Hobby Tricks: Prepping symbols, Sticks and BLOOD!

TJ here to share a couple of basic things I have used/ noticed that have helped me save time or just plain kicked ass. Let's take a look.

So the Alpha legion symbols you have seen on my Berzerkers and Oblits are all pretty well shaded and highlighted. I didn't paint each one of those painstakingly over the course of hours. NOOOO! I painted them all at once with a regular brush and some help from plain old Blue Tac.

I stuck these ALpha Legion Symbols onto the blue tac and then primed them right on the blue tac. DOn't worry, you can still use the blue tac afterward and it is $2 if you can't (but you can). Then you come through with a big brush and paint base them all and then come back and dry brush the highlights. No cleaning up the surrounding shoulder pad, no being careful. Just get 100 or more done at a time. It saved me hours on the Alpha Legion and is still saving me time. I just glue the symbols on later.

Another thing I did was use the blue tac ($2) and stuck it to some yard sticks that I had cut in half (less than $1 each). This let me airbrush and highlight the models super fast. I know this trick isn't new and isn't unknown, but I know I thought i was fine without the sticks and man was I wrong. I based and highlighted 115 models with three colors of blue in an hour and five minutes. 115 models! I can't believe I knew this trick existed and never tried it. It costs three dollars to set up. DO IT!

The last little trick I have that I have been using lately is just mixing 50/50 Blood For the Blood God technical paint with Secret Weapon's Realistic Water effect medium. Take a look at it dried on that base. That's completely set. It looks wet and passed right over the skulls to pool looking pretty much like fresh blood to me. You could go heavier on the BFTBG to make it thicker too. I was just stoked by the final result and wanted to share it. BTW, I have used a bunch of different still water and I was really impressed by SW's formula. It just works better and easier and is very affordable compared to the alternatives.

Anyway, those are just some tricks I have tried and found recently. I think I might do something like this once in a while. Have you tried any of these? Let me know how it worked.

Pure Michigan Player Feature: Harley Mace's Dread Knight

Here is a quick Michigan Player feature oh Harley Mace's Dreadknight conversion.  Between the conversion and paint this model really stood out over the last weekend at Gamer's Gauntlet.

Air Compressor Revamp for the Airbrush; Don't fear the shop compressor!

One thing that has really put in me off lately from 40k hobby is not feeling settled.  I've been in the upheval of my life for almost a year now and things are looking like they might finally settle back in.  This year was one of the hardest of my life in which I came out alive and well and a better man for.  I want to get back on that horse and start doing great work agian.  This is my step one back into the light.

Wolfson's Dark Eldar Ravagers of the Obsidian Rose

 Hello everyone Wolfson here to bring you some more pics from the armory of the Cabal of the Obsidian Rose.  I recently completed two ravagers for my Kabal and am very excited that I almost have  this army completely done.  Lets look!

Wolfson's Dark Eldar Raiders of the Obsidian Rose!

Hello everyone Wolfson here bringing you some pictures of what I have completed lately.  I  am very happy with how they turned out so lets take a look!

Easy Camouflage Patterns with Silly Putty Masking!

Old School here to share a quick tip for those of you who want to use camouflage in your armies. I have struggled with tape and paint-on stuff for some time and never got the actual camo effect I have seen on various vehicles in my military career. I read about using Silly Putty for masking on a WWII forum and decided to give it a try ...

Hobby Tip Video: Pre-Shading with an Airbrush

Hello Everyone,

General Chaos here with a hobby tip video. A friend of mine who plays Blood Angels gave me a bunch of his vehicles to base coat for him. Since they wasn't mine I decided to experiment with them. I seen a couple guides on pre-shading and thought I'd try it out. What's pre-shading? Well, If you ever look at a well worn airplane you'll notice there's weathering around the sheet metal panels that make up the shell. Like this

Well I was toying around with it and thought I'd create a video, after seeing how the Stormraven came out, on a bunch of razorback/rhinos. Hope you enjoy it and thanks for watching.

CVinton paints like a fiend, bumps ... and then paints some more!

Hey everyone, I've been skipping so much material I've been wanting to post that I'm starting to feel like an over packed suitcase bursting with so much 40k garbage to pour out onto the blog. So here is a handful of show off threads all rolled into one, included 5 of my DFG Painting Challenge Kill points:

TZEENTCH CHARIOT Comission Completion (pic heavy)

I just finished two Tzeench chariots for a local guy and just thought I 'd share the finished models with the DFG readers.

Pre and Post Shading a Rhino: Airbrush Video

Old School here and recently, in my attempts to keep up with the Joneses (or the CVintons, lol), I purchased an Iwata HP-CS and began scouring the internet for GOOD advice. Starting with what tips CVinton gave me, I looked for techniques that I could practice and maybe even have success with at my admittedly novice level of airbrushing experience. I came across the video below during my research and have to admit that it offers a very solid guide to pre and post shading a rhino ...

How-To True Flame Airbrushing Effect Video in HD

Heres a video about doing the true flame effect on a chimera. I hope for all of the new, local airbrush enthusiasts it'll inspire you to try out new things with that airbrush!

Questions and Comments are always welcome!

Mediums and Other Paint Additives

Well...not that kind of medium, but close. If you want to stick to the analogy you can imagine that medium is what bridges the gap between your GW paint pot and your model.

In this post I'm going to go over some of the different types of mediums and additives that you can find by the liquitex company. Any of these can be purchased at a craft store such as Hobby Lobby or Micheal's. If you're unable to get to one of those then you can order online from one of the largest arts suppliers, Dick Blick.

Airbrushing Glazes and Washes: How To

After tons of requests for more information on glazing and washing with the airbrush, here is a video explaining and demonstrating the techniques. Enjoy!

New Dark Eldar Raider WIP!

So, I got the new raider about a week ago and finally got to putting it together and painting it hopefully to have in the FLGS by launch day (Friday). I just had to put it up and talk a little about the kit.

Salamanders Army

I've been going back and forth about what I'll be starting next because (despite holding an approximately 50/50 record with them) no one likes playing guard. I jumped between holding out for Dark Eldar and riding the codex creep or jumping on Space Wolves because when guard stop beating up deepstrike lists I feel that wolves will make a come back in a big way.
However I realized I never got to play what I had always wanted to with space marines: Terminators. Thus the salamanders were spawned. All I want out of this is a fun list of any kind, as long as it has a land raider, Vulkan, a Librarian and thunderhammer terminators. I want the list every 12 year wants.
On top of this, I just got a nice airbrush for my birthday and after some research and a little practice I opened up the idea of covering my army in badass flames. I used a method called 'true flame' and there are a ton of tutorials on youtube if any of you wanted to see how its done. The only difference is the template you make for it; instead of a round french curve looking template you have to make a straight line of waves and then for the inner colors hand paint them in. That's it. Have fun, enjoy the pictures!