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[Modan Kordo]

*****Double - necro - post warning *****
Since the weather is now a little more sane, work has resumed!

Did some bondo yesterday on gaunts and plates,  backplate will be next on the table. Overall not a whole lot of work to do on it,  other than a few curves to even out and some more sanding.

All plates have been bevelled and sanded nice and smooth.  Shins,  collar, chest plates,  belly plate,  cod,  shoulder bells,  hand plates, and thigh plates are all ready for their first coats of primer.  I just need a little warmer weather and calmer winds! I do, however, still need to make some knees...

I'll try to snap some pictures this afternoon, as my phone was dead yesterday. Who knows,  there might even be some paint being sprayed!

Thanks for looking!

[Echo Darklighter]

*****Double - necro - post warning *****
Since the weather is now a little more sane, work has resumed!

Did some bondo yesterday on gaunts and plates,  backplate will be next on the table. Overall not a whole lot of work to do on it,  other than a few curves to even out and some more sanding.

All plates have been bevelled and sanded nice and smooth.  Shins,  collar, chest plates,  belly plate,  cod,  shoulder bells,  hand plates, and thigh plates are all ready for their first coats of primer.  I just need a little warmer weather and calmer winds! I do, however, still need to make some knees...

I'll try to snap some pictures this afternoon, as my phone was dead yesterday. Who knows,  there might even be some paint being sprayed!

Thanks for looking!

No such thing as necro-posting in your own thread, vod.  That's called "updating."

Post pictures.  I want to see how this is going.

[Modan Kordo]

Alright, here's some long overdue updates.  Managed to get some of my gear its metallic base coat. Also did a few coats of filler primer on other parts...  Had to stop,  as I ran out of metallic paint.  I went with Rustoleum Aged Steel,  which looks really good.  Kind halfway between silver and Gun   metal grey.

Heres some pix:




More to come after I get more paint!

[Beleck Kase]

More paint, more paint, I want more paint.

Keep it up brother, nice work.

A plus

[Modan Kordo]

Thx for the kind words! I have to admit that filler-primer is pretty awesome at getting rid of the little gaps and evening out surfaces (after much sanding of course...)

Getting a couple more cans of Aged Steel  this afternoon! Looks like rain, however...

[Raestin Ke'Varek]

Looking good man!  I know it always feels good to see some paint on plates. 

[Malek Dair]

This build is coming along nicely! Looking forward to the finished kit!

Keep it up vod!

Oya!

[Modan Kordo]

Yup! Things are moving again!! Thanks for the kind words everybody.

And a very special shout out to my little brother, Balou34, on getting his stripes!!

Although I have no pics on hand to add to the thread, I can report that the following parts have received 2 coats each of metallic paint:

• Shoulder bells
• Collar plate
• Chest plates
• Belly plate
• Hand plates
• Boot plates
• Shins

I still have some tweaks to do on my backplate before I can get some primer down and then get the metallic layers on. I also need to fabricate knees for meself...

Gaunts are just needing magnets inserted for closure, as well as some minor repairs. Maybe a spot or two of filling and some final sanding before paint.

Codpiece is pretty well ready for paint, but I want to trim it down a bit and figure out the attachment method to get the kidney plate joined to it (which I still have to cut out, shape and sand...)

That's about it right now. I'll get some snapshots this later and post them up...

Thanks for watching!!

[Beleck Kase]

Thanks brother!

Keep the ball rolling.

Eric

[Modan Kordo]

Here's a general question for you experienced weathering folks: Did you clearcoat your metallic layer before masking and applying your first color layer? I'm debating whether or not I need to clearcoat, or if I just need an extra coat of metallic... The sheen and color are very nice right now, so I don't think I need to add metallic to get the "metal" look. I just want to make sure I don't wind up weathering through to the white Sintra underneath...

Thought?

[Adenn'Kal]

I didn't clear coat my metallic. But in retrospect it wouldn't have been a bad idea since i had to do some touch up to the mettalic.

[Modan Kordo]

OK. After much discussion here and elsewhere about htis topic (re: clearcoating metallic base), I opted for an additional coat of metallic and no clearcoat. I'm using mu handplates as a test, since they'd be the easiest bit of kit to do over.... I've got one coat of base color on over the metallic, and I want to add at least one more before re-masking and moving on to a couple of coats of the next color... The crazy thing to think of is that if I were to go with, for the sake of argument, 3 colors over the metallic, each at 2 coats, there would be a grand total of 9 coats of paint!

 

I'll get some pics uploaded once I get the second coat of color on there...

Stay tooned!!

[Modan Kordo]

Ok, with some nice weather, time, and a neighbour with a pool to get cooled off,  here's some of the progress made today.


Hand plates got masking on metallic coat, then 2 coats of antique white.  They will get more masking and then a couple coats of  lagoon  blue. That would make them look like this:





I know, I went a little crazy on the chipping... But I think after roughing them up a bit and applying a few washes they should be just fine...


Chest plates with masking applied,  ready for lagoon  blue.

And here's the rest of the plates that got the same colour...





This is a shot of the  parts including the shoulder  bells,  which are a sort of seafoam kind of shade. This'll be masked and only show as undercoat in weathered areas. 




More to come soon (ish...)

[Reginmund]

Looking good! Did you do that weathering with just a masking fluid of some sort or did you use multiple methods of weathering? (Masking fluid, salt, physical picks, hairspray, etc.)

[Modan Kordo]

I used toothpaste as a masking medium. It's cheap, doesn't dry out and it's super easy to scrape off when you're done painting. I usually use a stiff brush under running water to get the toothpaste off. The minty fresh scent is just a bonus!!

