Diesel DM

Sculpting the very, very small

Way back at Lock & Load 2012, I attended a session where Sean Bullough, a Privateer Press studio sculptor, covered how to sculpt leather pouches.  I’m like to immerse myself in all aspects of Warmachine, the game, the fluff and the hobby.  A big part of the hobby side is sculpting, and I’ve never tried that.  And I really wanted to.  So it was with great enthusiasm that I took notes on how to sculpt a pouch.  Sadly nearly a year has passed without me getting a chance to actually try this out, so my memories are pretty faded and my notes are cryptic in a few spots.  I’m sure they made total sense when I wrote them.

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Cygnar Sentinel, shield guarding your Warcasters

With the most recent errata having change Shield Guard to be more useful, I wanted to get the Sentinel painted up, ready for use with the low-ARM casters like Kara and Caine.  Not too much to discuss regarding the painting here, pretty standard for my Cygnar techniques, except for the top of the chassis.  For me, painting the circular highlights on the top of the shoulders is insanely difficult, to the point where I can’t seem to accomplish it.  I certainly made attempts with both the Charger and Lancer and I made multiple attempts on this one.  Without much success I instead turned the problem upside down.  Rather than base-coating with the mid-tone (Cygnar Blue Base), I base coated with the highest highlight (a mix of Cygnar Blue Highlight and Frostbite).  Then I layered all the darker colors up to it instead, as shading around a circle is much easier than highlighting out from one.  I can’t really explain why that is, but there you have.  This was a big experiment for me and I had my doubts, but it turned out great.  The only thing I would change is to have based with straight Frostbite instead, to give it an even brighter highlight.

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The captain rose early the next morning and made straight for the Kommander’s quarters carrying a breakfast tray. While he was not envious of being the camp liaison to Kommander Zoktavir, he knew it was safest to isolate The Butcher from the rest of the men. As he approached the newly built quarters he noticed the door was left open. He cautiously entered setting the tray on the table. Through the open door came sounds of a heated argument which had escalated to shouting. The captain sprinted to the mechaniks workshop. Zoktavir, Battle axe in hand, had three mechaniks backed against the rear wall, blocking the door to the cellar. The mechaniks brandished large wrenches and pipes as weapons, hoping to somehow defend themselves.

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Painting has begun on the Stormwall.  Wow, there is a lot of model to cover, even laying down the initial metal base coats is taking a while.  I am a slow painter to begin with, so increasing the surface area this drastically has really taken it’s toll.  Below are a couple shots showing the base coats of Pig Iron and Brassy Brass.  For the guns, cannons and some of the accents I mixed Thamar Black with the Pig Iron to give them a darker base.  The Brassy Brass will be covered with Glorious Gold as I do for all my models.  The Brassy Brass gives excellent coverage and provides a great undercoat for the Glorious Gold.

Pig Iron and Brassy Brass base coats

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