Weathering Techniques: Oil Paints

     Welcome back to TTG for another tutorial.  I had been asked by one of my readers "How do you get such a great weathered look on your terrain sets for the store?"  Well, I decided that I'd share this process for all of my readers along with some pictures snapped periodically throughout the process.
     Lets take a look at the materials:
          1) Earth tone oil paints, black oil paint, white oil paint.  Do not overspend here, just keep it simple.
          2) Turpentine.  If indoors, get the less smelly stuff.
          3) Junk paintbrushes.
          4) Hair dryer (optional) 
Step 1:  Load up a napkin or something disposable with blobs of the oil paints.

Step 2:  Randomly "dot" the entire model with small blobs of the oil paint.  Less is more here, we are not trying to saturate the finish already achieved, merely age it.

Step 3:  Dip your brush into some oil based thinner or turpentine and load the bristles up slightly.  Place the brush directly on the model and streak the brush slowly downward.  The longer the line, the more consistent the aging effect.

 *** Note, this process may be a little scary at first when the colors begin to look like they are totally changing the paintjob, but no worries, as we will be streaking the turpentine over and over again until you essentially have just a mask of paint over the model.***

  This is what it will look like still wet but blended.

 An overnight dry will be required, so set it and forget it.  Below you will see what the effect looks like when finished.  Please note that this is still WIP so obviously there is plenty more work to do.  NOW GET OUT THERE AND PAINT!

How to Simulate Battle Damage

So, we're back with a quick and dirty battle damage tutorial for your viewing pleasure!  The bastion kits come pre-molded with some bullet holes out of the box, so no drilling was done in this step.  There are million tutorials out there on how to create battle damage and this is not intended to be one.  The focus here is to show you how to very quickly paint the battle damage in a metallic color with minimal effort.  Remember that all the steps in painting should not have to take forever and use the tiny 000 paintbrushes and magnifying glasses.  Battle damage is random and does not require a lot of time or energy, so without further adieu:

Step 1:  Find an oil based paint pen in metallic silver.  For this demonstration, I'll be using the popular Sanford® uni-Paint Marker, Medium Point, Metallic Silver.  Find it <-- there.

Step 2:  Make your bullet holes or blast damage, or use the pre-damaged bits like I did.

Step 3:  Grab the pen and gently push the tip into the bullet hole, allowing paint to flow ever so slightly.  Be very careful in this step, as the paint tends to flow quite fast if you aren't careful.

Step 4:  Hit the freshly painted battle scars with a sepia or black wash, and, VIOLA.

ENJOY!

TerraiNation IV

Hello all, I just wanted to post some of the progress on my TerraiNation project.  I did some painting and weathering on a bastion kitbash that has turned out quite nicely.  Sorry, photos are unedited...Let me know what you think!

Great Deal for Commission Painters

    
     Just a quick note to all the commission painters out there, I have found some EXTREMELY cheap Vallejo paints on sale.  This is a KILLER DEAL that you should not pass on.  The Panzer Aces 48 paint set is selling right now for 50 bucks!  That's right, 50 dollars for 48 paints!  That is unheard of!  Click here to find this great deal!  Tell em' TTG sent ya!
Truly,
   TTG

Objective Markers 101

Good morning readers, today I'd like to talk about objective markers.
     Most Warhammer 40K games are fought over objectives.  I prefer to charge my army into some nicely painted objective markers rather than the green acrylic laser cutouts made by G.W.  Call it picky, but when I'm putting my carefully painted, prize winning Nurgle army on the table, I want to be inundated with equally matched terrain and objective markers.
     That said, I am going to show a bit of a step-by-step on how I go about creating unique objective markers to bring to tournaments.  Follow along as I share some of my modeling tips and tricks to help enhance your game.

Step 1:
     Pick a suitable base for the objective marker.  The base size should accommodate all of the items that you intend on adding to your objective marker.  A good size for objective marker bases is 60mm.  This size will allow you to add plenty of details to the objective, yet the overall size will not be so big that it intrudes on the playability of the game.  This is the size I will be using for the example.
Step 2:
     It is generally easier to paint and flock the base prior to adding the extra details such as ammo cans, barrels, etc...  Lets take a look at how I started mine for this tutorial.

     Ok, so what we have is our 60mm base, some of my asphalt mix and general sand and stone as a base layer.  After you have a good base layer, the next step is to prime it, use whatever color you want.
     Next, I added a pallet and a parking cone.  Then I laid down all of the base layers of paint, and weathered it a bit and added in some flock.  Now the base is starting to take form.

Step 3:  

     Now is a good time to get a feel for where you want to place the "junk" on your objective marker.  For this tutorial I have prepared some random bits to add on to the objective marker.  It's quite easy to come up with 100 different ways to organize your bits on the base, but I suggest snapping a picture of the ones you really like, because we still need to paint all of the bits.  The reason I organize the pieces now is so that I know what will fit and what wont.  There is no reason to build and paint something that won't be going on the base.  

Step 4:

     Paint all of the bits you're planning on adding to the base and you're done!  EASY! 

New Blood Angels Stormraven

New Stormraven to be released for pre-order: 
Is it just me, or is this model equivalent to the album 'Chinese Democracy' released by Guns N Roses and heavily anticipated for many years which was AWFUL, yet still everyone bought?  I kind of think that the GW Fanboy's out there will get one just because, but I must say that this thing looks AWFUL just as 'Chinese Democracy' played awful after 15 years of waiting.
Maybe I'm just too picky...
Well, what are your thoughts?

Abaddon The Despoiler

     Greetings all, tonight I managed to finish some of the blending on the cape and get the armor blackened to my liking.  I also drilled a couple of holes and installed some magnets for some good ole' fashion arm swapping.      
     This idea was inspired be Frugal Dave's Blog titled "A Year of Frugal Gaming" which covers the topic of hobbying on a budget.  I had the terminator lord model already laying about and the sprue contains a dozen or so weapon arms that I thought I'd magnetize to get the versatility out of the kit.  Also, following in Dave's footsteps, since the model was laying around, it means that I didn't have to spend ANY money on it, so building and painting it would be FREE FUN!
     Seems a simple concept, but from experience, ADHD in army building is almost inevitable.  Thanks Dave for getting me back on track!
Now for some pics