch the dry brush to the upper parts (i.e. the areas of highlight) to lift out excess wash. Allow to dry. +

+ Once dry, use pure black paint to work into the recesses and shaded areas to force the tone. This essentially completes the black. +

+ Painting metal +

+ When painting metallic areas, I ask myself 'Is this area functional or decorative?' Functional areas are likely to be grimier than decorative ones, and are more likely to be gunmetal or brass; while decorative metal areas on figures might be picked out in silver or gold, and kept in better shape. +

+ Here, the backpack is a functional item, so I painted it with Boltgun metal and washed it with black. While the wash remained wet, I dropped in sepia ink and green wash here and there. These bleed in and create natural variegation, making it look battered and used. Compare this with the decorative shoulder trim next to it, which was painted with Chainmail (a lighter metallic) and had the wash touched in more carefully for a cleaner result. +

+ Not only does this provide visual interest, but it's an important way of helping the eye distinguish between similar-coloured areas when in such close proximity. This is what is meant by helping the miniature 'read' properly. +

+ Just using one set approach to a texture or colour can potentially cause problems, so do take the time to try out new ideas. Monochrome figures like this are an enjoyable challenge and let you play without providing the additional complication of balancing hue too much. +

+ Painting white +

The black wrist is another example of helping the miniature 'read'. It provides a visual stop between the silver hand and silver arm. Note the metallics on the hand, arm and gun are all treated slightly differently, too. 

+ Just as I avoid pure black when painting black areas, I only use pure white paint sparingly. The boltgun here is painted from a Fenrisian Grey base – which you'll recognise as the same colour used for the black highlight mix. Using the same paints in different areas like this helps to avoid unwanted colour combinations or clashes. This is one strength of a limited palette. +

+ To take a little pause here, you'll probably have noticed that what on the face of things is a 'black and white' scheme is actually closer to a series of greys. none of the white is white, none of the black is black; and it's all based on Fenrisian grey. This is important, as it teaches one of the fundamental concepts behind painting – tonal control. Get the tone right, and you're virtually there. +

+ As an addendum to that last point, it's also worth thinking about aerial perpsective – this is the visual effect that causes distant objects to appear muted and slightly blue-toned. Things close up to you appear more vibrant, and the tonal contrast is high. Things far away lose some of their vibrancy as both the light and dark parts approach the midtone: the shaded parts appear lighter, the light parts appear darker. Recreating this effect in your miniatures – by 'pushing' the colours you use to the midtone – will give a muted effect that makes the miniatures appear distant, rather than small. + 

+ This approach adds to the realism; though of course whether you want that, or prefer the beautiful jewel-like quality of high chroma and vibrancy is of course down to taste – and the character of the miniature you're painting. +

+ Detailing +

+ As with my Iron Warriors, I've decided to use Forge World's transfers; you can see one in the centre of the chest here. Notice how bright it seems compared with the 'white' I've used for the stylised lightning bolts that surround it, added freehand. The other transfers are muted a bit with acrylic medium and weathering, but I may have a little play around to see if I can work out a way to knock back the pure white on future models. +

+ The basing is made of a few layers – a layer of heavy pumice gel forms the basis and was complemented by areas of textured paint once dry. These were painted and allowed to dry before I added some dried birch seeds and 6mm tufts of grass from Gamer's Grass [+noopheric inloadlink embedded+] to finish it off. +

+ The weathering was achived with some light strokes and touches of a bright metallic paint (whatever the equivalent of Mithril Silver is in the new range) complemented by sponged brown-grey areas concentrated around elbows, knees and other extremities. Finally, I had a little play around with weathering powder – I used a craft knife to gently scrape yellow ochre, sanguine and dark grey pastel sticks until I had a small amount of powder, then applied it using a dry brush, touching it onto the surface where needed and concentrating it around the lower legs and recesses of the armour. +

+ I'd thoroughly recommend pastel sticks for weathering. Pastels are widely available in your local art shop, and earth colours (i.e. those most useful for military-style weathering) are pretty cheap – I think the sticks I bought were around £1.30, and multi-packs or starter kits are even cheaper. They also have the advantage over pots of weathering powder that you can just scrape off what you need, and because they're solid, they're easy to store. +

+ Anyway, hope that helps – love to hear what you think of this Iron Hand! +

+++

Turn the eyes upward.

