WIP: Cawdor Gang Basecoat

One of the things that drew me to Cawdor was their compelling backstory. There's something interesting about a group of religious zealots running around the underhive "purifying" infidels. I also happen to be a sucker for mid-90s GW minis, and these Alan Perry sculpts are certainly no exception.

When I started this project, I decided to name the gang the Crimson Brotherhood. I wanted them to have a monk-like feel rather than the court jester vibe they give off on the cover of their box. To represent this, I chose a dark red color scheme combined with earth-toned accents:

I ended up disassembling the Heavy for ease of painting:

The tunics are Vallejo Model Color (VMC) Burnt Cadmium Red (814). Pants are a 1:1 ratio of VMC Burnt Cad and VMC Red (926). It's a little difficult to make out in the pictures, but the Burnt Cad and Red combo makes the pants just a shade lighter than the tunic.

Boots, gloves, and masks are Citadel (GW) Scorched Brown, while the gaiters and undershirts are Vallejo Game Color (VGC) Khaki. Belts and pouches are VGC Earth.

Rope is VMC Sand Yellow (916), which is a little too bright for my tastes and will be toned down in future stages. The skin is a 1:1:1 ratio of VGC Dark Fleshtone, GW Rotting Flesh, and GW Bronzed Flesh.

Hair is GW Snakebite Leather, which ended up redder than I thought it would. I'm still going back and forth on it, but it might be funny/cool for the Crimson Brotherhood to be an all-ginger group of religious fanatics.

Metal objects have been given a basecoat of GW Chaos Black. I've decided to go with a faux non-metallic metal (NMM) look, so these parts will get a coat of either a grey (gun barrels and knifes) or camo green (gun casings and canteens) later on.

It's worth noting that once dispensed onto a wet palette, all paints are watered down in a roughly 1:1 ratio with an acrylic solution comprising distilled water, flow-aid, and slow-dri, also known as "Gunk."

Watered down like this, the paint can require several passes before you get a good, even coat (VGC Earth was especially tricky), but you end up with solid coverage and the mini's details intact.

Next up: shading and progress on the gang's bases.

So, until next time, keep painting!

New Stuff: Vallejo Paints

Boy Howdy, do I love getting new hobby purchases in the mail. Who doesn't, right? Yesterday, I got in an order of new paints.

They're a combination of Vallejo Model Color (VMC), Game Color (VGC), and Model Air (VMA) colors:

VMCs include Transparent Woodgrain and Natural Wood, which I'm going to try out on the stocks of my Cawdor gang members' weapons - decided to go for an old school look. I also got Transparent Red (blood effects!) and Orange (wood tint).

Game Color paints include Wolf Grey, Dark Fleshtone, and Filthy Brown. I always meant to pick up the Citadel equivalents of these (Space Wolves Grey, Dark Flesh, and Vomit Brown, respectively), but never got around to it. And since GW doesn't make them anymore, I went with Vallejo.

Lastly, we have a selection of VMA metallics, including Aluminum, Chrome, Steel, Copper, Rust, and Black. I've been meaning to try these out, as they look really cool and I've read nothing but great things about them online.

I ordered these paints from the War Store, which runs a first-rate online hobby shop that fills in nicely for my FLGS when the latter doesn't have something I'm looking for. I say first-rate because I've always received good service from Neal and his crew, and this time was no different.

If you look closely at the picture above, you'll notice that instead of Black I actually have Metallic Gun. Turns out they packaged the wrong paint. But I sent an email last night and by this afternoon I had the correct paint on its way to my door.

These new paints will fit in nicely with my collection, which consists of a ton of older Citadel colors (Deadly Nightshade FTW!), some VMCs, a handful of VGCs and VMAs, a few Reaper pots (including some of their MSP HD series), and one P3 (Coal Black is kind of awesome).

You may have noticed in the pictures of my last post that all of my paints are in dropper bottles:

A few years ago, I bought a bunch online and transferred all of my Citadel colors into them. I would highly recommend this, as I haven't had a single color dry out on me and the droppers provide a high level of paint dispensing control that flip-top pots just can't reproduce.

Anyways, I'm gonna start trying out some of my new purchases, so, until next time, keep painting.

Showcase: Painting Studio

Because I'm still basecoating my Cawdor gang, and posting workspace photos seems to be all the rage these days, I thought I would share some pictures of my studio.

My painting studio is in my bedroom, so I don't have a ton of room to work with. I've attempted to make the space as modular as possible, which allows me to put up and break down different setups when needed.

Hobby and painting setup:

The table is an old IKEA piece. It provides a huge amount of workspace and the wood/laminate combo is pretty cool too.

The wall-mounted storage bins are Stack-On, while the paint holders are actually nail polish racks. Both work great keeping my bits, tools, and paints visible, organized, and off the tabletop.

The drawer unit under the table is also IKEA, and works like a charm keeping bigger tools and supplies out of my workspace (if you couldn't tell, I'm a bit of a neat freak).

The big, heavy-duty task lamps - the grey and black ones are from my father's old home workshop while I bought the brown one at a neighborhood flea market a few months ago - are bolted into the table for stability.

The lamps on either side house OttLite bulbs while the one in the center uses regular daylight florescent tubes. Together, the three lamps provide more than enough light for hobby work, painting, and photography.


Airbrush setup:

I purchased the spray booth new, then built the rest of the extraction unit out of a piece of scrap wood and a dryer-hookup kit from a local DIY store. It goes together fairly effortlessly and I haven't passed out from paint fumes yet, so ... that's good.

Photography setup:

The light box is a generic kit you can acquire through any number of merchants on the internets. The lights that come with the kit are garbage, but the light box and tripod are really useful.

At the other end of the room I keep un-built kits (yeah, I have a lot to get through), supplies that I don't use on a regular basis, and my White Dwarf collection:

Big surprise, the above shelving unit is also IKEA, which I'm pretty sure is the official furniture outfitter of hobbyists the world over.

Overall, this setup works well for painting toy soldiers part time. Of course, a dedicated hobby room would be nice, but that's just not in the cards right now.

Till next time, keep painting.