Tutorial: NMM Blue Force Weapons

I have 2 whole weeks off work, and with so much spare time on my hands, I can afford to pick up and paint some obscure minis. With this in mind, I picked up the old 1st Edition Space Hulk plastic Terminator Librarian and started painting. When I got to Force Axe I thought I’d photograph it stage by stage and share my progress.

This blade took 1hr 15mins to complete. My Dreadknight blade took 5hrs to complete. I could easily go back and spend another 30 mins glazing and smoothing out this blade, but I don’t think I will because this miniature is just for fun and I don’t have any plans for him.

Stage 1. Basecoat the blade with VGC Glacier Blue.

Stage 2. Glaze on a mix of Glacier Blue + Hawk Turquoise + Glaze Medium. This first glaze is actually mapping out where you want the dark reflections. So do some research to work out where they will fall. Depending on the angle of the blade they will fall in different ways. This horizontal blade is probably the worst position.

Stage 3. Mix more Hawk Turquoise and apply as above blending it into the previous layer.

Stage 4 – 6. Repeating stage 3 until you get to pure Hawk Turquoise

Stage 5.

Stage 6.

Stage 7. I now revisit some of the earlier shades and work over the top of the blends fine tuning them. I can spend ages going back over them to achieve smoother results like the aforementioned Dreadknight Nemesis Greatsword.

Stage 8. Now I mix some VGC Stormy Blue into the mix.

Stage 9. More Stormy Blue with a touch of Black. It’s quite repetitive and I did say it takes hours, but we’re getting there.

Stage 10. Using white I highlight the blade and paint the edges with a white line.

This Libby is nearly finished, but this is another angle of the blade. Check back soon to see the finished model exclusively on Tale of Painters.

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