That is the only direction for peace.

Even then, it is the cold comfort of stars.

We stand, weapons raised. Chem-aggro stimms layered on pain suppressants and fatigue make my flesh itch and crawl, but my boltgun is unwavering. Under my arm, Medardus is slumped, barely remaining upright by hanging on to me.

Catabin's blank, narrow-eyed helm gives nothing away. He makes no move – neither towards us, nor away. He watches.

"Kneel! Lay your weapon aside!" cries out Miredan. For one horrendous moment, with the guns of six Iron Hands trained on him, Catabin remains motionless. 

Medardus stirs. He raises his head. His voice is a wavering croak. 
"Catabin..." It takes on an oddly pleading tone. "Catabin, in the name of the Emperor."


That gets a response.

+ inload: Infinity – Panoceanian soldier Santos Santana +

+ The Infinity range is full of spiffy models; more so now than ever. The manufacturer, Corvus Belli, have done a great job in jumping over to CAD sculpting which, while bringing its own problems, does mean that there are some beautiful fine details and a very clean appearance to their figures. I think variety's the key to enjoying my painting, so while I love hand-sculpted figures, these are a nice change – a palette cleanser, if you will. +

+ Most Infinity figures I've seen painted up have been done in a very clean, futuristic style. That doesn't really float my boat (though I admire the skill in achieving such a clean, smooth result), so I've gone for my typical grungy, low-heroic approach. This decision is in part because none of the PCRC play Infinity, so the figures will likely see more use in Inquisitorial skirmishes (using a variety of rulesets) rather than in the Infinity universe. +

+ However, I didn't want to completely cut them off from their possible use in the 'correct' universe, so I've kept the scheme realistic – or at least believable. I usually avoid trying to make things multi-purpose (as they tend to end up not fitting properly in any game), but I think that because the figures are not particularly stylised in proportions, or hugely distinctive from tabletop distance (in the same way as say an orc is), they should work well as 'grunts' for everything from near-future special ops to the oppressive vision of the forty-first millennium. +

+ Another important point to make is that I don't have a dedicated Infinity-styled set of terrain. The 'third army' is becoming more and more important to me in my enjoyment of the game, and so almost any figures I paint have to conform to the world in which they'll appear. +

+ The basing reflects this. I've got some plans bubbling under about a new urban board upon which the Iron Warriors, these chaps, and my Court of the Sun King figures will likely be used. To break up the concrete grey, I'll be using creams and some orange and gold accents on the ground, along with patches of these static grass elements. I get these from Gamer's Grass [+noospheric link embedded+], which are a great little company – good variety, the prices are cheap, and the parcels have come securely packed and promptly sent. +

+ This shot best shows the scheme – dark grey rifle furniture, muted camouflage fatigues similar to my Lamb's World army (there's a tutorial here if you'd like to know how it was done [+noospheric link embedded+]), and pinky-red armour. These are sci-fi figures after all, and I'd just been listening to a programme on the wireless about Mars. Must have got into my subconsciousness! +

+ A fairly obvious question is 'why desert camouflage for an urban table?' The answer is simply 'contrast'. Camouflage works by breaking up the silhouette and tonal contrast, making the figure harder to see. Great if you're being shot at; not so desirable in a figure for a game. There, I think it's better to suggest the idea while still making sure the figure is on display; otherwise you spend a long time painting realistic camouflage only for the figure to disappear when you play with it. Better to slightly stylise things. + 

+ It is here that it becomes clear why tone is more important to impact than hue. Look at the strap holding the sidearm on the thigh. It's a completely different colour to the underlying fabric of the fatigues, but this is not obvious because the two areas are similar in tone. This helps to get a realistic feel, and not distract from the focal point. Compare that area with the head (the focal area), which is painted with a skintone much lighter than the surrounding area. This draws the eye. Even within the face, the features (particularly the eyes) are noticeably darker in tone than the rest of the face. These small areas of high contrast are the most important part of miniature painting for impact. +

WIP – the completed figure is pictured on the left-hand side.

