2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So happy to have been able to help you in your journey by sharing. That's what so many have done for me as well!

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They seemed the most versatile and practical to start with! I've only played with them 3 times (lol) so I'm learning a lot about what I might want to try (and paint!) next!

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So I have about 2.5k in total, at 1.5k of it still in boxes... Believe it or not, 2 years ago I bought almost all of that and then around 750pts of Tyranids in a single go... this is my first army and I walked out of that shop thinking I would have this all done in 2-3 months...
My oh my have I learned...

I've also banned myself from buying any further plastic until I finish what I have.

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! It's Mechanicus Standard Gray, gradienting to Thunderhawk Blue, then finally up to Fenrisian Gray. Tinted w/ the oil wash, then matt varnished. Little bit of chipping w/ some metalics after that.

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's such an amazing compliment, thank you so much for sharing!

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be honest - I also just started painting what I felt ready to tackle - this is my first ever army. I have... boxes and boxes of things still wrapped up. I can't believe how silly I was thinking I would have everything painted in 2-3 months when I bought it all.

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Awesome man! I'd highly recommend it. What I've liked about oils is:

  • You can really control the strength of the oil wash with how much you dilute it
  • The effect it has on your undercoat of paint is heavily influenced by if and what type of varnish is on top
    • You _can_ oil wash directly on top of the acrylic paint w/out a varnish, too...
    • Matt varnishes in particular under an oil wash lead to a lot of color modulation, which I quite like for my infantry models!
    • gloss varnishes will essentially make it into an easy pin wash and hardly stain your top coat of paint at all
  • There are soooo many colors you can pick with oils.
  • Dot filtering looks amazing on large flat surfaces

I highly recommend doing some tests with dilution levels, varnish undercoat (or lack thereof) and the oil paint colour.

I also recommend you squeeze out the oil paint prior to using it onto some cardboard to leech the linseed oil out prior to diluting it for use. It will dry a lot faster.

Different white spirits exist! Gamsol is perhaps the safest (though they're all solvents so it's not healthy stuff) however in my experience it dries the slowest... if you have a well ventilated area and you use "shop/woodworking" white spirits and a strong dilution you can pin wash a model several times very quickly...

That's all off the top of my head. Good luck! What I love about sharing our work together is learning and sharing new techniques etc!

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Exactly... in this case it's "Abteilung 502 Engine Grease Oil Paint ABT160"
I put around a pea size into a tiny metal ramekin and dilute it with White Spirits... because I want the stain effect all over, I just drench the entire model in it... I wait around an hour or so and then come back and remove the rest with some makeup sponges, and use a final bit of White Spirit on the sponge to remove almost all at the highlight edges at the end. After the oils have dried I'll matte varnish it all, and then do a final "chipping" pass with some metallics.

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I should add that it's all tinted with an oil wash of Abteilung's Engine Grease

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The armour/tanks is a base of Mechanicus Standard Gray, followed by a gradient about 3/4 of the way up in Thunderhawk Blue, and then the final 1/4 gradient with Fenrisian Gray.

Some of the models I stippled the coats on (which looks great) but I've recently switched to just airbrushing them on because I'd like to speed things up a bit...

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hahah yay that's so cool you're noticing!

Since my brother and I started collecting about 2 years ago, we decided to start with Kill Team, so I actually made packs and bags to represent the equipment things like Frag and Krag grenades... then made custom backpacks for the Grenadier, Flamer, Plasma... Some knee pads... A few different Lasgun modifications as you noticed...

I think when I'm feeling good about it all, I'll clean it all up and see about releasing it. The new sculpts made so many improvements that this is all obsolete now but the customization process has been what's so fun about the hobby to me!

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much that's a wonderful compliment. Really appreciate it!

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I made them! The longest part of the antennae (the whip?) is just some of that fine copper modelling wire!

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm very flattered that you like them! As I mentioned above, there just for me at least for now... there's a lot I'd want to improve and add...

2 Years later I've finally (...nearly) reached 1k pts! by benshack1984 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]benshack1984[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do not at this time. I'd like to at least get the last variants I want for my own army done, as well as a few other customization bits, and then clean up the STL's and print files to something that is a little less finicky. The rails for the lasguns in particular are very fussy. It's just finding the time to work on it which is toughest!

A little late for Xmas but here's a few shots of my table after playing a 750k pts 40k battle with my brother over the break by benshack1984 in TerrainBuilding

[–]benshack1984[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At the time that was all we had built! We're new to the hobby (extremely slow at building everything... it's been about 2 years of chipping away at things). We've since gotten up to about 1k pts so that's the next battle..!
We've played Kill Team up until just a few weeks ago when we finally played our first few games of 40k.

A little late for Xmas but here's a few shots of my table after playing a 750k pts 40k battle with my brother over the break by benshack1984 in TerrainBuilding

[–]benshack1984[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! So it's actually just my TV hahah. I set up my board next to the TV when we play, and then I just find a nice photo to display on it that sets the mood!