I was thinking about using the salt chipping technique, but I just got over excited and didn't on the handplates... I might try it on some other bits though... I did a whole lot of military modelling way back when, so I've tried many techniques over the years. Some that worked, some that didn't, and some that were downright weird...

I think I will change my approach a bit when weathering the other parts. Tha handplates were essentially painted metallic, then some masking, then antique white, more masking (adding to the already masked areas), then lagoon blue on top. Each colour got a solid/heavy 2 coats. For the other parts, I think I'm going to rub off the masking after every colour, thereby increasing the precision of my chipping... It's hard to judge how much is too much on these surfaces, as I'm used to 1:35 scale models and this is a whole lot more real estate to work on. Lesson learned on the handplates: subtle and understated, especially if you're going to add to the weathering as you go.

I do love how the different coats of paint chipped off and have depth. Makes for a much more textured look that I like a lot. I also want to add some scrapes with 60 grit sandpaper, and maybe a wire brush (I've also simulated wear and tear by rubbing handfuls of gravel all over a paint job...), before I go over everything with black, burnt sienna, and slate gray washes.

*********Edited with new information **********

Alright. I have done further work on the paint job. Shoulder bells got their final coats of paint and have been scrubbed clean of masking.   Just some decals to do and apply, then washes and they will be done.



Collar, chest plates and belly plate are also painted and scrubbed.  Some additional scratches to do but generally done and ready for washes too...







Boot plates got masking and first coat of paint.  They'll eventually be the same colour as the rest of the plates.  I also got one thigh plate masked and with a couple coats of base colour. Then the rain started...





Here's hoping the weather cooperates tomorrow so I can get a few more coats laid down. Who knows, maybe I can even get the rest done!

Stay tuned!

[Raestin Ke'Varek]

Very nice work so far ner'vod!!  Everything is coming together really great!  8)

[Modan Kordo]

Thanks for the kind words! Always nice to hear 'em!!

Here's what my handplates look like after receiving their final go-round of weathering and washes... I'll admit I'm rather pleased at the results!!







I went with a selection of weathering tools. Coarse grit sandpaper (60 or 80 as I recall), steel wool (00), and large nail files.

For washes, I went back to my old model-building selection of Black (Licorice), Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, and Steel Gray. I used the Americana brand acrylics, as they are cheap and readily available at your local Mart of Wal. I did the washes in sequence from darkest to lightest applying the diluted paint (using water) with a roughed up kitchen sponge, waiting a few minutes and then blotching up the excess with a crumpled paper towel. Worked pretty well and really blends things together. As I said, I'm pretty pleased with the results.  8)

Here's a question for you guys: Have any of you used Testor's Waterslide Decal making paper before? I've got some markings I did in GIMP that I'd like to incorporate into my kit, but which would be too intricate to paint on with stenciling or even freehand... Anyone have any pointers??

Stay tooned for more soon!!

[Modan Kordo]

Alright, 5 days later and all I've got done is weathering on the shoulder bells... I did manage to do some work on repairing one of my gaunts that had inadvertently gotten knocked to the ground and had its topper knocked clear off...

Anyhow, here's the requisite pics of the shoulder bells... Things are progressing, which is nice...






Next up, I think, will be fixing up my backplate (a couple little ripples in the armpit area from the compound curve in the area...), getting my closures on the gauntlets and getting them ready for paint (primer and final sanding), and I still have to bang up some knees...

And back to werk we go!

[Beleck Kase]

Wow! Nice jog brother. I like your wheathering, specialy the washs.

Keep it up.

[Modan Kordo]

Thanks! I try... ;-)

It's been a busy week, so nothing more to report, but I get the feeling that things will start moving along again soon!!

[Malek Dair]

Great work! Those blues are fantastic and look awesome with the weathering you have done.

Oya vod!

[Modan Kordo]

I have to admit that I wasn't 100% sure of the colours before I started painting. But no, especially after the weathering of a couple of pieces, I really do like them quite a bit!! I was confident that they'd "play well" together, as I did pick them (or close enough to them) via that Adobe color scheme thing that was posted on here somewhere...

Next exciting bit will be seeing new colours go on my bucket... But that's a story for another day (and another thread!)

Thanks for the kind words, vod! Means a lot!!

And without further adue, here's today's updates on weathering my plates...

Everything together first...



individual plates for close-up inspection...






Apparently, I left the other shoulder bell in my armor chest... But it hasn't changed since last pics...

More updates as things progress...

Stay tooned!!

[Echo Darklighter]

Weathering looks good, vod!  Keep up the good work.

[Ronin Tavic]

All that with toothpaste eh?? Looks fantastic. I've been using mustard since day one but the last couple times I've done it has produced Less than desirable results.. might have to try the minty freshness. I'm really digging the blues you got going on too! It looks great!

[Modan Kordo]

Well, not all with toothpaste. Just the bits to mask on the base metallic (and the other coats where there were others...)

But thanks for the kind words!

Then it was 60 grit sand paper for the large scratches, 180 grit for general finer scratches, green scouring pads for "wear and tear" scratches...

Then it's layered washes, applied with torn up kitchen sponges. I go from darkest to lightest. Here, I went with those acrylics from WalMart (DecoArt?) with the following colors (in order, dark to light) Licorice, Traditional Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Steel Grey, Buff Beige. It's adapted from a technique I used a lot when I built military models back in the day...

I dab it on using torn up sponges (try to randomize pattern) and let it dry a few minutes (I dilute paint with enough water to have it quite thin) and then I alternate between dabbing and rubbing off the washes. It's important to remember to let each layer/wash dry for at the very least a few hours (I usually leave it overnight) so the following washes don't remove the previous ones.

Once the washes are all done, I hit everything with various Tamiya Weathering Powders, depending on what the particular item is. Everything gets sealed with Matte Clear (Testors Dull Kote).