+ This chap has been sitting on my painting table for months and months; with only his fatigues painted, so I'm glad to have finished him off. There are some others that fit with him, so perhaps this'll spur me into finishing them, to. +

+ These realistically-proportioned figures look quite odd in comparison with the heroic-styled Games Workshop and Privateer Press figures (and your taste will dictate which style you prefer), but I think they work quite nicely with the larger marines based on Terminators. What do you reckon? +

+ inload: Restrictions and inspiration +

+ Centurion Zariçus Cjarn +

+ 242nd Company, IV Legion Iron Warriors +

+ Part of the struggle of putting together a themed army is trying to work out what to include, and what to leave out. Restrictions are often seen in a negative light, but they can be useful. Necessity is the mother of invention, as the old saw goes, and you can enrich your army's background and find surprising new angles by bouncing off something else. +

+ My Iron Warriors army is set up as an opposition army to those of my friends grahamgilchrist's and Bob Hunk's Imperial Fists, both of which are themed around the Siege of Terra. As a result, I had a basing scheme and time period in place. In addition, that casts my army in the role of the baddies. +

+ The Horus Heresy can be seen in black-and-white terms, but I find it more interesting to explore the 'pathetic aesthetic' of 40k, and look at the factions in more morally neutral terms. Those who follow Horus end up as monstrous villains in 40k, but in 30k, there are far fewer differences between the sides than it might appear. + 

+ So, riffing on that theme, I was struck by the idea of a well-intentioned Iron Warrior who had made bad decisions while trying to come up with an idea for my leaders. Essentially, what if straight-laced Loken (the protagonist of Horus Rising) had decided that his loyalty was to the Imperial Truth, rather than to the Emperor as a figurehead. It's easy to see that an Astartes raised to believe in secular truth and told that the Emperor had strayed from the path might have misgivings. If his misgivings were nurtured by those loyal to the Warmaster, we might see his take his first steps towards rebellion – or in his eyes, ensuring the continuation of the Imperium, with a new, more worthy leader on the Throne. Zariçus Cjarn was thus envisaged. +

+ Perhaps the most obvious part of this figure is the twin axes. One, held behind him, represents his loyal Imperial side – this is in the past, and held more loosely. The other axe is a twisted chaos blade, held aggressively in front of him, and painted with eye-catching warm colours. This represents his future. In addition to the axes, I added an Iron Halo, but inverted it and attached it to his torso as a collar. He is destined now to become a slave to Chaos – a fallen angel. It's also a nod to the classic Franzetta-inspired spiky bits aesthetic of the Chaos marines. +

+ Other than the axe and collar, Cjarn could easily pass for an Imperial officer. His armour is slightly more elaborate than a regular marine (the lower half is Forge World's Lufgt Huron, his right arm from the Minotaur's Chapter Master). I followed this through on the painting scheme, keeping it stripped back and sober, as befits an Iron Warrior. + 

+ Returning to the theme, his name was suggested by the Polish knight Zawisza Czarny, a model of virtue who came to a sad end captured by his enemies. This is a subtle little nod to the Siege, with a twist – the real Czarny was an ally to King Sigismund of Hungary. Sigismund is also the name of the Imperial Fists' First Captain, who was noted as having slain a number of Chaos Champions during the Siege. I thought it would be fitting to have Zariçus Cjarn have some sort of connection with Sigismund – rival, friend or noted duellist, perhaps. I'd like to explore this in his background, and Centurion Cjarn is thus fated to fall on Terra to the Emperor's Champion. Hopefully we'll see this happen in-game sometime! The cedilla in his first name is a bit of a retro nod to the mëtäl ümläüts and similar accents that often turn up in Chaos names (like Khârn the Betrayer). +

+ I was half-tempted to remove the Imperial Eagle on his arse-flap (probably not the technical name), but decided in the end to leave it in place. It reinforces the idea that Cjarn is misguided rather than evil, and hopefully adds to that sense of moral greyness over the whole army. +

+ Of course, it's important not to make the villains too relatable. Cjarn is still a monster, even by this point. I wanted to hammer that home with a face streaming with blood and distorted by a terrible howl of rage. Fittingly – and with a hint of situational irony – the Imperial Fists' Breacher squad provided the head. He is grim, and horrible: a twisted mirror for the noble Sigismund, just as Perturabo is a mirror for Dorn. +

