Round Two Report from Gurney

gurney writes:

Ok, let's go for the second round of the TMP contest. This time, it's a Knight of Balance, a VOID 1.1 figure from i-Kore.

As with the Celtos druidess, I will paint the figurine with Vallejo Model Color colors, and (rarely) with Citadel paints. I prefer that paint be heavily diluted, to produce a smooth surface. For shading and highlighting, it should have a milky consistency.

Step 1 - Preparation

As with the druidess, I prepared the figure by removing mold lines with a cutter and a file. I removed the slot bar, and inserted a 0.5mm pin under each foot.

Problem: This is a futuristic figurine - a subject of which I'm not a big fan. The model is supposed to carry a big gun on its back, which I really dislike. So, I decided to not use it, but that left a hole in the figure's back. I filled it with Milliput, and gave it some folds to match the coat.

After that, I sanded the figure with 600-grit sandpaper. I finished by polishing it with a drilling machine and a brass brush. Then I washed it with a toothbrush, warm water and soap. After it was dry, I basecoated it using Citadel White spray paint.

(During preparation, I also worked on the base - but I'll speak about that later.)

Step 2 - The Flesh

There are only a few flesh areas to paint on this model - hands, eyes, and ears.

Base color was Flat Flesh (955) mixed with Medium Fleshtone (860) - 50/50 mix. Afterwards, I shaded in two steps by adding Orange Brown (981) to the base color. Then I highlighted by adding white to the base color.

Step 3 - The Hair

For the hair, I basecoated using a mix of Citadel Snakebite Leather and Flat Yellow (953) - 50/50 mix. Then I highlighted by adding Bleached Bone and Light Yellow (949) to the base, applying this in several steps, finishing with a pure mix of Bleached Bone and Light Yellow.

Step 4 - The Suit

I basecoated the figure with a mix of Orange Red (910) and Prussian Blue (965). I highlighted in several passes, first with pure Orange Red, then with Deep Orange (851). The final highlight was done by adding Light Yellow (949) to the Deep Orange.

Step 5 - The Coat

The base color is a mix of Ochre Marron (856) and Flat Earth (983) - 40/60 mix.

Shadows were done by adding Burnt Umber (941) to the base. For the highlights, Ochre Marron has been added to the base, finishing with pure Ochre Marron.

For the inside of the coat, I wanted to try some freehand work. I painted the inside with a base color composed of Cam. Extra Dark Green (896) and Red Leather (818). I highlighted by adding Red Leather to the base, finishing with pure Red Leather. Then I basically painted freehand - according to my limited skills for this kind of technique - using Golden Brown (877). I finished with two glazes of Red Leather to unify the freehand work with the inside of the coat.

Step 6 - The Armor Plates

The base color is Green Ochre (914), highlighted by adding white to the base color, finishing with pure white.

The "scratches" on the armor were simply done with two lines of paint - the upper one is a mix of Burnt Umber (941) and Green Ochre (914); the lower one is a mix of Green Ochre and White.

Step 7 - The Swords

For the blade, the base color was Neutral Grey (992), highlighted with the base color + white, and shaded with the base color + black. The gold parts are painted with Ochre Marron (856), highlighted by adding white, and shaded by adding black.

Step 8 - The Base

As I mentioned earlier, I did the base while I was preparing the figure. It's made with part of an old plastic truck. I cut out a circle of plastic from the truck, and glued it to the base with cyanoacrylate (superglue). Then I filed the plastic part to fit the shape of the base. I filled holes with Milliput, and finished by sanding the whole thing with 400-grit sandpaper.

I basecoated with Citadel White spray paint (to have a clean surface). After that, I painted on Citadel Chaos Black, applying several layers of diluted paints (I didn't have any black spray paint!). I highlighted by adding Citadel Bleached Bone, with pure white for the edges. I finished up by giving a rusty effect, applying a wash of Citadel Vermin Fur and Bestial Brown.

Conclusion

That's all! I hope these few explanations have been useful for you. I'm not a big fan of this particular figure, but it was an opportunity to learn new techniques. Hope I'll see you for Round 3 ;o)

See the Finished Pictures