Tale of Mega Painters: Reader Submissions #2

Last month we introduced Andy and Rory to Tale of the Mega Painters. We catch up with both this month to see what they’ve painted. We also introduce two new painters to the project, Siph and Manus. Read on to see some amazing hobby from our readers.

Rory from McNeil Miniature Projects: Hello Folks, well last time you saw my Battlesuits, Stealth Suits and Broadsides. This post will be themed around the recent 12 man Firewarrior Squad and Aun’Shi Ethereal I have just painted. I learned a lot of good techniques with painting these guys, mainly with the Ethereal with all the NMM but the Firewarriors helped as well with all their free hand and having a steady brush for painting in those dark recesses. The first squad I did was a bit mental, excess freehand and some very dark recesses. I feel very confident that these guys are a bit more subdued and have slightly lighter recesses and less mad free hand designs.

Next up we have the Aun’Shi Ethereal. This model is probably one of the best painted figures I have ever done (I know how modest of me). Let me re-phrase, I felt as if everything flowed with this guy, I didn’t need to stop to think, I just ‘did’, if that makes sense. The blade was done using Garfy’s NMMtutorial, and the skin was done using the ‘Eavy Metals paint scheme which I’m sure can be found on the internet somewhere. For the fabric I started with a white undercoat, then did a gradual wash of Deathclaw brown, getting darker with each wash. Then layering up the raised areas from Ungor Flesh to pure White Scar. I really enjoyed painting this model, I would thoroughly recommend getting it to practice your technique because there are so many possibilities with this model. Well thanks for reading, next up will be Vespids and I’m going to try and just do their skin tones with washes which should be interesting and until next time bye for now.

Over to Andy…

Andy from miniaturemiscellany: Since last monthI have made substantial progress on my Astral Claws project. I have now finished the first Tactical Squad along with their Rhino and painted a five-man Devastator Squad. I’m really enjoying this project as the models are fairly quick to paint and look great. The Space Marine range really is fantastic and there are plenty of parts available for kit-bashing and building characterful models, after all, each Space Marine should look like a hero in his own right.

With my Astral Claws I have been experimenting with decals which I normally use rather infrequently. I have found that Micro Sol and Micro Set are fantastic products which really help get that ‘painted on’ look. I also seal my decals in place with a couple of coats of Lahmian Medium to dull down the shine and to help protect them from wearing off when handled (in case I do ever play a game with them).

Hopefully next month I can keep the momentum going and finish another squad.

Introducing Siph…

Siph from Weemen: I’ve been working on my Relictors Battle Company for a few years now. As you can see it has grown considerably beyond the nuts and bolts of a Relictor bare-bones Battle Company and has many many ‘toys’ because I suffer from the shiny-toy syndrome, FW eats my cash, often working overseas and I am an incredibly slow painter…

The Battle Company itself (without said toys) is 1 Command Squad short of completion. All 10 squads and 9 Transports have been done. I’m currently working on yet another FW addition, the Rapier Battery with Heavy Bolters, nice amount of dakka for only 40pts.

I have completed the Apothecary for the Command Squad though, so it should be done (maybe) this year!

Finally please welcome Manus…

Manus from The Forge: Hi there – I have been a gamer, converter and painter for about 20 years now. I have always spent more time at the painting table than actually gaming, and for several years now the converting part of the hobby has been the most important for me. Just love cutting up little plastic bits and gluing them back together. For quite some time I’ve been working on a mechanicus force. Not having any official models, at least not at the time I started building the army, gave me ample opportunity to indulge in converting – couldn’t be better. I have used the great Codex Mechanicus from Tempus Fugitives, as both inspiration as well as used it to build an actual playable army for those rare occasions. I always liked the creations of John Blanche and I’ve always seen the Mechanicus as a bit more twisted than what I think is strictly canon, so I like to think I achieve just the slightest hint of Blanche weirdness in my minis – at very least I try to. I hope you’ll have fun looking through the different projects and paintjobs on the blog.

Over to Garfy to sign off…

Garfy: This is some seriously high level hobby from these guys and Tale of Painters is honoured to be able to show it on the blog. If you enjoyed it, show your support in the comments. Thanks guys for sending your stuff in.