+ inload: Hynn Yavuz +

+ Hynn Yavuz, Palatarch of XIXth Muster +

+ With the olive skin and black hair common to the Olympian phenotype, Hynn Yavuz is a typical physical example of an Iron Warrior subcommander. Palatarch is an obselete rank roughly equivalent to sergeant; another example of a non-standard replacement term introduced post-Isstvan. It was little known before the Heresy, and faded into near-disuse soon afterwards. +

 + Yavuz' shoulderplate bears the same iconography on Or stripe as his squadmates. Unlike (say) the XVI or VII Legions, who were encouraged to seek personal glory, the Iron Warriors culture was geared towards the strength of the whole, with every member's personal achievements being subsumed within the larger group – from squad to Company to Legion. This, and other, structured codes of behaviour caused tensions as individuals reinforced them ruthlessly while inwardly chafing against them. +

+ Perhaps this irresolvable tension was an intentional result of Perturabo's teachings. Certainly it fuelled the Legion's aggressiveness as the troops vented their frustrations on their enemies, while maintaining a coldly precise and disciplined demeanour. +

+ In any case, promotion in the IVth Legion was a byzantine affair quite divorced from honour, glory or acts of inspired battlecraft as was common with other legions; instead being based on an inscrutably complex system of codes and strictures. Almost all Iron Warrior commanders, including officers of the line, shared a willingness to sacrifice the part to the whole. Thus it may be that an officer identified an weakness in an enemy line, or a faster warp route, allowing his force to achieve victory more swiftly. Equally it might be that the officer had simply killed a disruptive insubordinate before he could affect operational ability of his squad. +

+ A rear shot shows the distinctive hooped back to the Voss pattern Mark III plate legs, along with the bloom of discolouration common to the Sol-Militaris pattern Mark IV powerpack when hooked up to the inefficient plate. Visible here is a spare combat blade – a near universal though non-standard complement to the Legionaries kit in the IVth Legion. It is sheathed on the left to allow quick retrieval for dual blade work. +

+ Yavuz's armament is a paired Mk IVs 'Thunder Edge' pattern chainsword  and Ikanos pattern bolt pistol. Aside from the yellow-and-black stripes common to Legion honorifics, the armament is almost stereotypical of Legion sergeant equipment – almost as thought it has come straight from the Master of Quarters. This is, of course, a distinct possibility – casualty rates during the Horus Heresy were catastrophic, and promotion was often swift – and brief. +

+ Squad banners were relatively uncommon amongst the IVth Legions, though far from unknown. In instances where the enemy was known to have the ability to decipher vox-code or intercept data – or when command and control was blocked, hexed or tech-hazed – the Iron Warriors were adept at the use of physical signals, amongst them banners. These were centrally issued to each squad, and were strictly monitored – alteration or customisation was a punishable infraction. As a result, this banner can be easily deciphered: the vertical yellow on black background indicates the XIXth Muster (the similarity to the pauldron tactical markings being either a coincidence or an intentional nod), while the V indicates the line of Chain mastery – in this case, fifth chain. +

+ While known as dour, the Iron Warriors had as keen a sense of tradition as many of their fellow legions. This was never indulged to the detriment of operational efficiency (as was occasionally the case with the III, IX or XVIII), but their aesthetic sense – stoically representational and unimaginative – was often curiously beautiful in its iconographic simplicity. War-banners such as this flew over a hundred battlefields, and were – perhaps surprisingly – encouraged by Perturabo, who saw them as a natural symbolic focus for his 'many-above-one' philosophies. +

+ The white horse has a symbolic meaning that would be well-known to all Olympians. Traditionally, the delivery of a white horse to a rival state was a casus belli; a curious custom that dated back to pre-Compliance. More generally, the horse was the Olympian symbol of high winds and natural disasters, with a number of fanes, temples and festivals dedicated to horse-headed or completely equine deities. As a portent of natural disaster, it was associated with earthquakes, and it is this aspect that is said to have caught Perturabo's mercurial favour – that of the horse as wall-breacher and hold-wrecker. +

+ With his face exposed to the elements, it is clear that Yavuz has no helm. This is likely a simple case his being forced into battle while awaiting replacement or repair. It is also possible that his crude bionic – implanted onto an obviously raw wound – was a temporary jury-rigged affair, and that its size makes it incompatible with use of his helmet. +

