Ork Blitza-Bommer All Done

Here's the Finished Product!

     I completed the base this evening.  Unless I decide to add some flocking or grass tufts (which I'm likely to do).  The painting, at the very least, is totally complete.  I kept the base simple, but focused on some weathered accents in the abandoned oil drum, and rusted bucket.  I really enjoyed mucking up these two items, especially the barrel.

I Love Rust and Such

     I used some very simple techniques and the outcome was terrific.  Here's a quick step-by-step:

1.  I based coated the barrel with the old Knarloc Green which is now called Loren Forest (Citadel paint).  
2. Then applied the transfers like this: a gloss coat, put down the two transfers, applied micro-sol, let it dry, then applied matte coat to seal the transfers in.
3. Once the matte coat was dry, I took a sponge and some Knarloc Green (Loren Forest), and dabbed it over the transfers to "rough them up" a bit.
4. Applied a wash of Agrax Earthshade across the whole barrel.  I made sure to reapply to recesses that would have a larger collection of dirt, rust, and oil.
5. I then used the new technical paint Typhus Corrosion.  I applied it very heavily to the bottom of the barrel, and along the underside to show that it might have been slapped around in the mud just a bit when it was hurriedly left by the Imperials.  Typhus Corrosion leaves a grit, which would be vital to the next step.
6. I dabbed Vallejo Pigment (or weathering powder) Dark Red Ochre (sic) around the bottom of the barrel were the Typhon Corrosion was thickest.  Once applied fully, I took a clean brush loaded with white mineral spirits and carefully tapped over the powder.  The mineral spirits really flow of the brush and quickly run across the model.  I do this to "pull" the pigments onto the model.
7. Once the mineral spirits have dried (this is a pretty quick process) I now very carefully dabbed matte finish over the rusted areas, and then eventually brushed over the entire barrel.

Oil Spill

     Another really easy effect is the look of some leaked oil onto the mud.  It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but shows up well in person, but essentially all I did was apply a pool of black wash to the earth near the lid.  Once dried I then coated the same area with a gloss coat.  This looks like oil soaking into the ground, but still a little fresh.

Secret Weapons Miniatures Base Review

     This base from Secret Weapons Miniatures is quite nice.  Though it doesn't scream out with detailed features, it fits perfectly with the rest of the army.  I pictured my Orks on a dreary wasteland, harsh and unforgiving, but with plenty of space to speed about.  I liked the subtle tire tracks through the dirt, and the very simple rocks.  The most important feature for me was that there would still be space for me to attach my flight stand and most all of the Secret Weapons line of bases seem to be very reasonable in the amount of room you have to actually mount a model.  I have a number of other bases that I've purchased from them and all bases arrived nearly completely flash free and with a low amount of mold release on them.  This means they are quickly cleaned up and ready for models.  My one possible complaint would be that the edges sometimes need a bit of filing to get absolutely smooth.  This is really a very minor complaint and honestly if you're in this hobby you're probably more than willing to spend a few minutes filing or sanding to make sure everything is just so.

     A quick word on how I put the flight stand and base together: In order to attach the stand, I traced out the stand before I painted, and carefully carved out a very shallow smooth footprint for it to make solid contact with the base.  I then pinned it in as a final measure.  I'm still going to be awfully careful with this flight stand, as it certainly isn't the most aggressive way to attach it to a base.


Thanks for Stopping By!

     I appreciate everyone that comes by to view my work.  Any feedback is appreciated and I'll be happy to answer any questions.  I'll just leave you with some more pictures of my completed project, enjoy!

Boom Bombs go BOOM!

Boom Bombs

     Before you are the two "Boom Bombs" for the Blitza-Bommer that I've been working on.  I didn't spend a heap load of time on them since they're both mostly concealed by the actual flyer.  Magnets were added so that I can remove them during play as the bombs are obviously one use only.   I did take it as an opportunity to try out a few techniques while painting these:

