Tuesday 20 September 2016

Painting Scourge for DropFleet Commander - First ships off the production line

So Dropfleet Commander Kickstarter pledges are due "soon" and retail release hopefully mid October. I was lucky enough to get some Scourge ships pre-release and decided to try and paint them. The aim was to have a system that could be repeated without too much effort but looked nice at table ranges - so here goes.

First I undercoated white - I used Citadel white undercoat as it was recommended - and it certainly did the job.

This was followed up with airbrushing everything Vallejo Model Air Chrome - I airbrushed because I didn't have any spray silver - I don't think you need an airbrush but I had it there so used it rather than getting a spray can.

Then everything got a heavy wash with Citadel "Nuln Oil" and left to dry



I followed the Null Oil with a heavy drybrush of Chrome again to return the highlights to a nice shiny effect.



Purple ink (Citadel Druchii Violet) was added to the ridges and left to dry, followed by green (Citadel Athonian Camo) to most of the rest. I went for green as I always see the Scourge Cruisers as almost serpentine in my head.




Once dried I deployed my secret weapon - a make-up brush as recommended by the Hawk painting gurus at Cardiff. I  drybrushed everything with Vallejo Model Air Gold. This gives a really great sheen I think



Picked out "eyes" in red etc, quick coat of matt varnish for protection followed by gloss varnish on the eyes and done. I tried a rough yellow \ white effect on the engines but this may get changed.

Not 100% happy - I think they may need a bit of red ink on the arms \ tentacles but not sure? Similarly the matt varnish takes the sheen down a little which is a shame - not sure if plastic models need a coat or should I try gloss then matt? On the plus side none of this took much time and I'm pretty sure I can churn out a reasonable force once the KS delivers.



3 comments:

  1. I think they look great, Ken! I like Gary's suggestion of hitting the "eyes" with a dot of bright yellow, and then maybe a tiny white white dot on top of that.

    As far as varnish goes, the matte will defo dull them down. Since you're using an airbrush, I suggest a satin airbrush varnish. I use Minitaire, but Vallejo might have a satin ("semi-gloss"? Dunno...). Satin is halfway between gloss and matte, so you get a shine, just not a "wet" look. Then go back over the "eyes" and anything else you want to look wet with brushed on gloss varnish. That's what I plan on doing... 8^D

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  2. Excellent guide. I'm going to use this myself I think. Thanks :)

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