+ His superiors would not hesitate to field his Chain if they felt, on balance, that he was better unhelmed than not present on the field. Such is existence for the Iron Warriors; the individual suborned to the needs of the many. One might see this creed as unforgiving – even cruel; but such are the times and theatres in which the IVth Legion fought. +

+ The trophy-heads hung from the belt show the barbarous nature of the unchained Astartes. While the Adepts of Terra might hope that all Legions could be parade-ground perfect as the Emperor's Children or Ultramarines; the Pitiless Fourth show the unalloyed truth of warfare in the darkness of the thirty-first millennium: that it is raw, bloody and cruel. +

+ inload: Officia Monstrosa – faces +

+ This close-up of a WIP Iron Warrior sergeant shows his face as it currently stands. I like to include a couple of bare heads in the start of any human project, as it's a chance to explore the character of the army. In this case; gritty, bitter, careworn and ravaged. +

+ To achieve this I started with an olive green basecoat (Vallejo Russian Tank Crew, I think), then overlaid this with a mix of Vallejo white, Blood Red and Averland Sunset, which produces quite a Mediterranean skintone owing to the warmth of the yellow (contrast this with the cooler yellow I use for the paler skintone of the marine below). +

+ More white was added for highlights, which were applied boldly, and with few layers to get transitions which weren't too smooth. The paint was applied relatively drily, using the tip of the brush. I followed the line of the features with the brushstrokes, but used vertical strokes only for the cheeks and jaw. Along with a barely-loaded brush (something similar to a drybrush load), this keeps the area dark and textured, giving a sallow look to the cheeks and a stubbly effect to the jaw. +

+ The sculpt has raw flesh and broken lips on the left-hand side of the figure's face (right of the picture), and I added more red and less white for this area. I also used touches of Ogryn Flesh wash here and there across the face. The slight muted red tinge this gives is useful for haggard eyes without looking cartoony. +

+ There's a little more to do (hair, teeth and the peculiar metal plate above the non-bionic eye), but my general rule with faces is not to let the perfect become the enemy of the good. By this I mean it's easy to ruin a perfectly good face by fussing; and sometimes the sculpt will help you stumble over a happy accident that gives the face a lot of character. Trying to play with that can over-exaggerate it, or worse, spoil it altogether. +

+++



+ If a model will stand it (because the face is relatively large), it's worth getting very involved, as the face is a natural focal point. However, there's also something to be said about simplicity in faces. The fewer brushstrokes you use, the smoother the effect tends to be. The marine below demonstrates this. Here, the head is actually very complicated – it's an Imperial Militiaman's head, which means it's only ~75–80 per cent of the size of the Marine head above, and on top of that, it's tightly wrapped in a scrumcap/pilot's helmet affair, which is itself surrounded by a raised collar. On top is a little eyeglass arrangement, which is raised off the face (god bless you, Forge World sculptors). A lot of detail and a lot of tiny spaces! +

+ For this reason, the skin of the face becomes a part of the painting, rather than the focus of it. I painted the face much more simply, using Blood Red, Vallejo White and Bad Moon Yellow. This gives a clean, pale look, which creates eye-catching tonal contrast. The olive-skinned tone of the chap at the top would have blended in with the dark collar, and thus would have lost the contrast. I could, of course, have altered the collar/cap colour, but I wanted to keep it the same hue as the soft armour in the joints. As well as being consistent in-universe (to add verisimilitude), it also means fewer colours in the scheme, keeping it oppressive and dark. +

+ Deciding when to stop is thus a good skill to cultivate. Ultimately, remember you're painting to please yourself. +

+++

+ Here's the same chap, posing in front of a Predator. It was ear-marked for the Ultramarines, but... a tank would be a very fitting thing for the Iron Warriors. What do you reckon? +

+ inload: 5 of Cups, 9 of Collars and 2 of Hands +

+ inload: 5 of Cups, 9 of Collars and 2 of Hands +

+ Not everyone can be the hero – and in the murky, grey-shaded world of the 41st Millennium, maybe no-one is. Nevertheless, some people are destined just to try to struggle through. Such is the lot of these three, who represent some of the servants of the world of Cepheus. +

+ From left to right: Otho Mercurial, Astropath; 'Bobe' Roja Kislova Vlajna, Astropath; Aspers Ferlinghetti, underscribe. +

