Four go to war!

Welcome to the first post of "four go to war." A new Warhammer painting blog to throw into the soup of painting blogs out there. As much to remind me how I did certain effects than to chronicle my work, but any comments or crit will be greatly and warmly accepted. 

I'll start big with Forge Worlds brand new Avenger strike fighter. Love the design for this beast, hats off to the amazing Daren Parrwood. I'll try and keep it as step by step as I can. But please leave a comment if you want any details on effects or techniques. So here goes! Please excuse the photos taken from my phone, finished model will be lit and SLI'd.

Step #1 
Obligatory unboxing shot. And because it took me bloody hours, the masking of the windows. and when painted/airbrushed i filled the inside of the cockpit with fimo (bluetac type stuff) to stop the inside from being painted black and blue and grey. Was definitely worth it. 

Step #2

Base coat. The parts were undercoated separately twice then once more after the body is built. Trying my hardest to keep the paint as thin as possible, avoiding clumping. Then I stuck it on its stand and began to regret it. The thing is massive. And kind of daunting to paint. 

                                

Step #3

I didn't photo the progress of the pilots unfortunately! I just zoned out and painted until they were finished. a little NMM-sky on the goggles and some object source lighting on the joystick. didnt want to go over the top as the detail on them is wonderful. seems a shame that they would be cooped up under some frankly blurry plastic. 

Step #4

Airbrush! Please note these first few steps are spread out over several days. I just wanted my first post to be a good read. 

I use a top-loading brush with a compressor in a well ventilated room. Will give details of where to get good airbrushes to anyone that asks. 

The first coat was using Vallejo Air paints. Stunning paints that can just be stuck right into the airbrush, no watering down and barely any clogging. A base of dark grey working up to barley grey nearer the center of each plate. 

The second coat was a sky/baby blue... now stay with me on this. I decided to follow a more traditional method of plane design from WW2 and still used on many airforce planes today. And I think it works. Especially when I start the adding the chips and oil and grunge. 

Well that's all for today. More to come tomorrow!

H