PAInting guide
House Orhlacc knights, Titanicus scale
Hail mighty listeners!!
As promised I am trying to do a guide for every project I do… unfortunately the two Titans were done sporadically, in different locations and so I didn’t get many sensible pics, but ill try and piece one together as soon as I can.
This guide is for the
I hope you find it useful
Paint List
- Halfords grey primer
- Leadbelcher – Citadel base
- Naggaroth night – Citadel base
- Black – Vallejo Game colour
- Balthasar Gold – Citadel base
- Warplock Bronze – Citadel base
- Nuln oil gloss – Citadel shade
- Agrax
earthshade – Citadel shade - Xereus Purple – Citadel layer
- Genestealer purple – Citadel layer
- Incubi Darkness – Citadel base
Nashut Copper – Citadel layer- Nihilakh oxide – Citadel technical
- Rakarth flesh – Citadel base
- Pallid
wych flesh – Citadel layer - XV-88 Citadel base
- Balor brown – Citadel layer
- Caliban green – Citadel base
- Mephiston red – Citadel base
- Chestnut ink – Old Citadel hex pot
- Purple ink – Old Citadel hex pot
- Doombull brown – Citadel layer
- Terracotta earth – Secret weapon weathering powder
- Typhus corrosion – Citadel technical (I seriously don’t seem to be able to paint a model without using this somewhere)
- Wonder wash – A ‘
georges marvellous medicine’ concoction of Klear floor polish,agrax earthshade and a bunch of other stuff. Dan picked it up on a paintingcourse, and is looking for the recipe - Mechanicum standard grey – Citadel base
- Astrogranite – Citadel basing paint
Step by step
Preparation
I clean my models up using a mixture of tools, anything to get the job done. I tend to use a modelling knife, needle file and micro files, I also use the citadel mould line scraper because its surprisingly useful. I use revel
I always dust the models down now before I prime them. I use a giant makeup brush to do this.
I used Halfords grey primer for these. I could have used black but as the carapace is dark I thought the metal work skeleton ought to be a bit brighter and the grey primer would help with this.
Basecoats
First off I used
The next step was to block out the panels with Naggaroth night. This paint covers surprisingly poorly over grey so I used three thin coats.
The next step was to block out the other areas in black. House Orhlacc use very simple personal heraldry and is largely defined by the colours of the ‘field’ on which the house heraldry sits. So I started with the shields and then reflected the design on the top carapace. The shoulder guards appear to be black on the right and purple on the left (when looking at the pauldron).
The relatively simple heraldry displayed by the Knights of House Orhlacc is indicative of the heraldic tradition of this Knight House. Behind each Knight’s house heraldry is a personal cipher pertaining to the initials of the individual knight’s name — the primary and traditional means of the iteration of personal heraldry by the House of Orhlacc. This presents in part the House’s character, as they consider the excessive display of personal heraldry other than by those of the highest rank as vainglory and hubris.
I made both weapons black and then randomly assigned leg panels in black. I made sure each one was different as it is the variation of the black and purple that make up the knights personal heraldry.
Next was the trim, which is
The next thing I did was to pick out some details in the subframe and weapons using Warplock bronze. I chose things like the hoppers, the
Shades
The first shade I did was an all over wash of
Followed by an all over wash of Agrax
Highlights
I love this stage.
The scale of these models I decided to use a mix of panel lighting and zenithal lighting as a general rule. It saves time and I think looks a little more realistic. The detail of these knights is insane and you could very easily get carried away. I decided to consciously avoid doing that.
This pic gives a great visual guide on the styles of highlighting. Thanks to www.modelbrush.com
The first colour I tackled was purple. I started with
I highlighted the black using my new favourite colour for “cold” black, Incubi darkness. I used a 75:25 black
The bronze trim was next, I used Hashut copper for this, nice and simple and I didn’t overdo it, especially on the trim of the pauldrons which I barely highlighted at all. I didn’t want the trim to be too shiny.
As a matter of personal choice, I really like adding oxidation to bronze. The addition of the muted green verdigris adds a lot to the overall feel of the model. I like using Nihilakh oxide for this as its awesome and easy to use. I didn’t want to overdo this so I used a thin mix and kept it minimal.
Detailing
The next step was to start adding character. The heraldry on house House Orhlacc is virtually identical in each. On the pauldrons, the black field each has a sun, and the purple field a Manticore. I would have preferred to use decals for these small details but I had neither.
For the suns, I had too freehand. I used Rakarth flesh for the basecoat. There is no fast way to get through this. Its all about patience and taking your time. If you make a mistake you can ‘work back in’ with black or Naggaroth to tidy things up.
I also added the gryphon decal from the transfer sheet that comes in the box using
I also added details across the carapace and on the loincloth and shield. Keeping the concept that they avoid personal embellishment in my head I kept these minimal and reasonably uniform.
This is the transfer I used. On all the pics of the House
So the leaders got two left facing ones, one on each of the shoulder pads on the purple fields. The other four knights I put one on the left pauldron and an imperial eagle on the right. I felt this was a reasonable compromise, and aslo a good way of warking out the leaders. I could have ignored the facing of the gryphon and used the right facing ones as well, but it would bug me every time I saw them. Yes, I’m *THAT* sad.
I made a few modifications, changing the wings, filling out the head and thinning out the tail, I also painted over the decal in Rakarth flesh to make the colour the same as the sun on the opposite field. Here is how the Manticore should look
And here is the end product of my tampering! I highlighted all the Rakarth with Pallid
The next part was to add the manticore to the shield in a gold colour, which I chose to represent with XV-88 highlighted with Balor brown. I found it best to just try and represent an impression rather than struggle with getting it perfect. I also added a few bits to random loincloths.
The next thing was the heat bloom on the weapons. I chose to add this to every weapon. I used inks for this to get intensity. The ones I use are the old citadel ones, but there are plenty of current alternatives. I started with chestnut, then purple,
The last bit of detail was the green for the canopy glass and a red marking that I got from this piece of fluff.
The use of a cipher in crimson emblazoned upon a shield indicates the sworn oath to shed the blood of a foe in open battle.
With such a cool bit of background, I had to add it. I didn’t put it on every shield so as not to overdo it.
Finishing touches and weathering
The last step was to give the model an all over wash of the wonder wash. We will try and get the formula for this. The end effect is to punch the contrast and tie the model together. Because of the Klear varnish in the
The next step was to use the weathering powder. I actually did this all over using a thin wash with water as a medium and then mopping up the excess surface wash with a paper towel. This gives the effect of the dust in the recesses, leaving a minimal stain in patches, which looks nice and realistic.
I did this stage at the same time as the weathering powder on the base to tie the two together. Of course, I focussed a lot more attention on the legs as these would get more dirt.
Basing
The
The sand was then painted with several coats of thinned down Doombull brown. I allowed this to go onto the grey, and the feet to begin tying things together and start the weathering process.
I then used a watered-down mix of the weathering powder in patches on the base and feet. I kept this random and natural.
The final step was to add random patches of Typhus corrosion to the base to add more colour and variety to the base making it look more natural.
The finishing touch is the rim, which I painted black, No matter how hard I try I keep coming back to black rims. Id frames the model so well I am yet to find an alternative I prefer.
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