+ The two Astropaths are interesting in that the model on the left is an obvious modern homage (by Brian Nelson?) to the earlier Rogue Trader-era one in the centre, which I believe is a Jes Goodwin sculpt. Axiom, over at the excellent Magpie & Old Lead, has been building a fantastic Astropathic choir that has had me itching to give these figures a paintjob. +

+ Rather than poach his ideas wholesale, my aim with these is to show some of the diversity on Cepheus – so rather than a formal choir, I want to show the individuality of these characters, who serve different aristocratic families on Cepheus. +

+ Character and contrast +

+ As an illustration, Mercurial serves a more outward-looking, pro-Imperial Cephean family, with the result that his robe is distinctly green (the traditional colour of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica), and he has a number of Classical-feeling touches, such as his name, the key design flourishes on his sleeves and hood, and his general monk-like demeanour. He is intended to look much more like a traditional Imperial Astropath, familiar to any vaguely influential world-traveller in the 41st Millennium. + 

+ His skintone is cool, bloodless and pallid to go with his character, and also balance the warmer green of the robe. He's going to remain fairly restrained and simple, with few decorations. + 

+ The sculpt's gorgeous, managing to convey blindness without loss of ability, and combining a slight nervousness – notice how he's fingering a medallion charm – with an upright sense of duty. He's completely unaltered, as I think he's damn near perfect! Sometime a sculpt suggests a character so perfectly, there's no need to change. +

+ Contrast this with 'Bobe' Vlajna, who serves a very inward-looking highborn family; who have sent indentured Astropathic slaves to Terra for the soul-binding for generations. As a result, her name is non-Imperial – instead stemming from the rural region of Cepheus from which she comes. Her green sash – old, faded but beautifully maintained and meticulously tied – is the only strong suggestion of her green 'uniform', with her robe being a grey mix of dark green and purple (Orkhide Shade and Liche Purple). This makes a nice neutral hue, witha hint of warmth. This has been accentuated by keeping the palette warm throughout: note that her white staff – Astropaths are blind – uses a pinker, warmer tone than Mercurial's, and her skintone is ruddier (if not exactly healthy). +

+ I like the idea of the sash being a bit like a kung fu belt – (perhaps a Cephean cultural twist?) – in that it suggests a quality of training, and is held with respect. I've been careful to paint this more cleanly than the rest of the figure, to suggest the high regard in which it's kept. I'm more than faintly tempted to take inspiration from Axiom's excellent Syl Moor, and add some subtle decoration as a feminine touch. I don't believe this astropath is intended as a female sculpt, but it's certainly androgynous enough for me to aim it that way. + 

+ There's a slight swell to the hip, and there's a torso/leg proportionality that suggests a female figure to me. The satchel, with its precious medallion (perhaps a similar charm to Mercurical's?) can easily be interpreted as a sort of handbag for whatever Astropathic ladies carry with them, and the fact the sash is tied at the back suggests it's been tied by a servant or handmaiden. Obviously none of that is specifically female, but I think the sculpt is sufficiently asexual that it could make an excellent wily crone. +

+ The sculpt is a typical early Goodwin sculpt, with strong facial details, and this made producing some wrinkles easy. As with Mercurial, the paintjob is intended to match the character. The non-Imperial uniform, lack of shoes and more confident pose suggest a wilful – perhaps cantankerous – older lady to me. I've used a warmer palette in the hope this suggests her being less stand-offish and more confrontational than the reserved Imperial astropath. +

+ Offensive language? +

+ I'm very tempted to further push Vlajna's Cephean ancestry and traditions by adding some local designs to her robe. This is a good point to mention that her name is Romanian – I wanted Cepheus to suggest 19th Century Gothic horror novels, which often have elements of Eastern European culture or location to add some exoticism and mystery. Picking a name from a culture that's unfamiliar to you can gives you an obvious source for designs and ideas – hence why Ultramarines all seem to have Roman names in GW sources, for example. +

+ It's important to note that this does run the slight risk of being slightly kitsch or culturally insensitive; but I hope it'll be interpreted as the genuine interest it's intended. Obviously, everyone with have their own source of cultural references, and what's 'exotic' to one person is mundane to another – this has popped up quite frequently in our little world of gaming with Scandinavian modellers and artists wryly noting how silly Space Wolf names can sound to them! +