• Steel Wool to dab on paint to make scratches - This seemed simple enough but steel wool outside of using it wet to get rust and hard grime off of things is a real mess.  The steel wool is loaded with flakes of a dried cleaning agent.  I had to spend some time trying to shake all these bits out of the wool because I had no idea what this agent would do to the paint.  If you can find steel wool without this additive, choose that.  The effect I was hoping to get was a less grouped chipping pattern than the sponge.  I was a little disappointed, to be honest.  Perhaps I just need a bit more practice.  In the end I went back to the tried and true sponge.
• Bit more complex checkers and jaggies - I followed my simple technique of using a fine pencil to very lightly trace out my checkers but I also used a design template that I had laying about.  This template has circular holes of varied sizes, so I placed the nose of the bomb in the circles to make the sketch marks that went around the nose.  This was fairly successful but needed a bit of adjustment.  I then did one reference circle on the white and orange bomb nose, and used the rivets around the nose cone to space my jaggies.  Pretty simple really.
• Typhus Corrosion GW Technical Paint - I recently picked up a pot of Typhus Corrosion and Blood for the Blood God and I was itching to try the Corrosion out.  The effect is fairly subtle here only because I noticed how strong it can be.  Though it resembles a wash to a degree, it is much more opaque.  Fair warning there.  I found that if I applied it, then quickly washed my brush and went back with just a little water on the brush, I was able to smear the paint to blend the effect and this allowed for a bit more translucent look.  I really enjoyed the paint but with great paint comes great responsibility.  Test before slathering it all over your Rhinos or what have you.
• Striped cables - I painted the cables on the bombs yellow and black striped.  I've seen this style done quite often so I wanted to see how much of a pain it might be.  I based with a light orange, then layered on some yellow.  Once this had dried, I just took straight black and eye-balled it from there.  I was careful to try and make the stripes look even.  Working around a thin element like a wire on a model can get you into a bit of trouble if you start getting sloppy with the brush control.  That said, I found this look to be easy to achieve with moderate accuracy.  Might have to use this on some future Ork models.

     Other than that, this was a pretty straight forward bit of fun.  One thing I would like to add: never under-estimate the blending effect that a full matte coat can provide.  When I was done with all the weathering, and before I applied the matte coat, these things looked a bit more like a hot mess.  All the different washes and the technical paint had left various levels of gloss across the models.  By applying a quick matte coat, all that was gone and the effects were blended together.  Should you want some weathering to be glossy (like oil drips and such) it might be best to either apply those after your sealing coat, or apply just a bit of gloss coat in those areas after the matte coat has been applied and dried.

     Just the base left to go.  Here is a little preview:

Ready for take off!

Ork Bommer Almost Complete

     The Ork Bommer, which has been languishing about for years now, is nearing completion.  I have been using this model as a test bed for some weathering techniques I had read about.  Essentially the plane itself is all finished up.  I have the two over-sized bombs to paint up, and a fancy resin base from Secret Weapons Miniatures to do.  I need to go pick up some appropriate flock for the base, and figure out what colors I'm going to use there.  The bombs actually present a bigger challenge in the style department.  I could see doing them up in a really rusty dilapidated manner, or painted and decorated in a lovingly Orky style.  I thought about painting one up as Bullet Bill from the old Super Mario games, but I fear that's a little obvious and it's crossing the streams a bit.

Weathering Techniques I Tried

     One of the biggest experiments on this model was using oil paints.  I have long read about them, heard many a story about how it can add another dimension to your painting.  I was a bit intimidated about using something that wasn't water based, and took so long to dry.  After reading through Forge World's Model Masterclass book, I finally felt as though I was armed with enough information to proceed.

     For the first technique, I used the oil paint to shade panel lines and add a look of rust here and there.  Essentially I started small here.  I didn't use the one oil paint I choose in huge quantities.  First I selected Burnt Umber as the color, thinned it with mineral spirits and began using it to shade some of the metallic paints, and panel lines.  The first thing I noticed was how translucent the paint was.  This meant that, applying it as thin as I was, I could control the effect by adding layers after letting each layer dry to build up an effect.  With the paint thinned and the long drying time of the oil paint, this allows you to "push" the paint around quite a lot.  You can easily go back with just a brush loaded with just a bit of the mineral spirits and easily remove the paint if you don't like the look.

     The second technique was using a mixture of the oil paint with a rust weathering powder flicked on to the model using a brush and a toothpick.  The second step was to airbrush mineral spirits over the spots to soften them, then use a brush to streak the spots.  I'm not absolutely certain that I did this properly.  I didn't see the spots softening quite as much as I expected.  The streaking worked like a charm, so I'll certainly use that in the future.

Here are some more shots...