The tank from the Warhammer 40K universe is finished, and I’m reasonably happy with it. I’ll admit, I felt a bit out of my element. At its core, this is an armor build – something I have not done very much at all. In fact, my previous experience in the genre were two tanks and an armored car, and those were built 10 years ago.
I did turn to the interwebs for help, but knowing techniques, and being able to capably apply them, are two different things. So there are a few warts on here to say the least. (Not too mention that it is only NOW I realize that I forgot to drill out all of the gun barrels. ALL of them…. {sigh} )
Chipping was applied via sponge using Ammo of Mig Chipping color (AMIG0044), a method and medium I have become very happy with. This was followed with various streaks and stains using Ammo’s Starship Filth Oilbrusher (AMIG3513), streaked and blended with some craft store brand odorless turpenoid.
I then applied various pastel chalks to attempt to simulate dirt accumulation. Things went a bit astray at this point.
I chose several colors that I thought would simulate dryer dust as well as wetter mud. Applying the dry, dusty color went well. However, as I applied the darker colors, things began to mix up, and in many places, turned to a more rust color. I made some attempts to correct it with darker pastels, but it didn’t seem to help.
I’ve always been the type of builder who sees failure as a learning experience, so I simply decided “it is what it is”, and kept moving on. I don’t think it looks bad, but it’s just not the look I was going for. Lesson learned. More Youtubes for the mud is in order!
I didn’t apply any decals, as I plan to sell this, and I wanted to allow the customer to add decals as they saw fit. Though it won’t look as organic as applying them before the weathering, I thought I’d see how allowing for that in such a manner helped – or harmed – the sale of the kit. We’ll see!
Another new area for me was painting the figure. I think it turned out OK, though I did not like how the eyes looked. It’s as if Alice Cooper joined the Imperial Guard, and decided to drive around in a Chimera singing (angrily, of course) at the top of his lungs. The paint is mostly Citadel colors, straight from their phone app. Base, shade, dry brush, and highlight. From a few feet away, he looks OK, but don’t get too close. It’s not a pretty dite close in!
Overall, I really enjoyed this build. These Citadel kits are outstanding fun. And because it’s all made up nonsense, you can pretty much do as you please. There’s no fuss with the build, no extreme parts count to frustrate, no fiddly tracks to snap together. Build it and paint it.
I think that’s the way modeling is supposed to be.
Try one for yourself!
Leave a Reply