+ I've found that combining these cultural roots is a good way to defuse potential offence and suggest the huge cultural melting pot that is humanity in 40k. As a result, I've used a Yiddish diminutive meaning 'grandmother' ('Bobe'). Language is something that really interests me. Because tabletop gaming is largely (though not exclusively) a Western hobby, I share cultural references with lots of people who look at my figures. As a result, I enjoy exploring thigns that are hopefully unfamiliar to both myself and any viewers, to help add interest and 'strangeness' to these characters, who obviously have no relationship to contemporary culture. +

+ Out of focus +

+ Astropaths have an additional challenge for the painter in that the sculpts don't generally have eyes! This can be awkward for the painter, as it's an important focal point. I found the best solution here was to go with great tonal contrast – keeping the skin on the face pale and making the eye sockets as dark as possible creates high tonal contrast, which draws the eye. In order that this works, it's important that the tonal contrast on the rest of the model is minimal, or that eye-catching bits lead the eye to the focus (as with the wrist and hood decorations on Mercurial) +

+ In both cases, the eye hollows were filled with sepia ink followed by subsequent red and purple washes in tiny amounts, which left slight bags under the eyes. I used less red for Mercurial, as his palette and skintone is cooler. +

+ Stop titivating! +

+ All still heavily WIP, but if I can't work out what to do next when painting, I find it very useful to put the brushes down and step away before I spoil the work I've done. Some pictures in the cold light of day tend to give a good idea of where to step next. +

+ In this case, Ferlinghetti looks like a warmer robe (perhaps a similar saffron yellow to Childeric's?) would provide a better complement to his darkened hood, and provide some contrast to his spooling paper roll. Quite tempted to add a pink strip to this, a bit like a till-receipt roll... :) +

+ inload: Adding Story +

+inload: Adding Story+

+ Having pontificated about loving Adeptus Mechanicus yesterday, here's a picture of my old Braun VI Skitarii regiment from around 2006(?), now sold. Sorry about the size of the picture, which seems to be breaking my blog!

+ I was really proud of these guys, as they were my first all-custom army. Every single model was converted and personalised, which was a lot of work, but great fun. It really got me thinking about the army as a collection of miniatures, rather than as a group.

+ That sounds a bit peculiar, but what I mean is that whereas before I was thinking of 'squads with X weapon', I began thinking of each model as an individual, with his own story and character. I've always enjoyed personalising models, but whereas before this process had been 'hard' or rules-led – i.e. a character with a particular set of wargear or equipment to demonstrate their personality and story – now I began to look more at the 'soft' approach. Rather than showing the relic 'Hammer of Hubris' on a model to mark him out, I became interested in how I could show ruthlessness, hesitation and similar elements of character on a miniature.+

'Little' Horus Aximand, of the Sons of Horus

+ Little Horus (see left) is a good example of where I took this idea. The army was built to portray the force in Dan Abnett's excellent short story Little Horus, which explored the doubts this character had about rebelling against the Emperor.

+ I tried to show this by having an open pose, his weapons to hand but not en garde. He stands facing his right, but is taking a hesitant step in the other direction.

+ His sword, Mourn-It-All, is pulling him towards his right. The sword represents old oaths, loyalty to the Emperor, and the battles he has already fought in his name. His face is also turned this way.

+ However, the trailing scrolls, and pteruges (loincloth) are pulling him towards his left, sinister side. This is also where his helmet – which represents his cold, logical side, and loyalty to Horus – is upside-down to symbolise doubt and confusion. It has a half-moon etched above the eyepiece, a detail lifted from the story that neatly echoes his internal dilemma.

+The overall pose is still, but not static. I don't like models that look like they're on parade (at least, unless that's the intention!), and the minor asymmetry adds a little dynamism without being too distracting.

+ Ultimately (spoiler warning!) we know that Little Horus follows the rebellion, so the small step he is taking to the left confirms him as loyal to Horus. +

+++

+ The expression on his face is obviously important as well, but using paintwork to show character is something I'd like to go into at a later date.

+ Adding story to a miniature is something that can really be brought about through posing, and it's something that rewards a bit of forward planning.+