I've been painting a lot of robots lately. Some for me, some on a commission for Orclord at Stuff of Legends. I've previously painted a fan sculpt for Orclord (here) and myself (here). I've also painted two Rogue Trader robots, a Castellan and a Colossus class, for Orclord, but I didn't take any pictures and he's yet to get any pictures either.
The next two robots I've painted are also split, one Rogue Trader Cataphract class robot for Orclord and one from Ramshackle Games for myself. For these, I wanted to paint them yellow, it's a color I don't get to paint enough, and I wanted to them to look much rougher than the previous ones I'd painted for Orclord.
For Orclord's robot, I went with a brighter yellow, something that was likely to be a battlefield livery of sorts while simultaneously paying homage to the original (garish) studio paint-job. For those who didn't click the link the studio paint job was quartered, with a yellow field with black hearts in one set of quarters and a red and blue check pattern in the other.
I worked a heart into the iconography on the model's left side, next to the view port. The quartering and check pattern was imitated on the over-the-shoulder lascannon. I would like to say I went with pink and purple because it's more harmonious than red and blue, but the reality is that I was looking at the picture on my phone, and it looked purple and magenta on my screen!
As far as the painting process went, I began by airbrushing a pre-shade with a rust color, followed by a slightly zenithial highlight of a mustard brown. From there, I mixed in sunburst yellow, applying more and more zenithially. Then I painted on the red, followed by sponged damage. After that was the metallics, begining with tin bitz, then bolt gun metal, then a 50:50 mix of boltgun metal and iron breaker. Finally, I reapplied sunburst yellow with a brush, and then began highlights by mixing in bleached bone. Afterwards, I applied a layer of Lamenter's Yellow to brighten up the yellow. Then I completed a few rogue items like guns and lenses. Finally, pigments were applied to simulate dirt and carbon buildup. I'm very happy with the way it came out; it looks like it has been through a warzone and back again. I can also say that these robots have been the first commission I've ever done where I was sad to give the models to their owner as I'd rather keep them for myself!
Although both are yellow, I wanted the Ramshackle robot to look more like a re-purposed construction robot than a robot designed for fighting. I wanted to give the impression that it was commandeered, had a gun slapped on it, and sent to battle.
This one was painted exactly the same way as the Cataphract, but I omitted the Lamenter's Yellow. Then, I went nuts with the weathering! First I applied Ammo of Mig rainmarks as a wash to the flat top parts to represent dust build up and and as rainmarks running down the sides. It's hard to see in the picture but it basically fades the paint. Then I applied the streaking grime, also from Ammo of Mig, both as a wash and in streaks.
Next, I sponged on some buffable metallic pigment mixed with enamel thinner onto the tracks, which, when dry, were buffed and then stippled with GW's Ryza Rust. After that, I applied a concrete pigment to the sides of track guards and to the claw, followed by some light brown pigments. Finally, I applied violet pigment to the bottom of the exhaust pipes and black pigment to the top. All-in-all, I'm very pleased with him as well.
Great robotery here Andrew !
ReplyDeleteAndrew - gorgeous work. I love your colourful approach to these minis. The yellow alone is so eye-catching... and then I get just lost in the finer details... the weathering on the claw, the rust on the tracks, the glass on the face... wow.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the compliments! The great thing about these robots had been their sculpting. A well designed model make a good paint job that much easier. Now just to start the last four 😁
DeleteI completely agree with your reply Andrew. If the mini is no good, the paint job can't do much to improve it.
DeleteYour retro paint jobs looks ace!
Good stuff. I really like the weathering on both.
ReplyDelete